Dog Star
Western Thunderer
Tony shall offer a suggestion....
Osgood
Western Thunderer
magmouse
Western Thunderer
Crikey! That crane is being chased by a giant dalek!
RichardG
Western Thunderer
The mobile crane has brought me problems even a Dalek could not manage!
Up until now I have tried to build models able to sit alongside RTR stock; and although my models have simpler colour schemes I feel I have largely succeeded. But now I have built a crane which is probably better than everything before it.
I really like the look of the coffee stirrers, but they make the painted “wooden parts” of my other models look a bit crude. And the mechanism and its gears make the Peco crane look like a toy. In spite of all the help I had from WT'ers to build it into a more realistic model.
The Meteor crane can be built as a yard crane. The original kit (though not its truck) is now with 1039 Models, and I have bought one of these to eventually replace the Peco crane. I can try to repaint some wagon interiors to make them look better.
In the meantime, the two cranes will be best kept at opposite ends of the layout
Up until now I have tried to build models able to sit alongside RTR stock; and although my models have simpler colour schemes I feel I have largely succeeded. But now I have built a crane which is probably better than everything before it.
I really like the look of the coffee stirrers, but they make the painted “wooden parts” of my other models look a bit crude. And the mechanism and its gears make the Peco crane look like a toy. In spite of all the help I had from WT'ers to build it into a more realistic model.
The Meteor crane can be built as a yard crane. The original kit (though not its truck) is now with 1039 Models, and I have bought one of these to eventually replace the Peco crane. I can try to repaint some wagon interiors to make them look better.
In the meantime, the two cranes will be best kept at opposite ends of the layout
Hi,The mobile crane has brought me problems even a Dalek could not manage!
Up until now I have tried to build models able to sit alongside RTR stock; and although my models have simpler colour schemes I feel I have largely succeeded. But now I have built a crane which is probably better than everything before it.
View attachment 255065
I really like the look of the coffee stirrers, but they make the painted “wooden parts” of my other models look a bit crude. And the mechanism and its gears make the Peco crane look like a toy. In spite of all the help I had from WT'ers to build it into a more realistic model.
The Meteor crane can be built as a yard crane. The original kit (though not its truck) is now with 1039 Models, and I have bought one of these to eventually replace the Peco crane. I can try to repaint some wagon interiors to make them look better.
In the meantime, the two cranes will be best kept at opposite ends of the layout
it looks like opening day of the line with brand new stock! Careful, and subtle weathering, would tone down the newness look and tie it all together better. Stock didn't stay in pristine condition for long, bearing mind the conditions it was operated in and the motive power used! Anyone who owns a car will know how fast they lose the showroom look when they are driven, and they require constant attention to keep looking even remotely clean!
Roja
spikey faz
Western Thunderer
RichardG
Western Thunderer
Mike, I like this but I would need to make sure a fabricated steel lattice jib is okay for the 1890s. Most photos of the time show cranes with timber jibs.
Roja, when the weathering comes, I want to apply it to all of the stock and the whole of the layout in a consistent sort of a way. Also, I need to get some practice (e.g. on cheap 00 models) before I tackle it. In the meantime, I quite like having a clean and upbeat layout! It's a cheerful thing to look at when I get up in the morning and switch on the lighting
spikey faz
Western Thunderer
Richard. You are quite right to question my blasé approach to such things as cranes!Mike, I like this but I would need to make sure a fabricated steel lattice jib is okay for the 1890s. Most photos of the time show cranes with timber jibs.
Roja, when the weathering comes, I want to apply it to all of the stock and the whole of the layout in a consistent sort of a way. Also, I need to get some practice (e.g. on cheap 00 models) before I tackle it. In the meantime, I quite like having a clean and upbeat layout! It's a cheerful thing to look at when I get up in the morning and switch on the lighting
I'm afraid I tend to mix & match things to suit myself, which is a bit naughty I suppose. 
With regard to weathering I would suggest that 'less is more'. I used to buy the 'Weathering Magazine' which featured some spectacular weathering and modelling. But, I think often a very gentle application of a weathering medium is all thats needed to highlight some detail and help bring a model to life.
Definitely have a practice on a cheapo model first. I doubt there's one approach to suit all. I use a few of the AK Interactive products for rust effects and I've more recently started using oil paints on some of my locomotives.
Mike
RichardG
Western Thunderer
It ought to be possible to enjoy colour in the models without everything looking like a chocolate box.
My period palette is dominated by black, grey and red for the rolling stock. On-track plant and service stock often received distinctive colour schemes . . . I like the red oxide and I don't want to weather it very much.
Black card as the background here.
RichardG
Western Thunderer
To stay with the crane for a bit longer. The model looks better than many of my previous efforts. This is partly because I have chosen better colours, and partly because the coffee stirrers actually look quite good. I set off four years ago to make models which could withstand comparison beside current RTR models, and now I have made something which looks better, at least to me. Certainly for the bare wooden parts and the detailing.
I don't really want to deliberately downgrade my future efforts, so the easiest way out of this is to sell a few Dapol PO wagons I bought when I started in 7 mm scale. This will make some space, and I can delete fictional traffic as easily as I can invent it. Then think about repainting the interiors of my earlier efforts. The Vallejo paint goes on ever so thin, I'm sure another coat is possible!
I am beginning to get frustrated with the simplifications and design of some etched kits - see the Serpent thread. If kits don't satisfy me then the obvious route is to make things from scratch. I expect I will have to accept an initial reduction in detail, but hopefully there is a new satisfaction to be had.
So, when I have mentioned a "plateau" earlier in this thread, I suppose I am really referring to a waypoint on my modelling journey not some kind of stagnation. I do still have a handful of wagon kits in the stash, these from Connoisseur, Ragstone and Majestic Models. From experience of previous builds, these are likely to build into good models.
I don't really want to deliberately downgrade my future efforts, so the easiest way out of this is to sell a few Dapol PO wagons I bought when I started in 7 mm scale. This will make some space, and I can delete fictional traffic as easily as I can invent it. Then think about repainting the interiors of my earlier efforts. The Vallejo paint goes on ever so thin, I'm sure another coat is possible!
I am beginning to get frustrated with the simplifications and design of some etched kits - see the Serpent thread. If kits don't satisfy me then the obvious route is to make things from scratch. I expect I will have to accept an initial reduction in detail, but hopefully there is a new satisfaction to be had.
So, when I have mentioned a "plateau" earlier in this thread, I suppose I am really referring to a waypoint on my modelling journey not some kind of stagnation. I do still have a handful of wagon kits in the stash, these from Connoisseur, Ragstone and Majestic Models. From experience of previous builds, these are likely to build into good models.
( Diversion : ACE P2 at NEEGOG )
RichardG
Western Thunderer
Having got some of my own doubts off my chest, here is an ACE P2 running at NEEGOG on 10th January.
The interesting thing about this is, the build is by the youngest member of the group. He was just 17 when he started, this was three years ago. Plenty of Isopon or similar around the front to make the right shape and join the parts together.
All four driving axles are sprung. The mounting for the rear pony truck is strange, but works really well.
Certainly inspiring to me, I am full of admiration for this.
The interesting thing about this is, the build is by the youngest member of the group. He was just 17 when he started, this was three years ago. Plenty of Isopon or similar around the front to make the right shape and join the parts together.
All four driving axles are sprung. The mounting for the rear pony truck is strange, but works really well.
Certainly inspiring to me, I am full of admiration for this.
spikey faz
Western Thunderer
Richard. Although you are safely camped out on a model-making plateau, I suspect you'll soon get your boots back on to start climbing again. 
All the best
Mike
All the best
Mike
RichardG
Western Thunderer
Richard. Although you are safely camped out on a model-making plateau, I suspect you'll soon get your boots back on to start climbing again.
Definitely. I have a choice of wagon kit to try next. In particular I can go for something new, involved and intricate (a D&S horsebox); or something familiar, simple and ripe for modification and building in a different way (a Connoisseur tender truck). I'll go for the tender truck, but I've promised myself a wee break first because the Serpent is being so, well, devilish.
Oil lamp for station platform
RichardG
Western Thunderer
I built this oil lamp last November. I wasn’t sure whether it has enough modelling content to make posting it worthwhile, but I have realised I need to either share the photos here or get rid of them!
The lamp lens seems to have been cast from a clear resin. Whatever; it makes building the model a whole lot easier.
The LED supplied is a wonder of miniaturisation but its light output is too blue for an oil lamp.
The new bulb is one sold for use with a high frequency lighting unit. When it is under-run, its light looks quite like an oil lamp.
I am intrigued by the brass tube seemingly running through the length of the lamp standard. This must have been placed into the mould before the metal was poured around it.
The extension tube is here to help to wed the lamp onto the ground. I would have soldered this into place had I remembered to add it before passing the wire from the bulb through the model.
The model is now on the platform at Heybridge Basin, near the entrance. The cat is sitting where it blends into its surroundings.
The plan is to connect this lamp (and another lamp) through a DC blocking capacitor onto the track. So the scenic lighting can be switched on and off along with the HF coach lighting, with no additional wiring on the layout.
The lamp lens seems to have been cast from a clear resin. Whatever; it makes building the model a whole lot easier.
The LED supplied is a wonder of miniaturisation but its light output is too blue for an oil lamp.
The new bulb is one sold for use with a high frequency lighting unit. When it is under-run, its light looks quite like an oil lamp.
I am intrigued by the brass tube seemingly running through the length of the lamp standard. This must have been placed into the mould before the metal was poured around it.
The extension tube is here to help to wed the lamp onto the ground. I would have soldered this into place had I remembered to add it before passing the wire from the bulb through the model.
The model is now on the platform at Heybridge Basin, near the entrance. The cat is sitting where it blends into its surroundings.
The plan is to connect this lamp (and another lamp) through a DC blocking capacitor onto the track. So the scenic lighting can be switched on and off along with the HF coach lighting, with no additional wiring on the layout.
RichardG
Western Thunderer
View attachment 257735
Staying with the fluorescent photo lamp and the translucent brolly (and the lighting rig) for two more photos. The phone camera isn't giving me quite as much DoF as I would really like, witness the coach lamps. But somehow, this doesn't detract. The Minerva paint is wearing away from handling of the loco. The two figures were painted by Dan Evason, the owner of Tunnel Lane Models.
View attachment 257721
A higher viewpoint to show how the colours work together. I like having the soft look all the way through here. The backscene should help me to choose the colours for the cobblestones, these have been in primer for a very long time.
I feel, I have the light under control. There is enough shadow to give depth to the scenes but no shadows falling in unwanted places like onto the backscene.
Time to pack the brolly away and return to the workbench
My diorama of Heybridge Basin has finally gained its backscene, starting here. So now I have the colour palette for the cleanest parts of the scene.
I am still cautious of attempting much weathering but I have had a thought about what I might be trying to represent. This list considers the built environment as well as the locos and stock:
Train speeds will be low so brake dust is at the bottom of the list and only on foreign stock. Locos and coaches will show signs of cleaning.
I'll leave this here while I look at the next model, maybe I have missed something out. I have seen so many exhibition models spoilt by weathering, I would prefer nothing at all unless I can do something believable.
Edits 17 February and 22 February 2026: list refined.
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GER Y14 . . smaller crankpin nuts
RichardG
Western Thunderer
I noticed some red paint on the front coupling hook in my last post and the black Sharpie is still drying
When I built my Y14 I used 10BA screws and nuts for the crankpins. 10BA screws seem like a good idea because there is enough meat in a Slater's wheel centre to tap a 10BA thread and lock the screw in solid. But the 10BA nuts look a bit toylike, not so good.
It is always nice when someone makes a promising suggestion on WT and it works out for me first time. In this case, @Rob Pulham suggested taking 12BA nuts and opening them out to 10BA. So you get the appearance of 12BA fitting and the security of a 10BA crankpin. This is what I have done here.
I used the three-jaw chuck on the lathe to hold the nuts, and the tailstock chuck to hold the tapping drill and the tap. I suppose this guarantees a square and concentric job, but I'm sure a pillar drill would work just as well, with a machine vice to hold the nut and the drive belt removed to cut the thread.
The 10BA nuts have been bugging me for ages and it has taken an easy evening to sort them out and take the photos.
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