Progress on the Barn

I've been using the following photograph as a colour guide for the stone work on the barn. It was taken a few years ago when I was in Cornwall and shows the wall opposite the cottage next to the old track bed at Helland Bridge.

My interpretation below...

After my attempts at representing weathered wood on wagons, I felt I could attempt the barn doors. A different combination of colours was used than those applied to the wagons. This time I started off with a light grey base coat then built up the colours by dry brushing dark grey, followed by Lifecolor's Dark Shade and a few strokes of Bestial Brown.

There is still the roof to get to grips with, along with a little more weathering and tidying up of the rendered walls. I'd also like to add some moss to the roof but at the moment not sure how best to do this?

What is a Cornish Hedge

This is all a little advanced to where I am with this project but as you may have noticed my mind does race ahead of me at times. Anyway I do feel I need to plan ahead a little before I embark on any baseboard construction. I've been considering some of my planned scenic items and how they might affect the baseboards, thoughts have wandered to the lane at the right on the Tredethy Wharf layout.

Last time I was at Hellandbridge I remember the approach down Tredethy Road from Helland being a narrow Cornish lane. Each side of the lane being bordered by typical Cornish hedges and, in places, trees hanging over the road giving a secluded valley feel. But three questions come to mind;
What is a Cornish Hedge?
How is it constructed?
Are the lanes slightly below the surrounding landscape or are they just high hedges?
Hopefully know the answers to the above will help me model one.

While driving along these lanes I've never been that observant, I've probably just been concentrating on not hitting them while avoiding any oncoming traffic. A little research found a couple of interesting web sites that I hope will help me. Nothing will replace good photos (dear partner this is a gentle hint, can we get down there this year?) but these do give details on how the hedges are constructed.

Cornish Hedges Library

Practical Conservation Online

After looking at the above sites I think I can say that, in brief, a typical Cornish hedge is a hybrid between a stone wall and an earth bank. The hedge sides are typically built tapered with an inward curve from the base to half-way up. The top of the hedge is normally about half the width of the bottom. The base is created by placing large stone blocks into the earth and packing them in with sub-soil. The sides are then built using smaller rocks that interlock randomly. When the hedge reachs the required height, the random laying of stones turns into neat rows of square stones called "edgers". To finish, grass is sliced from the ground and stuck on top of the structure with sticks. The internal core of the hedge is earth.

There is a good cross sectional diagram of a Cornish hedge here.

What we see, as we travel along Cornwall's lanes, as a green hedge is the result of years of vegetation growing on/over the base structure.

Well you learn something everyday.........This is what I like about this hobby, it's not just about the railway with its track, locos and rolling stock, it gets you looking at and understanding your surroundings.........

Figures and big wave of nostalgia

After the success of the Bachmann Pannier tank conversion, my thoughts have been turning to detailing and adding that personal touch to the model, adding a loco crew and other bits like fire irons, lamps etc. I'll probably use Springside Models (still available after all these years) for lamps and Fire Irons but I was not sure where to go for the loco crew until I remembered seeing a guy called Aiden (couldn't re-call his surname) at one of the York shows a couple of years ago. He was demonstrating painting techniques and selling white metal figures.

While searching for "Aiden miniature figures" in Google I came across Brian William Knott Fayle's web site. He has painted some very nice figures in O Gauge which compare favourably with a good standard of wargaming figure. I do agree with what he says about figures on layouts and he has also posted a useful page showing his technique. With my other hobby I paint 1:100 scale (TT Gauge) wargaming figures and do try to pick out face detail. Above all else I feel a well painted face on a figure does give it character and bring it to life. Adding shadow detail whether it be just black outlining or shading in darker colours gives a figure depth.

My interpretation of General Major Johann Graf Frimont,

one of my Napoleonic Austrian command figures.

I'm looking forward to upping my painting skills when tackling figures at the slightly larger 1:76 scale.

Though more to the point of this posting ...........While browsing though Brian's site I was firstly impressed by the amount Brian has contributed to the hobby over the years, but when I open the Harlyn Junction page I was hit with a huge wave of nostalgia. I was just thirteen years old when Harlyn Junction appeared in the Railway Modeller. I remember it being one of the first layouts that started to make me think about modelling rather than playing with my train set. The layout oozed atmosphere, being based on Coaley Junction, with attention to detail taken from the actual location, and well worked scenics made the layout really come to life. I think I may still have that well thumbed copy of the Railway Modeller up in the roof..... where's my torch........?

In the end, I did find Aiden's site and eventually his figure catalogue and hope to be placing an order for some of his loco crew figures very soon.........

Walls and Hedges

I'm having to spend some time this Christmas on a wargaming project. Painting some walls and making some hedges. Realising that this is all good practice for the forthcoming layout I thought I could justify posting my efforts.

My wargaming partner painstakingly carved a number of masters out of wax for these walls and from these we created moulds. The walls are then cast using plaster and painted with a number of acrylic colours before the bases are flocked. I'm practicing taking photographs with my girlfriend's camera as my camera has finally given up. The photo above is a little bleached in colour, the walls are a little warmer, but gives a reasonable impression of the finish.

The hedges are simply made from kitchen scouring pads and flocked and stuck on card bases. Wargaming structures do have to be more robust than those seen on a railway layout as they are constantly handled. Which does make me think that this is not the total method I will be using for hedges on the layout but I may use something like this as a base for hedging.

More can be seen at http://miterritorials.co.uk/

Signal Box

Another discovery.......looks like this could be the signal box for Boscarne.

This is a Ratio kit that I started may years ago for what layout I cannot remember. I've also started to fit a Wills Interior kit but not put the instrument shelf in yet. Still got all the extra bits to fit though. One finial is broken but that can happen in real life, so not too bothered about that. I cannot remember how I fashioned the landing nor why but does require finishing and painting.


Hummm......16 lever frames is that enough for Boscarne?

Static Grass fibres

Silflor grass fibres for railway modeling and wargaming

http://www.internationalmodels.net/acatalog/Grass_Fibres.html

The supplier has a stand at the Warley show. I know this is one of the big shows but never ventured over. Will have to check it out to see if it is worth a visit this year.