Ballast it!

The layout is starting to look better, I've started the ballasting and added more buildings but there's plenty still to do.

The Kato ballast doesn't go far, 2 bags emptied and probably another 2 needed but it looks good and matches the track perfectly.

The Kestrel kits are still keeping me busy too....when my back isn't up to much else I can get a few kits stuck together then paint them when I have another 10 minutes to spare....the 'secret' with Kestrel kits is not to put the windows in until you've painted the walls, this saves loads of time scraping paint off the window frames.

I've also been adding to my loco collection with a class 31 in BR green and a 212 in old style BR blue.....both from different eras but as the layout isn't era specific I don't suppose it matters.

Oh and in case anyone thought I was experimenting with a 'post hurricane' look.....

 

This is actually just to hold the street lights in position while the glue dries! :0)

I'm totally wired

Finally getting round to connecting the street lights

I'm using a Bachmann controller to run them connected directly to a piece of Peco track....a bit messy still but they seem to be working ok...

 

 

Just 4 more to go and I'm done.

Building work in progress

My Kestrel kits arrived.....

So I could start to plan out the rest of the layout

   I've opted for a 'modular' system of dioramas with gaps between them for a road and pathway system, the latest section is a small row of bungalows with a park at the end.....

  .....it still needs a bit of finishing off and some extra scenery/fencing adding but it's looking good so far(even if I do say so myself!). I've cut out the polystyrene sections for the next 2 parts which will be utilising Kestrel 4 house units.....

    .........then the final sections will have shops and maybe some office buildings or industrial units depending on what is available.

I've also added the first 7 working street lights. I intend to have 16 street lights in all(they're supplied in packs of 8 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181070791329?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649  ), I got some 8 core cable from ebay which should make things a lot easier with fewer untidy wires under the board ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160709750546?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 ).

Don't fence me in.

I need a fair amount of wire fencing for my layout, it is available on ebay but it's not cheap so I decided to make my own.

 I got some of this

                                             http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120985997111


and some cocktail sticks which I cut in half and painted grey.....

 

 

 

My original plan was to attach the 'posts' to the fencing with twisted wire but I quickly found it was very time consuming and not very effective so I used the modellers answer to everything...PVA glue....and I ended up with these.....

 

 

 

which are perfect for my needs and work out at around 15p per 8" strip which is considerably cheaper than the £1.75 per 9" strip on Ebay!! If you turn the mesh sheet sideways you can make bits of fence up to 12" long, it bends easily,  retains it's shape and it looks like this in situ....

Time for a bit of decorating

Wilkinsons 75cl sample pots really are a bargain at £1 each!

 While I'm waiting for my Kestrel kits to arrive I thought I may as well get on with a bit of paintwork and scenery colouring, I've painted a line of grey along the side of the track as a base for the ballasting, glued down some thin cardboard which will bring the station platforms up to the correct height....

.......and I've started to paint the polystyrene 'fields' and 'hills' green with a covering of Javis scatter material to add texture.....wait for the paint to dry then spray on a decent amount of scenic cement to stop all the scatter from falling off.

    I used a bit of sellotape to mask off the areas which will be pathways or have buildings on them, I just need to paint the edges in a muddy brown colour, paint the paths/building areas then add some trees and shrubbery.

Can you tell what it is yet?

So I'm nearly 50, it's about time I started playing with toys again!

    Some years ago I had an N gauge layout that I lovingly created and spent all my spare cash on so I was gutted when scumbag burglars decided to smash it up and stamp on my locos and wagons. This disheartened me and I gave up playing with trains but promised myself I would start another layout once I reached 50....that's only 3 months away.

From this....

 I don't have a huge amount of space(or money for that matter!) but I decided to get the largest baseboard I could squeeze into the spare room and ended up with  a 5ft 5" X 3ft MDF topped beastie which is probably a touch too big but I'll work round it.

To this....

Despite my natural ineptitude at all things DIY related(I'm a firm believer in the principle that if a job's worth doing....it's worth getting someone who knows what they're doing to do it!) I managed to build the framework and fix the MDF to it with nails and glue.

To this.

  I recently purchased an entire layouts worth of track, locos, wagons, buildings, coaches, scenery and just about anything else needed to build a layout so I got all the Peco Setrack out and started working out what track configurations I could fit onto my baseboard. After several hours(and several rest periods!!) I could take no more, I have a painful spine condition so bending over the board and trying various track variations really took its toll. I needed an option which would make things easier for me so I scoured the net and discovered Kato Unitrack.....the answer to my problem?...well hopefully but certainly not a cheap answer.

Out with the old

  As mentioned above I have a large amount of n gauge items so I went through the boxes to see what I wouldn't be using on my layout, I listed the first batch on eBay and made enough money to buy some Unitrack, an assortment of Kestrel kits and some other 'necessary' items such as DC extension leads, scenic cement, a Lydle End bungalow(which looks remarkably like the bungalow I live in!) a Gaugemaster scenic background and some Kato ballast which I must say really does match the colouring of the track base perfectly.

  Armed with my assorted easy to use Kato track I set about the track configuration options experimentation again and despite plenty of help from the good people at the N Gauge Forum( http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/ ) I decided on a slighty unconventional big loop with a 'cut through' track and a line end station stop(see photo below)

 

 

 Next job is to start making it look less like an empty board and more like a model railway, I have quite a few small sheets of polystyrene so I measured them up....

 

 

....and cut them to fit with a hot knife....the secret is don't let the knife get too hot or it will just melt the polystyrene but don't let it get too cold either or the polystyrene will break....practice makes perfect.

 Polystyrene is great for 'building' on and easy to stick things to or into such as fences, this is the area I will be placing a 'town' with a mixture of terraced houses, semi detached houses, bungalows and some shops..... I just have to wait for the Kestrel kits to arrive!!.