Friday, September 27, 2013

September Update

 
 
It has been awhile since I have made an update. In my last blog post I had just completed laying all the yard in Coolamine and I have since started adding the scenery. I have been painting the rail using a woodland scenic paint pen and have painted individual ties with a selection of brown and grey paints.  I have covered the ground using my usual mix of Celluclay mixed with paint as a base and I then sift on dry tile grout using two different colours, a beige and a burnt ash. I am yet to add any foliage and I will probably wait until I have put soil on the entire yard.
 
 
I have also added some weathering to my rolling stock just using an air brush to lightly mist on some dust & grime. I need to do more but for the time being it is a good start.
 
 
I have also installed the Tam Valley servo to control a turnout and I am very impressed. It was quick and easy to install and I think excellent value for money. I was about to order enough servo's to fit out the entire yard when I had my budget derailed. I visited the exhibition at Caulfield which was very enjoyable but the most exciting thing to happen for sometime in Australian narrow gauge modelling was sitting in a cabinet on the Brunel Hobbies stand.
 
Haskell Co from Taiwan are producing an On30 model of the Na loco used by the Victorian narrow gauge system and still running today on Puffing Billy. A sample was on display and I was lucky enough to have a very close look at the pilot model. It has a good level of detail and it has been designed to fit a Loksound dcc decoder for authentic sound. I have placed an order for two hence the impact on the budget. Hopefully they should be available soon.

 
Gordon Gravett has been at it again, writing another book about his excellent scenery techniques. Modelling Grasslands arrived in my mailbox last week and it is a must have for any modeller that wants realistic grass on their layout. He also talks about soil, mud, roads and water and I bought my copy from The Titfield Thunderbolt bookstore

 

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