An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part five

Regular followers of this Blog will know that I have been working on an industrial narrow gauge railway layout built to 1:27.7 scale or 11mm = 1 foot. The choice of such an unusual scale has meant that much if not all items needed for the layout have had to be heavily modified and/or converted from existing models, completely 'scratch built' or sculpted by me.

In a series of clutter themed posts which are planned to run throughout August I will demonstrate what materials I have used to model such items and how I have painted these various pieces of 'clutter' which will at some stage be added to the finished layout.

The last lot of Schweppes boxes have been finished. These four were a little bit different to the earlier boxes as two were modelled as open boxes while the remaining two are intended to be placed on their side rather than standing upright. They have been painted in the same way as the earlier models, acrylic paint highlighted by drybrushing and finished with washes.

The square oil container was modelled from layers of 3mm thick plastic card with the cone top sanded to shape and a plastic rod screw top superglued in place before being painted red. The label on the front was cut from the Waitrose wine and spirit guide - a great resource for small labels and posters and free.

This final image shows all 14 Schweppes wooden boxes. My intention is to have them placed on the layout as clutter, stacked up against the wooden fence or along the brick wall. They have been great fun to build and to paint while listening to The World Cup football matches on the radio and enjoying the warm weather in the garden shed.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part four

Regular followers of this Blog will know that I have been working on an industrial narrow gauge railway layout built to 1:27.7 scale or 11mm = 1 foot. The choice of such an unusual scale has meant that much if not all items needed for the layout have had to be heavily modified and/or converted from existing models, completely 'scratch built' or sculpted by me.

In a series of clutter themed posts which are planned to run throughout August I will demonstrate what materials I have used to model such items and how I have painted these various pieces of 'clutter' which will at some stage be added to the finished layout.

Moving away from wooden boxes and oil drums, in this latest post I am showing some wooden planks and a couple of small oil cans.

Firstly, the planks. I Googled UK scaffolding planks and scaled them down to 1:27.7 before cutting them from some 1.5mm thick scrap wood (wood used as packing cases for fruit or vegetables). I added some subtle graining by rubbing with sandpaper before adding the metal strips to each end. The metal strips were cut from a metal/aluminium food container (the sort that you get your Chinese take-away in). The metal strips were glued in place with superglue and then painted - actually dyed. I used a very weak dirty wash to add some aged colour to the wooden planks before masking the ends to add the colour-coded end strips and paint spills. I think they look great and will make more.

Secondly, the oil cans. The smaller can was turned on my Black & Decker electric hand drill from a plastic rod I had in my 'spares box'. The detailing is a simple dress makers pin for the plunger and a strip of aluminium tray bent up as the handle. It is painted dark green/blue with gloss black oil runs. The second oil can, more of an oil kettle was made from the top of a pen (the plunger) with plastic card detailing and more aluminium strips as the banding and a bent florists wire handle. It was painted in a well worn rust colour mixed from Vallejo Game Color Charred Brown and Hot Orange. The paint was stippled on with an old brush before being washed with a flesh wash from Games Workshop.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part three

Regular followers of this Blog will know that I have been working on an industrial narrow gauge railway layout built to 1:27.7 scale or 11mm = 1 foot. The choice of such an unusual scale has meant that much if not all items needed for the layout have had to be heavily modified and/or converted from existing models, completely 'scratch built' or sculpted by me.

In a series of clutter themed posts which are planned to run throughout August I will demonstrate what materials I have used to model such items and how I have painted these various pieces of 'clutter' which will at some stage be added to the finished layout.

Another day, another update. A couple more Schweppes wooden boxes painted in a slightly fresher wood colour, a wooden packing case which is a plastic model from Reaper Bones and originally intended for 1/56th wargame figures which was painted in the same colour. Then an oil can modelled from a section of knitting needle, some plastic rod and a piece of metal foil for the handle painted blue and varnished with gloss varnish. Finally, a resin oil drum that was sculpted by me and then cast in resin by Hysterical Games. I painted it grey with a darker wash before varnishing.

Details of the resin oil drum and how it was made can be found here.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part two

Regular followers of this Blog will know that I have been working on an industrial narrow gauge railway layout built to 1:27.7 scale or 11mm = 1 foot. The choice of such an unusual scale has meant that much if not all items needed for the layout have had to be heavily modified and/or converted from existing models, completely 'scratch built' or sculpted by me.

In a series of clutter themed posts which are planned to run throughout August I will demonstrate what materials I have used to model such items and how I have painted these various pieces of 'clutter' which will at some stage be added to the finished layout.

In part two you can see some more Schweppes boxes, a resin barrel and a petrol or oil can. The boxes were scratch-built as detailed in the earlier post and painted in the same way but with a slightly different colour palette of darker brown and an orange brown before being washed with a dark flesh wash and matt varnished. The wooden barrel was a resin casting from my spares box and originally intended to go with some 40mm metal figures. I painted it in a slightly darker black/brown colour with dark metal banding which was accentuated with a graphite pencil to add a metallic shine after varnishing. The petrol can was scratch built from a knitting needle which was turned in the chuck of an electric hand drill. I used a variety of different tools to carve the shape before polished the plastic with some fine abrasive paper. Detailing was added from sticky-pack labels and plastic card/rod. It was painted with acrylic red paint and washed with a dark brown/black wash before being varnished. I have used the graphite pencil to once again add a metallic sheen to the egdes.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part one

Regular followers of this Blog will know that I have been working on an industrial narrow gauge railway layout built to 1:27.7 scale or 11mm = 1 foot. The choice of such an unusual scale has meant that much if not all items needed for the layout have had to be heavily modified and/or converted from existing models, completely 'scratch built' or sculpted by me.

In a series of clutter themed posts which are planned to run throughout August I will demonstrate what materials I have used to model such items and how I have painted these various pieces of 'clutter' which will at some stage be added to the finished layout.

The first of this series of Blog posts relates to the wooden boxes. The as yet un-named layout will portray a chemical works alongside a canal and I wanted to add some boxes as clutter. I looked at Shell Motor Oil container boxes, but in the end decided to copy Schweppes soda syphon boxes (as can be seen in the last image).

The boxes were made in bulk from a couple of strips of thick plastic card (the sort of plastic that advertising signs are made from) then cut into small box shapes 13.3mm wide x 9mm deep and 12.9mm high. The surface detailing was done with sandpaper and scoring with a scalpel. The hand holes and locking hole was drilled-out with a Dremel and a pinvice while the wooden supports and lid were more plastic card glued in place with superglue.

In this third image you can see the sketches and a completed box. The image is taken from my project book which is crammed full of sketches, plans and images. I will post more on this in a later update.

Painting was done in batches. The first five being basecoated in dark brown before being drybrushed in a dark brown/Ochre mix and then washed in a dark flesh wash. Detailing was picked out in black with a silver highlight and the OSO logo was added with Letraset white letters.

I will give details of the oil barrel in a later post.

Tony

More Wargame Terrain Book - limited copies left

Following a number of recent orders. I can confirm that there are now only 5 copies of Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No. 2 - More Wargame Terrain left. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this self-published, limited edition book at the reduced price of just £12.50 (plus post and packaging) see this link.

Please note Dampfpanzerwagon Guide No. 3 - Models For Wargamers is also available at the reduced price of £12.50 (plus post and packaging). For details see this link or use the Models For Wargamers tab to the right.

Thank you.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter

Resin castings of some scratch built items of 'clutter' sculpted by me. 

for more information see this post.

In a recent magazine article I read the following. "Clutter can add interest but you must not overdo it." In these posts I hope to disprove the statement and push the boundaries on just how much clutter is too much.

Regular followers of this Blog will know that I have been working on an industrial narrow gauge railway layout built to 1:27.7 scale or 11mm = 1 foot. The choice of such an unusual scale has meant that much if not all items needed for the layout have had to be heavily modified and/or converted from existing models, completely 'scratch built' or sculpted by me.

In a series of clutter themed posts which are planned to run throughout August I will demonstrate what materials I have used to model such items and how I have painted these various pieces of 'clutter' which will at some stage be added to the finished layout.

Tony