An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part fourteen

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 load of bits for the layout. Starting on the left, a small pot made from the Italeri Field Kit, then a sheet of metal modelled from a piece of plastic card both have been painted in a weathered and rusted metal colour using a Vallejo Charred Brown and Hot Orange mix applied with an old and rather decrepit brush. The wooden packing case is a modified Reaper Bones box/crate with a Milliput sack added to the top at the side is another oil can made from a pen top. The handle is made from more aluminium strip, this time painted green with a simple paper label glued to the side. On the right we have a galvanised metal water tank which is scratch-built from plastic card. It was inspired by a similar water tank that I saw and sketched while visiting Avoncroft Museum in Bromsgrove earlier in the year. The sides were distorted after heating the model over a gas cooking ring then pressing the plastc with a bamboo skewer. It was painted with acrylic colours and matt varnished. The rusted wheel set is from a Peco kit while the larger metal beam to the front is a section of Plaststruct H section, it and the plastic tube (found in the bits box) are painted with the Charred Brown and Hot Orange mix as detailed above. I have then used some Humbrol Rust weathering powder (AV0008) on the rusted items. This is lightly brushed on with a fan-shaped brush that I keep just for this purpose.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part thirteen

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.

Many of these scratch-built models were built while sitting in the shed and listening to the World Cup on the radio. I found that these simple and easily made pieces of clutter were the perfect accompaniment to the many hours of radio coverage and the hot dry weather. Today's post is a water carrier which was inspired by one I had seen on The Severn Valley Railway. It was built from a section of plastic tubing, wheels from a 1:43.5 scale tractor model and bits from the spares box. The handles were made from some spare aluminium sheeting which was curved around a paint pot and glued in place with superglue.

Painting was done with acrylic paints and dark washes. I varnished the whole model with a mix of Matt and Gloss varnishes while the weathering was done with a graphite pencil rubbed around the edges and some watercolour pencils.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part twelve

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.

Today's post is a real mix and match of items from various sources. The oil drum is from the Italeri Field Workshop kit No. 04195 that I picked up from e-bay. It was painted with acrylic paints. The rusted oil container was 'turned' on my Black and Decker hand drill from a section of knitting needle and detailed with various pieces of plastic card and plastic rod. It was also painted with acrylic paints. The iron beam was modelled from a balloon stick, the plastic stick that is given away free when balloons are given to children and cost me nothing I modified the X section to be a T section and cut it to length. Similar Plastistruct profiles can cost over £2.00 a length so looking out for suitable plastic profiles is well worth it. The final item is a watering can which was 'scratch-built' from a section of pen barrel, some plastic card and plastic rod and pieces of sheet aluminium. It was painted in metallic greys to represent a galvanised watering can and when varnished, I used a graphite pencil to add some metallic sheen to the edges.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part eleven

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.

This warehouse trolley was scratch-built from various thicknesses of plastic card following a design I saw on the TV programme Salvage Hunters. The trolley was used in a fabric manufacturers/dyers and as I sat watching, I quickly sketched details on a scrap of paper. The only addition or change from the original were the four lifting lugs, one on each corner. The wheels were sections of knitting needles cut into discs and sanded smooth. The metal strapping was more (thinner) plastic card.

Painting was built up over a dark brown basecoat with lighter highlights brush painted with acrylic paints. The plank effect was done by applying washes over the textured plastic card sides while the metalwork was painted in a dark brown/black colour with a fine brush.

The model was varnished with Galleria Matt Varnish before I applied metal highlights with a graphite pencil.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part ten

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.

This time two resin oil drums - the European style oil drums with heavy central rolling bands. The models are resin casts of originals sculpted by me, for details see this post. Both have been aged or dented by attacking with a Dremel burr prior to painting. The rear drum has a Milliput two part epoxy sack added to the top. This was made from some spare Milliput I had left over after working on another project, I find that 'spare' Milliput can always be modelled into something like a sack or a canvas bag rather than thrown away.

Painting was done with acrylic paints and washes. Both were varnished with Galleria Matt Varnish before I used a graphite pencil to add a metallic sheen to the edges. The small oil stain was done with black and dark brown acrylic paint added to KLEAR floor polish.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part nine

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.

Here you can see one of the largest pieces of clutter I have made for the narrow gauge layout, a steel oil tank. The model was based on an oil storage container that I had seen in Upton-on-Severn in Worcestershire it is built from plastic card around some LEGO bricks with detail from more plastic card, plastic rod and a couple of cut-down pen tops used as vents. The brick base was constructed from green foam, the brick pattern inscribed on with a scalpel and the point of a sharp pencil. It was painted with acrylic paints with much weathering. I chose to paint it red rather than the more usual green.

To the side you can see a large resin barrel that was sculpted by me (details can be found in earlier posts). The metal wheel was from a 1:43.5 scale tractor that was picked up in a local charity shop while the pipe is a section of pen barrel.

Tony

An Industrial Narrow Gauge Adventure - Adding Clutter part eight

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.

This latest update shows some more additions. Firsts, we have scaffolding poles; cut from 1.5mm plastic rod with the ends drilled out. I chose 10 foot long poles, but I am aware that these poles came in different lengths. They are painted in various rust/metallic colours and matt varnished.

The large metal pipe is a section of spare pen barrel which has also been painted in rust colours and matt varnished.

The additional pieces of clutter are; a wooden barrel (actually one of the cast resin barrels that I sculpted and have spoken about in earlier posts). Then there is a another enamel container (another item sculpted by me and available as a resin cast) it was painted white and gloss varnished. The small pot is a modified pen top with a florist wire  handle while the re-railing ramp was made from plastic card and follows a design I found on the Internet.

Details of the wooden barrel and enamel pot can be found here.

Tony