Hopwood board two

Building the scene
Gradually moving along with the Hopwood build. with board one complete save a few packing case type details and onto the join with board two.

Fitting the bridge
The bridge has been pre-built so unusually I had the foresight to ballast underneath first.  The arches unit went in. The was a slight bow (2mm) upward, but it could have been a lot worse considering the seven end-on butt joints - a little standing and holding both ends down while the glue went off was in order. The bridge slots over the end of these and once this had been waggled around to fit and stuck down, the facia was cut and was glued on. All seems OK at this juncture so board number one can come down and board number three can go up. There's not quite enough room to walk around if all three are up at once.

I feel a whole lot of ballasting coming on.

The Airfix/Dapol parcels depot.

Combining the Dapol canopy and engine shed kits
Pre final detailing a pre sweeping up the excess static grass - but you get the idea. L-R: Wills sheet, Parkside van, Dapol engine shed and canopy, Peco platform, code 100 track, buffer stop, static grass and ballast. Nothing you can't pick up from a model shop. The figures are a mystery and came out of the tin (a real tobacco tin! Proper stuff.) one might be a Model Scene the other is whitemetal.
It's a bit of a contrived scene - I'm never convinced by the long siding in front of the FY, but then that was the requirement.

Death by Airfix

Hopwood's parcels depot needed to be steam age - apparently. So has become an homage to Michael Andress in many ways. The main structure is an Airfix engine shed sliced down its middle and re-built end to end. The doors have been sliced and added to suggest open sliders. The lamps have been used though are barely visible now. The canopy (which is magically cantilevered at the ends) uses the Airfix platform canopy kit valancing variously chopped about - the girder pieces are behind with a piece of plasticard on top.  The whole lot sits in, and on, the remains of Peco setrack platform sections. In other words there is nothing here that couldn't have been built from the same bits in 1975 and most of it as far back as 1959. Regulars will know that this sort of ancient bodgery appeals and I can't see that it will stop here. Incidentally the cost of all this is probably around £18 and I still have bits left over.

Sunday signal box

 Ropley on the Mid Hants.

A shed for Hopwood

The last of the Hopwood main buildings and possibly the simplest; a faceless industrial to stop the eye at the end of the parcels line. A shimmy into Kernow Guildford last weekend picked up some Wills asbestos sheet and this seemed like a good place to use it. A little research flagged up the often lack of guttering on these buildings and the L shaped roof edging; presumably to stop damage. These were made up from folded 5mm wide strips of 10 thou. Faceless and featureless.

Hopwood gets a facia

Moving this project on despite some misgivings with brickwork. I thought it best to concentrate on one end, so finished the FY which is a zig-zag of MDF followed up by a facia board of same. This was glued, weighted and a few small screws added at certain possible 'rip' points like corners. Note that as was suggested today that I didn't have time to collect together my rare books to use as weights to prove what a worthy railway study buff I am, and just grabbed a couple of toolboxes.

The boards are slightly smaller than I would normally go for at 900mm long. This doesn't mean that by the time all the MDF backscene material is added that they are any easier to lift  - I can happily stand on this one with all the box section engineering.

Global Rail model railway exhibition

Up to deepest Oxfordshire for what is now a regular trip to the German Railway Society's Global Rail. Not without its drama - the organisers were informed at 3 o'clock on Friday that the venue was double booked and therefore they'd lost a third of the floor space. A few items were cancelled and the rooms re-jigged. If I didn't have some prior knowledge of this I wouldn't have noticed. The only thing missing for me (and I'm probably not the target audience) is a kits and bits trader and the required Wills sheet and point were purchased at Kernow Models on the return trip.
My downside of the day was getting a cup of hot tea thrown over me by a wind-blown curtain. Still, an excellent showing of all things non-British. If you fancy something a little different, Alan Monk and the team put on a great show with a twist. Make an effort to take a look next year.
Show: 8
Catering; a grumpy 6 even though bacon rolls were available
Rucksacks: 4

The sooty walls of Hopwood

There is a lot of Wills sheet in this so far and I'm not finished with it yet. 6' feet of arches and more at the end with a girder bridge thrown in for good measure. This is the biggest job by far and a damn sight more time consuming than throwing a layer of flock down. It needs a wash of mortar colour and all the details put on - to be honest you could spend half your life modelling all the details on urban railway arches, perhaps a CND insignia somewhere would break it up.

Tal-y-llyn gunpowder store

The TR gunpowder store build in this month's RM.

Hiding the Fiddle Yard

With the main boards wired, which took longer than anticipated due to me adding stuff that wasn't asked for, a bit of track painting using the Chris Nevard technique of 2-3 colours of Halfords spray. This is fast, especially compared to my usual hand painting which would have taken all day. On to the FY board with a short tail siding in the front. Not my favourite shape of track layout, but I'm running with it. The main issue is the multi- angled sky boards which have to be in four pieces to get to the other end. The bridge/exit is the last of the main builds and again I'm adding complication by using up the last of the Wills arches to make the first bridge section shown, followed by a section of vari-girder to take it to the back.

Hopwood moves centre stage

And so the week flew by. Another leapfrog project, but one which is destined for publication only. Well that's the idea anyway, though I may sneak it out to a couple of shows in the near future. The bottom line is that there is a deadline (when isn't there?) and I have to have this bastard child of Newcastle Haymarket and Minories done by late August at the latest. Names are important and it started with a working title of Cyril Square, but has now morphed into something non-specific...Hopwood. The brief is lots of RTR stuff from the catalogues suitable for the novice so insufrogs and code 100, Peco, Dapol and Wills structures and a White Rose supplied baseboard kit.

DEMU Showcase 2019

The second annual trip up to the Midlands to the DEMU Showcase and I can see this becoming a regular event. It's a longish  run, especially with a detour to Gatwick beforehand. The primary reaction was that there was a real buzzy excitement in the room (possibly what was missing last week). Highlights were Kier Hardy's Hornsey which is just epic, but could be a little more intense with the running, and the ex Futers/Nevard Dalnottar Riverside now owned by the SEG which is just about as perfect as a compact O gauge layout could be. They were muttering about extensions... don't.
The room was not ideal, but was a last minute choice as the usual Burton Town Hall isn't now big enough and their second choice pulled the plug. There was plenty of big hitting trade in the room as well as a lot of the usual smaller traders. An excellent day rounded of with the café over the road which is err…. unique.
Show: 9
Catering 3< 9
Rucksacks a strong 5

Bachmann Baldwin

My task yesterday was to get the Baldwin finished. Figures were the first problem as the period shots show drivers who are roughly the same height as the doorway, i.e. 5'6" so the more modern Monty's and Modelu were out and it was back to some thinned out Merit men. The rest was painting with three colours a cheap brush and a cotton bud. The missing steam pipes have been added along with a lamp and the usual bucket.
I could keep fiddling, but that'll do for now.