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Our Model > Progress >
2010 Progress -
Year
nine >
Q1 2010 was really a continuation of the
tree/woodland making that started in the last quarter of 2009. Here
are more photos of the woodland - now pretty much complete. A
separate page shows the techniques used which, although not radically different
from most, have a bit of a hairy twist! The trees do transform the appearance of
the layout.
Between May and July we moved to new premises, still in Birkenhead, where we are fortunate to have our own room a little smaller than in our old premises. Despite this, progress was now good because we were committed to exhibit Mauch Chunk at the [end of] October Exhibition. Although not 'finished' it needed to be reasonably complete. First the move. The layout was dismantled -
this proved surprisingly easy and the boards were lighter than we expected
which, as we are getting older, was a pleasant finding. Here in the original
clubhouse prior to the move.... ...and in the new clubhouse afterwards
before moving into our new room. We (all) painted the walls and then started
to clear the mess into the right rooms and then made ourselves at home. As there
is now much less room we put shelves behind the layout for all the modelling
tools and materials. Our pictures and plans are once again on the wall. Everyone lent a hand (Dave and Paul below)
to work on the sidewalks and final bedding down of the buildings. Paul and Chris
also fixed the spur in front of the Hooven Mercantile building. Having settled in in our new room, and putting down the rest of the sidewalks. Next was the roadway. This was made with a material we know in the UK as 'Artex filler'. Artex was used back in the 1970s for creating swirling patterns on ceilings and walls but has now fallen out of fashion. It is a soft, flexible plaster with 'higlights' which can be rewetted at any time and lightly reworked. In this case it was mixed with black acrylic paint to get various shades of grey. Although the surface was rough when first
laid after a few days of drying (our room is rather damp). the surface can be
rubbed with fingers to give a smooth surface, and additional layers can be
painted on and reworked in a few hours. As the material hardened, drain covers
and kerb grills were pushed into it (for later painting). Meanwhile, Paul and Chris started to get
the front panels and lighting supports ready. Unfortunately, because of time
constraints, we had to use a central support at the front which broke the
panorama. The first picture below shows the addition of an unpainted backscene
and the second shows the layout with only the layout lighting on. Steve Painted the back panels assuming an angle of view that proved to be inconsistent with other perspectives but, hey, it worked on the day! These panels were only temporary for the exhibition, so he can have another go. The park was 'turfed' with static grass
using our Noch GrasMaster and four trees were added using the previously
described techniques. Finally we started to dismantle the layout to take the
boards to the show! At the exhibition the layout, although
still clearly not finished ran well and looked good - we won the visitors' cup
(voted for by the public). |
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