Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Full Steam Ahead

Okay so I might have lied a bit when I said in my previous post that it would be the last time, for a while, that I would feature this section of the layout because, yes, here it is again!

Well, I'm sorry, but I simply could not resist posting this photograph that I took a while ago of Hornby's Duchess Class "City of Sheffield" (NÂș: 46249) thundering across the viaduct at the head of a steam special. I also thought that it would be a good opportunity to prove to you that the layout is most certainly NOT a steam-free zone.

This particular model was the first steam locomotive that Hornby produced with sound and, since we definitely did want a couple of steam locos to haul the occasional special, we decided to add it to our fleet. Unfortunately the sound was not brilliant and we were unhappy with its performance so we have since sold her in order to acquire a Black Five with lights and smoke etc and I will be featuring that loco in a future posting.
As for the landscaping under the viaduct, it is not quite finished but it is largely complete. We still have a bit more work to do on the stream to make it look as if it is fast flowing rather than the tranquil waters that you see here.
To create the stream we used several layers of Woodland Scenics Realistic Water (WC1211), laying down a thin layer at a time over several days after, first, adding the rocks, stones and plants to the bed of the stream. Actually I think we have probably made it deeper than is ideal for this product since it is recommended that the maximum depth should be no more than 1/8th" and we have probably gone to almost twice that depth - oops! Maybe that is why it looks a bit cloudy in places but, hopefully, the application of Woodland Scenics Water Effects (WC1212) on top, to create some fast flowing rapids and churning water, should help mask this.

In mitigation, it is our first attempt at water modelling and, actually, it does not look too bad, so long as you don't get too close!

When it is complete I will (might) post a picture on the blog so that you can see just how good (or bad) it looks! 

2 comments:

  1. The viaduct looks great especially with that backdrop and the steam.

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  2. Yes, the viaduct doesn't look too bad. The steam is good as is the stream, so long as you don't look too closely.

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