Board #2 in place

Board #2 has been finished and is now in place, though it wasn't plain sailing. Although i measured everything up beforehand i forgot to take into account how un-straight all the walls are in my house! The gap between the opposing walls is slightly narrower next to the window than it is a few centimetres away. The board just fits, and indeed is such a tight fit my original plan to put in wall brackets has changed as it doesn't really need them, resting nicely atop too bookcases and wedged in tight!

I've put down some OO track for clearance and testing though i am thinking than plan A which was for HOe is more realistic. I need more track for that though... and a new controller however pretty much everything else i already have. If i did go for OO it would need to be a tiny MPD or engineering siding layout and all of my OO stock (if it still works) would be a bit incongruous. So i think HOe is a more affordable option. The beauty of my new board construction is though that the layout sits atop a foam board layer stapled to the hardboard below. So in theory it would be pretty easy to reuse the board at some stage.

Skyhawk

Project #072 is a Douglas Skyhawk and is coming along well. I am using acrylic paints for the first time with this model not enamel. It seems ok so far so i may switch over to acrylics as my enamels get used up.

Layout #2

I built the board for the second layout today, it is an end-to-end board which will fit under the window. Construction was similar to Knell Lane, a wood frame but i used hardboard instead of MDF for the top (mostly because i had some available which was the right width). I'm thinking of having a layer of foam board on top of this which will be what the layout will sit on.

Now for the big surprise, i think i might go OO with this new layout. I quite fancy an MPD or engineering yard layout with the back line being behind a screen and being the fiddle yard. I still have some work to do on the board anyway but we might be able to start developing something pretty soon. Here my Class 73 and a NSE coach have been used for size testing. I'm not sure if any of my legacy OO fleet will actually run anymore though i guess we'll just have to see.

Signalling

Knell Lane has some signals at last, 2 colour light signals have been added to the station, a semaphore is currently under construction and will be added later. Now the colour signals do actually work though i haven't wired them up for now...

Playing around with slow-mo!

I've been playing around with the slow-motion video mode on my smart phone, the results are quite cool. Here is the CEP passing through the level crossing.

DVII

Project #071, a Fokker DVII, has now been completed and is looking pretty good. It is only my 4th model kit project of the year though there have been quite a few kits and other modelling done on the railway and time is not an infinite resource... I will do at least 1 more this year though not sure what yet as none of my pending projects appeal so i'll have to go and buy something else!

Decision made

It has been decided to just run one of the Lima 31s, with the other being used for spares. The better runner has been chosen which as a bonus has working couplings. The body shell and part of the bogie has been transferred from the other 31 so far, the electric pickup wires to the engine have also been replaced. This is how it ran before the work began so hopefully there will be an improvement...