Blueprints: Wellsworth Station

Wellsworth is the town on Sodor known as the stopping point at Edward's station before tackling Gordon Hill. These are measured drawings for the station buildings measured to be constructed in HO/OO Scale.

The model set built for Wellsworth was one of the first stations to premiere in the TV series of Thomas and Friends, and one of the most remembered as Edward's home from the Railway Series, the starting point for his coastal branchline to the seas at Brendam Docks. This is one of my favorite stations, and a great choice for Hornby's Scaledale and possibly even for Bachmann's new range of cast resin structures for their Thomas range!

Researching from photographs and video clips, I thought I would measure out drawings to make  the station's structures from scratch. The building seen above is the first station building, with a ticket office and waiting room. It has two floors, with a storage room in one half of the first floor for luggage, baggage equipment, and mail.

This is drawn to scale in centimeters. I like using a steel ruler to draw each measurement on the building, from the window panes to the width of the walls, using a 0.7mm technical pencil, with a Col-Erase pencil from Prismacolor for rendering the textures and shadows.

Here is the second station building with a waiting room. David Mitton's modeling team used this building without the rain canopy to double as Ffarquar station on Thomas' branch line in the TV Series. This station including Wellsworth had white windows, doors and canopies, which in newer seasons have been repainted hunter green when the cast resin model was refurbished and painted for season 6 onwards. At the back of this building, piles of ties and lumber along with tools are stored, where the track runs behind the station to Edward's big freight yard.

"Slate Quarry," Walls & Sheds

So on my desk you can see a few new things I've arranged for you to see for today... including some wooden wagons I scratch-built from balsa wood for Prince's quarry train. They have the garden ballast I use for the large-scale Lego tracks for the Skarloey Railway.

This is one of two retaining walls, made from foam-core wrapped in Bazzill Basics cardstock, and painted with Plaid FolkArt and Apple Barrel acrylic paints. I also used balsa strips for the semi-columns and the cap running on top, with strips of thicker card folded over to give the illusion of individually placed blocks.

I was also in the middle of making an open-aired shed for this scale, so it could be in the slate quarry sidings and other scenes. It will have the A-frames and roof, shingled in card for the corrugated metal roof, and painted green and weathered.

Tool Sheds #2: Platelayers Hut

A newly completed plate-layer's hut at Tidmoth's Shunting Yards! This was a nice building to make, taking only a day to construct it and weather it, with a few nice accessories to share for this post.

For this tool shed, I wanted to make a building that could add interest in the yard. In addition to  experimenting more with my mix of brick colors, and adding a sloped gable-overhang to the shingled roof, I wanted to make some eye-catching details. In these pictures, I added posters on the sides, one for a notice and a timetable, each with cream paper and hunter green trim. I have them attached with rolled scotch tape so I could rearrange them.

I am especially happy with making these scratch-built fire buckets! At yards and stations, they are full of ether sand or water to put out fires or for other emergencies. I rolled a thin strip of card-stock around a brush handle and glued it to make the side of the bucket, then glued on a thin strip for the lip of the bucket, and the handles. I also glued it on a strip of paper and cut it for the base.

Two of the buckets are hung onto the wall of the shed with painted toothpick ends. One of the separate buckets on the ground has its handles down, and for the other bucket, its handle is up for these workmen to use! 

For this shed, those red buckets and signs add a nice spark of color that can be pleasing to look at on the layout, and these small details give buildings their own character and charm.

Until next time!

Brendam Docks Layout Plans

These are some drawings of a layout for Brendam Docks! If I was to make a huge layout, for this section of Sodor, these are a few sections of how I would like to see Brendam Modeled.

Carefully observing how the scenes were filmed on the dioramas of Brendam for Thomas' TV Series in seasons 2 - 10, I tried combining them together into one whole section of the main port, where you can see Cranky, the Sidings, the Unloading Bays in front of the Sodor Shiping Co. Building, and even the Passenger Unloading Dock where Evening Star is a welcome visitor. There is also the Ballast Unloading Dock, with its nearby open air shed, factory buildings, The Supply Shed, and a few other sheds, one by the sidings, by Cranky, and at the end of the quay.

The whole site is dotted with cranes, cargo, and sidings. I have modeled a couple of versions of this location a few times, yet as I come back to the TV series, even the Railway Series, I find intriguing details and beautiful shots I can draw to remember for the next time I model a layout. That is the beauty of making temporary dioramas! You can change or redo any location.

I found some beautiful photographs of the Ramsgate Harbor Railway Station, and a few models of the terminus on flickr, I thought it would be nice to draw Brendam's Passenger Station, seen in a few shots from seasons 2 - 4, just made up of Knapford's building props. This drawing has platforms for buses to pick up and drop off passengers, many benches on the quay for the people to enjoy the ocean view while they wait, and of course a large glass roof. A beautiful scene showing one of the harbor's ferries could be seen in "Gordon and the Gremlin" in season 5, one of Fulton's Car Ferries.

Finally this drawing shows what I perceive to be East Brendam, where Bill and Ben's branchline from the China Clay works connect to the Docks. This layout plan displays many of the scenes shown in season 3, with its tall warehouses and quay, cranes, and canal boats, from "All At Sea" and other episodes with Bill and Ben.

These were fun to draw! I hope you like these. Even if I break them up into smaller, temporary dioramas for photographs and video, these scenes seem to me that they would be beautiful models.

 Click here to see how I made the scenes of Brendam

Tips for Realistic Track: #2: Overgrowth

Once I made a small diorama for an old disused branchline, and I used some materials I'd like to share for creating some really old and overgrown sections of track on your layout.

In this picture, every scenic element is actually loose, not permanent! I wanted to create this on a wooden board to see what the track would look like with different scenic materials. Dried sand is used with sifted dirt, rocks found out in the yard and on the driveway in various courses, and some sprinkled ground foam from Woodland Scenics. In the corners of the photo are small twigs, moss, and lichen. This was very beautiful for and old section of Toby's tramway, this track running from the mountains down to the marketplace in the village.

So if your diorama or railway layout is going to be temporary or permanent, as I have stressed before, it is a good idea to do a little research and study from life, from photographs online to other model railroaders and their work. This will help you achieve the look you want.

Here are some links to somevery useful and successful scenic products you might know:

• Scenic Express
• Woodland Scenics
• K & M Countryscene
• Noch
• Busch
• Faller

Tidmoth Goods Shed #1: Construction

A few days ago, I decided to make another goods shed, one that could be built for Tidmoth. So today, I wanted to post some photographs to show my construction process for this building.

I remember looking through some pages of a book of "The King of the Railway," and there was a 2-stall engine shed, where James, Emily, Gordon and Diesel were taking on water or being washed. It looked similar to some standard gauge sheds I've seen in seasons 4 and 5, and even the carriage shed on the Skarloey railway. It had a nice design, and it looked big and roomy for Percy's mail cars or either some coaches or wagons!

When I have an idea for a new structure, I sketch thumbnails and detailed drawings with measurements for construction. For this shed, I tried drawing doors, the three lamps seen in the illustration, and tried drawing two variations of how the side of the shed's wall would look.

So before New Year's Eve, I used the measurements in the drawings to start construction.

I decided to try something different for this shed. I had some spare foam core, so I cut them into strips, and measured out sections of the wooden semi-columns for gluing.

Then I drew the windows, and cut them out using my hobby knife. Now I can glue the wood in place with white glue.

I wanted to create a nicely detailed interior, which is just as important as the exterior! So I did the same process on the other side. I decided to have windows on only one side, as many goods sheds do in yards with walls or roads running along side it.

After the second wall was made, I placed Emily and some track between the walls to check and see how wide I wanted the shed to be. Now I can begin decorating!

Using both white glue and super-glue for the tight edges, I folded and fixed strips of my textured card-stock around the plain wall on one side. It took a lot of folding and bending to get a snug fit. I think it might have been better if I had cut the strips separately, which would make the edges look sharper, not as round as they appear here.

I made separate strips for the other wall cut out for the windows, which were painted and glued on the back. This was tricky as I had to use narrower strips to make the layers of paper flat, which didn't turn out to be as deep as the wall on the other side. But after the clear plastic for the glass was put in place, and the layers of paper were made for the semi-columns, this wall actually turned out great.

Next I painted the interior. I used extra foam core for the semi-columns as I ran out of the flat wood strips, but this looked better. As I painted the paper of the foam core, and as there were wrinkles on the surface, it gave the illusion of plaster or concrete. The brick wall was wrapped and glued around the thickest columns on each end.

Finally I glued a strip of card around the bottom, for the trim running around the wall's foundation. Now I was ready to paint!

I mixed Folk Art paints for the bricks, the same mixed colors I used to paint the Walthers Warehouse. I used terracotta and a mixture of pink. as it was wet on the wall, I dry-brushed lighter shades, mixing in a linen color as I worked, which created depth. Then I did the same for the other side, weathering the window panes as I went.

The last thing I want to show for this post is the construction of the A-frames for the interior. I sketched a template to align the wood as I glued them together. The lowest cross-beam has card strips for the flush metal girder edges.

I used this technique for the Open Air Sheds, and I found excellent results using it for the Knapford Goods Shed; now I can use it to support the singled roof. Six of these were made, and after spraying them with primer and waiting for them to dry, I painted them using Hunter Green, the color I used for the windows and trim.

I hope you've enjoyed these photographs. The next post will show this shed closer to completion, so it will be uploaded soon.

How to Paint Realisic Track

From the helpful information I found from model railroading over the years, here are a few simple steps to help you create better track:

1. Study photographs of tracks in books, model railroad magazines and online. Google search weathered tracks in sidings, main lines, old and new tracks, to achieve the look you want, based on the location of your section of the layout. Tracks from a quarry or an old siding might look very different from tracks from the main lines!
2. Using track cleaning fluid, rub it on the tops of the rails using a paper towel wrapped around your fingers.
3. Paint the track with primer paint. It might be useful to paint the primer by hand for delicate track work such as turnouts.
4. When dry, carefully rub and scrub the primer off the top and edges of the rail. Make sure the edges of the ends of the track rails are covered with tape or a track clip when you paint the primer, so they remain clean to carry the electricity!
5. Paint the ties, using mixed colors of gray or brown, making sure to paint the sides of the rails.
6. When it dries, dry-brush lighter shades of your chosen color, light gray or either tan or light brown, to give depth to the wood.
7. For older track, paint the sides of the rails and spikes using terracotta or nutmeg colors. Remember it doesn't always have to be orange rust. You can mix terracotta or tan with your chosen tie color, or a lighter shade of the tie color.
8. Later, weather sections of the track with dust, or rust on the spikes.

If the track will be permanent, use white glue mixed with a little water to thin it, and spray it on the track using a spray bottle or and eye dropper. After it dries, you can use scraped chalks or pastel powder to add dust, or soot and oil where the engines stop at the stations, the yard, or a hill when the train is working hard and drops oil on the rails. If temporary, like my layouts are, stick with using paint, and practice making permanent scenes or dioramas to prepare for larger layouts!

Tips for Realistic Track: #1: Basic Painting

I was looking at a few pieces of track the other day, and I thought I would take my paints out and detail my track again. Today I thought I'd take a few pictures to post.

I realized that the knowledge I have gained from looking at layout tips and tricks was helping me make my track look better, and more realistic. I have done this for years, but I wanted to see if improvements could be made.

I wanted to just try and paint one piece in just one color, a weathered gray. In this photo, this ballasted piece had peen sprayed with just a gray primer. After it dried, I rubbed off the paint from the top of the rails using a rubber track cleaner and a paper towel wrapped around a finger, then I used a track liquid cleaner to wash the rail surface from any grime. 

It looked nice enough. I have painted my track using dark brown, plus the side of the rails. This would be effective in killing that "toy" look from the tracks on your layout. But here the gray looked a little dull to me. So next I tried to detail the next piece, and I think it looks so much better:

Here is the result. For this older look, I painted this piece using sage, a light greenish gray.  This color would be perfect for the quarry or mine, such as Bill and Ben's Brendam Clay Pits, where the wood of the ties is very dry, brittle from the sea air, the rust covering the ties and rails, and the quarry dust creates the light rail color.

Next I used terracotta to paint the sides of the rails and even the spikes. This looks nice because it created the illusion of rust. Compared to newly laid track, which is often a dark brown, and even track that is aging out on the main lines, they still look brown, fading in lighter shades. But as you can see, track can tell the viewer a lot about where it has been laid, in this case a quarry or an old siding, how old the track is, and whether or not it has grass or foliage creeping up from the ballast.

I feel these extra steps makes the track look so much more realistic. There are times when I look at some amazing layouts and dioramas, I notice for instance that the buildings and the scenery are very meticulous and beautifully modeled, and no consideration was taken at all to do the same with the track. They are a crucial part of the scenery. Lines have the power to direct the eye around your scene. Results to this idea offer pleasing curves in and out of valleys and trees, villages and yards, and mountains. Finally, studying from life really helps you to decide how to paint your track based on condition and location. 

Looks like some workman are checking this cattle wagon's brakes and chassis for repair! I set up this small mockup on my desk to test how these tracks look ballasted.  These are Code 100 Atlas track, not that very appealing, but you see what a huge difference it makes when consideration to weathering and detailing your track rewards you for a better-looking railway.

Knapford Station Goods Shed

I have been waiting to post this newly completed project! A few days ago I completed my new and most favorite building for my future layout, a goods shed commonly scene in Thomas's classic episodes.

Completely scratch built, as usual, it is made out of textured card-stock and balsa wood, but I feel this structure is special as I used a number of new model-making techniques that I wish to share with you, and a little background of the prop's history on the Thomas Show.

You will find this shed in the sidings that run parallel to Knapford Station. If you look carefully, from season 1 to 5, this shed had a wall in the back, some drain pipes, and there are a few differences in the structure's design.

In the production of "Thomas and the Magic Railroad," many of the buildings commonly used on the sets through the years were remodeled, remolded, and painted very realistically, including this shed. It noticeably gained some faded green roof frames with gables and braces, as well as the brick reliefs on the side of the outside wall.

I found that I liked this look better, so I based construction on how this shed looked then onwards. The shed first housed two tracks, probably as a 2-stall goods shed for only 2 cars (maybe for the mail cars perhaps?), then only one, probably as a spare single stall engine shed. Both Diesel 10 and Donald have been seen when the set was made this way.

In this post I want to pin up my detailed drawing of the goods shed. Recently I have been practicing making a measured sketch of every building I want to make, pages of them, from tool sheds to stations and mostly warehouses and sheds. I find that sometimes I have to sketch different versions as I feel the measurements can be changed or are not accurate to the original or reality.

In this case I found the width of the entrance to be too narrow to have two tracks as I cut the textured card out to piece together. The Bachmann Percy model has the widest clearance space compared to the other engines as his footplates are spaced quite far from the chassis (I'm not sure the width of Diesel's though, as he is on my wish list...). So I simply made the adjustments as I redrew the measurements on the card to be cut for the shed's walls. I also decided to exclude the molding on the roof as there isn't any on the original. Photographed is the finished product.

A thick piece of balsa wood serves to add thickness to the wall and extra strength, much better than just the fragile card super-glued on the edges! I used wood and layered paper to create the relief wall and arches, and the four reliefs you see with the added tiles.

Thick strips of card was used here to construct the vent structure on top of the roof. If an engine uses this shed at night or is just passing through, these vents allow the smoke exhaust to escape the shed.

Here I wanted to try and make the roof removable, so I could fit this spare piece of balsa to mount LED shed lamps in the future.

When the time comes to make the diorama or layout of Knapford, I can have holes drilled to mount the lights and then have them wired.

The wires would be fed under the table and connected to a small power box, but I hope there can be a way to do that without the building being permanently glued to the table for showings.

There is a great book called "The Encyclopedia of Model-Making Techniques" by Christopher Payne, and I recommend this book for beginner and professional scale modellers.

In it there is a great tip on how to make tiles using strips of card with slits cut with a craft knife. Many railway layouts use this technique in the British Isles, and as I did want to model the shingles in 3D, I thought I would have a go. The results look fantastic and very convincing once dry-brushed.

I am very happy with it; it takes a while but a little time can produce a better model whatever your subject!

On top of that, I glued one side onto card strips so you could open it and see the interior. Here I made the sections of gables that support the roof, all from painted balsa wood.

This will also make it easier to wire the lights and fasten the wire onto the wall to make it appear realistically wired as it would be in real life.

Here is a look inside looking up into the gables. This would be a great prop to film on the diorama for close ups of the engines.

I really wanted to take my time and do my very best with this building, and I think compared to some of the other buildings I have posted, this is by far the best one so far. Thomas is a great inspiration, and a prime example of fine scale modelling.

Finally here it is on my table with some other props to show you how it looks on set. It is a quick set up and not as detailed, but it does show you the stuff I've been making for the past few months in my summer holiday from college.

Feel free to post some feedback. Comments and suggestions are welcome!

Boats and Trawlers #1: Fishing Village

One Time I wanted to film scenes of the Fishing Village, so here are photographs of the set I made and the small fishing trawlers docked alongside the waterfront.

I used wooden planks, blocks and boxes to create the hill in the background, so I could lay the row of houses and terraces I made (from scratch with card-stock), in two rows with Woodland Scenics trees. The water is plexiglass laid on top of my green quilt for grass, the edges of the glass covered with garden pebbles. Here you can also see a good view of the painted wall of rolling hills and distant mountains my Dad and I painted for the landscape backdrop.

Here on my desk is the largest one of the fleet, "Burkett Fish." The body made with card-stock, mast with a wooden skewer, and a bit of thread to support it. Generous weathering for paint stains on the hull and bits of rust were added for the finishing touches.
You can also see how I made windows using ink squares drawn on the paper. Now I use clear plastic, and by far, it looks much more realistic, and it is much easier to use a craft knife for those delicate cuts! Crazy glue is used to glue it into place.

Here is the trawler on the set, dropping off some crates of seafood off for Stepney to take back to warehouses at Knapford Yards for the marketplace. This is a personal favorite, and it looked really nice on the waterfront alongside the Railway.

Here were the two smaller trawlers, "Rebecca" and "Susan Lee," simpler in design but are very good for background elements or of course adding variety to the scene, inspired by some of those found in Seasons 3 and 4. Also made from card.