Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

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Lonsdaler
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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by Lonsdaler » Tue May 11, 2021 9:04 am

That is really going to stand out from the crowd when it starts appearing on the exhibition circuit. Brilliant.
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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by FWLR » Tue May 11, 2021 10:22 am

They are fantastically weathered. You just wouldn't believe they are plastic like you say, in fact I thought they were metal....

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by Peter Butler » Tue May 11, 2021 10:33 am

Just superb, incredibly realistic detail and a masterpiece in model making.
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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by philipy » Tue May 11, 2021 11:20 am

I have no words to express my admiration for both the concept and the execution of this layout. Thanks for sharing.
Philip

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by Andrew » Tue May 11, 2021 11:54 am

steveh99 wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 8:23 am Hard to believe these are plastic or shiny brass kits. I just love rust powder.
They really do look fantastic... I've got a trio of wagons rusting at the moment, but I've always stuggled to get that beautiful orange, ending up with a rather darker shade of rust.

Love the plants too, especially those fern-like ones...

Andrew.

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by steveh99 » Tue May 11, 2021 6:13 pm

Thanks for the nice comments guys, I wanted to go for something different and didn't want to make another Hambleden or lose its scenic qualities.

I will run the live steam locos with their slomos so no high speed running involved, but also have a couple of RC battery locos to fit the Welsh slate scene, with slate wagons and Quarrymans coaches etc.

The orange rust effect comes from washing the rust powder with copper sulphate solution. This activates the rusting effect within hours rather than days. If it's too orange, I tone it down with dilute washes of matt black or dark brown. I often leave the stock outside in the rain which I think improves the overall rusty effect.

The pictures were taken during lockdown last year. The layout has fared well over the winter and I will try to take some updated photos very soon. The whole layout and plants are ageing well, spreading into one another, covering the baseboard joins and generally look much better than when first planted.

My three favourites are the Thyme which is very tough and spreads well: Arenaria Balearica which has tiny leaves, spreads well amongst the other plants and has masses of tiny white flowers, although these are a little overscale: Finally, various varieties of Leptinella which is what produces all the fern like leaves. There are many others which perhaps I will detail some other time.

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by philipy » Tue May 11, 2021 6:27 pm

steveh99 wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 6:13 pm There are many others which perhaps I will detail some other time.
Please do.
We do actually have a thread called Plants for Garden Railways.
https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... ts#p149564
Philip

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by Andrew » Wed May 12, 2021 7:56 am

steveh99 wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 6:13 pm The orange rust effect comes from washing the rust powder with copper sulphate solution. This activates the rusting effect within hours rather than days. If it's too orange, I tone it down with dilute washes of matt black or dark brown. I often leave the stock outside in the rain which I think improves the overall rusty effect.
Brilliant, thank you! I'll head down to my nearest Copper Sulphate vendor soon... I'm using vinegar to activate the powder, but it only seems to have a limited effect.

Andrew.

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by steveh99 » Wed May 12, 2021 8:09 am

I get mine from Amazon, you can get a large bag of crystals for about Β£6 I don't find vinegar acidic enough, although I am told drain unblocker works better.

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by ge_rik » Wed May 12, 2021 8:17 am

Andrew wrote: ↑Wed May 12, 2021 7:56 am
steveh99 wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 6:13 pm The orange rust effect comes from washing the rust powder with copper sulphate solution. This activates the rusting effect within hours rather than days. If it's too orange, I tone it down with dilute washes of matt black or dark brown. I often leave the stock outside in the rain which I think improves the overall rusty effect.
Brilliant, thank you! I'll head down to my nearest Copper Sulphate vendor soon... I'm using vinegar to activate the powder, but it only seems to have a limited effect.
Andrew.
I've successfully used Scenic Rust, but it's quite expensive. This is presumably a lot cheaper (and is probably what they use).

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by steveh99 » Wed May 12, 2021 8:24 am

Hi Rik

yes, I've used scenic rust in the past and it is expensive and looking at the colour of their activator, I woud say it was dilute copper sulphate.

I bought a large bag of rust powder and copper sulphate from amazon for next to nothing and it has lasted me for years and I've never needed to buy anymore since.

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by FWLR » Wed May 12, 2021 8:52 am


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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by steveh99 » Wed May 12, 2021 9:01 am

it was a few years ago now, but yes, that will do the job. Just dissolve a spoon full of the stuff in a jar of water to make up a light blue solution and then wash over the rusted vehicle.

To apply the rust powder, I very lightly spray the vehicle with 3M photomount adhesive to create a tacky surface and then dust the powder on using a ladies make-up blusher brush. (You can use dilute PVA as per scenic rust, but I find a water based glue creates blobs of rust because of surface tension)

Leave for a few hours and then wash with copper sulphate solution using a small paintbrush. It will rust in about a day, but will continue to rust and age over time, particularly if left outside.

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by FWLR » Thu May 13, 2021 8:00 am

Thank you for the information, that's a great help.
:thankyoublue

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by steveh99 » Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:46 pm

First time in months, I split the layout and loaded it in to my van for transporting to Fawley Hill where I set it up for a trial exhibition outing
It survived the ordeal, pot holes, speed bumps and roundabouts etc. I used my Hambleden rack, reconfigured for wider boards and used 20mm steel conduit pipe bracing to support the added weight of the baseboards.

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by Old Man Aaron » Mon Jul 26, 2021 12:46 pm

Looks a well-thought-out transport system, nice work. :salute:
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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by Michael Schulz » Mon Jul 26, 2021 4:59 pm

Hello Steve,
Your system with real planting looks very realistic. I can only do it a little on my station modules. (My new gardenrailway 16mm-SM 32)
Unfortunately, there is not enough space on my track modules.I'm very excited to see progress.
Michael from Berlin

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by Sylvian Tennant » Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:49 pm

A wonderful concept there.

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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by steveh99 » Mon Jul 26, 2021 7:49 pm

Well it all went back together again in one piece and with no damage. I had to tweak the return track to fix a slight mis-alignment and had to slightly enlarge the openings in the back scene to allow for the locos being on a curve as they go through

Setup in Fawley museum:
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The return track loop is a single track on 12mm MDF boards with a central section of cassettes to hold train consists
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Roundhouse Lilla with slate train pauses at Pen-Y-Bont halt
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Re: Pen-Y-Bont A new portable garden layout

Post by Peter Butler » Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:23 pm

That looks amazing, I do hope it was well received.
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