July 27, 2009

"Scenic Work"



As I type this, I am constantly looking over my shoulder towards the bare baseboard that will, hopefully, by the end of the day, be covered in an arrangement of scenic mats, gravel chippinps, coal dust, and of course, model locomotives.

It's been around a month since I took apart Copley Hill Mk1, and not much has gone on in that time frame. Most of it has been ordering bits and bobs from websites, again, mostly scenic scatters and brick shaped plasticard.

The set itself is a lot bigger in size than it has been previously. I am not going down the route of the small shed this time - the next one shall be a full five road engine shed, with some very ambitious plans for a "proper" floor under the roof of the shed.

...except I have been checking photographs of the real Copley Hill for the last month, and I cannot for the life of me, work out if 56C had a concrete floor - that is to say, rails flush to concrete, not unlike tramrails in that sense, but incoporating inspection pits and the similar.

My heart tells me that it should be - and I vaguely recall a photograph of the inside of the shed showing it - but I'm damned if I can find that very important piece of the puzzle now!

Of course, its never been entirely accurate throughout The British Railway Series - it gets better with every episode batch. I strive for more accuracy, better looking sets and generally a much more atmospheric look to the series.

So for the moment, I'll leave you with the above photograph of my new A4 pacific - in British Railways brunswick green, it is named and numbered 60006 Sir Ralph Wedgwood.

A poignant reminder, that no matter how much we try to change things, some things are constants and should be treated thus.

Until next time.

July 17, 2009

"Great Scott! A new set!"

In a few weeks time the 16th episode of The British Railway Series is due to air. The set will have been dramatically rebuilt, the inaccurate four road shed being replaced by a brand new five road shed.

The pointwork will also be upgraded, including two sets of three-way points and several express points.

The backscene will also be extensively upgraded - as I write, there is a sheet of mirrored plastic behind me waiting to be cut up towards extending the set.

Until next time!

July 03, 2009

"The Making of..."



This video chronicles early days in the making of The British Railway Series, shows how each episode is tailored to its own design set, and a few special shorts that tie in with the recent Day of the Deltic episode quite nicely...

The second "making of" video will look at the building of the set for episode 16, wtih some special additions in the form of character profiles and a "do it yourself" weathering exercise.