Painting Pigeons

Hello again :o)

A while ago now when I was putting an order into Shapeways for some of my 3D printed parts I came across these...

As per normal I thought to myself "those look good, I am sure I can use them somewhere" and so promptly added them to my shopping cart.

Well, roll on a year (or two) and I thought while I was working on the goods shed for Highclere that the roof would look nice with something extra. After 'some time' wading through box after box of railway bits and bobs I found the little birdies and then made a start painting them. First the obligatory coat of Halfords finest primer...

They looks much better but then I thought I couldnt just stick some plain Grey birdies onto the layout so I got my paintbrushes out to add a little bit of colour to them (or some of them)...

This made them look much better and a bit more like the Pigeons I know. Some of these were then superglued onto the ridge tiles of the newly refreshed goods shed...

I am happy with that, the goods shed is now toned down a bit plus it now has some little birdies on the roof. The only thing now is how long they will actually last! They don't seem that bothered about the passing trains.

Julia :o)

Highclere progress

Hello again.

I hadnt planned on putting another post together so quickly but I felt it might be worth it considering the comments that were made on my previous blog post. This is how the layout (well, one board of it) is looking after this weekend...

This is how the signal box and lineside hut are looking now. As I mentioned in the previous post I had reworked the hut to remove most of the weathering. I also took the opportunity to darken the brickwork a little as David had suggested. I didn't remove all the weathering though and I personally feel both buildings look better for it. Of course comments will be most welcome.

Above are a couple of (not very good) photos of me playing around with the lights inside the signal box. Trust me, it looks loads better in the flesh!

I have also made a few more small bushes using some picture hanging brass braided wire. They aren't based on any particular type of bush / tree but I feel they add some much needed intermediate height to the layout between the grassland and the trees. Its worth pointing out at this time the trees on the layout aren't in their finished position, they are pretty much being stored on the layout for now as it seemed the safest place for them. There are loads more to make (at some point).

Finally an overview(ish) of how the board looks right now. Still lots and lots to do...

Julia :o)

How dirty...?

Hello.

I thought I would put a blog together for a couple of reasons. The first is a question if its ok?

As you can see, I have attacked the lineside shed with the weathering powders and things to try and dirty it up a bit and hopefully make it a little more realistic which I have hopefully achieved. The problem now is the signal box looks a little bit too clean in comparison so my question is what do I do now? I could easily weather the signal box to suit but there is a part of me saying it wouldn't be as grotty as the little shed. Has anyone got any advice?

The second reason for this post is to show a couple of pictures of the water feature area to show how much it has progressed since the last post.

I think it looks much better than before so thanks for the comments / advice on the previous blog post. Of course though, comments would be warmly received.

Finally here is another photo for no other reason than I quite like it. I think it gives a nice sense of space (which I am trying to achieve), ignoring that fallen tree in the background of course!

Julia :o)