The Gn15 TomeVolume 3 issue 1 Jan/Feb 2009

Inside this issue Perrygrove loco LydiaUpcoming feature An approach to groundcoverConstructing and painting structures

The Creative Scale

photocourtesy Jez Kirkwood

Editorial

Welcome to the third volume of the Tome, It is good to be putting another one together. The Gn15 forum has continued to grow and the various threads contain a great cross section of topics and material to ponder.

This past year I was unable to contribute much due to a hectic time working on a house build and moving to the country.

I hope that the coming year will provide some time for some much needed rest and relaxation. It has occurred to me that after many years with not only my own workshop but also having access to a workshop at work, I find that being without one has given me a greater appreciation for all the creative model work that is done on the “kitchen table”.

I am hoping that this year with the cooperative efforts of the members of the forum to be able to put together some worthwhile new volumes of the Tome. I must rely on you the readers to supply the original information for these. All the articles are a result of your efforts in one way or another.

Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous New Year. Ed.

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An Approach to Groundcover

Attempting to achive a specific look or type of ground cover can lead one down some interesting paths.In our next issue I will feature the methods for creating these ground covers on Macton Locomotive Works & Foundry.

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This months feature Locomotivephotographs andtext by Jez Kirkwood

Lydia is the newest loco on the Perrygrove Railway and she is the first steam loco designed specifically for the line. She was built by Alan Keef Ltd. and delivered to Perrygrove in October 2008 and entered service following commissioning trials and type approval from HMRI. Lydia pulled her first service trains during October half term but really proved herself on the December santa specials pulling fully laden trains up 1in30 with the reverser just off mid gear - and only burning 4/5 buckets of coal per day!!.From a modelling point of view the first thing you notice is how big this loco is feeling much more like a 2' gauge engine than a 15" one.

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The bodywork is welded flat panels (no rivets to count)so nice and easy to make. The cab floor is level with the bottom of the frames to enable the driver to stand up (even if you're as tall as Patrick Keef!) this design however meant that the trailing & leading wheels are pivoted from the outside ends using an ingenious system of radial axle. The cab windows are very high so a removable plate fits across the cab on top of the frames to enable shorter drivers to see where they are going (already known as James's step!) - If this step were modelled then it would be possible to use conventional pony trucks.

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The principal dimensions are as follows;Length (over buffer beams) 13'Width 4'Height 6'8"Driving wheel diameter 16"(no flanges on centre wheels)Pony truck wheel diameter 12" Weight in working order 7.5 tonnes approx.Cylinders 5 ½" x 8"Valve gear Hackworth with curved die blockFor more information please look at http://www.steam-loco-design.co.uk/pages/lydia.htmlhttp://www.perrygrove.co.uk/

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Some Thoughts on constructing and Painting Economical Structures

For Gn15 Layouts by Gerry Snelson

I had not been involved in the wonderful world of Gn15 modeling long before I realized something important about structures: Not only are they incredibly large, they are incredibly expensive. I have found a way to get around both parts of the problem and to create buildings that are quick and inexpensive to build and that create a dramatic impression. Very recently I sent my first question to the Gnatterbox, calling it something like "Question from new guy on building a Heywood inspired engine." Within hours I had my answers, and they were complete and offered in the best of good spirits. They were also a little intimidating, because I could see that I was a neophyte (OK, an aging neophyte) among experts. In thanking the members, I offered somewhat defensively that I felt more comfortable building structures than rolling stock, and I submitted two photos not unlike this one:

In very short order, several very nice responses were submitted, including several that suggested a tutorial. That prologue brings us to this point.

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Here are most of the tools I use in the building and painting process. Prominent in its absence is my messy old glue gun. But you know what one looks like.

The background is the heavy, all-black foam core that I use. To the right is an assortment of textured plastic sheet

the very limited selection of acrylic colors (you may want to exchange yellow for the blue or green) that will be dry-brushed on in the final stages using the brushes in the picture. You will also see the tops of an Exacto knife, a pair of scissors, and a small ruler. Pictured also are a sanding block, pencils for marking on black or white, a straight edge, some CA glue and accelerator, a small square, and some black-painted figures and barrels that happened to be on the work space.The other photo is of my bandsaw. It is strictly optional-but handy.

Goods, topped by some clear Victorian style windows and doors, all from Oakridge Hobbies. These, along with the light weight spackle, are the primary building materials. I use wood dowels (not shown) for the chimney stack extensions, and thin wood strips for the Tudor style stucco buildings-and not much else. You will note a small (and inexpensive) single-action airbrush and black airbrush paint near

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Philosophy: I work small, building mini layouts inspired by my guru Carl Arendt and his wonderful scrapbook and books. I like to do things on angles, and include the illusion of height and levels, something I learned about in fooling around with theatre design. In fact, my construction methods are similar to those of a theatre designer-but taken a few steps farther along and used for a different form of entertainment.

Layout: I start by laying out the ground plan. I build on two-inch builder's foam, and draw the floor plan in magic marker. Measuring the outline gives me the first critical measurements. I play the fiddle and mandolin by ear. I design for my railway structures in a similar way, though no ear is involved. I estimate a floor height at between four and five inches and multiply by the number of floors. I add extra on the ends that will feature the peak of the roof. I find that by keeping the footprint small and the height large I increase dramatic impact geometrically. I can include more buildings that way and develop a rooftop-scape. My small Dickens inspired layout is about 30 by 40 inches or so, part of that behind the backdrop. Yet it has ten or eleven structures, four developed three dimensionally, and the others with pop-outs and walkways, and so on. All feature some area of roof.

Rough Cuts: To take the first cuts I set the bandsaw fence to one of the side measurements and rip a long piece of black foam core into a strip of that width. Setting the fence up to an inch wider and making another cut will give me roof panels with lots of over-hang. To cut the other two sides, I set the fence for slightly less than the measurement (twice the thickness of the foam core less). You can use a straight edge and Exacto knife with number eleven blade just as well. The bandsaw-even an inexpensive one-just makes the cuts incredibly quickly. Remember to use your sanding block to knock the fuzz off the sawn edges. I cut scrap pieces of the foam core into ninety-degree triangles of various sizes. Now cut the sides of the roof peak. But first fasten the front and rear panels (or the two sides) together with double sided tape-very small pieces or you will never get the panels apart. Do the tape routine before you cut every time you need duplicate parts and things will always match up.

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Design: Now lay out the windows and doors on the panels to please your eye. (Remember, unless you measure, if it looks right, it is right.) Remember that the windows and doors, cut from the patterned plastic sheet will be adhered to the sheet that is your wall texture and the whole thing then glued to the foam core. (Oakridge gives you lots of choices for both.) You can hot glue the doors and widows to the foam core first, but you have to be more careful in measuring your cutouts in the wall sheets. You can lay the foam core panel on the plastic and mark around it. Cut the textured plastic sheet with scissors. Easy. At this stage you can do the same process for the other side of the building and then glue them both on. You cannot do that with all four sides because doing so doesn't allow for overlap. Determine first if the back will ever be seen. It may simply remain black.

Construction: Now glue the four sides (two with their textures already applied) together using the triangles inside to reinforce the corners near the top and near the bottom. The four sides should not flex under light pressure. In fact, the structure is pretty darn strong-but don't sit on it. Now clad the remaining two sides using the same techniques. If you didn't before, you will now understand what I meant about overlap. Pop-outs can be built as separate structures and then glued on. At this stage think of tall boxes with pointed tops. When you have adhered all the side cladding with hot glue, glue on some panels for the roof, remembering to stick in a triangle or two from the inside. Hot glue is fast and easy. In fact, you have to work fast. Keep a little tin of water near for sticking your finger in when you glue on it. Hot glue raises a blister fast. Cut out the roof plastic and glue the panels on carefully. You may want to edge the overhang with wood or plastic strips-or not. I use plastic corner strips to hide ridge joints and most other joints. Now open the light weight spackle and fill in all the gaps with your finger as your trowel. Clean away any mess on the surface before the spackle sets. Use spackle and a small putty knife to do stucco surfaces directly on the foam core. This takes a little patience at first, but you will get the hang of it. With a little practice you can cut and assemble one to three of these structures in an evening, and you will have discovered a second virtue of the system: Not only are these structures inexpensive, they are remarkably FAST.

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Here is what the Dickens layout looked like at this stage, awaiting paint:

Preparations: After the completion of some three-dimensional structures that have been tailor-made to fit into the spaces. Not all of the wall angles may be ninety degrees, but all fit the floor plan drawn out on the surface of the layout. At this point, you should fit them all on the layout and run the trains, checking for clearances. If opening dimensions must be increased, this is the time to do the job. You don't want to do much touch-up, and you don't want to

vary colors much. In order to establish consistency, you must limit your selection of colors. You will need black for everything, because you will begin by making everything black. I recommend an inexpensive single-action airbrush, such as mine, which I purchased some years back from Harbor Freight and forgot about until I started Gn15 structures. Spray lightly and evenly so you do not loose details. Do all of your structures at one time. They will look something like this:

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Notice that everything is black. The color you see in the picture is in the background picture (stolen from the web, as Carl Arendt taught me to do). The messy-smeary places on the chimneys are just evidence of light weight spackle having been applied by finger.

The Fun Part: Now comes the most fun of the whole endeavor. Using that limited palette of yours, select or mix a color that seems appropriate for roofs. Dip in the larger of the brushes (5/8-3/4) wipe on paper towel until it is almost dry, and start stroking downward. The object is to hit just the high spots, leaving black as all the shadows and most of the texture. Go over all the roofs like that. Now dip in another color not so very different, wipe off your brush, and do the same on some, but not all, of the buildings. A third color should take care of the remaining ones. At this level, you are just accenting, not painting. In fact, the only painting (painters call it "covering") is done with the airbrush. Do not clean your brush between colors (though you better have cleaned your airbrush right away!) unless it starts to dry up and harden. You should be working quickly, enjoying yourself, not fussing over any spot. Now pick a contrasting color-I like red, maybe yellow-and do the same on a few of the roofs. Finally, dip in white, wipe off, and hit some spots very lightly here and there. Watch it come alive. Whenever you press hard on the dry brush, you will get some of the older color showing itself. Give up a little control; let the process take charge. Train yourself to look at the big picture. If you are nervous about getting started, spray a piece of white textured stock black, and play around. You can reuse the piece, because you will be spraying it black. The roofs aren't finished, but they are finished for now.

Now work on the stonework. These can really "pop" with color lightly applied. Remember what stones in your area look like. Yorkshire stones are not like Western Maryland stones. Ours here are more brownish, less uniformly gray. But you don't want just one color. Time and weather gives everything multiple hues. Remember, while yours is a limited selection of color, you are working on unity, not dullness, so use those colors or the blackness will overwhelm your work. Bricks aren't bright red. They will be black in the mortar lines and crevices, brown and red here and there, highlighted randomly with white or other light color(s).

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Using the primary color in your brick and stone walls, put a light dash of it here and there on the roofs. (I said they weren't finished.) You are tying things together. Watercolor painters do this all the time. The acrylic paint you use is drying (but not curing) almost as fast as you are applying it. Lapped siding is problematic. I have stroked horizontally and vertically on different occasions with equal, but different results. When you paint real wood surfaces, use the same principles: dry brush over black, with no "covering" after the black coat. Window sashes are interesting: dry brush with the smallest brush, attacking with the flat (long) surface, not a corner. Don't cover. Recognize a pattern here?

After landscaping, your work may resemble this:

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The Payoff: You really haven't spent much time after you cleaned up from your airbrush attack. And it has been fun time. Lots of black will remain. That is real-world grit, and most buildings near railroads know the whole story about grit unless they are very new.As you look at this picture again, you will probably be able to see many of my brush strokes. You may not have been looking for them the first time you saw the photo.

Perhaps you don't want a depressing atmosphere, as was the case in the scene above:

For this mood, I used exactly the same technique as described here, but I covered more of the black and used lighter colors for accents.

Do hold all the painting until you can do it at once. A couple evenings will do it.Don't do one building at a time.Do paint your people and rolling stock the same way for real unity, if possible. Engines may be another story….Don't look at your work too closely: back off a bit.Do remember to limit the number of colors you use.Don't fuss.Don't spend a long time on any one spot. You may make it worse.Do enjoy yourself!

Some final Do's and Don't's