Castle Mound Part 10

Gluing the castle mound onto the baseboard.

Gluing the landscape around the tunnel portal.

Gluing the roadside bank up to the tunnel portal

Exposed baseboard around the tie bar painted brown

Exposed baseboard around the other tie bar painted brown

Keith

Baseboard Painting

 I painted the baseboard underneath the castle mound brown (raw umber) although the tunnel will be dark I just felt it was worth doing, especially as having done it I have found a paint I can use as a base on the 3 baseboards where I will be doing static grass and gardens. I had bought the paint for painting the baseboard where there is no ballast around the point tie bars.

Keith

A discovery!

 Yesterday I discovered this gap between rails under the castle mound.

I have glued a piece of plastic in the gap

I cut and filed it down to rail height

Glad I found it before I permanently fixed the mound in place!

Keith

Castle Mound Part 9

 Steps up to the castle mound spray painted green

Start of landscaping around the tunnel portal

This side of the tunnel portal nearly completed, further landscaping will be done once all scenery is completed

With the castle mound, the bank, photographers and steps also in place

Front bank of the road

Starting to work out the other side of the road

Keith

Ballast Laying Part 4

 Ballast on 1st baseboard now glued

Keith

Castle Mound Part 8

 I have created pedestrian access steps from the road up to the castle mound using a Dapol footbridge kit

Access steps up to the castle mound created from the kit

The castle mound steps sprayed with primer paint

Keith

Castle Mound Part 7

 All 4 sections of the castle mound glued together.

Keith

Ballast Laying Part 3

 3rd day of laying ballast sees this baseboard ready for gluing.

2nd of the 2 points ballasted

Ballasting this baseboard completed ready for gluing

The final bit up to the buffer stop

Keith

Ballast Laying Part 2

 More ballast laying today.

Pieces of sleeper glued either side of the point tie bar to stop ballast interfering with it, this was repeated for the other point

 

I then put insulating tape over the tie bar's adjoining sleepers to prevent ballast interfering with the tie bar

I did the same for the other point of the pair

Next section of ballast completed

Bit more done, but not easy in and around the points

Keith

Ballast Laying Part 1

 During yesterday I had turned the baseboard I was working on by 90° to make it easier to work on the castle mound as in the 1st photo. The intention was to lay the ballast under the tunnel portal before proceeding with construction of the mound. I did lay the ballast under the mound and out into the open but due to the location of the board it was not possible to access all the track easily to continue with the ballast. On previous layouts I had always laid all the ballast in one go, then applied the glue. I was having a dilemma, do I only ballast this section and join the rest on later, or turn the baseboard 90° with the loose ballast on it, so this morning and very carefully I lifted the board and turned it the required 90°, PHEW!! Ballast all still in location as in the 2nd photo.

Baseboard before lifting and turning

Successfully turned giving easier access to the rest of the track for ballasting

Buffer stop glued on the end of the siding

Piece of card sellotaped to the end of the baseboard to stop ballast dropping off the end

The natural light started to fade so a lamp was called for, and the air ambulance was in case of an emergency!

Tipping a small quantity of ballast on the track with the teaspoon

Using a fine paintbrush to manoeuvre the ballast in to place between the sleepers

As much as I could achieve this afternoon, I did mention it was a long slow process

Keith

Castle Mound Part 6

 This morning I removed the left-hand baseboard so I can construct the castle mound more easily rather than having to stretch across it especially as I wanted to ensure the rear of the mound lined up with the baseboard.

I then had to correct a mistake I had made with the road over the rail line, the supporting wall closest to the track was too close to the track so I had to disassemble the whole thing, not easy as it was glued as well as screwed. Some damage was done, but I managed to keep it to a minimum and replaced the broken piece with a sturdy reinforced piece on the right-hand side of the 1st photo.

Drone view of altered tunnel wall

 I then created 2 internal walls with suitable brick paper glued to card. Once all the glue has dried I will attach further brick paper to the support wall behind the shorter length of card wall.

Tunnel portal and internal walls glued in place, handy weights to ensure all is in place

Longer internal wall as viewed from the front of the layout

Shorter internal wall as viewed from the front of the layout

Longer internal wall as viewed from the rear of the layout

Shorter internal wall as viewed from the rear of the layout

2nd internal tunnel wall completed behind the short piece

Completed tunnel portal

Gluing an additional upright underneath the castle mound

2 sections of castle mound glued together and an additional leg across both

last aditional leg glued to the 4th section of the castle mound

Brick paper glued to the rear of the upright on the castle mound behind the tunnel portal

Worm's eye view of the tunnel

Start of ballasting the track behind and in the tunnel portal

Viewed from the front

Keith