Calshot MkII - 3D design - Eaglehurst Camp

Another Friday, another night to unwind doing my favourite hobby. This time, I've spent more time than I probably should have doing a 3D plan (which I started yesterday as you may have seen in the gallery). I'm pretty pleased with it so far, and it shows as accurate as possible (with only two photos for reference) what the loco shed and stores at Eaglehurst Camp (Calshot) looked like in the 1940s. Some of it maybe completely wrong, but that's the limitation of the lack of resources.

I'm quite likely to copy the prototype as you see it in the 3D model for part of Calshot Mk II. I've still to decide where to put the standard gauge line though!

What do you reckon?

Jam 

Calshot MkII - Version III

 

I suddenly had an idea today, pretty basic, but it's given me some ideas for half of the layout. (Stop laughing at the back!) "Why not copy from the prototype?" OK, it had occurred to me before today, but suddenly it all seemed to fall in place. 

The top screenshot shows the location of the Calshot RAF Narrow Gauge Railway and shows its route (red line) along the spit across to Eaglehurst camp. Now let's zoom in a bit:

Looking north towards the end of the spit we can see a jetty (marked C). There were at one point, I believe , two tracks here (although I'll need to double check that!). Running southwards, the line reached a triangle. Trains did not use this triangle to turn round, otherwise they would be travelling boiler first up the ascent to Eaglehurst Camp. Straight ahead you can see the letter B, this is hangar F (or F shed). The railway ran either side of this hangar, narrowly skirting the south-eastern wall. There was a junction soon after where a line went onto the Powerhouse pier (now demolished) and the main line continued along the spit. There were a series of sidings and passing loops along the spit itself. 

Anyway, back to my earlier point, following the prototype (ish) we can see letter A on the aerial view. This is hangar D (or D shed) which was in its later years used as a workshop and store. I have modelled a low relief version of this hangar and was used on Calshot MkI. Now, I have been thinking about magically relocating hangar D to where hangar F is (moving A to B, effectively!) Now, let's see what I'm proposing for half of the layout:

It is very similar to my first plan for Calshot MkII which I still rather like, but this will take up slightly less space. Decisions, decisions!

Calshot MkII - 009 Diesel Critter

I have started construction of a freelance diesel (009) for Calshot. It is based on the Knightwing kitbash that I started a while ago and never got round to finishing. The chassis is from a Dapol M7, but it looks as though i'll have to add some lead weight in both bonnets. Here's where I have got up to so far:

Hope you like it, there's still more to do on it such as the rear bonnet end and handrails as well as other little details and tidying up. I'm pleased with it so far - it certainly took many mistakes to get it looking right. If you have any suggestions let me know, it will be nice to get advice from people more knowledgeable about scratch-building than me. Then at some point I've got a fleet of at least 6 NG wagons to build from scratch.

I'm still looking for a suitable plan for Calshot MkII, I haven't yet given up!

Jam

Calshot MkII - Narrow gauge stock

After an excellent exhibition at Narrow Gauge South, Sparsholt on my birthday last Saturday, I came home with a Parkside Dundas  WWI WD bogie ambulance van. There was one at Calshot, but was found to derail at the sharp curves so it was used as a store near the engine shed at Eaglehurst 'Top Camp'. It is more than likely that I will in fact put it into service on Calshot MkII and ignore history. Perhaps the wagon was modified to allow it to negotiate the sharp curves?

Also, I have finally got round to starting that Knightwing kit that I bought ages ago for a suitable NG diesel kitbash. Here are the two, uncompleted but mainly painted. A chassis needs to be found for the diesel (think I've found one). Pretty pleased with how it has turned out.

Kindly, Matt has offered to build the 40hp Simplex for me, which, all things being well, should appear on the first week of May.

Calshot Mk II v. 2

First, I must say how glad I am of some nice warm weather for a change!

Back to the layout, and this warm weather has meant I can spend some time outside on the laptop (Yes, I know it defeats the object of going outside!). I have come up with this design for the shape of the layout. Looking at it now, it's very similar indeed to Tom Dauben's wonderful Dunbracken seen here: Dunbracken which will be exhibiting at Narrow Gauge South this Saturday.

  As you can see, only the basics have been put on the 3D model so far, including baseboard, water, sand and the quay wall. I'm trying to balance drawing plans with doing coursework so I won't be able to do any more to the 3D sketch tonight, but look out for more later in the week.

Comments welcome as usual, it's good to hear what you think.

Unique, interesting, or just plain silly?

It's about time I actually involved my brain instead of persisting that 'I can't do it' or that I've got 'modellers block' when in actual fact I haven't sat myself down and really thought about the project!

I always set out to build something unusual from the very start. Yes, there are more and more RAF base layouts nowadays, but they always use the same kits. I wanted to build something unique - a seaplane base, the only layout I can think of with a seaplane base is the inspirational and exquisite Castle Rock (009, which of course also gained its inspiration from Calshot.

I really want this layout to be manageable, unique and well modelled. As for the unique part, today I've been thinking about building an irregularly shaped layout going out in different directions! I have no idea what this may look like, but it would probably help if it was symmetrical or near-symmetrical to make storing it easier.

The one thing that is holding me back is the standard gauge line and how to include it. I can think of plenty of layout designs for just the narrow gauge (after all, I can just copy from the prototype), but trying to add in standard gauge is proving more difficult than I anticipated.

I think it's because I am trying to stick to the prototype and thus I can't imagine a standard gauge line being there at all.

Soon, I just hope I can produce a quirky design for the layout. In the meantime, I just need help working out how to integrate the standard gauge line.

It's alright, you can wake up now

The sketch above was drawn by me just opening Paint.NET and drawing a baseboard outline and drawing lines to try and get something that looks right. It really was made up as I went along.