- Orphan Valley Model Railway -

Have been spending Christmas at my in-laws in the Adelaide Hills at Nairne . Have enjoyed traveling around and seeing the lovely old buildings, railway formations and buildings, farm settings, all with plenty of rust, peeling paint  and variation of colouring - great for modeling inspiration - character, form and coloring. There is such a wealth of heritage in the Adelaide hills and surrounds. Time is frozen. The variation in rust colours and the examples of peeling paint are in abundance. For reference photos check out my collection which will grow as I add more at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39664641@N00/sets/72157625564081347/ An example of the rust colouring and peeling paint textures. This was taken at Nairne Railway station on the old yard crane. Now to go out and find some more ref examples. in between finishing of the ham and turkey. Must be up to day 3 of the same...ham for breakfast, lunch and dinner...

I became aware of this site recently and I believe it is a relatively young resource.... http://www.nearmap.com/ It is just like Google maps, but you can zoom in a lot closer than Googles Free service. What I like about this getting in closer is that it can inform and inspire us in the placement of objects and details. Take this photo of "a behind the farm sheds" scene - crane, flatbed trailers, rusty sheet metal, pile of scrap etc Not only do you get the placement of things, you get good colouring guides for both the machinery and the ground covers. (Click on the picture to get a bigger view) Here is the same site but zoomed out a bit further.  In this zoomed out shot, you get a better idea of the subtle blends and overall coloring of the ground covers, from greens to grey-browns and what vehicle tracks look like. Here is a shot of part of the local railway yard, and good guidance on road, ballast and other details. Hope you enjoy exploring the site and photos as I have...

The Little guys and girls. Sprayed flat black, then dry brushed with Jo Sonjas Titanium and Warm White The white highlights with white paint drybrushiong brings out the details. Now just to over lay with colours for skin, material etc. On the work bench, and many more to still go. It's Friday Night, eve of the Election 2010, and here I am painting people in HO scale. As I put the paint undercoat layers on, I wondered what layers of thought people are going through tonight, as they ponder their choice tomorrow. I get to control these miniature people, determining what they will look like, how they will turnout.. I guess the pollies tonight will be wishing it was that easy to control the outcome of the election.

I have started a collection of Railway Infrastructure photos taken at various spots around inland NSW. The photos are hosted on the flickr site. http://www.flickr.com/photos/39664641@N00/sets/72157624387132263/ The images are geared at giving modeling inspiration and reference especially in regards to weathering and detailing.

Tankers in the yard and the old engine shed. Love the peeling paint on the side of the office. The railway bridge over the Macquarie - lots of variety in weathering details -all the different shades of rust and grey streaks The pump house has nice character. Makes a good home for the pigeons.

NSW in Early Winter is great - the air is crisp after rains, the sky bluer and the rustic hues come alive. Found a nice wind mill with lovely rust details. Love the matt effect of the rust on the mechanism. Wish I had my weathering powders here. This specimen is out at Narromine. The other shot is of the shed nearby - love the greys in the corrugated iron, the hoops and the rust details.

I guess some have experienced this on their layout when things haven't worked out as well as imagined and areas need rebuilding. Take a look at http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201006/r576646_3597405.jpg Got my pictures back from the framers today...very happy.

This coming June Long weekend is the Rotary Art Show at the Pinjarra Festival. I have entered 3 pen and ink works. Here is one of a Hotham Valley Locos in the rain ready to head off to Dwellingup. If you have a chance to go to the Art Show, it is one of the better ones around. The pictures home from the framers, ready for the exhibition. Big one is over a metre long.

With the lead up to the World Cup, I thought I would post some action shots of my son William playing in the Micros Comp for FCC. He is quite the little soccer player and takes the game quite seriously. We have had 4 games so far and have come out on top except for one - but we don't keep score!?!

Infront Models Arnotts Biscuit Van ABV 13767 Over the holidays I've had a chance to work on some models and have enjoyed constructing Infront Models ( www.infrontmodels.com.au ) Arnotts Biscuit Van. It is a straight forward model to build. I have weathered mine quite a bit and added some patching plates along one side to indicate the repair of some damage. The decals were the hardest part – I used the microsol stuff to help bed down – it took a good ¾ hr or more to apply them, just getting them right and straight. I painted and weathered with sprayed base coats, powders, washes and dry brushing using both Tamiya and Citadel acrylics. (Washes were with both water and isosopropyl.