Shadowlands and Tellynott

[Mark Dalrymple]

Mark, Cheers,

Wow, I have missed so much since my last visit.

The trestle, the logging diorama and the entire layout is fantastic looking. The faded/\weathered red exterior wall boards looks very realistic. Great job and it is great seeing it all coming together.

Tom

Thank you for your kind words, Tom!

There is a fair bit to update.  Sometimes I feel as if I am not making much progress.  There is always plenty to do to keep our 11 acres under control, and so time for my hobby is sometimes scarce.  But then I will have the possums over for a weekend and I can tell by their genuine comments that they are impressed with my progress.   Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees.  And so it was that when I made a list of all the things that I have done since my last update in mid 2025, it was quite long!  Stay tuned!

Cheers, Mark.

[Pennman]

What Tom said, and I couldn't say it better! 
I really like the faded coloring, and it's very impressive.
Your building corners look very tight, no light will leak through.

Rich

[Mark Dalrymple]

What Tom said, and I couldn't say it better! 
I really like the faded coloring, and it's very impressive.
Your building corners look very tight, no light will leak through.

Rich

Thanks, Rich!

No.  No light on the corners - there is an 8x8 behind there.  There will, however, be plenty of other gaps in the cladding for light to escape through.  I was attempting to build this one a bit rustically - something I find difficult.  I'm figuring if I put a bit of subtle lighting inside the building, all those vertical gaps between the 10x2's should produce some rather striking shadowing.  That's the plan - we will see in due course.

Cheers, Mark.

[friscomike]

Howdy Mark,

Wow! It's great to have photo references, and your model nicely reflects the inspirations.  Just WOW.

Have fun,
mike

[Mark Dalrymple]

Howdy Mark,

Wow! It's great to have photo references, and your model nicely reflects the inspirations.  Just WOW.

Have fun,
mike

Thank you, Mike.

Finding reference material can be a big rabbit hole for me, and often one with many tangents!  Its always fun, though.  Its also nice to get some plausibility behind the story.

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Hi guys.

Photo 1 - The back left corner. A small two-storied addition will hide the large gap
in the back wall.


Photo 2 - A close-up of the scratchbuilt doors. The door is set back 6 inches. I used 6x1 and 4x1 to build the door and trim it out. Hinges and door handles are still to be added.


Photo 3 - A couple of plans as I designed the bents for the log ramp. The lower one was my first version, and then when drawing the finished one, I forgot the 12x12! I downloaded and printed off a few images to help with my design. The angle of the outside bent is also 12 degrees so I can use the same angle on my jig to cut these.


Photo 4 - A view from the right. This side won't really be visible, but I still
scratchbuilt some doors. These are bi-folds which open right up. I wanted logs to be
able to be delivered to the mill by rail – it makes for interesting operation. The log ramp will be quite long and will be fed from the lower wharf by lake Wilmot. Barges will bring logs from the other side of the lake, much like what was done in Brunner, West Coast, NZ. From here they will be lifted onto the ramp. Very few native timbers in New Zealand float and so log ponds weren't really a thing here. Prototypical evidence does, however, make my scenario plausible.


Photo 5 - A view of the inside of the structure. After adding the cladding, I used a new knife blade to cut the card away from the 8x8 framing. I then removed the worst of the glue residue. You can see in this photo that I blocked and then added 8x8's up and down the rake of the gables. These are set 1.5mm below the top of the wall. This creates a little ledge for the 1.5mm styrene roof to sit on. I was supposed to add 8x8's to the side walls before I glued them in place. They will have to be done in situ now. Like I said earlier, awkward, but not impossible. There are cupolas to add to this and the front roof. A nice sound 1.5mm roof should make these easier to install.


More soon, cheers, Mark.

[PRR Modeler]

Excellent modeling Mark. Will the section overhanging the track be loaded naterial into cars?

[Mark Dalrymple]

Excellent modeling Mark. Will the section overhanging the track be loaded naterial into cars?

Thanks, Curt.

I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean.  I assume you mean 'material'?  There is no section overhanging the track.  Perhaps you mean the suspended room at the front of the mill?  That is where the log ramp will join onto.  See the mockup photo at the start of page 55 and the historical photo half way down page 55 for reference.

Cheers, Mark.

[PRR Modeler]

Mark my mistake. When I saw the photo after the bents photo I thought there were tracks under the building overhang  and wondered if wood chips were put into hoppers there.

[Rick]

Excellent planning and then construction of the structures to fit the planned space.
Painting and weathering is very good.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Excellent planning and then construction of the structures to fit the planned space.
Painting and weathering is very good.

Thanks, Rick.

Yes - I almost always start with a decent mockup.  That way I can both test the aesthetics and use the mockup as a guide when building the actual model.  There was a fair bit of headwork involved in this one, and I designed things so that some of the walls fit over the basement and some sat on top (where the decking would hide the join).  I also had to allow for the thickness of the 8x8 framing on the gable walls and the thickness of the cladding.  I managed to get it all done without any mistakes.

Cheers, Mark.

[Jerry]

Outstanding  modeling Mark.
I really like that coloring .

Jerry

[Mark Dalrymple]

Outstanding  modeling Mark.
I really like that coloring .

Jerry

Thanks, Jerry.

I used the inside out gym sock method, but varied the the amount of paint I put on between boards.  These were then randomly selected.  The boards were stained before painting, in several batches, and these were also mixed up.

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Hi guys.

We are going back to May last year to catch up (page 51).  I'd built cattle ramps in a conversion, turning my Graves Elevators into an abattoir to give all those sheep and cattle wagons I couldn't resist buying somewhere to go!  The whole block in this part of the layout will be interconnected.  The abattoir, the large scratchbuild against the back wall and the Magnuson kitbashed corner block of shops along with a couple of other structures.

Photo 1 - Here is a view from underneath showing the double bearers each side of the
posts. The deck on our last house used this design.


Photo 2 - Here is a view with the roof in place.


Photo 3 - I made up a roof for the lower ramp, which was a bit tricky, as I had to check out for all the posts and cut the centre section in half to get it in place. What do you think? I like it with the lower roof, but it also covers up a lot of the timberwork.


Photo 4 - I needed to make a small addition for the back of the building where I had left the wall blank. I made this out of styrene and then added strips of high tack tape.


Photo 5 - I painted this weathered black, dry brushed with unbleached titanium and then added strips of 2x1 timber.


Photo 6 - Here is a photo of the abattoir in position on the layout. You can see I have built a loading dock. This was a little tricky, as I had to build it around the posts. You can see it blocks a bit of the view through here, but it adds something to the scene as well.


More soon, cheers, Mark.

[Pennman]

Mark,

This structure leaves out nothing to anyone's imagination.
It really looks great, I might have to capture a part of this for a new build.
Thanks for sharing.

Rich