Edwards Farm - sometimes known as 'Operation King Edward.'

M

Mullie

Active Member
SWMBO went into work today, it poured with rain all day so what is one supposed to do? Standard gauge track has been ballasted, still wet in this picture. The wooden track crossings are coffee stirrers, painted with AK weathered wood then sanded back with coarse sand paper.

Bit of progress on OKE ground cover. A view from above showing basic ground cover. Farmyard is a mix of concrete, yellow, green and earth weathering powders over wet acrylic paint.

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Closer view showing the developing concrete loading area for the standard gauge. This is made from cork sheet using a YouTube tutorial for guidance.

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The darker brown soil cover has been highlighted using a mix of yellow ochre, white, pale green and raw umber.

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Still lots to do.
 
M

Mullie

Active Member
The Baltic conditions here have driven me inside so projects that can be undertaken in the warm are the order of the day.

OKE needs some farm vehicles so a couple have been sourced to reflect the time the layout is set. During the late 40s early 50s farms were still transitioning to new methods including tractors with hydraulic lift. This, video shows pre war tractors including those with iron wheels and horse drawn wagons still in use. It shows a very harsh life, especially during the horrendous weather of the late 1940s when the Fens were extensively flooded.


My late father talked about tractors having to be used to tow other tractors off the fields on the Essex farm where he worked at the time. I have also talked through Essex farm life at the time with my mother. Use was made of tracked vehicles to pull implements so I have modeled an 8 tine cultivator that can be trailed by such a vehicle. This is a Langley kit and will be parked in a suitable spot unless I do build a suitable tractor. The wagon and horse is a Dart Castings kit, the horse is a shire, a horse used in Norfolk.

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The cultivator kit was quite complex with poor instructions and it was difficult to source good photos of this particular model so this is a good approximation. The wagon has been assembled so the shafts can turn for better positioning. Priming and painting next.

Warmer at the weekend so some work on the layout might be possible.
 
David Hall

David Hall

Western Thunderer
Mullie said:
It shows a very harsh life, especially during the horrendous weather of the late 1940s when the Fens were extensively flooded.
Click to expand...

My own family moved from Suffolk and Norfolk to County Durham. They went from being agricultural labourers to miners. In reality, they swapped one hard, physical job for another. The difference was, they were significantly better paid working down the pit than above ground on the land. They also moved somewhere with electricity, with mains water etc. And they got two weeks paid holiday each year!

Despite the nostalgia, there was little joy to be found working in agricultural..... Trench foot and staring at a horse's @rse for 12 hours a day? You were better off risking your life underground!
 
M

Mullie

Active Member
David Hall said:
My own family moved from Suffolk and Norfolk to County Durham. They went from being agricultural labourers to miners. In reality, they swapped one hard, physical job for another. The difference was, they were significantly better paid working down the pit than above ground on the land. They also moved somewhere with electricity, with mains water etc. And they got two weeks paid holiday each year!

Despite the nostalgia, there was little joy to be found working in agricultural..... Trench foot and staring at a horse's @rse for 12 hours a day? You were better off risking your life underground!
Click to expand...
I come from a long line of farm workers going back many generations of both parents. We had a good upbringing on the farm but my parents had a hard life and the house was freezing in the winter. Looking back, even though my father was a highly skilled cowman it is no surprise he stipulated two things about our career choice.

1. Learn a trade
2. No you are not going on the farm.
 
David Hall

David Hall

Western Thunderer
Mullie said:
Looking back, even though my father was a highly skilled cowman it is no surprise he stipulated two things about our career choice.

1. Learn a trade
2. No you are not going on the farm.
Click to expand...

And funnily enough, a generation on from the move from Suffolk to Durham, that was exactly what my granda stipulated for my dad...

1. Learn a trade
2. No you are not going down the pit.
 
M

Mullie

Active Member
Some autumn hedgerows begun tonight. The hedge product, feels like horse hair, and brown leaves are a WWS product, the rest is flock of various makes acquired at exhibitions. All glued on using WWS layering spray, hopefully for a nice autumnal feel.

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M

Mullie

Active Member
Finally something hopefully worth posting pictures of. This can be a frustrating time of year as a lot of jobs can only be completed when the Garage is at a bearable temperature. We've had torrential rain, yes it has rained pretty much every day and the house has sprung a leak!

These photos show scenic progress so far:

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This is just the beginning, the small hut and pillbox need bedding in, gateways need dealing with, the undergrowth round the buffer stops needs trimming with scissors. Trees are currently being built out of twisted wire and sea foam. Still lots to do including suitable vehicles and figures.

The 4f is now painted numbered and having details such as buffers and vac pipes added prior to weathering
 
M

Mullie

Active Member
Big changes at Mullie towers. A lot of the paints and other stuff I've been using for many years have run out and I've decided to stop using talc and similar as the fumes are not good. Therefore, I've moved with the times and have looked at what military modellers use as well as excellent products from @WWS Scenery Manufacturer. I already had AK pigment fixer and a dark grey pin wash. To this I have added more AK products; sets of weathering pencils, marker pens and sets of weathering 'filters' for weathering wood and rolling stock as well as WWS weathering powders.

The first project to try out some of the products was the cultivator. I found a picture online of a restored, but slightly tatty cultivator and based the colours on that. The main body colour is I think an AK US cockpit green (?) marker pen, the wheels are another dark steel/aluminium marker, the red colour was done with AK water colour pencil applied with a brush. The markers produce a matt finish and cover well. The cultivator was then weathered with pencils and sealed with matt varnish. Last job will be to apply some weathering powder round the tines and on the wheels to represent some mud as it is likely at this time of year the cultivator could have been used recently.

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M

Mullie

Active Member
OKE continues to be tweaked ahead of the RM Web exhibition in April. I wasn't happy with the back scene in the left hand corner caused by an issue with the lighting rig.

Over the weekend this corner was rebuilt and a new piece of back scene put in, a big improvement to my eyes.

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The layout will be exhibited as a work in progress, still much to do.
 
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