Rail Embankments - Trains for Wargames part 5

With the flat track sections of the track now completed I turned my attention to the raised track. I had two considerations when putting this together, firstly the pieces should not be so large that storage would become an issue and secondly the embankments had to be sufficiently high enough to allow a vehicle to pass through (ie under a bridge)

As an example of rail bridge on embankment

 

I settled on the base of the embankments to be 16cm wide and the track top are to be 8cm wide. The height of the embankment would be 8cm high. This would mean the embankment itself would enjoy an angle of 45 degrees ie a slope ratio of 1 to 1.

I did investigate the slope angle before starting on this journey and discovered that embankments typically have a slope ratio of 1 to 4 or 1 to 5 – had I of gone with the former my base boards would have been close to 64 cm wide ! Not really an option.

Embankment Diagram

 

The embankments themselves were cut from polystyrene using my trusty foam cutter. I quickly realised that by cutting out the right length it bame very easy to angle the cutter at 45 degrees and then slice out the various sections.

As you can see from the photos below they are all quite uniform 

 

 

Once these were cut I glued them down onto hardboard bases. The bond between the base and polystyrene blocks was then strengthened with a hole being drilled in the reverse side and a bbq skewer driven in.

These ‘embankments are quite light and flimsy so strengthening was required. They were all given a good old coat of black acrylic paint. This not only seals the unit but also gives it a tough exterior coat.
 

 

 

The banks were then liberally coated in pva and then covered in sand. Once this was dry a second coat of acrylic paint was added – dark brown this time.

 

 

 

 

 

Sand cover banks

Brown paint over sand and top track laid with ballast

   

I built enough embankments to stretch 2 metres including a couple of curved sections to give a bit of variety. Given that they are going to dominate any landscape (an create a natural fortification) I quickly realised that a number of cut-through’s would need to be made – namely tunnels. So again using the foam cutter I created two of them. The inspiration for these is a nearby bridge to my home which also illustrates the height and steepness of the embankment.

 

 

The brick work around the edge of this tunnel has been created out of a thin skim of blue foam embossed with a pencil. The tunnels themselves are wide enough for a vehilcle pass through and are the same width as my other roads.

This facing was made using some old off cuts of embossed plasticard.

 

The other big feature is a bridge that can span my big rivers. This time I cut out the two end sections for the embankment and then built the bridge from pink foam (inside) and clad the outside in thicker blue foam. This meant I could give the top of the bridge a wall. As before the stonework was embossed on the foam with a pencil.

 

 

I should mention that when I cut out the span I created a foam sandwich and held all the pieces together using foam skewers – the shape of the arch came from the lid of an oval ice cream lid. The water effect was created using my trusted Oxford Blue Vinyl Floor Tiles sourced from Homebase. A walk way again the river edge has been added with blue foam and etched to create a slab effect (this way land troops can still use the tunnel as an cut through.

Some painted versions of the bridges...

 

 

 

 

 

Next up - greening the embankments.

 

First up I found my mixing bowl and poured in copious amounts of flock, static grass and what looks like really small bits of clump foliage. These all had different hues of green but when mixed together by hand create a great looking verdant cover.

Taking each embankment piece in turn I coated the exposed brown slopes with pva (lots of it) and then scattered the ground cover over the pva. Firmly pressing by hand the flock onto the glue. These were set aside to dry. Already the green slopes have given the embankments a wow factor!

 

Looking around at my local area where there are a number of these embankments its not uncommon for these to be wooded. So Ill be adding some trees then in time.

 

 

Had to put them on the table

 

 

 

So a few trees and bushes need to be added but otherwise they are good to go..

 

Until next time...

 

 

 

28mm Trains for Wargames part 3

In my last post on trains for wargames I mentioned that I had secured a complete train set for my VBCW/Pulp needs. In this post I’ll begin to explain what my plans are for the track.

Link http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/28mm-train-for-wargames-part-2.html

Sadly for me my commute takes me into central London everyday and whilst on the journey the other morning it struck me that the track has been made as level as possible. In some places the track cuts through the hills and in others it runs along with embankments either side. Near where I live the train passes by an embankment that must be 40ft high and cuts across the local landscape as a huge man made barrier.

The big box set

Given that the last box turned up with loads of track I have decided that I am going to produced two track sets for the games table. The first of these will be a low level affair complete with a level crossing, station, and road bridges over the track. The second will feature this tall embankment with both river bridges and road tunnels through the embankment.

 

Lots of track including 16 straight sections

I wanted to keep the track on the table as straight as possible – in reality train curves and bends are gentle and only tend to occur where switching takes place. There is no need on the table to have an oval or the like.

The first big question was whether or not I was going to lay down a double track, ie one where trains can travel past each other side by side. This is typical on all lines in the countryside BUT doing so would mean the width of the terrain would double and may end up compromising space on the table. I also had to consider the track I wanted to build on an embankment – these will need to have road tunnels cut through. Given the height of a vehicle is about 4cm the tunnel itself would need to be about 5cm high making the embankment around 7cm in height. With each track requiring  4cm of bedding space a double tracked section would be just too wide. As it is the footprint of these embanked sections is probably going to be at least 16cm wide. Hopefully the diagram below illustrates my point.

 

Settling on the single track approach I decided to start on the low level track. In terms of length of track I am aiming to build enough track to stretch the length of the table.

 Amongst these sections I am going to need

       1.       A level crossing

2.       A small train station

3.       A switch in the track

I’ll start explaining how I managed the simple elements and then come back to the these shortly.

 I needed boards for the tracks – very simple -  I used hardboard 8cm wide.

I got the nice folks in B&Q New Malden to cut these in strips for me. It was then a simple case of marking off the length of track with a pencil and then cutting these boards to the length required. A quick sand to smooth off the edges and we are good to go.

 

Taking a piece of track I trimmed off the connecting tabs – these are great if you are going to just use the track on their own but would likely to prove problematic once the track is based.

 

 

Making sure track and board right length

 Typically rail track rests on sleepers and between these are stones. My track already comes with sleepers but to get the stone affect I decided to use coarse ballast (toy railway supplies). I coated the boards in PVA and then whilst the glue was still tacky stuck down the track (adding superglue for a stronger bond) and then covering the track and board in ballast. The ballast has now fallen between the sleepers and after about 3 hours the pieces are already to paint.



Adding ballast - big plastic tub

 

All stoned up

With all the section constructed it was time to paint them black. I used black acrylic as it is flexible and tough. Painting between the sleepers was a pain and this is not an easy job. It takes time but I am sure the final effect will be worth it.
 

 

 

Once the track has had a good coat of black paint – as I mentioned above- it takes time the next job is to dry brush up the ballast underneath the tracks. By starting inside out it doesn’t matter if they get some paint on them – a coat of dark grey followed by light grey seems to be sufficient.

 

The start on the sleepers – dark brown followed by light brown – this helps to bring out the grain – finally the tracks. Paint black and then gun metal along the top surface.

Finally add greenery and you are good to go...



3 metres of track

I mentioned above that I was building three additional special pieces. The train station and switch were done in the same manner as above. I did have to extend the track for the switch to ensure that the 8cm wide track boards could butt up to the two exit points on the switch. The stain and platform will be built later on but I did cut out a base board for the unit and run the track through the middle of the board.
 



The Switch plus a signal picked up for £1 at a toy fair

I

The station board

 

 

The level crossing necessitated me cutting out the sleepers in the middle of a straight section and then packing this with hardboard (rough side up) so it would match the roads previously built. The crossing itself will be supported with gates and the like.

 

Level crossing - took some thinking about

 

The train is good to go...

Next up the embanked track

My embanked track will stretch 1.5m across the table. In addition I will add one curve section giving some variety to play. With each section stretching circa 20cm I will need to build a minimum of 8 units. There will be two road tunnels. One narrow river bridge section and one wide river bridge section. The fact that all my rivers come in two sizes and the roads are a standard width makes life easy. So I will build in total 6 vanilla section and the above units as described.

More on this shortly.

28mm Train for Wargames - part 2

This follows on from my last post - part 1 in which I showed a recent ebay purchase...although the scale wasn't perfect I was happy. But as I mentioned in the post I had bought another set.

http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/28mm-trains-for-wargamers-part-1.html

This set cost £19.99 from a company called TJ Hughes. I tell you now because the same product is being advertised on Amazon for over £50 quid !

At just under £20 this is a bargain - why ? Because the scale is even better.

The first photo shows the first train I bought...

The second photo shows the new locomotive.

And here they are side by side - the difference is clear

I think you'll agree this is much more like it. So what did I get for £20 quid....this lot

A loco and coal tender, two passenger carriages, four cargo box/wagons/ and two large tankers. Stretched out that's almost 1.5metres of train !

From a track perspective there is loads. 16 straights, 16 curves, some switch points and six shorter curves. More than enough to run a double track across my board. The distance between rails is 25mm - its almost identical to the other set I bought but not quite. Either way once I have cut off the joining tabs and mounted these on an embankment you wont notice the difference.

Because they are similar gauges I can run both sets of wagons/cars on all the tracks.

The box claims there is over 4.5 metres of track. Each straight is 22cm long - so in straights alone there is over 2 metres. One box will suffice.

I should also point out that the rail way sleepers do have a wood grain effect so these should paint up quite well.

From a passenger car perspective they are a little small but still quite good - again a 28mm figure for scale purposes

Did I mention that the box came with a station?

Its not great but I think I might have a use for the platform and I'll flip the roof sections on their side and turn them into those large white cricket scenes you used to see on village cricket greens.

I think I am all trained out now so I can now start building the track proper and doing the conversions. An armoured wagon is definitely going to appear.

Now of course if you are interested in procuring this set you need to know the details...

heres the box

Front

Reverse

I sourced mine from this site - its still on deal at £19.99

http://www.tjhughes.co.uk/toys-games/toys-by-type/electronic-toys/railcar-train-set

and just to prove the amazon price

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Railcar-Train-Steam-Model-Locomotive/dp/B004MLVG60/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391555720&sr=8-1&keywords=railcar+train+set

Please come back soon

28mm Trains for Wargamers part 1

Poop Poop...says the runaway train.. Has Shed Wars turned its attention to model railways?

When I embarked on my VBCW project one of the things that appealed was the opportunity to lay down a railway track as part of the scenery. However like all good wargamers things have to be done on a budget so last weekend I trawled the internet looking up and reviewing cheap toy train sets.

In the end I think I might have struck gold as the picture below might testify.

The figures in the picture are 28mm -  I would hazard a guess that the train is around 1/72 scale based on the size of the door into the train cab. Yes its a cheap and nasty train but it only cost £7.99 on ebay including postage.

For this princely sum you get two coal tenders, the locomotive and a large tanker. Plus of course track - 4 straights and 8 curves

All the bits laid out - I intend to convert the tanker it into an armoured wagon complete with turrets - in a very heath robinson style.

The company that makes these trains seems to be called Train Familiar - Rail Car Series- pictures of both front and reverse side of boxes shown.

I also found this box set (below)- much more complete with box cars and passenger carriages. I have found prices of these varying from £79 to £19.

Basing the fact that it has a similar loco and coal tender in the picture I assumed that they were the same scale. So I went out a bought my self a box !

Hopefully they are the same scale ! - Ill confirm soon

I also found this one but no sign of a retailer.

So a bit of work to do - the rains need repainting, the track boards need building (including a bridge) and I need to start thinking about the layout.

All the best

Eric