Meet Valkenveld in hall 11 at EUROSPOOR

As mentioned earlier, Valkenveld will be exhibited at EUROSPOOR 2016 in Utrecht from 28 to 30 October. My module will be part of a 6,30 m long modular layout of three members of the Omroep Modelspoorclub (OMC) Hilversum. Our layout will be located in hall 11, stand 11A002, of the Utrecht Jaarbeurs.

I am looking forward to meeting any fellow model railroaders there!

One of the final preparations included the making of a barrier between the silo area and the track. After some trials with fences (too much blocking the view) and stones, I went for a simple solution with old rail sleepers. Also, the Volvo truck got weathered.

Overviews

A few "low quality mobile phone overview snapshots". I have taken them to see the general effect running up to "Eurospoor 2016" from 28-30 October in Utrecht. I am really pleased with the result so far. There is not much missing. A bit of weathering here and there, more weeds and plants, people to inhabit the place, some detailling on the buildings, etc.

Currently I am working on some stones that I will line-up alongside the silo area parallel to the track. The 3mm high stones will protect trucks to run into the tracks. I did not want a high fence or wall to hamper the views on the track.

Backdrop scene fine-tuning

Two workers take a well-deserved break at the Valkenveld warehouse. The backdrop scene was changed slightly as I added more height with two more silo's and I weathered the oil tank.

The wire fence is from Model Scene (No. 48130) which I have spray-painted really, really thinly with a grey coat. The white oil tank is a left-over from Piko's Mineraloelhandel (No. 61834) and the dark tanks are from Auhagen (No. 80111) on which I closed off the top. They received a coat of "German grey". Nature is as usual a mixture of various Heki and Woodland Scenics materials. The ivy is from MiniNatur. The two non-working workers are from Noch (No. 15278).

Next step: some sand, dirt and weeds underneath the warehouse platform.

Backdrop scenery

Some progress on the backdrop area, meaning the layout section between the factory facade and warehouse facade. I added a tree (self-made by friend Rob) and some bushes, a path for the train crews to grab some coffee in town during breaks, and a small area for a tank and barrels.

As usual, the images will be used to fine-tune the scene.

Trucks

I added two car/truck models to liven up the factory and team track scenes, a Volvo N 88 and Renault R4 van. I am currently working on 10+ scenery projects at the same time, so images of the new arrivals on Valkenveld have to be shot at a later stage.

The Renault 4, also known as the 4L (pronounced "Quatrelle"), is a hatchback economy car produced by the French automaker Renault between 1961 and 1992. It was the first front-wheel drive family car produced by Renault. The car was launched at a time when several decades of economic stagnation were giving way to growing prosperity and surging car ownership in France. The first million cars were produced by 1 February 1966, less than four and a half years after launch. Eventually over eight million were built, making the Renault 4 a commercial success because of the timing of its introduction and the merits of its design. It was exceptionally spacious for its size, and although originally marketed as a small estate car, it is now regarded as the first mass-production hatchback car. Source: wikipedia

Renault R4 van (Wiking No. 0225 01)

The original R4. Source: picautos

The Volvo N 88 heavy duty truck was introduced in 1965 as successor to the Volvo Titan. The N 88 retained the Titan's cab, but featured a new engine, fully synchronized eight-speed gear box and improved chassis and suspension. The 9,602 cc engine produced 200 bhp (149 kW). Source: wikipedia



Volvo N 88 (Brekina No. 85601)
 

Preparations for Eurospoor 2016

Presparations for Eurospoor are in full swing as I will show Valkenveld together with modules of OMC friends Marco and Jasiu. We linked our modules together yesterday for the first time - hence the unusual perspective..

We also decided to do a backdrop only alongside the back-end, and not on the sides as well. This will allow visitors to get views along the whole layout. It also meant that I needed to find a solution to somehow "close-off" Valkenveld on the right hand side to prevent trains to accidentally run off the layout. I decided to build a small wall not hampering views.

 

Small side building for the silo area

A new side building for the silo area. The base is a Piko kit (No. 61834) which was completely repainted. The surface area still has to be finished, so the gap between building and underground will disappear.