Looking good! THis has a lot of potential! Models are great! Don’t skimp on the scenery, that train deserves the best 
this looks so good Can’t believe you rigged the whole thing man!
Can’t wait to see this animated do you maybe have time to do a quick OpenGL animation render? so we can see the rig in action? 
I’m off to Ascot races just now - so it may be a few days beforeI can post n animation, but I will ASAP.
Here’s the last picture beforeI lose my shirt at the races :eek: :
I have much more work to do on the scenery, but this is a start, still got to do the grass…
Cheers, Clock.
Here is the first video of “Hector” and his carriages on the long journey from Crinkley Bottom to Oyster Beach… :eyebrowlift2:
I will be making more videos with some closeups of the buffers, etc. later on once the scenery is done.
Cheers, Clock.
Looking really cool man, Great work on the rig.
Are the Metal rods on the wheels supposed to move that fast though? they seem to be moving a little quickly
Well spotted! I messed up the driver and did not notice it, or correct it, before did the render, I will put it right for the next one…:o
Cheers, Clock.
The animation was nice and the grass is also nice already.
I guess you used a particle system? From what I saw of the grass essentials pack of Andrew Price he used plenty of different grass types and weeds to create a non uniform look. The different plant models could then be grouped together and the particle system could pick them randomly from this group.
Yes! I used a particle system with four different grass blades grouped together and all sorts of random settings. I am going to add some more elements to the groups so I get some weeds and flowers, etc. I am very busy this week so it will be next before I get any more progress. This grass layout took me around 6 hours to get to this stage as I had a lot to learn!
Thanks for the kind words.
Cheers, Clock.
PS I used the tutorial here as a guide:
Really cool project Clock!
The animation seemed promising, and I’d die to see how you rigged this thing, but I’ll bet you used your truck rig as a base ;D
Regards,
Ark
Thank you Clockmender for realising my fondest dreams! I go away for two weeks and find this amazing creation when I come back! I particularly like your Blender Tender, Mender!! If you want to build the real thing then you will need to construct a layout to run it on and give yourself completely to the Dork Side of the Force! If you can do such great stuff with 3D modelling, imagine what the real thing would look like running round your garage or garden! Thank you so much for your hard work. Your fond friend and great admirer, Chuffington of the Far North.
Thank you Clockmender for realising my fondest dreams! These are fantastic models and completely true to the Rowland Emett originals ans Smallbrook Studio Models ! Imagine what the real thing would look like running round your garage or garden, then you would really have crossed over to the Dork Side of the Force!! Look forward to future events. Warmest Wishes, chuffington
@Chuffungton - thank you for the kind words my friend, I don’t think Mrs Clockmender would be amenable to railways in the garden, on top of all the other hobbies I have…
@Arkangel - the rig is based loosely upon an updated and improved version of my “Truck” rig, more next week in answer to your pm.
Cheers, Clock.
I look at this as being, as you put it, a toy steam engine. It isn’t a serious realistic model engineering project (and wouldn’t be in the non-CG world) so I don’t think the grass needs to look too real. Looking at the Smallbrook Studio site they don’t seem to sell anything other than rolling stock, track, buildings and figures of people, so the landscape is up to the purchaser, and the “Nellie” Chronicles page shows trees, grass and flowers which are well over size when compared to the train (they’re real, of course), so perhaps your CG reconstruction could do that and scale the grass up.
Personally, I think the scene you animated is certainly good enough for a kids’ TV programme (good luck if that ever happens!).
The problem with realistic grass is you would expect it to move with the wind (same with the sea).
Some more scenery and the “Good Ship Candice” - I was going to call it “The Good Ship Venus” in honour of a song I learnt in my teens, but I decided the Mods would not approve… 
There is more to be done on the ship, so this is just a small update.
Cheers, Clock.
Thanks for the comments @jancyclops. I debated whether to put the model against an outside scene like the “Nellie Chronicles”, but went for an inside model layout in the end. I will play with the grass a little more, more blades of different sizes, etc. Eventually there will be a room to set the layout in, and some characters based upon those on the Smallbrook website.
Here’s an update of “Candice” she is now animated to do a trip from the jetty around the sea and her steam engine is fully rigged and operational:
I am now up to half a million faces!
Cheers, Clock.
really cool project. Definitely brings me back to when I was a kid! cool rig for the train! 
Thank you sir - it’s the train set I never had as a boy - I had Meccano instead (http://www.meccano.com), which is probably why I can now build this type of model and rig…
Thanks again - cheers, Clock.
oh yeah! meccano! I had some too!!! I will continue to check your progress too!
