A GWR journey through the 1920s and 30s

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

Meticulous as ever Bill…….the shed will be an excellent addition to Newton Regis.

Now there is another coincidence, Regis was the name of the Art and Picture Framing stores we used to run.

You probably have finalised your rainwater furniture by now but if you havent Ratio used to sell quite a useful sprue of pipes and gutters……..Langley also offer quite a nice range ….albeit much more expensive.

  Thank you John, I’ve really enjoyed this build and the timber based construction (MDF) makes it easy to bash and detail with similar materials, coffee stirrers being my choice due to ease of use.
 
I’m a great believer in happy coincidences and your modest revelation made me smile. I see now why you favour card structure buildings so much and wonder if you still have a good supply of card stock, although looking at the quantity of real estate in Granby, it was probably used up a decade ago!
 
I have some of the Ratio sprues and they’re not bad, but I preferred the set I got from my Belgian supplier, although I need to check the manufacturers’ name before posting my current guess! I never realised that Langley also produced rainwater goods, presumably in white metal, which I imagine needs a robust adhesive to secure it to an MDF base.
 
I managed to retrieve my missing parcel today, so can crack on with the final stages of the build.
 
Bill

[user=19]Marty[/user] wrote:

Nice roof… well worth the effort. 
Great shed colours too….

….

But then I would say that wouldn't I?

  I’m totally with you on the shed colours Marty and I’ll try not to mess it up too much with the weathering!
   
  The roof was so easy to fit, certainly a lot quicker than cutting it out of art paper with a scalpel and steel rule, so I’ll be ordering more.
   
  Bill
  

[user=201]georgejacksongenius[/user] wrote:

Playing catch-up here Bill….the wood effect you achieved on the small shed touches genius! The detail going into the goods shed passes it, beautiful,beautiful work!! I need to go back to the beginning and read this lot over again properly.I can well sympathise with you losing bits on the floor.it's getting so bad with me now,I seriously think about not bothering to look, because N gauge lost fiddly bits tend to stay lost!!!
Enjoying watching this all develop.

Cheers,John.B.:thumbs

  John, your words touch me, as I never consider my modelling merits such praise, as I’m just enjoying myself and hope everything makes a good contribution in creating an interesting and believable railway. Having said that, I really appreciate your comments and I’ll continue enjoying myself and hope it shows with the results.
 
As for loosing small bits, I fear it will only get worse, although there is no way I could ever get that sliding door gear right in 2mm, so respect kind Sir!
 
Best,
 
Bill

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

Wow Bill - that's intricate detail on that sliding door Bill - I had to read on to work out it was in fact, a model and not the real thing to illustrate a point.

I see Scale Model Scenery appears once again.  I was delighted with my bow string bridge so may well have a look at their other offerings. Certainly your roof looks great.  :thumbs

  Hi Peter,
   
  The doors are okay, but I really wanted them to slide!
   
  I’m settling on SMS as my roof coverers of choice, as it's thin, yet robust enough to make for easy installation and it takes paint really well and I can see why they won one of the retailer of the year awards.
   
  Bill
  

  Goods Shed, (Prototype: Chudleigh), Part 3 of 2
 
Excitement mounted, as I retrieved my lost parcel and spent a short time with parts from a Wills timber halt laid on the workbench in deciding just how I was going to configure them to the shed. A plan was born and yet more coffee stirrers and some spare MDF fascia were repurposed as legs, struts and joists and a timber dock soon appeared for wrapping around the shed, providing space and flexibility to service two wagons.


At least glue is quicker than watching paint dry! 

Next came a brick foundation under the shed to equalise the floor and dock levels, as well as provide necessary rising damp protection to the shed, by raising the timber structure off the ground. This is a simple laminate of embossed brick over a plasticard backing.




(Work in progress: two courses of brickwork still to be removed, see later photo)

The goods yard also hosts coal trade, so some darker colours will extend to the shed area from the adjacent coal merchant.




The test brick strips above show two mixes of brick colour, although they look pretty much the same in the photo, with an overall thinned mortar wash which will be toned down. The lower strip has  grey wash over the left hand and black over the right, so the grey it is. Note how the dark washes regularises the over wash of the mortar. 










Now I had the drop height from gutter to ground level, I could fit the rainwater downpipes and add pipe collars and paint GWR mid-stone, while finishing touches include protective bump stops under the door.
 
That’s pretty much it for the basic structure, although as part of a living, working goods yard, so much more still needs to be added in order to better tell the story of Newton Regis’ goods traffic. Research will bring out the back story, which will be modelled to show the social history of our parents and grandparents, so there is much more to come as the layout develops.    
 
I’ve particularly enjoyed this build, as the kit encourages boldness to add character and I always like to change most things, starting by pretty much ignoring the instructions and building and painting in a logical sequence.
 
Despite detail levels with any instructions, prototype photographs are an absolute must. Without them, you are building blind, not knowing how your building is supposed to look and getting no feeling of its character or what extra detail you can add.
 
Recalling Barry’s ‘Planning or winging it?’ thread, I had my overall plan on how to build the shed, but then saw opportunities to help tell a better storey of goods handling and as I took my time, more ideas emerged, so frankly, it’s not quite there yet, however, for most practically purposes let’s call it finished (Okay 30 minutes to glue the downpipes on when I’ve a steady hand and fresh eyes), as I continue to ponder on some more touches as it takes on some personality.




Rail Model’s accurately cut parts are delightful to work with, fit together really well, take paint easily and at £35, is reasonably priced.
 
This build has finally given me the benefit of confidence to scratch build my next and currently last railway building for Newton Regis, this being the stables, although I my well research some of the more fiddly bits to see if any specialist company makes them. Fine louvres spring to mind!
 
I’ll be taking a break on buildings for a while to get some trains running. Poot poot!
 
Best,
 
Bill

[user=1814]Longchap[/user] wrote:

 My consignment from the French model supplies shop, “Passion’’ arrived today, so I thought I’d divert myself from wiring and paint the base of the cattle dock.

The ramp was amended as above to allow it to squeeze into a narrower space and I set to with my new colours on the stonework to resemble Cotswold stone with reference to photos.




 
 
To be continued .  .  .
 
Bill

Hi Bill,

What was the walling material you used here? I'm making progress hunting down sources but hadn't seen this before.

Colin

  Hi Colin,
 
Sorry for the delay, as we’ve been out to get our second covid vaccinations and enjoyed the 28 deg early summer weather so much, we ambled back.
 
The cattle dock was a slightly bashed Ratio kit, so in the same family as Wills although probably not the same as Wills’ stone sheets. It has good relief, so takes multi-layered paint finishing and is quite rigid.
 
Best,
 
Bill

Hi Bill,

Thanks. Since first posting my topic on PS building materials I've discovered a fair bit about the merits etc of the various options and firmed up my ideas. I'll update over there.

BTW it is a fine dock and I thought it came out very well.

Hi Bill
The detail you have achieved on the goods shed is quite exceptional. I particularly like the guttering.

It will be quite the challenge scratch building the stables to that standard. I am not surprised that louvres are occupying your mind somewhat :lol:

Glad to hear you are switching to operation for a while……looking forward to the photos

Best wishes

Very nice modelling Bill, I'm curious, as I've never seen guttering with so many pieces as they are usually long lengths.

Phil

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

Hi Bill
The detail you have achieved on the goods shed is quite exceptional. I particularly like the guttering.

It will be quite the challenge scratch building the stables to that standard. I am not surprised that louvres are occupying your mind somewhat :lol:

Glad to hear you are switching to operation for a while……looking forward to the photos

Best wishes

 Thanks John and so good to hear from you and trusting things are good with you and yours.
   
  I'm having a quiet day with a painful arm following the second covid inoculation yesterday, but hope to get back to the railway room tomorrow and solder the droppers to the bus and hook up the power and PSX and see if my NCE system works, as it has been a few years since its purchase!
   
  Glad you like the gutters, which I may carry out a minor mod thanks to Phil's timely reminder.
   
  Best,
   
  Bill
  

[user=753]Phil.c[/user] wrote:

Very nice modelling Bill, I'm curious, as I've never seen guttering with so many pieces as they are usually long lengths.

 Phil

Many thanks Phil and well spotted with all those gutter brackets. I'd tried several types and liked these, sourced from my Belgium model shop and think they may be Faller, but I need to dig them out again to make sure. As they're made for HO model railways, they seem to be a better scale than the (to my mind) largely overscale UK image products.
 
I agree with your comment regarding the closeness of the gutter brackets, which is why I've not yet fitted the downpipes, as I need to par off alternate brackets with a new blade. Hopefully, it will sit better on the completed building and I'll post some more photos in due course.
 
Are you still contemplating your canal extension? I've had one in mind for a while, very much using the KISS mantra and terminating with a dock wall with infinity water.
 
Best,
 
Bill

That is a lovely little build Bill.
Can we have a clearer picture from the rail dock side please. I can’t quite make out the timber deck.

  Hi Marty and thanks for your kind words. I just took these showing the railside aspect, which makes things much clearer:






The top one shows the deck wrapping round the shed much better than the low level shot and both remind me to raise the deck height a tad to bring the planking just below the bottom of the door and incorporate a tiny triangular ramp bolted to the deck, to assist passage of trolleys between deck and shed. That will be following scenics, when the shed is finally located and bedded in. Although the rear will not normally be seen, I still need to fit a gutter, as the downpipe discharges down the side elevation.
 
Best,
 
 Bill

Edit: there's some steps from the left hand side of the dock, by the door, to the ground, but they've fallen over!
 

I too was intrigued by the guttering Bill.  If Faller can produce something as good as that, why can't Peco/Slaters or whoever ?

Your attention to detail is to be admired.  :thumbs

Pleased to hear you've had your 2nd jab - we had ours (Pfizer) about a month ago and we too had slightly painful arms for about 24 hours. Psychologically, it makes one feel much safer.

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

I too was intrigued by the guttering Bill.  If Faller can produce something as good as that, why can't Peco/Slaters or whoever ?

Peter,

 As I'm planning a whole campaign of scratch builds, your comments were timely. In particular the high costs of sourcing sharpen my focus so some quick research done..I found one Germanic sounding producer "Auhagen" which might be Bill's supply.

Fair bit of guttering in one pack, viz. 40 *74mm + 20 50mm downpipes should see me good, now winging its way to me ex a UK supplier off FleaBaie
 
Colin

Hiya,

Thought I'd better dig out the guttering packs to confirm what they really are. Much better than recalling a random manufacturer, there being so many!

Well 'ere tiz:



Top marks to Colin for finding them as well and yes. you do get a fair amount of product in the bag. I'm still part way through my first pack and they make up well. Just take care removing the gutters in particular, from the sprue, as they will deform under stress, but a small pair of cutters nibbling away in several cuts does the trick neatly.

Next on my list of things to find will be louvres, hopefully etched and I'll share the results if and when they come to light.

A fine 28deg in the shade again here, so I've been perforating coke tins with my newly rediscovered .177 BSA Magnum 240 in a cool stone outbuilding, as it's far too hot for modelling!

Best,

Bill

How did you manage to get an airgun here Bill ?  I thought they came under the gun laws or is that .22 and over ?

The French gun laws changed just a few years ago and air guns are legal for target shooting, not hunting and up to 10 joules power (which is way more than in the UK), although mine were packed up by the removal contractors and I found the box, which also contained a CO2 powered .22 Ratcatcher carbine.
 
Take a look at https://www.armurerie-lavaux.com/ under armes des loisirs, which can take you back to those teenage years. I quite fancy a 177 semi automatic pellet pistol to get rid of more coke cans even more quickly.

Cheers,

Bill

[user=1814]Longchap[/user] wrote:

Hiya,

Thought I'd better dig out the guttering packs to confirm what they really are. Much better than recalling a random manufacturer, there being so many!

Well 'ere tiz:



……..

For others who might be intertested, Bills pack shown here is Auhagen 41 609 which has 8*200 mm gutters and longer 91mm downpipes. The one I found available in the UK was Auhagen 48 643 with the shorter gutter lengths I quoted earlier.