I said elsewhere that I liked the look of this Georgian town house terrace manufactured by Kingsway Models.


 

It's priced at £11 and, to save a little on international postage, I also bought this one, priced at £14 :






I'd heard that Kingsway, who specialise in London underground and bus station kits, aren't great kits but I did like the Georgian terrace.  My idea is to add a few improvements - in particular, 3D printed windows from our own Wizmacnz.

At the same time, I'll offer my thoughts on how the kits compare with the likes of Metcalfe, Superquick and Scalescenes.  At the price, they should compare very favourably.


Firstly, the Georgian terrace.  Here's what you get for your £11 :



Plus an A4 sheet of instructions - not a great deal !!!

The first observation is that the 2 prints on the left and the pavement print are printed (mounted) on a high quality Bristol board about 1mm thick.  Top right marked "thin" is mounted on thin card/thick paper similar to a greetings card.

Other than the board quality, my first impression is that they have some way to go to match the bigger manufacturers although they do obviously cater for an LT "niche" market rather than the mass market.

More to follow when I've had a better look.

I notice the windows are printed and you've already mentioned that you will use some of Peter's windows - great start.  There are possibly other areas that can be given 3D elements.  The doors look like they should be improved.

There are two modeling philosophies - build a kit or build a model using a kit as a starting point.

John

 

I will also look at the doors John plus, I plan to use some Scale-link wrought iron railings instead of the printed panel wall at the front.

"Proper" downpipes are also called for.

I can't start it just yet but, once Peter has an idea of his 3D print costs, I can get some of the materials gathered together.  This will NOT be anywhere approaching a "Dooferdog" quality build, more of an "it looks OK" type of offering.

I wonder if it could be scanned to make an extra pair.  If so, that may be why it seems so expensive…………….:roll:

There you are Peter, that's what I'm talking about!  :cheers

John

 

Hi Peter
When you get a chance,  measure the size of the holes for the window openings and I'll make a start on some Georgian windows to suit.

Ok - here's some measurements Peter:



Windows are marked "Cut Out".  The two other "openings" are for the doors.

Top row:         h: 18mm  x w: 11mm

Middle Row:    h: 20.5mm x w: 11mm

Ground floor:  h: 27.5mm x w: 18.5mm

Basement:      h: 17mm x w: 11mm

This shot of the "backing layer" shows the window style in the kit (but they're only printed windows)  Each panel is glued behind their respective windows/doors :



Looking forward to your ideas (and prices……). :thumbs

OK Peter, I'll get on to it over the week-end. Shouldn't take long, it's just finding a time slot.

Where do the glass tiles fit Peter?

I typically glaze windows with a thin sheet of report cover acetate glued to the inside face of the windows. Sash windows I use two pieces one for the upper and one for the lower. I'll see if I can point the camera at a glazed window over the week-end.

[user=31]sparky[/user] wrote:

Where do the glass tiles fit Peter?

I had to go off and read the instructions before I could answer this one Reg. ;-)

The kit can be built with a proper "below ground" basement - if you're prepared to cut a hole in the baseboard to represent it - or, it can be built as a "ground level" only house in which case, the walls are shortened slighrtly (cut off where the red arrows are) and the glass tiles are glued in front of the basement windows as "skylights" suggesting there's something below them.

If you've ever seen this type of housing, you might recall that they often had a small "pit" in front of the basement windows and the "ground" floor was up some steps probably 3 or 4 feet higher than the actual ground level.  The rear gardens were usually at basement floor level whereas the road level at the front was considerably higher.

Thanks Peter .  Yes i remember this type of building well having worked around the Bayswater area  .  It was quite common to have a coal cellar under the pavement and a circular cast iron cover, in the pavement to pour the coal through.  In the front yard at low level would be the access to the cellar via a door.  Steps down from the pavement level and a gate at the top .  they seemed to keep the iron railings on those houses ,whereas our house had the railings removed during the war to be melted down and reused for the war effort .   
Looking forward to your progress with the kit , should make a good model with scope to play with steps to the front door.  :thumbs

[user=1043]Wizmacnz[/user] wrote:

I typically glaze windows with a thin sheet of report cover acetate glued to the inside face of the windows. Sash windows I use two pieces one for the upper and one for the lower. I'll see if I can point the camera at a glazed window over the week-end.

That's what happens when you jump into the forum in a spare moment at work. I completely missed the context of Reg's question and that of course it wasn't directed at me. I think I've become more egocentric with age….anyway ….that is how I glaze windows.

:thumbs

Don't worry about it Peter - I was awake ……….cheers

Not a problem ,Peter the Wiz.:thumbs

I've started to make up some windows, but I'm a bit puzzled as to what the lump above the windows is supposed to be (as marked up on the picture below.)





If this is part of the window surround head it doesn't look quite right. I could make up a window with a surround a bit like the picture at  The mayor's £1.8m house of Windsor... (converted from Max Mosley's office) | Daily Mail Online (middle floor windows of the first picture)
I need to know the dimensions of the rectangle above the window and the dimension from top of the cut-out to the bottom of the rectangle so that I can hide it with the surround.

It looks like a decorative cornice forming the top edge of the lintel, Peter.

Yes I think you are right Max. So I think I should try and model a better version (if I can) that covers up the card one and ties into the window surround.

Sorry - been out this morning …………:oops:

Max is right Peter - it's a decorative slab - there to stop rain dripping down the windows.  They thought of everything in those days - and made a feature of it.

The bottom of the rectangle to the top of the cut-out is 6mm.

The rectangle itself is 2mm deep by 17mm wide.

From your linked photo, I'd guess it protrudes around 6 inches from the wall surface in 12 inches to the foot scale.  Also from your photo, it looks to be rather more than a flat slab having "layers" built into it below the top flat surface.  I'd guess the top flat surface would have been covered in lead flashing to keep the rain out of it.   As I said, they made features of everything.

Well I've done a first cut of the windows (apart from the basement window type which I forgot and will have to add)… any constructive criticism gratefully received.





I've batched them to see how the costs work out. Shapeways  price says 14.50 Euro's including GST. That's for the twenty windows ground floor and above. There are another 4 basement windows, so probably 17 to 18 Euro's (whatever they are).

They look good Peter - quick work too. thumbs

Just a couple of questions - what's the thickness of the "web" between the window frame and that decorative overhanging rectangle - or are they designed for the web to be removed and just use the window and rectangle ? 

There doesn't appear to be a sill on that same "middle" window.  Is that intentional ?

The pack shot shows the left hand windows in pairs.  Again, is that for ease of print/packing and they are separated on arrival ?

I don't think the price is at all bad - for the quality, it seems much cheaper than the kit itself ………..:cheers

p.s. Euros are quite nice things with pretty pictures on them. ;-)