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| A row of John Ahern Cottages - Scratchbuilding. - More Practical Help - Your Model Railway Club | ||||||||||
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Chubber Casseroled Badger 
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Well, here I have a go at a row of three cottages shown as Fig. 37 in John Ahern’s ‘Miniature Building Construction’. This book, written before WW2 is still available in various newer reprints from on-line booksellers. The copyright still rests with the author’s family and I have an agreement to reproduce it in parts. I’m doing this as a personal challenge, discovering as I do so that not all JA’s techniques are wholly successful in an era where close-up digital photography is uncompromising brutal in exposing ‘nearlys’ and ‘almosts’’!  [All relevant illustrations copyright CV Russell and E Fells Reproduced with their kind permissions.] The drawing in the 9" x 6" book is typical, and shows a 'Scale' in Imperial Feet. To start, I usually calculate the overall length of a 'OO/4mm' building in millimetres by multiplying the scale length by 4, this gives a front and back wall length of 172mm, a fraction under 7", so this is a small building. Designed no doubt for the families of three agricultural workers this building would today stand in a quaint country village as a single 'Des Res'.[size=] [size=] From this basis, I scan and re-size the drawings then use dividers to build straight from the resized drawings. Occasionally I’ll work up a set of drawings using a tee-square and setsquares if the drawing is not exactly to my liking or desired design. Here, using a straight-edge I mark out a wall on a piece of card using a set square, dividers and compasses from the scaled-up drawing.  The windows are varied in size and shape, and I’ve chosen to make them simply, using self-adhesive paper printouts. The arches are formed from short pieces of the soldier course on the texture paper, cut almost through to the edge, dampened and then curved before being applied with stick adhesive.  The sole bay window posed a problem, it is very small, so I stuck some Sellotape to the back of a strip of 1mm styrene, cut 90% of the way through, and then bent the strip until it almost snapped, paiting the break with Mekpak to seize it at the right angle. Then I cut out a strip of self-adhesive paper to represent the framework. Originally I applied only one layer of 2mm card on the top, but it did not look right until I replaced it by two 1mm layers, the upper piece fractionally bigger than the underneath piece. It remains loosely pressed in place until further work has been completed, when it will be secured in place, supported by a pair of brackets underneath.   The dormers are quite involved. Never having tried dormers before, I started out trying JA’s method below  only to find that whether the window was cut before or after bending, the sides of the frames distorted too much to look acceptable. Instead I went this way…  which seems to have worked at the expense of a lot of fiddling about with the separate sides. It occurs to me now that if I had cut out a flat, one-piece dormer shape, cut out the window and then stuck a piece of 1mm styrene in the centre using ‘Glue and Glaze’ [it dries glass clear] before bending up the sides, it might have worked. I will maybe find out on the solitary rear dormer.  Next the part that had provoked me into trying this model, the ‘Eyebrow’ dormer at the back at which I had several dry runs…   and as it didn't seem too bad went ahead only to find that unless there is plenty card around the window whilst it is being formed, the card distorts. That meant marking out the roof panel in the centre of a larger piece of card, forming the window and then trimming to roof panel size. I also found that inserting the window frame distorted the ‘fan’ of the dormer. A piece of dental floss solved that problem, and pressed into place against the restraining floss, a few drops of super glue soon stabilised it.   Well, that about all for now, I now have to make some chimneys and fit the main roof around them, so T.T.F.N. and I hope you've found this entertaining or useful. D ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Spurno Owner/Webmaster. 
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Brilliant Doug is all i can say.it gives somebody like me inspiration to try more scratch building although i doubt i'll ever get that good. ____________________ Regards Alan Born beside the mighty GWR. |
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col.stephens Full Member
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Excellent work as always Doug. May I just clarify a query regarding the 1mm styrene strip used for the bay window? Is this clear styrene? If not you have lost me as I can't work out how the window is clear if the styrene is behind it. Terry |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Thanks, chaps, yes, Terry, it's clear styrene, in fact it's 'Bayer Vivak' that I bought in Church Street models as 'styrene' but doesn't act like it, I shall probably not use it and go back to CD case plastic which glues far more readily with Mekpak. Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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col.stephens Full Member
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Doug, Vivak is the stuff I used for glazing the lamp-room in the John Ahern Lighthouse project. Referring back to that thread I note that I had a dreadful time finding a solvent or glue that would stick the ruddy stuff together. I eventually used 'Daywat' which is a very strong solvent called Butanone, I believe. Horrible stuff, comes with lots of health warnings. I will certainly avoid using Vivak in future - too much trouble. Terry |
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Stubby47 Welsh exile 
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Doug, A brilliant tutorial and explanation of your findings. More notes to be stored for future reference. Stu ____________________ Stubby47's Model Buildings - http://www.styubby47.co.uk All photos I post are ©Stu Hilton, but are free for use by anyone. The Chacewater to Newquay Railway: Shepherds Halt, Shepherds Station, The Treamble Branch |
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ddolfelin Straight man to the stars. 
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That's very clever, Doug.
____________________ http://dddioramas.webs.com/ 11 + 2 = 12 + 1 |
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Barneybuffer Full Member 
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Great how to Doug, I might have a go at the terraced houses but I think the dormer's will need a lot of practice, particularly the eyebrow dormer. Good work on your part though. Looking forward to seeing the finished project.
____________________ Always try to look on the bright side of life! Barney |
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GeorgeWB Full Member
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Great as usual . George | |||||||||
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gastwo Member 
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Great stuff Doug, and very well illustrated and explained. I know you use cornflake packets - just how much cereal does the Dickson household consume... Looking forward to the finished terrace! Shaun. |
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Ken Member 
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Super Doug and John Ahern has always been my inspiration so even more interesting for me. I'm also quite intrigued by the chalky brick paper; is that one you've created? Ditto where you say "using self-adhesive paper printouts" for the windows; can you elaborate please? Ken. ____________________ 'It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that Swing' |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Hullo, Ken, The paper is Scalescenes 'TXO5 Painted brick', the windows are done by printing the frames onto self adhesive A4 paper label, sticking it to perspex or acrylic, and then cutting out and peeling off the 'pane' areas. Hope that makes sense, Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Ken Member
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It does indeed, thanks Doug. Ken. ____________________ 'It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that Swing' |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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herewith a photograph of the chimney assemblies, fitted with 'Unbreakable' chimney pots, i.e. short lengths of rubber cable covering pushed over toothpick stumps strongly glued into pre-drilled holes in wooden chimneys, my improvement on the JA theme. They are then 'twirl' painted with a thick acrylic paint. The loose white under-roof is getting a bit bashed about as it is constantly on and off, I shall give it an overall coat of shellac tomorrow. Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Simonmcp Full Member
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Looking great Doug, I will have to dig out my copy of John Ahern's book. I have had the pleasure of seeing Madder Valley in the flesh at Pendon as well. Is the large chimney with the three pots embossed or just plain 'Whiffen'? It looks very textured. Simon |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Thank you, it's plain Wiffen, TX 11 Stretcher Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Campaman Full Member 
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Looking good as usual, is that inside of envelope wallpaper I spy on the internal walls?
____________________ Cheers Andy |
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Chinahand Full Member 
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Great work Doug with some really clever solutions to those tricky architectural features. I look forward to following your progress.
____________________ Regards, Trevor |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Thanks for all the kind remarks, I'm trying to get my head around the roof tiling at the moment. Campaman wrote: Looking good as usual, is that inside of envelope wallpaper I spy on the internal walls? Aha! Well spotted Andy, no one will ever see it, I've run out of little LEDs for the sitting-rooms. Yes, courtesy of Messrs Lloyds and Nationwide.... Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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allan downes Legacy Member
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Hi Doug. Brilliant,another J Ahern fan! It's where I started out way,way back and tried to build every building in his book them when Cyril Freezer, the RAILWAY MODELER Editor at the time found out, he told Pendon Museum about it, who had just taken J Ahearn's MADDER VALLEY layout under their wing on permanant loan from the great mans widow when the late founder, Roy England, asked me if I would consider repairing it as it had fallen into disrepair - WHAT an honour!!!! Anyway, he should have asked you! Best regards. Allan. |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Thank you for the compliment, Allan, I do envy you that opportunity. Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Well, this will have to do, after several frustrating failures I decided I couldn't adequately convince card and paper to arch as abruptly as the JA drawing so have deviated slightly viz-a-viz the length of the 'eyebrow'. No excuse not to finish it now....oh, bu%%er.  Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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allan downes Legacy Member
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Really looking the buisiness Doug, especially that 'eye brow dormer'. Where bay windows and dormers are concerned, I found it easier to make them up as a completely finished unit rather than trying to work round them when in place - but hey, why am I trying to telling an obvious Master what to do ?! Doug, I have a photo illustrating the method I used for bay window construction that I could put up on here if you like ? Cheers. Allan. |
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allan downes Legacy Member
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I just HAVE to tell you this. Just a few moments ago my `6yre old great granddaughter asked me " Granddaddy, when you die, do you have to be dead ?" Priceless. |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Thank you Allan, and I'd be interested in seeing how you handle card dormers, I did want to stay true[ish] to JA with the cuts up the length of the roof material [packeto-cornoflako]. Bay windows are normally no problem but as this one is only 27mm wide with 3mm panes hence my 'folded perspex' method as above. and what is a bay-window without an aspidistra...? http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=10760&forum_id=11 Best wishes, Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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allan downes Legacy Member
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allan downes Legacy Member
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Chinahand Full Member
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As one N Gauger to another I can honestly sat that's definitely a result Doug. Top stuff indeed.  Do I take it those pages are taken from your book Allan ? If so, where can I get one ? ____________________ Regards, Trevor |
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allan downes Legacy Member
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Chinahand wrote: As one N Gauger to another I can honestly sat that's definitely a result Doug. Top stuff indeed. No, they were scanned out of the MR issue that the article appeared in. Cheers. Allan. |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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dooferdog wrote: Thank you Allan, and I'd be interested in seeing how you handle card dormers, I did want to stay true[ish] to JA with the cuts up the length of the roof material [packeto-cornoflako]. Bay windows are normally no problem but as this one is only 27mm wide with 3mm panes hence my 'folded perspex' method as above. Thank you for posting those pictures Allan, I had hoped that you would show me a way of doing small dormers in card, do you have any examples that are not made from plastic sections/sheets? Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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allan downes Legacy Member
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dooferdog wrote: dooferdog wrote:Thank you Allan, and I'd be interested in seeing how you handle card dormers, I did want to stay true[ish] to JA with the cuts up the length of the roof material [packeto-cornoflako]. Bay windows are normally no problem but as this one is only 27mm wide with 3mm panes hence my 'folded perspex' method as above. Hi Doug. I make dormers in exactly the same way as I make bay windows. Now personally I prefer to build them out of plastic but in the past I have built them out of thin card ie, postcards, and a dormer is really just a less complicated structure than a bay window where the basic principle is the same. However, I'm not sure whether or not that I might have posted this diagram on bay/dormer construction before but here it is anyway along with a few examples. Hope this helps. Allan.  |
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allan downes Legacy Member
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Thank you, I especially like the terrace model, Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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georgejacksongenius Kettle Watcher 
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Great to see you back at it Doug.Lovely work on the cottages:that dormer must've been a nightmare to do... Cheers,John.B.  |
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Khris Full Member
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Allan, What mag did this appear in please? Khris |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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georgejacksongenius wrote: that dormer must've been a nightmare to do... Thanks, John, I finally used watercolour paper, wetting the back and stretching it over several days until it [just] fitted. It says something for the Epson 'Durabrite' ink in that it didn't run or smudge. I split two attempts, and soon cottoned on to stretching before cutting to fit round everything else first. Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Chinahand Full Member
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I had to do a double-take on that row of terraced houses Alan. It's only the polished wooden desk top that gives it away. Another superb piece of modelling.
____________________ Regards, Trevor |
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AndyG Full Member
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I think Allan must cheat.. Takes pics of a real buildings then photoshops out all the surrounds. I won't believe otherwise until he sends me at least 3 model buildings. 
____________________ GRADSDEN CENTRAL http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gradds55/Gradsden_Central/index.html Brusio/Bernina http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gradds55/Gradsden_Central/Brusio.htm The Newcastle Model Railway Club http://www.tnmrc.org.au/index.html |
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allan downes Legacy Member
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Khris wrote: Allan, Hi Khris. It was in the Model rail, some time back now and I have put the article up on here before somewhere but here it is again anyway. Hope it helps. Allan      |
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Khris Full Member
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Thanks Allan. much appreciated. Khris |
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Gary Inactive Member 
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G'day Doug, I don't know how I missed this thread on your amazing building and craftsmanship. The way you went about this is fantastic and well explained. One word sums it up, 'brilliant' ! Cheers, Gary. ____________________ ...as a young lad, it was big trains for little boys, now it is little trains for big boys...! http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=12116&forum_id=21 |
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Marty Enjoying the Journey 
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A very cute curved dormer Doug, the tiny windows are awesome. Wall paper on the inside of the rooms too and a solid construction all round. The external white brick work is very convincing also.... yup, inspirational as always. You must be nearly finished? ... and are we due an update to Bear's End? cheers Marty ____________________ Marty N Gauge, GWR West Wales Newcastle Emlyn Layout. Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction" |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Thank you, Gary, Marty, For various reasons Bear's End will have to be taken down and the room returned to a bedroom, so 'The Axe' has to be used! I've found a home for the mill buildings, and aprt from commisions and magazine work I shall not be modelling for a while. I have a scheme to use the space/facilites I have here to build some portable baseboards, though, and will no doubt resume normal service soon. I shall continue to do the 'how-tos' with most of my stuff so don't think I'm going to stop boring you all with tales of tortured paper and card. Poop poop, Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Chinahand Full Member
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Oh heck. That's tough Doug but glad to know that we shall still have the pleasure of your company here. Good luck with the portable boards. ____________________ Regards, Trevor |
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col.stephens Full Member
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Doug, Nil desperandum! When I built my 7mm scale portable layout Halstead (as advertised on this forum), I used to store the two baseboards out of sight behind a wing chair in the lounge, and the supporting sub-frame and legs in our small garden shed. The stock and controllers went on top of the wardrobe. Where there's a will, there's a way! Terry |
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Spurno Owner/Webmaster.
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dooferdog wrote:
____________________ Regards Alan Born beside the mighty GWR. |
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georgejacksongenius Kettle Watcher
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Doug, I can still remember your talk down at Carn Brea and the open-mouthed admiration of your efforts from the rest of us reprobates.   Don't ever think you're boring anyone mate,your work is amazing and a joy to behold. (And Kelloggs should give you a grant if only for boosting their sales of Cornflake Packeto to railway modellers!!!) Cheers,John.B. |
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paul_l Full Member 
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I think mis-understood the goverments advice, five a day was supposed to be fruit and veg, not bowls of cornoflakeos - might dent his productivity if t'wer shredded tweet. Excellent as usual Doug Paul ____________________ Victoria Road |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Thank you for your kind remarks and apologies for a slow response, just a piccy to show you I have not as yet dropped of the perch... Any questions, please feel free to write them on a £20 note and post to.................... Best wishes, Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Gary Inactive Member
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Are the answers to the £20 question replied with one of your superb models...??  Cheers, Gary. ____________________ ...as a young lad, it was big trains for little boys, now it is little trains for big boys...! http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=12116&forum_id=21 |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Tee hee, sadly no, Gary. I have always wanted to do a model like this entirely without plastic but for the acrylic glazing, and lo and behold, Lloyds Bank wrote to me today with a 'window' envelope that is almost completely clear, so that's the next stuff I'll try it might even take inkjet ink? Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Petermac Admin 
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Glad to hear Lloyds still do something useful ........................ Wonderful model Doug - how did you do the tin bath and is the whitewashed brick Scalescenes ? ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Hi Peter, The paper is Scalescenes TX05 Painted brick. and the baths are little pieces of hardwood hanger carved with a Stanley knife, sanded and given 2 coats of silver enamel before a dry brushing with bluey-grey acrylic then a few marks with an indelible marker pen. Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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col.stephens Full Member
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Superb modelling, as always. Terry |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Thank you, Terry. Herewith a little 'how-to' of a method I'm exploring for quickly making 'lotser little wooden sheds' or small buildings. Given a few bits of Packeto Cornoflako covered with texture papers and some softwood scraps a range of little buildings like those above can be built very quickly. I've not appended any sizes, the door is about a scale 6ft [24mm high]. I'm pleased to say the clear paper from window envelopes works well, better in fact than acrylic glazing as it has a slight opaque quality and is much thinner, and glues to the card/paper with PVA. If your printer will handle thin card, print straight onto that. The softwood former can be made up I cover the two large sides first, trim all round with an extended Stanley snap-off knife, then the ends, finally touching up the cut edges with a water-colour pencil. Be sure to prime the end-grain of the wood with some neat PVA using a digital transfer interfacer [finger]  Poop poop, Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Khris Full Member
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Hi Doug, I have been fiddling trying to make buildings. Sticky labels seemed to be the way to go until I measured how fine I had to make them. Brainwave..... I remembered the paint pen I bought for the plant labels on pots. Dropped into the Newsagents and found a 0.8 one. Just a thought for anyone if they, like me find the labels to timeconsuming and fiddly. Khris |
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Gary Inactive Member
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Khris wrote: Hi Doug, Another option for making thin lines for window glazing frames etc, is to paint some old decal paper with enamels, not acyllics, alllow to dry and slice off what you need. Soak in warm water and apply the slide where you want it. Cheers, Gary. ____________________ ...as a young lad, it was big trains for little boys, now it is little trains for big boys...! http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=12116&forum_id=21 |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Progress to date    Reproduction by permission of the copyright holders Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Chinahand Full Member
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More stunning work Doug with excellent weathering and lots of lovely little details.
____________________ Regards, Trevor |
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col.stephens Full Member
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Brilliant work Doug. Terry |
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Petermac Admin
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OMG - what can one say !! I'm giving up ................... Absolutely brilliant Doug. ____________________ 'Petermac |
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allan downes Legacy Member
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Mr Ahearn would have been mightily impressed Doug, as am I !! Cheers. Allan. |
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Khris Full Member
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Excellent...absolutely stunning work. Khris |
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Marty Enjoying the Journey
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After all the experimenting with the curved dormer I think it's come out very well. A classic building beautifully done. Bravo. Marty ____________________ Marty N Gauge, GWR West Wales Newcastle Emlyn Layout. Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction" |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Thanks, chaps, Just to show I'm still 'on the perch' despite some really hot weather some pictures of my work in the garden, well, my 1/76th garden! Need 2 working sheep dogs, seated or recumbent for Sam the Shepherd's kennels, have only found ambulatory ones so far. Porter Pete's marrows are coming on nicely and he begrudges the space he's given to 'Er Indoors flowers, but at least there should be plenty of runner beans to salt down for the winter. The ceanothus looks a treat too having nearly lost it to the frosts last year. Next doors plum tree will be a pain again, I expect, with the falling plums attracting wasps from all around, Mrs Porter Pete got stung last year when she sat on one in her thin summer frock, worst of all she dabbed TCP on the mirror twice whilst trying to sooth it and the bedroom smelt like Dorothy District's apron for a week. Mr Next Door is no gardener, the pink rose bush in his garden is pickled with grrenfly, he's too much taken up with his new railway shed, good job Mrs Next Door has the W.I. That's what she says, Mrs Sam Shepherd says she seeing a lot of Driver McIvor.......there's always a bike up on the back of his tender when he's on the Dean Goods, or on the fire-iron hooks of his pannier. Inspector Luke Ought will have him one of these days, don't you worry. Poop poop Doug        ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Ken Member
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This just keeps getting better and better - and I love the storyline too. Really well done Doug. Ken ____________________ 'It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that Swing' |
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Gary Inactive Member
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Damn that's good. I still have a lot to learn in card and paper modelling. Great work, as always. Cheers, Gary. ____________________ ...as a young lad, it was big trains for little boys, now it is little trains for big boys...! http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=12116&forum_id=21 |
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Petermac Admin
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Those gardens look fantastic Doug but the storyline is a bit dubious ................... I don't even know what a Dean goods looks like, never mind keeping my irons in it's fire............. ____________________ 'Petermac |
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gastwo Member
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Is there no end to this mans talents? Not only a brilliant modeller, but a raconteur to boot. Is there going to be a 'Tales from Bears End' book coming out? We should be told... Well done Doug! ATB Shaun. |
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col.stephens Full Member
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Brilliant! A truly wonderful model. Terry |
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Sol A modelling Moderator. 
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I just shake my head in dis-belief when the Mr Dooferdog displays his efforts - if there were Oscars given for that craft, his mantlepiece would be filled to overflowing very well done Doug. This make two superb modellers using card & paper that I am glad to know via this forum Doug Dickson - Dooferdog and Allan Downes ____________________ Ron NCE DCC ; 00 scale UK outline. |
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Khris Full Member
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dooferdog wrote: Thanks, chaps, Bloody Hell! That is a compliment Doug. (Unfortunately I cannot see a slobering/drooling icon) Just magnificent Khris |
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Marty Enjoying the Journey
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Oh for goodness sake .... The bar has just risen.... Again! Your ability to reproduce that which you observe in real life is inspiring. Thank you for sharing... It really is most important that you do. Our best to you both. Marty ____________________ Marty N Gauge, GWR West Wales Newcastle Emlyn Layout. Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction" |
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vulcanbomber Full Member
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Fantastic ModellingHow did you do the fencing? | |||||||||
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Spurno Owner/Webmaster.
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Love the wear pattern in front of one of the sheds.Truly inspirational Doug. ____________________ Regards Alan Born beside the mighty GWR. |
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georgejacksongenius Kettle Watcher
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Blimey Charley!!!! Douglas,you've been and gone and done it again! You,my friend,are that very rare breed of modeller......a living legend.Absolutely gobsmackingly amazing.... How the devil you keep going just that one step beyond unbelievable?? Love your stuff to bits mate!  Cheers,John.B. |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Blimey! Don't worry, I've sent to a tent-makers for a size sixteen and seven-eighths cap. Sol, I'm very flattered, but I think Allan would agree he is principally a 'plastics' modeller [see below]. Plastic does seem to make some stunning architectural models, but it, erm, it hasn't, err, it doesn't smell right to me! Hi, VB, the fencing is matchsticks and split coffee stirrers for the posts and rails, soaked in smashed-up black ink cartridge and dark soy sauce. The boards are a texture sheet of my own making, below. Pretty crude as I don't know how to make my 3" square into a 'seamless' texture. Should print out at A4 size, I use a lightly texture paper.  I've had a minor set-back as I spilt/dropped a load of fine sawdust all over the whole model after doing some more work for Mr Shepherd's garden [he scrounges and cuts all his own firewood] as I was so wrapped-up in making the 1/76th splitting axe to stick in his chopping block.........  You can see the sawdust on the adjacent bush :(, some careful hoovering needed I think, and then some door handles. Washing lines are occupying my mind at the moment, [What, there is an out-doors? I can get out more if I want to...??] and have had several tries and failures, but my chum hs brought me some horse tail-hair which may just do the job. The pulleys are proving tricky, too. Still, Mrs Shepherd has stopped moaning for a bit as her roses are doing well and now that Mr Nextdoor has finally finished his new railway shed there is less hammering going on during Mrs Dale's Diary. She's extra happy because her son, the Manager of Downsway Brewery in Bazland will be visiting this weekend.....he a bit sweet on Porter Pete's oldest girl who works on the bacon-slicer in Home and Colonial Stores in Choosey Barsted.  Well, that's all for now, I'll have find my little 'DooferVac' and get to work. Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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It occurred to me that Mr Shepherd needs to cut his logs to length, so, a bow-saw and a saw-horse were needed....... Some split matchsticks, a piece of lampshade wire and a strip of baked bean tin with teeth filed into it seems to have worked, the saw is just 10mm long. I held the blade and the handle under the rims of two drawing-pins stuck into a scrap of balsa wood whilst soldering. and it's blue because that's the colour of mine! For the horse, after lots of false starts I glued each crossing pair of legs using an angled card former to get the same angles, and when dry I rolled a thin layer of Blu-Tak onto one of my little MDF squares and propped up each pair of legs, then added the cross members and the diagonal brace.  Poop poop Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Petermac Admin
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I've joined Sol now Doug - I just shake my head in disbelief .............. I love the cast concrete coal bunker - so many houses had those. Are you working from pictures of from memory ? I wonder how you manage to incorporate so many things that most us us would have completely missed - to name them all would not only take too long but would also risk leaving some off the list. It's these "details" that really do make this little scene so realistic. ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Gary Inactive Member
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I just want to know how you make 1:1 scale images look like models...?? What's next ? A jar of rusty nails..?? I shouldn't really say 'keep up the good work', as we all know you will triumph this anyway ! Fantastic Doug, just to put it simply 'brilliant modelling'. Cheers, Gary. ____________________ ...as a young lad, it was big trains for little boys, now it is little trains for big boys...! http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=12116&forum_id=21 |
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col.stephens Full Member
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Magnificent! One question Doug. How did you make the worn back steps? Terry |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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col.stephens wrote: Magnificent! Hi, Terry, I used 2mm grey pasteboard [good because you can 'split' the layers to make exactly the height step you need...] and then with the smooth end to my knife handle I crushed it lightly in the wear areas. Follow up with a good smear of PVA [I like Evostik Resin W 'cos it dries matter than most] or it will puff up a bit if the air gets damp. To cut out the perfectly square sided sink drains [called 'soughs' pronounced 'soofs' in our family] I ground down a 3mm wide chisel on the end of a scalpel blade and used it as a chisel, lifting out the requisite depth of card laminations. Example below of the 'wear of ages' from Bear's End Mill  Hope that makes sense, Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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col.stephens Full Member
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Thank you Doug. Very interesting. Terry |
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