Wednesday 1st May 2024

Worklist:

Fit new rainwater pipe.

Complete foliage around pipework (track leading to the fiddleyard).

Fit magnets to engine shed.

Add foliage to the long fence.

Add weeds to base of all buildings.

Assess the pallets and crates printed to date.

The third downpipe needed a double swan-neck, which Stephen fabricated from 4mm plastic tube. It took a fair bit of trial and error to get the joints correct, then a lot of filing to achieve the final shape. This was spliced onto 3+ lengths of 3D printed downpipe, and suitably weathered.

Main building cladding, windows and rainwater goods are all 3D printed.

Geoff continued to build-up the foliage on the pipework frame looping over the track going into the fiddleyard.

The engine shed is located over 4 vertical cocktail sticks, but is not fixed down, meaning it could fall off in transit. Rather than bolts, Stephen chose magnets - round magnets in a bucket (below) and rectangular magnets in a plasticard toolbox. Both were glued to the brick plinth with epoxy glue, 'diagonally opposed'. Countersunk holes were made in the plaster floor and 4mm screws inserted through to the plywood below. Both ends of the building were now perfectly held in place, but it can be removed for access to the lighting and the interior generally.

Geoff moved on to applying foliage to the long, bare Peco fence running up to the bridge. A variety of materials were used, starting with PVA, then a light spray of isopropyl alcohol diluted with water, which allowed to glue to spread more easily.

Both then moved on to applying small amounts of foliage along the bottom of the factory buildings and the cottages. Mostly subtle hints of weeds with occasional long grass clumps made from cut-down self-adhesive 'dots' of grass and a few electrostatic grass clumps.

Finally, an array of old 3D printed pallets was amassed, with many stacked and glued together to see how it might look. These were printed from drawings created 'in-house', but Geoff had also been experimenting with newly downloaded files, with varying success. Some of these included timbers which were far too thick to be used, often due to poor draughtsmanship. A selection of solid cases were also discovered which should make for an interesting yard. Geoff jokingly suggested that the front building could become a pallet/crate manufacturer. That's not a bad idea!

Stephen had made up one of the new flat wagons, but didn't have suitable wood for the decking and ends. Geoff had printed a few more wagons 'for homework' and supplied some of the basswood sheeting used on the prototype and the original stone wagons.

That water tower still needs a feed pipe!

The end of the layout
(so far....)

Wednesday 27th March 2024

Worklist:

Make and fit diagonal bracing for the new board legs.

Make and fit end panels for transporting new boards in one unit.

Fix faulty point outside engine shed.

Wire-up power supply for engine shed lights.

Having made the two leg frames for the new boards, it was decided that adding diagonal bracing would turn them into a rigid frame that was safer and more useful. Two lengths of timber were cut to length and bolts holes drilled at the ends. Self-tapping M6 sockets were fitted in pre-drilled holes in the uprights and the cross-braces fitted. However, these braces were fitted with one on each side, which did not provide the rigidity assumed. The last job of the day was to modify one of the braces so that they could be fitted beside each other, with a bolt in the centre, to make it rigid.

A fault had been noted in the operation of the point from the engine shed into the ash siding. The boards were clamped vertically on the frame for easy access to the underside.

After much investigation, Geoff determined the travel of the servo horn was excessive, causing 'bounce-back'. The only solution was to reprogram the point motor on the master servo control module. Instructions had to be re-read and the handheld programmer tracked down, but the issue was resolved, eventually. (Good practice for the exhibition!).

After unbolting and placing the two new boards on the floor, a compact and comfortable overlapping arrangement was established. 

The ends, bolt hole and pin positions were measured, before two pieces of MDF were cut to size and holes drilled. The ends were then bolted in place and a very neat transportable module was revealed.

Meanwhile, Stephen was able to wire-up the shed lights to the power supply unit installed many months previously, which provided a much better view of the interior.

The lamp shades were cut from a strip of pill holding plastic.

Wednesday 10th January 2024

Worklist:

Trestles.

Engine shed windows.

Rainwater downpipes.

Paving.

The adjustable feet for the trestles were ordered and had arrived the following day. Unfortunately, they did not live-up to the superb delivery. The plastic end caps were poor quality and rotated freely, meaning the thread had to be held to facilitate adjustment (an annoyance). The threaded arms were not straight and needed re-threading. It was decided to substitute with our own M8 bolts and 3D print suitable feet. However, they were cheap and the finished items will be very satisfactory.

Geoff moved on to the two new trestle frames, the timbers for which were prepared the previous week. A lot of discussion took place regarding the additional timber blocks required, for at least one of the trestles, to take a new lighting pole. A reminder of how much 'infra-structural' work is outstanding.

The engine shed window glazing was reviewed and the heavy 'misting' caused by the superglue used to fix the glazing was a disappointment, but not wholly unexpected. Stephen applied a layer of water-based clear varnish noted for reducing the misting. The immediate effect was promising (below right), but after a while, the misting returned, albeit around 90% of the initial effect. 

Geoff had produced drawing files of the rainwater downpipes for the factory buildings and now ran-off as set, for appraisal.

They are a bit 'chunky', but are a great addition to the factories. Apparently, swan-necks below the gutters are beyond our draughtsman's expertise, but we should get over that by some heating or manual manipulation of a pipe section. Gutters next please Geoff.

The area in front of the office has been debated quite a bit. Geoff wanted the proposed paving slabs flush with the general yard, to allow vehicle access, but Stephen wanted a defined edge, preferably a kerb. A chamfered kerb satisfied both corners. The loading dock platform and step were glued down together with a thick card kerb strip, hardened with PVA. 2' x 3' card slabs of the same thickness were cut out and the surfaces 'hardened' with diluted PVA, to allow them to be finished/smoothed.

Wednesday 6th December 2023

Worklist:

Review Stephens homework on the office and house.

Progress pipework structure.

Fit angle brackets to hold the buildings down.

The primary homework was to weather the two buildings replicating Geoff's work on the workshop. With great trepidation, a slurry of plaster filler was applied to the buildings. Under the misapprehension that the wet slurry should be 'worked' into the painted, embossed plastic, this was started, but almost immediately some unexpected patches appeared. After letting the slurry dry a bit, the effect was better, so it was decided to let it dry-out completely. At this point, further rubbing down with paper towel evened the effect out, although the overall appearance had taken a beaten. However, the new 'down-at-heel' buildings might just suit the proposed location better, so the verdict was out for now.

Guttering and downpipes were made from umbrella struts and 2.5mm stripped power cable. All windows were initially painted white and the front doors green and brown, but the office windows and door frame were later painted green.

Dropped onto the layout, the 'shabby' appearance fitted well in their surroundings, and got the thumbs up.

Stephen turned to fixing the buildings over the 'tunnel' down using old aluminium brackets from one of Geoff's old LT projects. As per the cottages, the angles were fitted to the plywood base using 6mm bolts fed up into captive nuts from the tunnel ceiling below. With plastic sheet 'isolation' squares in place, epoxy glue was used to fix the buildings (and nut) to the angles.

Meanwhile, Geoff returned to the pipework structure at the board end. Brass and steel pipes were bent to the required shape. Brass cradles were made and the two pipes soldered to them. The printed flanges

had to be fitted prior to bending and therefore had to be moved around to avoid melting!

A third cradle was also soldered in place where the pipes come down onto what will become a concrete anchor base.

The wooden block was cut down and the void filled. 

A timber casing will be fabricated for where the pipes enter the building. A tree will be made and planted in front of the base, to a method Geoff had recently admired on YouTube. We await the outcome of that with interest.

An unusual view of the buildings from the fiddleyard end.

Extra windows needed to be printed for the house and office for Stephen to finish them off, but the part of the garage where the 3D printer resided was too cold, so the printer had to be brought into the 'warmer' room before it could be used. An interesting comparison of old and new technologies!

Stonemasons signage:  Geoff also ran a trial on applying waterslide transfers onto our corrugated iron sheets. A small proprietary transfer was applied and covered with Microsol. It appears to hug the contours well, but we'll see how it dries out next week.

Wednesday 29th November 2023

Worklist:

Fit pipe support bases with magnets.

Paint brick buildings with flecks.

Remake pipe support frame bases.

Geoff had glued rusty steel strips to the pipe support frame ends so that magnets in the bases would secure the frames, but also allow them to be easily removed. 2mm diameter cylinder magnets were epoxied into holes in the bases. However, on testing stability, the layer of rust separated from the steel plates and stayed glued on the frames. The issue would be looked at in due course. 

Geoff made-up a palette of suitable brick shades and daubed dots and flecks all over the brickwork. He had used this method on the workshop and it worked well (See later). Once dry, fresh repair filler will be rubbed over the surface to add the mortar joints, but at the same time, the brickwork colours are also 'merged' with the basecoat. 

Stephen had made up gutters and downpipes for the roofs, which were offered-up for a size and alignment check. The gutters will be joined into a single, central downpipe.

Stephen cleaned up the rusty steel base strips and made plasticard strips the same size, which were superglued together. Plasticard sections were also added to stiffen the plates.

Geoff bent two lengths of steel and brass rods to the required arrangements. One is designated for light sludge and the other a water supply. He cleaned-up some 3D printed pipe flanges printed last week and tested them on the two pipes. 

The pipes will be bent down to the 'concrete' base and run off to the flooded quarry. A new tree was discussed for in front of the base to obscure the future hole in the back scene.

A long time ago, when the stonemasons building was just an idea, Stephen went through a reconstituted stone manufacturers website and produced a selection of standard stone components as 3D drawing files. Some typical garden items and some gravestones were also produced. At this time, Geoff only had a filament 3D printer and the objects came out a little on the crude side, requiring a fair amount of fettling. Over lunch, the files were located and a set run-off on the latex printer, with a much improved surface finish. A trial packing case was also included, but although this didn't come out so cleanly, it should be possible to rectify the problem.

A better view of the foliage on the side of the derelict cottage, which hides the rear track to the fiddleyard. 

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The workshop walls after filler-scrub treatment. The daubs on the new buildings are more in the red/orange range.

Wednesday 15th November 2023

Worklist:

Review latest work on cottages.

Develop pipe structure/bridge.

Develop rambling plant installation.

Stephen had painted the cottages and fitted gutters and downpipes. 

The derelict cottage had been given a blocked up window and broken window. We had originally planned for this to be fire-damaged, so the effects of such will be investigated.

Stephen had been researching names and signage possibilities for the factory, which had been bounced back and forth. Geoff had also been researching names specific to the locality at the time and had a list of possibilities. Stephen had made a simple paper mock-up that was taped onto the building, for discussion. Geoff was developing a backboard comprising horizontal planks. Investigations also showed that signage was often painted directly onto corrugated iron instead of a flat background, so Geoff will experiment to see if this was feasible on the model. The loading dock building is ready for Geoff's 'rustification'.

Geoff continued with the 'pipe bridge' albeit without the mid-span support structure, as the 8" pipes are now deemed capable of spanning the opening without additional support. Some 4mm steel rod was bent to shape (bends are required at both ends). The steelwork piers were deemed to be vulnerable to damage during storage/transportation, so, just in case, they will be removable. They had steel plates glued on the bottom, and magnets will be hidden in the concrete bases, making them removable. 

Stephen moved on the vine/climber that will disguise the gap in the buildings. Stranded wire was stripped and twisted into the stems and fixed to a strip of plasticard that was glued to the end cottage. The stems can then be run up/across the walls and foliage added to complete the feature. A piece of corrugated iron that blocks the alleyway will cover the lower part of the planting.