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 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.

Wednesday 27th September 2023

Worklist:

Continue painting engine shed.

Glue ridge tiles in place.

Bowls and museum events had prevented a meeting the previous week. 

Geoff's rusty shed got the thumbs-up, so he added the 'dust' paint coat to tone it down. He then moved on to the roof, looking through the sample ridge sheets that Stephen had produced an age ago...

Stephen painted the exterior of the tunnel structure to assess what was visible through the various windows. One or two rooms were visible, so research on wallpaper around in the 1950's would be undertaken. Meanwhile, he got on with gluing the 'barley twist' ridge tiles to the cottage roofs and the fancier tiles to the house and office.

We were a dozen or so short of the barley twists, so Geoff printed another set. Only after drying and offering them up to the UV nail curer did we find a set that we'd produced in the previous session. Maybe this could become another source of wagon loads?

Just visible between the cottages and houses is a panel of corrugated iron preventing access along the alley beside the burnt-out cottage (the board joint). Stephen made a start on some climbing plants using stranded wire, spray painting the results and adding small clumps of foliage. It looked very promising.

The exterior of the buildings has yet to be determined although ideas have been bounced around. One or two of the cottages would definitely be whitewashed and the others left natural (warm grey stone is most likely).

Wednesday 13th September 2023

Worklist:

Tiling to the rear of the cottages.

Practice painting/weathering to engine shed.

Stephen continued tiling the rear slopes of the cottages. Once finished, a coat of dilute PVA was applied over all of the tiles to stabilise them.

Geoff had found an article on painting rust on rolling stock - fuel wagons in particular. The rear wall of the engine shed would be used for practice. After the dark rust base coat had been applied, lighter rust highlights were applied that were then dabbed with rubber solution. A grey topcoat was then applied over the whole area. Once dry, the surface was rubbed with a stiff brush to remove the rubber patches. The effect was similar to the wagons, but after reviewing various photographs of rusty corrugated iron cladding on buildings, a different appearance was noted. Different rusty paints were then applied by brush to achieve the vertical steaky rust effect. He'll wait and see how it looks after it has fully dried.

Wednesday 6th September 2023

Worklist:

Start painting the factory buildings.

Finish the roof tiling on the cottages.

Painting the factory buildings started with research - both of real buildings and advice from modelling sites. Geoff had determined that the most effective rusty corrugated iron models started with a dark, aged rust colour, then highlights of brighter rust and finally, with the un-rusted surface colours. Today, he mixed up paint to the dark rust colour and sprayed pretty much everything.

Stephen had been working on the interior of the separate building at home and had sprayed part of the interior with grey primer. A lot had ended up on the window reveals, which reduced the stark appearance of the white foamboard, so Geoff hand painted the reveals of the main building to match. Once dirty glazing has been fitted, not much of the interior will be clearly visible.

Stephen had also made the three remaining doorways from plasticard and these were sprayed with Crystal acrylic 'Periscope green'. (Tank periscope glass rather than submarines!) 

As there was brown paint left over, the engine shed got the same treatment.

Stephen had also discovered a wide-angle setting on his camera phone and experimented a bit.

Meanwhile, Stephen finished off tiling the rear of the cottages. These had been left as plain card slopes until the line of the backscene, the height of the ridges, and whether the rear roof slopes were visible had been determined. Still lots to be done on the cottages, but an interesting perspective.

Wednesday 9th August 2023

No meeting last week, but there was interesting news to discuss - an invite to the Salisbury and South Wilts Railway Society model railway show in May 2024. Being 9 months away, a 6-board layout was more than feasible and would be a great test before the Birmingham show the following autumn.

Geoff had met another modeller at the TDMRC open day, who described the excessive cost of van hire for the over 70's, so planning for three-car transport was top of the list. Two friends, both experienced exhibitors, would be approached in due course. Two new trestles would be required, plus extra lighting, extensions to the fascia, backdrop etc. Our existing trestles were very bulky, but a trial strip-down showed that they could take up less space. A third, decent sized car should suffice. 

Worklist:

Discuss trestles (see above).

Print more windows.

Test the addition/fixing of glazing sheet.

Cut-out remaining openings.

Firstly, the remaining windows for the separate building were printed and popped into place. We were very pleased with the effect. The glazing bars of the larger windows were found to be bowing outwards, which would not be acceptable when the glazing is applied. 

As they hadn't been specifically cured, an off-cut of glass was cleaned and the window units pressed flat while they had a few goes under the nail-bar UV unit. They came out flat, but now needed to be paired up with some glazing sheet to see if they can be stuck together. Geoff did a trial run and used superglue to bond them. The usual 'fogging' of the glazing occurred, but a few drops of 'anti-fogging' were applied. We'll see how they are once dry. Fortunately, we are not looking for clean windows - quite the opposite, so this shouldn't be a problem.

Meanwhile, Stephen started cutting out the rest of the window openings. It was decided to install floors, however minimal, so that different effects could be achieved in the separate spaces e.g. lighting?

Plain 'metal' infill panels were fitted between the ribbon windows (covering the 'steel frame' behind!). They will all be measured and new windows printed in due course, although it was noted that Geoff has spent a fair few weeks on the printer and is due a spell of railway modelling for a change.

Geoff moved on to drawing and printing the opening casements. Slightly wider horizontal and vertical frames will be laid flat or slightly ajar, with the underlying glazing bars removed, to create opening windows. They looked quite flimsy, but came off the 'build plate' easily.

As we have a large number of tests, failed and surplus window frames, the idea of making the separate building a sub-let unit a bespoke window frame maker could be a great choice!

Stephen had been working at home on the house & office buildings and brought them in for a 'fitting'. 

Wednesday 19th July 2023

Worklist:

More corrugated roofing.

Roller shutter door!

Windows?

We started where we left off. Geoff printed roof panels and Stephen glued them on. 2 new panel sizes were required which were adapted from existing sheets. While these were being created, Stephen took some plain plasticard and a panel of corrugated sheet and created the parts for a roller shutter door.

As a ramp up to normal internal floor level had not been catered for outside, a ground level threshold was required. Discussions ensued as to how a channel/grating could be applied to the ground surface without making a mess - experiments will follow. Meanwhile, the door parts were glued in place.

Soon, all of the corrugated roofing was complete and thoughts turned to windows. Starting with the separate building, all openings were measured and glass panels with an approximate ratio of 7:10 were quickly calculated (we were very lucky!). Geoff will research metal window frame details and draw them up for discussion next week. The main building will have the window openings cut out next week and those window designs agreed.

The roller door did look a bit 'modern' and the possibility of the masons 'renting out' this building to another company came to mind. The possibility of different loads/materials in the yard was appealing. More anon.

Stephen had finally made some progress with the two brick buildings (office and managers house) and brought them down to see them in their future setting. The area is a bit of a hotch-pot, but hopefully still appealing.

The overall skyline of the two boards is getting a bit crowded.

3D printer in action. The 'build plate' is being lowered into the resin and will go down to the bottom of the tank. The product image is projected through a transparent screen in the printer base and cures a micro-layer of the resin, onto the plate. The layer complete, the plate is raised fractionally and the process repeated. Where would we be without it?