A quick update to show the signal box steps I scratch built last night. Evergreen square section (0.40x0.40") for the posts and rails, and strips of 0.20x0.80" for the steps and sides. The landing sections were cut from 0.40" sheet. It doesn't quite sit square, but for a first attempt at building steps, I'm more than happy with it. A little light sanding will now follow, then a dusting of grey primer before painting.
You'll also notice a bit of dry brushing has occured on the roof to pick out the tiles, and also the cocktail stick and masking tape stove pipe has had masking tape flashing applied (still to paint)
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| just through the door, you can see the foamex stove that's fallen over... |
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| The door is still a work in progress. Still not happy with this version, although may just fettle this one to fit now |
Wow, Lee, those steps are very clever indeed!
ReplyDeleteYes, those steps are much better than mine. They are the right size for a start!
ReplyDeleteCheers guys. I found myself following your "prototype" Iain, then thinking, hmm - I seem to have more steps. I've just offered the stairs up to the doorway and encountered a problem... Either the steps are too low, which they don't seem to be, or the door is too short. The door looks right and so do the steps, but something's wrong! It's going to have to be a new, slightly taller door (Mark IV as it were) as, as wonky as the steps are, I'm really pleased with them. I did it all by eye, so it stands to reason that they're not quite square. Like with the rest of this little build, I'm learning things as I go along, for the next time I do it. Now the quandary is whether to sit the model on a landscaped base, to plant onto the layout eventually, or leave it "floating"
ReplyDeleteVery nice Lee, you certainly have more patience than me when it comes to building steps.
ReplyDeleteOne advantage of having a landscaped base is the ease in which buildings can be blended into the ground and in the case of a signal box it provides extra strength for those delicate steps.
Cheers Geoff - got to say I really enjoyed myself making those steps. It helps to use the right glue though and this new (to me anyway) technique of painting solvent onto the styrene works so much better than the old squeezing cement from a tube that I used to employ - and it bites so much faster too, so you don't have the thing slowly collapsing on itself before it dries. I still haven't managed to make a door I'm satisfied and the steps are still floating as I'm painting them before gluing in place on the little base I've made.
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