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26 April 2013

What's this? A new update from Lee?

Well it's been a bit of a no progress slog of late as I've documented roofing disasters with both station and now the signal box. I realised that my slates on the 'box didn't overlap the edges enough for them to make the guttering look realistic, so off came the roof and a better one was constructed.

The station? I've got that back to the point it was before I ripped the whole roof off in anger (well not the whole roof, just the sagging one) and have strengthened it all with plasticard. I'm just going to have to work out how the guttering works out around the building before I commit to starting to tile... so an update on the station will be forthcoming once I've got the roof slates on.

As for the Signal box - I completely rebuilt the roof, making it a complete removeable unit and giving it a dusting with a tin of aerosol primer (after handmaking the guttering from Evergreen Half round and gluing on 1mm strips of 10thou plasticard for brackets - a most satisfying exercise.

The completely rebuilt roof complete with tiles from 150gsm paper and  guttering from evergreen half round. Note shoddy red paintwork overlapping onto cream and lack of front windows and doors. I tore these out due to them not being quite right

 The stone base is painted and finished now, and I'm almost done with the cream and crimson, but not too happy with the oversplash onto the white window frames. In Hindsight I shouldn't have been so hasty to fit the windows and painted the frames first.
 A bit of weathering added to the cream paintwork and two battens affixed for the telephone insulator pots. Roof painted grey, but the paint has filled in some of the vertical tile edges, so I may go back over with a sharp scalpel, just to define the tiles a bit more. Windows are now back in the front, but no door, and you may have spotted it - still no steps...

I must admit to guessing where the stovepipe went, going for centre rear, and drilled a 3mm hole squarely through the roof, before installing a cocktail stick to serve as the pipe. I wasn't going to detail the interior, but closer photography shows the inside too much so I have for now given it a basic interior cladding, with further detailing to come

Inside the box. Not looking too bad, but that window there is annoying me again. I'd better not peer too closely at it from this angle, or I'm likely to go insane.
 So, so far, pretty happy with it - still loads to do, not least build the steps, but I think it's going to look right at home on my layout eventually.

Signal Boxes are fun...

*edit*
AND NOW - OVER 3000 VIEWS! ( yes I know a lot of them are spambots, but still I thank all you humans for reading :) )


11 comments:

  1. Looking great, Lee! Congrats on the views as well. I do like that stonework on the base...

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  2. Thanks, Iain. Got Mr Wills to thank for supplying the stone, but I'm pretty happy with the stonework.

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  3. That is coming along very nicely Lee and despite your recent problems you have certainly mastered the art of making an excellent roof this time around. It is so easy to loose heart when things go wrong but you do learn an awful lot in the process.

    If you want a quick solution for your stairs then take a look at here.

    http://www.buffersmodelrailways.com/products/scratch-building/building-components/ratio-142-wooden-staircase-plastic/item

    Call it cheating if you wish :-) But I think it's well worth using such components from time to time.

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  4. i know it was a pain but the result look so much better. Well worth the trouble. Well done

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  5. That is simply excellent. The Wills stone does add some much needed texture- well done.

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  6. thank you all for your most encouraging comments, it means a lot and pushes me on. I'm still not 100% happy with the windows, having got crimson into the white frames in places, but that only shows in ultra close photography, so I've decided I can live with that and I,LL crack on and finish it.

    Geoff, those Ratio steps look incredible value, and is certainly an avenue worth exploring. I intend to have a crack at building them with microstrip first,but if all else fails, there's that to fall back on. I've got the gabled roof technique nailed and next time I may build the window frames differently, also fitting the windows after painting the outer frames.

    next up for this is painting the roof, adding the steps, then working on detailing the interior.

    Of course, I've got loads still to do on the station too...

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  7. Good to see another post! Lovely looking model, Lee. Paintwork looks great. I particularly like the interior wooden floor.

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  8. Cheers, Chas - close up photography is a bit cruel, I'd definitely undercoat the whole thing next time as the crimson didn't go on too well and needed several coats - there are "too much paint" bumps here and there. The flooring doesn't look too bad does it? Bit of a happy accident that as I ran out of the paint I mixed, so it streaked and went patchy as I tried to eke it out, the result being an uneven wood colour. I'd pre-scribed the flooring before gluing it in

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  9. The gutters look great, by the way. I've used Wills ready made up to now but yours look much better. Did you use the same technique for the downspouts?

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  10. I've been using Iain's technique for downpouts - 1.5mm wire bent to shape, and twisting much finer wire around the stems for brackets. It does look good, if extremely fiddly. I've since made downspouts for the 'box, but used a finer wire than it should be, but I think even if a little small, it still looks good. I'm waiting until I've finished scenic-ing the base before I take another photo

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  11. Thanks Lee. Sounds just the job. I'm looking forward to the next pic.

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