Well, this weekend has been most fruitful in terms of modelling, following a re-roofing incident on the main building. I decided one of roof sections wasn't sitting quite right, so in true Lee fashion, I ripped it off (carefully of course) and cut a brand new one, fitting it so the apex was this time straight.
I then got into the flow and spent the next couple of hours finishing all the architectual roof edging for the two bays and fitting windows so that the roofs could eventually be glued in place.
Walls have been given a new darker brown undercoat with a view to washing the mortar colour in later. Mixing the colour was a pain as I discovered the drawback to using Emulsion and Acrylics mixed together - it dries in next to no time - great for the model you're painting if you want to dry brush next, but not so great for the paint you've just mixed as it all dries up rapidly in the palette. This resulted in multiple mixes for the whole building (very time consuming). The next stage will be to alternately dry brush in some lighter and darker mixes to get a good representation of Yorkshire Stone.
Getting even more carried away, I've remade the steps leading to the main entrance and added in some side walls -I've not decided whether the centre should have iron hand rails as the prototype, or go for a central stone wall to match the outsides -thoughts anyone?
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Given a darker undercoat and the roof supports glued in place. All architectural moulding under the roof line cut and glued in place. Station entry steps and side walls fitted (as yet unpainted
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An unexpected bonus also arrived today in the form of a suitcase full of modelling odds and ends from my Father's partner. It's full of bits of card and to my great delight, some sheets of plasticard, not to mention some Wills random stone - I've just got to make a tiny something out of that, just to try it out.
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| The box of goodies |
Almost as if a gift from the Gods, within that box of goodies was also a small, Station-sized quantity of sheets of roof tiles, just perfect for my station. I was going to hand cut them from paper, but hey, when you're gifted the perfect material, why not.... (I'm now seriously looking forward to doing the roof!!)
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| incluing a sheet of Wills random stone and a couple of sheets of unknown roof tiles - perfect for the station |
The central wall on the stairs would have to be thought out very well, not to look clumsy. I would play safe and run up a set of rail supports...but when have you ever played things safe?
ReplyDeleteIt's looking very encouraging...and what a great surprise to get the box of goodies!
Cheers Iain, I think I'll play safe and go for the prototypical handrail. I'd be more confident if I was modelling something that was actually "there" instead of making it up. I think my next major build will be something from the prototype. I've just seen some amazing signal boxes on RMWeb
ReplyDeleteLooking good, Lee. I think I would go for the handrail too.
ReplyDeleteAnd a suitcase of modelling materials - the perfect gift!
Thanks guys - handrail it is then *breaks out the magnifying glass and tweezers*
ReplyDeleteYou are doing an excellent job there Lee, I would also go for a handrail.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gift that box of material is, the slates are by Slater's and are meant to be cut into strips which are then overlaid to build up your roof. Each row of slates being cemented to the plain section.
Personally I find the styrene is much too thick for purpose but careful painting can disguise that.
Hi Geoff - your encouragement is warmly appreciated. I might hold fire on jumping in with the slates then, I did wonder if they might be a tad on the too thick side... darn it!! What do you use for your slate roofing? I'm at a quandry now as whether to go for a slate roof or Yorkshire Stone..
ReplyDeleteI use the Wills slate sheets Lee or make my own slate strips from 5 thou Evergreen styrene. The former can be a pain because of the small size of the sheets. However if you take care and select sheets of the same thickness, then flood the area to be joined with solvent and press them together so the melted styrene oozes into joint acting as a filler you can make a near invisible joint. Mind you a little cleaning up will be needed and a styrene splint added behind the joint for strength.
ReplyDeleteIf using the latter then I cut it into double width strips like the Slater's material and then make vertical cuts half width to represent each slate. Fine scissors or snips are better than a knife for doing this. Each strip of slates is then overlaid over the next and the roof built up. The same method can be used with quality card or Cartridge paper. I think Iain is the master of this technique ?