Shadowlands and Tellynott

[PRR Modeler]

Great how to and thinking outside of the box getting this together Mark. We'll done.

[Michael Hohn]

Mark,

I like the apparent depth of the scenes you are creating.  And, I've remarked before how much I like your use of the vertical dimension.

Mike

[Mark Dalrymple]

Cutting 'floors' for the tower is a great way to help assembly.  Since I reworked some of the angles in mine, I couldn't lean on symmetry like you are doing.  Hopefully the tower parts will come together into that symmetrical arrangement, but don't be surprised if you end up with an irregular polygon to get the best fit of the parts...

dave

Thanks, Dave.

Of course, an irregular polygon would not fit well with the roof casting.  It would also irk me putting together a sub assembly incorrectly to get the best fit.  Magnuson kits can be rather challenging in this regard.  I spent considerable time just holding, test fitting and looking at the castings closely before deciding which way to progress.  Considering just how far out they were to start with I'm pretty happy with the result - and I haven't added putty yet.

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Great how to and thinking outside of the box getting this together Mark. We'll done.

Thanks, Curt.

There is always a solution.  Sometimes that solution is to throw things away and scratchbuild!  I managed to not do that this time... 

During the last Scale Structures sale I bought the grain exchange, hoping to do something with the side walls.  One of those side walls had been held on their sanding machine so long that it was paper thin at one end and all the details had been sanded off the interior of the windows.  The wall was basically useless.  The mind boggles over how this could possibly have got past quality control.  There is no way you could sand a wall this badly and not know...  I emailed, but heard nothing back.

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Mark,

I like the apparent depth of the scenes you are creating.  And, I've remarked before how much I like your use of the vertical dimension.

Mike

Thanks, Mike.

As I said earlier, the vertical allows stacking of kits/ scratches without the front structures obscuring the structures behind.  If the scene can be viewed in two or more directions this is true when viewing from the back (and side) as well.  Although this is challenging, it also allows for some very exciting and unique viewing angles, often with a lot of depth.

Cheers, Mark.

[Jerry]

Well done Mark.  And boy you do have patience!

Jerry

[Mark Dalrymple]

Well done Mark.  And boy you do have patience!

Jerry

Thanks, Jerry.

P&P.  Patience and procrastination.  Sometimes it is hard to know witches which!

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Hi guys.

Back to the past...

Photo 1 - So here we are waiting for the glue to dry. The last fins for the inner curve are in place and the curved internal wall for the pelmet is done. I'll probably add a couple of short internal walls to keep things rigid during the move


Typically I am able to make a whole corner section with curved backdrop, curved pelmet and ceiling, and lift it all in as one piece. This is the first time I have had to try to do it in two pieces - or more precisely - a half finished piece lifted in and the rest finished in situ. There has been a lot of thinking along side the work you see in the photos. I managed to lift the whole ceiling piece onto the lid of my Fault Lines layout on my own. I then stood back and realised I had it rotated 180 degrees out! Because the diagonals are longer than the module's length, there is insufficient room to spin the ceiling section without first lifting it above the ceiling height of my existing layout - which I could not do on my own! A couple of deep breaths and expletives and I lifted it off, rotated and lifted it back on. I make that job sound easy, too. It wasn't!

Well, I'm almost ready for the big lift.

Photo 2 - Underneath and behind this module is my Fault lines layout on which it is sitting. If you look closely you can see the red framework in the bottom right of the photo. I worked like this, putting on the curved sheet of 3mm MDF and attaching the studs behind it. Everything was glued and screwed or nailed or clamped. You can see I still have some more studs to add. I used a sheet offcut wedged between the backdrop and the layout benchwork to stop the bottom of the backdrop flaring out.


Photo 3 - After I had attached the rest of the studs I added the other longest one at the front left and added two extensions temporarily to another two studs to make four legs. No glue was used here as I will need to take these off again. I then lifted the module slightly and added chocks under the four legs. The Fault lines layout was then rolled out from underneath.


Photo 5 - and here is a photo showing the 'lid' in the room. The plan is to remove all the studs around the 600mm high backdrop at this end, lift it and move it back towards the far wall. Once it is in the narrowest section (where the benchwork is only 250mm wide) it will be rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise. The 600mm section will rotate over the existing Tellynott layout at right, and once rotated the full 90 degrees it will then be able to be lowered into position with 40mm tolerance. That is the plan. Although I have tried very hard to get things perfect, I'm almost certain there will need to be a bit of 'fudging' to get the two pieces to splice together. Just hopefully not too much fudging! I will then add the remaining studs - although this may get done during the process. I'm thinking of purchasing a plasterboard lifter which I can use for this process and other such upcoming exercises, and then sell it again when done. I have done some calculations and I believe the whole assembly weighs about 45kg (99 pounds). Gib lifters are generally rated to lift 68kgs. The problem, of course, is that the benchwork will get in the way of the lifter, and so the 'lid' will still need to be slid into position. If all of my studs were the same length things would be easier, but I have four different lengths of stud, depending on which bit of the benchwork they are being attached to.




More soon, cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Continuing...

I'm itching to get this piece installed, but I'll certainly need some help - so I'll have to wait. It gives me time to think through the process many times over and (hopefully) think of every possible problem and have a solution ready to go. I've just thought of another thing writing this!

What the hell is that? I hear you ask... Well - I didn't have enough saw horses so I asked one of my friends to bring a couple along. Being a newly retired builder - the two he brought had had a long, hard life. They were handed over accompanied with the assurance "they might look rough, but they are plenty strong - they wont break". We'd set up two planks resting on four saw horses, had lifted and moved the ceiling piece back towards the corner of the room, rotated it through about 45 degrees and lowered it so the 600mm backdrop was only just above the existing Tellynott ceiling when 'BANG!' The saw horse under the owner of the saw horse neatly snapped into two large and one small piece. This is the small piece. Fortunately that side of the sub assembly fell less than 50mm to rest on the Tellynott ceiling. Richard and I came down in a rush, but no one was injured and the sub assembly remained intact. A step ladder was quickly shuffled into position, the plank reinstated and the move continued. Better work stories everyone!


Photo 2 - shows the ceiling of Tellynott at right and the new Shadowlands ceiling at left. You can see I achieved my 10mm tolerance pretty well.


We had 7 of us in all. This was a couple more than I thought I needed, but the more the merrier! Unfortunately our photographer was late, and so most of the action was missed. I decided the a drywall lifter would just get in the way so didn't hire one. We had one person on each of the four corners and two extra people to swap out with me when I needed to 'tweak' things and to pass things. This was especially necessary when the studs need to be caressed into position - and of course, no one quite understood my plan as well as me. Things fitted together pretty well. There were a couple of places where I added a shim of MDF between a stud and a joist, but otherwise it all worked very well. Screwing the scrap pieces up to the bottom of the joists for the studs to rest on was a fantastic idea!. Within an hour we were all inside having tea, coffee and freshly baked date cake, curtesy of my wife. I went back out to the barn around 9:30 and by 11:30 had all the studs around the right side of the splice glued and screwed in position. I had fitted all these to the lid before the move so everything was pre drilled and pre countersunk.

Photo 3 - a wider shot of the two ceilings.


Photo 4 - the 30mm tolerance against the side wall.


Photo 5 - So here is a photo of the lift in action - just as the piece had been lowered into position. This was when my photographer turned up. You can see the step ladder has replaced the broken saw horse. Notice the safety footwear. Actually, both builders wore jandles for the occasion. I'm in the centre in the high vis T-shirt.


Photo 6 - Here we are with the splice done. This is before I added the studs to the right.


More soon, cheers, Mark.

[PRR Modeler]

A lot of incredible woodworking Mark.

[friscomike]

Howdy Mark,

I see you are continuing with your amazing carpentry skills.  The benchwork is a showpiece in itself.  

Have fun,
mike

[Jerry]

My Oh My!!  That is just great teamwork.
Nice carpentry work Mark.

Jerry

[Zephyrus52246]

It must be nice to have minions to help.     Your benchwork is in itself a work of art. 

Jeff

[Mark Dalrymple]

A lot of incredible woodworking Mark.

Thanks, Curt.

This was the most difficult lift of the whole empire.  Later, all the ceiling lifts were either done just by myself, or with the aid of my friend, Trevor.  Trevor is the only one wearing long pants in the photo above.

Cheers, Mark.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Howdy Mark,

I see you are continuing with your amazing carpentry skills.  The benchwork is a showpiece in itself. 

Have fun,
mike

Thanks, Mike.

Its all but done, now.  Still the fascia to do, framing for control boards and scenery props.  And best not to forget the redoing of the benchwork in Tellynott.  And, of course, there is still all the painting to do...

Cheers, Mark.