Shadowlands and Tellynott

Started by Mark Dalrymple, July 04, 2019, 05:24:25 PM

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GPdemayo

Excellent job with Norton's Mark..... 8)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

Mark Dalrymple

Hi guys.

Thanks very much, Karl, Craig, John and Greg - I'm pleased you all like my first attempt at lighting.  More to come!

Well - a slight change in tac today.  We have a modeling weekend coming up in a couple of weeks at my friend, Barry's house in Timaru.  I don't like to take anything too fragile to such occasions as they often seem to suffer damage in transit.  Typically I try to be organised with a new project to get underway so I started working on preparations for this.  I chose my passenger station for the weekend away, and this will be based on the station at Burkes.  The link below has a photo of the station and signal tower, along with a partial set of plans.  Just click on them to enlarge.  as you can see she is a real little honey, and a perfect fit for my limited space.  I will still have to do a little compression - but not much.  Interestingly, I drew my own set of plans based on the photo (that I had in a book), before finding these plans.  I was quite impressed with how close I got the dimensions to the prototype by just using a standard door height as a starting point.

https://www.nzmrg.org.nz/product-mainmenu-0/product-650/burkes-station-and-signal-box

Luckily, I recently made use of the Tichy Train roof sale, and so had a lot of windows to choose from.  I still, of course, did not have what I needed, and so had to fabricate some windows fit for purpose.

Photo 1 - shows the starting point.  These will be the gable end windows on the signal box.  This is where I will have to compress the structure slightly, and so a Tichy 8070 was used giving a double sash instead of a triple.

Photo 2 - shows how I cut the window.  I carefully sanded both parts of the window.

Photo 3 - shows the two sections being glued together with CA.  I found my steel rule very helpful here.  The window is upside down.

Photo 4 - shows the newly fabricated window.  The glue residue should be hidden by the primer.

Photo 5 - I did the same thing with a Tichy 8065.

I also used Tichy 8068 windows for the three windows in the bottom story of the signal tower and cut the vertical mullions out.  I also chose to use a Tichy 8071 for the front and side window on the station building.  This is a 8/8, but is the right size.  A Tichy 8217 6/6 would have been perfect - but, of course, I don't have any of those!

Next up will be prepping the windows , siding, stripwood and other details required.

More soon, cheers, Mark.


Mark Dalrymple

Hi guys.

Well - a great weekend away in Timaru and a fair bit to show for it.  We arrived around 4.30pm on the Friday and modeled into the evening.  Saturday we modeled from around 8am to 11pm, with a trip to the local train show in the morning and dinner out.  Sunday we modeled from 8am to 4.30pm before making our way home.  We also got to see Barry's progress on his layout on Sunday, which is looking fabulous.

I had my windows and doors fabricated and primed, my stripwood and siding weathered and my plans sized.  I had also made a mockup which I had test fitted on the layout.  My paint colours were chosen and I was ready to go.

First up was cutting the walls out and then cutting the openings.  I shortened the sides of the signal tower to suit my fabricated window - about a scale foot shorter than the plans.  The sides were cut the thickness of two pieces of 6"x6" shorter to allow for the corner trim.  After this was done I painted the walls in buff titanium and the trim in heritage red.  The walls required two coats.  I then added some corner trim on the gable walls and cut some bases from 1.5mm styrene.  The walls were assembled using canopy glue and CA on the corner trim.  The windows were glazed and glued in place.  I added a second story floor to the signal tower before adding the back wall and painted some of the interiors (those I couldn't get to later) black.

Next was to draw up a plan of the decking - bearers, joists and the outside perimeter.  I taped this plan to the cutting board and taped some lunch paper over the plan.  Bearers were then spot glued to the lunch paper and joists to the bearers.  I ran three joists along the length of the platform and five at the ends where they will be seen.  I cut my 8"x2" decking on my chopper, varying the length slightly for variation.  I glued down the decking with the structures in position to get a nice tight fit.  the decking will get flipped and short piles added to raise it slightly.  Lastly I made up the stairs to the signal tower and the small deck for the signal tower veranda.

Photos below show my weekend's achievement.

More soon, cheers, Mark.

S&S RR

John Siekirk
Superior & Seattle Railroad

Jerry

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." A. Lincoln

postalkarl

Hey Mark:

Looks just beautiful.

Karl

GPdemayo

Lots of lumber in the sidewalk.....it looks great.  8)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

Mark Dalrymple

Hi guys.

Thanks very much for all your encouragement John, Jerry, Karl and Gregory - it is much appreciated.

Well, after the weekend away I didn't find any time to model until Thursday.

Photos 1 & 2 - I finished off the construction of the second story porch for the signal tower, adding a floor made from stripwood and attaching the stairs.  The deck still needs its legs, so at the moment the stairs may appear to be floating slightly.  I painted the inside of the ticket office black and the back wall of the signal tower.  My friend, Neil, had a signal tower interior for me, but hadn't managed to find it by yesterday.  I measured and cut out sub-roofs for the three structures, scratchbuilt some seating for the waiting room, and added corrugated iron to the waiting room roof (not shown).

Photo 3 - For the ticket office chimney I tried to get as close as possible to the original.  I found two white metal castings, drilled a hole in the top of the chimney and glued in place the vent.  I then laminated some wood and styrene together to get the correct thickness and attached some thin sheet embossed brickwork.  I added strips to the side using CA and carved the mortar lines on the corners using a sharp knife.

More soon, cheers, Mark.

ACL1504

Mark, Cheers,

That is a great looking signal tower complex. You got quite a lot done on the modeling weekend.

I love the outside chimney. Excellent way to make it all come together. Very well done.

Tom  ;D
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

Mark Dalrymple

QuoteThat is a great looking signal tower complex. You got quite a lot done on the modeling weekend.

I love the outside chimney. Excellent way to make it all come together. Very well done.

Thanks so much, Tom.  It was a great weekend and I was happy with my efforts.  Its nice to have a dead ringer of a New Zealand prototype on my layout, too.  We have our yearly Trainz weekend coming up in two weeks, so I hope to get some good modeling time in then, too.  I have also booked in another weekend here in October/ November.  We have called ourselves the 2fatpossums modeling group - as when I host we always go out for dinner at 2fatpossums on the Saturday night.  It does mean that if 1:1 activities take over your life, you still get a nice extended period of modeling time in which you can make some real progress and get your mojo going again.

Cheers, Mark.

Mark Dalrymple

#325
Hi guys.

Well - there has been a bit more progress on Burkes station, but I am waiting for my friend, Neil, to find the signal tower interior he has for me, so can't finish off the roof.

Rain hit yesterday (35mm) so my outside irrigation project took a break.  I decided a nice project to get back to would be my Scale Structures Tickner's watch works.  My replacement front wall arrived a few weeks ago (along with a $20 voucher), and so I've been itching to get my teeth stuck into it.

There are a few problems with these kits that have to be dealt with.  Air bubbles is one (the reason for the replacement wall).  There are still a number of air bubbles I had to (or still have to) address.  Unfortunately, these seem to often be on the edges of the window and door frames, which I find a particularly nasty place to get filler.  There is also some warped walls to be dealt with.  This is particularly problematic when a warped wall has had a 45degree bevel put on the corner, as when the wall is straightened out the corner (vertical building wall) is no longer straight.  My solution to this problem was to CA a piece of straight styrene the height of the wall (minus base and roof) and about 20mm wide to the rear of the wall at right angles to straighten (you can see this in photo one) and then re-sand the 45degree miter on the edge until the edge of the wall was straight and square.  Of course, when building the kit as per instructions, you would likely run into problems with the walls being different lengths and things not fitting together as they should.  A further problem was one of the vertical window mullions in the replacement wall had a large warp side to side, in it.  The pressure to straighten this was significant, and so I knew my horizontal mullions would never hold it.  I solved this problem by cutting and fitting a window fan, thus pushing the vertical mullion to vertical.  I then added the horizontal mullions.

Photo 1 - shows the structure coming together from above.

Photo 2 - shows the structure coming together from in front.  You can see my mock up behind as a reminder of what I am doing.  I used this many times when building to check positioning and measurements.

Photo 3 - shows a close up of the interior wall joints.  I strengthen any where I end up with a V-joint (as when using factory walls with a mitered edge) by adding a piece of styrene rod and then a thick bead of CA.

Photo 4 - shows the basic outer shell of the structure completed from above.

Photo 5 - and from in front.

The structure is 17" (430mm) long, and, I think, far more impressive than the original design.  I also have only one very small section of 2-storied wall left over (which I only cut out to fit into my site - you could easily use the entire structure).  The offcuts from the walls I cut some off the base (two left end front walls) will be cut to use as the front of the loading dock (leaving only slithers remaining) and the concrete loading dock floor I will use most of here, too.   Only the back is made from styrene, so it is a very economical kitbash.

More soon, cheers, Mark.

S&S RR

Mark


Very nice work -  I really like the changes you have made. As you said, more impressive. I really like hearing about your modeling group - I sure wish something like that could be organized in my part of the world.


What is the weather like there, now.  I know you are on the winter side of the globe but in your area do you get a lot of snow?
John Siekirk
Superior & Seattle Railroad

Mark Dalrymple

QuoteVery nice work -  I really like the changes you have made. As you said, more impressive. I really like hearing about your modeling group - I sure wish something like that could be organized in my part of the world.

Thanks, John.

Pleased to tell you about our modeling group.  Barry's work is pretty extraordinary (where we stayed and modeled when I built the station).  Below is a video of him playing around with lighting.  You can see how seamlessly the foreground blends into his hand painted backdrop.  The modeling is S-scale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01x22mzotQs

And here are some photos of one of his dioramas.  Notice how the figures have all been sculpted to look like the guys in the photo.  There is a whole backstory that goes along with all his dioramas, many being based on his own family history.  You can tell by the comments he makes ripples in multiple modeling disciplines - military, aircraft and railroading.
https://rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/29166/barry-fitzgeralds-gloria-lyons-diorama?page=1

QuoteWhat is the weather like there, now.  I know you are on the winter side of the globe but in your area do you get a lot of snow?

We are at about 80 - 100m above sea level here.  Most snow that falls in Canterbury falls above 300 - 400m, so we don't often get any.  Maybe a storm or two a year with a few inches.  We have been getting a number of good frosts (down to -7C I think was the coldest so far this year).  Frosts generally mean a nice sunny day to follow.  I generally do inside stuff until 10ish, when it is starting to warm up outside.  Fairly dry, although we had a very big rainfall last month which caused quite a bit of damage in the area.  Highs for the upcoming week range between 8 and 13C, lows from 1 - 4C.  Where we are our overnight lows are often a few degrees lower.  Today my car told me it was 12C while out, but after all the rain and cold yesterday it felt like 25C!

Cheers, Mark.

Jerry

Mark that is coming along nicely.  Beautiful work as usual!


Thanks for the video on Barry's layout.


Jerry
"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." A. Lincoln

postalkarl

hey mark:

Very well done so far.

Karl

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