the sum of all the parts...
Entry posted by bcnPete
2,017 views
Good evening,
An update on progress of late. I have still trying to tackle some of those smallish bits and pieces I have been putting off but once I got stuck in I kind of enjoyed it. It began with completing the lining to the clay settling tanks in white plasticard and I can now think about how to best try and represent the clay...I'm currently thinking resin mixed with milk of magnesia 
The last piece of roofing has been made and now covered in profiles sheeting in the same manner as described previously (I had to check my own blog entry to remember how I did it as I had so many goes at it!) This roof has been made removable just in case any train failures as the access from behind is a tad limited. This roof will be primed soon and then painted and weathered as of those recently described.
I then started work on the smaller structures comprising the clay dries. Unfortunately, most of this has disappeared now since becoming a cement terminal so I am working off a small selection of photos cobbled together over the years researching. Whilst I would have liked scale drawings etc, I think that if we can capture the appearance of something then that is a good compromise. Scott (Stoker) kindly marked up a photo I had the other year which has helped give names to some of the equipment at the dries area.
Firstly, I add some steps to the fuel oil tank. These are curving away into the background to meet an access deck but I haven't thought whether I will make the curved handrail yet. I started to add a curved handrail to the top but stripped it off as it started getting all 50p piece like 
...save that for another day that one.
Secondly, a smaller deck structure which protudes from an opening halfway up the cladding in the rotary dries building. This has been formed from Evergreen I section and various plasticard offcuts.
Next, the structure which supports the steam exhaust stack and exhaust scrubbing unit and this again formed of Evergreen I section and plastic sheet/rod etc. The tube of one of my sons felt tip pens seemed to be perfect diameter for one of the cylindrical elements....hence the writing on it at present! The steam exhaust pipe has been connected through to the roof of the rotary dries building and will be fixed in due course.
Then the walkway that connects the old clay dries with the rotary clay dries. The access to the old clay dries is through the small 'add on' structure in the roof whilst the deck spans across the tracks to the rotary dries building.
Finally, a small exhaust vent added from the roof of the rotary dries. There will be a few other small stacks (some large ones too) added so this one was more of a test to see how it looked.
The handrails are made from Evergreen styrene rod and whilst it would be nice to etch them, it would take a month of Sundays for me to draw them all out, organise them and order them and it will just prolong progress on the layout. Besides, I kinda like the slightly wonky not quite perfect effect...reminds me of some Contractors I know...
Enough of all that waffle...lets see it in pics...albeit unpainted and whilst individually they don't look like much, when placed together insitu it hopefully helps to capture the scene of the clay dries. Still quite a bit to add but what I thought was going to be a chore turned out to be quite fun.
Roof completed...awaiting grey primer to flush out nasty bits!...
Fuel oil store with steps added...freaky shadow eh? The propeller of the Titanic perhaps? 
Small protruding access deck structure...
Support structure for steam exhaust stack...
High level deck structure connecting old dries with rotary dries buildings...
And then gradually placed insitu to show position and build up the scene...
Walkways in place...
Fuel oil store positioned...
Steam exhaust stack positioned...
Overall showing the test exhaust vent at the roof of the rotary drier in the foreground...
Lastly, a tree shamelessly stuck in the earth temporarily to help try and set the scene...static grass and foilage will be a separate exercise...
That's all for a little while from me as the end of next week we will be heading for slightly colder climes 
in the form of a week in Cornwall and I hope its as good as our trip their last year. Whilst dropping in on my folks I will also collect various strange railway related goodies that have accumulated mainly 2mmFS related...and a few senior scale elements which are best not discussed on this here blog...
-
23
16 Comments
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now