Scratch-built card and styrene structures (based on real buildings around London Bridge)

[grahame]

Yes, the location is behind the railway viaduct from the viewing position of the layout and lower than the road in front, so is somewhat hidden, but the tower should be easily seen above tracks. Hopefully just a two dimensional representation of it against the back-scene will suffice. 

 

Here's a pic of the tower next to the Barrowboy and Banker (which I've already made):

 

 

And this is a view from under the railway bridge over Borough High Street:

 

 

G.

 

 

   

[grahame]

A little bit of measuring, fiddling and sketching has got me to a position that I'm comfortable with for the size and construction. The depth of the low relief cathedral is just over 2 inches - unfortunately I can't squeeze any more in - and overall it is somewhat compressed - but hey ho. Windows are the next consideration as it looks like I'll have to cut and make them myself which will be quite fiddly and time consuming. Obviously there will be some considerable simplification. And I'm going to be relying on painting of details for a lot of finishing.

 

One thing of closely looking at details on such a building is just how much 'bodging' in the design there was. It is not straightforward and symmetrical. For example windows in a row are not all the same size or even the same both sides of the tower - the large ones in the transept have two mullions (and three lights) while those on the other side have just one mullion (and two lights).  Even the widths of the four eaves sections at the end are not equal. But it does give room for manoeuvre and a fiddle factor just so long as the final result captures the overall look and atmosphere. I hope.

 

 

G.

[grahame]

Apart from going out for a little shopping this morning, I've managed a little experimentation on getting some relief on the tower 'windows' which I'm assuming are all louvered for the sound of the bells. It's difficult to see in the snap below but the recesses have been filled with plastic 'siding' to represent louvres. I'm not sure how well it works - they certainly need some tidying up - but here it is:

 

 

Painting will probably hide some imperfections and improve the overall look.

 

G.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[phil_sutters]

The top 'windows'are louvred but the next row down are glazed. This relatively close view is from the other side,

 

but they do seem to be the same on the eastern side.

 

[grahame]

I've ordered some preformed 'church' windows from York Modelling making. They're not exact replicas but I've chosen those closest in style and size. For the upper windows in the front (east) facing elevation (with the four peaked eaves) there wasn't anything suitable so I'm going for circular ones. Hopefully they won't look too out of place - but then it's not a fully accurate scale replica and I'm not adverse to making necessary compromises.

 

Obviously they won't arrive until next year, so I'll put this project to one side and pick it up later. In the meantime I'll give some thought about the next structures to make.

 

G

[grahame]

While waiting for the windows I've had a play around with some of the structure by partially making and adding the little tower at the front right. I've had to make things to enable it to come apart, like a kit of bits not glued together, to ensure the front window wall remains separate and flat to make cutting the window apertures easy and straightforward:

 

 

G.

 

 

 

 

[phil_sutters]

Just a thought - have you ever used cable ties - the non-return type - for representing louvres? They come in all sorts of sizes, including some really small ones - often those appear in pound-shop multi-size packs. The depth or thickness could be an issue and as they are a flexible plastic the right glue is needed.

[grahame]

I've never thought of cable ties although they might be a little thin/narrow even for N/2mm.

 

The good news is that the church windows arrived from York Modelmaking today:

 

 

A quick first look is that they look rather good.

 

G.

 

 

[grahame]

And just placing them roughly in place on top, they look like they should be ideal;

 

 

I can now crack on with the low relief cathedral . . . .  .

 

G.
 

[phil_sutters]

I've never thought of cable ties although they might be a little thin/narrow even for N/2mm.

 

The good news is that the church windows arrived from York Modelmaking today:

 

DSC_4373.JPG

 

A quick first look is that they look rather good.

 

G.

The windows do look good. The cable ties in my £1/cheap shop pack range from 1mm to 5mm across the 'louvres' with the edge strips extra in proportion.

 

Phil

[grahame]

A little progress with cutting and gluing cardboard . . . . .

 

 

G.

 

 

[grahame]

I think will do for today. The tricky effort of cutting out the circular windows and the main transept ones can wait until tomorrow. Then there is the small towers and some flying buttresses to make and add, plus lots of details. And all before painting it . . . .

 

 

G.

 

 

[grahame]

Some more progress this morning. It's looking a little messy but hopefully when all details are added and it is pulled together with painting it will look better. I've tried to reduce the depth gradually (in a kind of progressive perspective compression) from the Lady Chapel (at the front) towards the transept and bell tower which are basically flat against the back-scene.

 

This is how it will be located, next to a building I've already built. There will be a railway viaduct across the front to the left and the road in front is at a level with the doorways in the white building making the cathedral lower and slightly hidden - as in the second pic in post 526.

 

 

G.

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

Here's the latest, which will do for this morning - as I've other tasks to undertake:

 

 

G.

 

 

[timbowilts]

Wow!

[grahame]

I've managed to install the round windows in the Lady Chapel gables (although they should be smaller versions of the larger ones below).

 

 

And I've been looking closely at photographs of the real cathedral. Painting is going to be trickier than I originally thought. There seems to be many finishes and colours that will take some replicating. Even just the tower has honey coloured and grey blocks with a checked pattern frieze. The roofs are different colours and the gable walls seem to have a rough infill (like pebble dashing) with contrast coloured block corners. I think I'll need to simplify painting significantly or it could end up looking even more of a mess. And I really ought to add more details first - there's lots of crosses, finials and fiddly bits.

 

I might have to put this to one side for the time being and start on something different . . . . . . .

 

G. 

[sb67]

Probably said this many times before but that looks stunning! I love the way you're able to take a photo, plan, adapt and build using bits of card and plastic, then hey presto the building looks exactly like the real thing. That is such a talent, fantastic work Grahame.

Steve.

[grahame]

Having said that I'm putting the cathedral to one side, I'd like to move on to a very 60s style building. Unfortunately I know very little about it and only have one poor photo with just the top section of one end. I've posted an appeal here: 

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/129817-building-picsinfo-request/

 

where you can see that pic. If anyone has any information, and particularly photos, please let me know. Many thanks in anticipation.

 

Otherwise I'm going to have to make some assumptions, produce my own design and build the model just from that one pic

 

G.

Edited January 6, 2018 by grahame

[grahame]

I appreciate it's only been a few days but I've not heard anything regarding my request for info on the building above (and it has also been posted on the DEMU forum and N Gauge io group as well as here and in another RMWeb thread). But it is a long shot that anyone reading them will know or have anything about it. So I've decided to progress and basically design the building myself trying to extrapolate from the photo snippet like so:

 

 

Snag is I don't know any major features like length and height, although, of course, it can't be any longer than up to the next old building. I'm guessing the height and number of floors based on the tiny bit of the building (bottom right in the pic) which is on the corner of Bermondsey Street and Tooley Street and currently exists (as well as being one I have already made).

 

G.

 

[Compound2632]

Isn't it bizarre how a large building that was in situ within the last quarter century (or a bit more?) can disappear so completely from the record? Though I doubt it will ever come to be mourned as much as many Victorian buildings that succumbed about the time it was built.

[grahame]

Yes, certainly strange that photos of it can't easily be found on line. No doubt there are plans held somewhere (local authority planning department?) But I must admit to preferring to work/model from photos rather than drawings/plans. After all pics show how it was actually built and looked in real life.

 

I guess stuff on-line tends to be of scenes taken after the development and explosion of digital photography. Plus, of course, with film photography people would take pics of interesting and special buildings rather than waste film on mundane dull structures.

 

G.

[Ian Smeeton]

Any good?

 

https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW006806

 

1921, so might be a bit too early.

 

Also

 

https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW050328

 

A bit grainy.

 

A look at the Britain from above website might be useful. I am not sure that I am in the right ballpark here.

 

Regards

 

Ian

[grahame]

Finally, I've found a 'good' one showing the extent of the building in this 1978 pic. It's a lot larger than I thought and has a slight curve to it's length. The pic, although a little fuzzy due to me zooming in quite a bit to select the building from an overall view, is very helpful for modelling particularly with regards to the street level:

 

 

G.

 

 

[Compound2632]

Interesting roof-top structures which will presumably become a focal point on the model?

[grahame]

Interesting roof-top structures which will presumably become a focal point on the model?

 

Yes, I try to model and include all appropriate roof top details as they tend to be more obvious in N/2mm scale with people often looking down on the structures. For me the finish of roofs is as important as the rest of the building.

 

I seem to be have been low on card stock supplies so, this morning after some food shopping, I popped along to the localish Hobbycraft store and picked up some mount board. At £3 for an A1 sheet (a little over 23" x 33") it's good value. Now it's eyes down and ready to get started on the next building.

 

G.