Signal Box for Sherton Abbas part 2
Entry posted by wenlock
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Before I moved onto step and handrail construction, I decided to make a start on the roof. The roof components that the kit provides were assembled together with Liquid Poly and once dry tried on top of the signal box. To my eye the overhang on the roof looked much too wide and gave the building a strange continental appearance.
Overersize roof
I measured the overhang and calculated that it worked out as a scale 18 inches all round which sounded far too much. I decided that the easiest way to rectify the situation and give a more normal overhang was to remove one slate width from a side and along the ridge line. Unfortunately the roof barge boards are part of the roof mouldings so needed to be removed and then repositioned once the roof had been cut down.
Cutting down roof to size
Once the roof had been cut down the two halves were joined togethe using more Liquid Poly and the barge boards and finials added. I'm not sure that the finials are really the right shape for a GWR signal box, so I may replace them with some finials from MSE's range of signal components.
Assembled Roof
Once the roof had dried it was positioned back on the building to check its appearance. I think the proportions of the building look better with the reduced roof overhang, hopefully others will too!
Roof positioned in situ
I wasn't looking forward to tackling the steps, I've always found getting the tread/riser relationship a bit tricky! The sides were cut from 30thou Plasticard and attached to the landing area in front of the porch with more Liquid Poly. Once this had dried the Newel posts and treads were added using more plastic card.
Steps and newel posts
Half joints were then cut into the tops of the handrail support posts where the handrails were to be fitted. The handrails were cut from 30 thou plastic card sheet and fitted to the newel posts using Liquid Poly. Once everything had dried overnight the handrails/newel posts were lightly sanded using a fine emery board. Before I could add tiles to the porch roof I needed to make a supporting substructure. This was just cut from 20 thou sheet and glued on top of the porch walls and allowed to dry.
Handrails and roof substructure
The slates were represented by using Slaters Plastikard embossed sheet, cut into strips and applied to the substructure.
Addition of roof slates
The kit provides some quite nice mouldings for the windows so these were removed from the sprue and tried in place. I need to paint the signal box before I fit them, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of them held in situ using some blue tack!
Windows in Situ
I'm generally happy with the final proportions of the box and using the Peco Kit as a starting point has certainly helped speed up construction time. The box will be situated fairly close to the front of my layout, so I need to source or make some signal levers and associated equipment because the interior of the box is going to be quite visible. I also need to make a name plate for the box. I know Slaters make some moulded alphabets, but if there's a better way of making a plate then I'd be very pleased to be pointed in the right direction!
Hopefully the next post should see the box painted and ready to install on the layout.
Best wishes
Dave
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