I've been busy assembling a Gaugemaster GWR signal box kit for Auden's Pledge. This isn't the first structure I've built, but it is the first I've documented.

First thing to do was a white wash down the brick lines, to create the idea of cement holding the bricks together.

I did this whilst the brick walls were still on the sprue, to save handling the walls before they were dry. My preferred paint for jobs like this are Crawford & Black acrylics. They're rubbish for painting models, but if you want to do a wash or some weathering, it's perfect, as the mere presence of water will lift it, allowing it to be toned down or removed entirely, should you change your mind. It's quite cheap too- around £3 at The Works. 

Next, I assembled the brick base, complete with the window frames and door fitted, after washing them black (again, with Crawford & Black).

I've no idea why the white paint between the bricks isn't showing up in the photo, but I assure you it's there.

Let's talk about the signal box plate for a moment. The plate itself comes from Light Railway Stores, and is one of their custom GWR signal box nameboards. Beautifully etched. I had a lot of trouble painting it though (all my fault). I won't bore you with all the failed attempts, but the method that was ultimately successful involved painting the entire plate white (from Humbrol) before painting over it with Crawford & Black black paint. Once the black was dry, a cotton bud dampened in some water was used to lightly rub the black from the raised lettering and edges. The Humbrol paint, whilst being acrylic too, is more immune to the water than the Crawford & Black. Once the plate was ready, PVA glue was used to fix it to the front of the box.

I then moved on to the balcony, and my first deviation from the design of the kit. The balcony is intended to go in front of the cabin door, and go towards the back of the box, where a small cubicle (possibly a toilet?) is located. I didn't want the cubicle (sorry, signalmen, you'll have to hold it till your shift is up) so I moved the balcony so it would run from the door to the front of the box.

In order for it to neatly fit in its new position, I filed the wall facing side flat, allowing the balcony to have as much surface area as possible to be glued to the side of the box. At the same time, I filed a slot into the underside of the balcony to give the steps a surface to glue to.

The balcony essentially floats, with only the steps to provide support, so I fashioned some support beams from 1mm brass rod, glued to each side of the balcony. The areas intended to be metal were painted black, with silver dry brushed to suggest worn paint, and some Tamiya Rust Weathering Master sponged on. The parts meant to be wood were lightly filed, to create a wood grain texture. The wood parts were all painted black, and the balcony parts were given a coat of wood brown, while the cabin planks were painted cream and the trim in chocolate. A black wash was applied to the panel lines.

 A quick look at the roof. This was treated to a black wash, and green was dry brushed to give the impression of moss (or is it algae that forms on roofs?). I used a thin piece of wire dipped in white to create bird 'deposits'.

The signal box as of now. In order to get rid of the cubicle, I had to cut out the blank piece of wall to the left of the door frame where the cubicle connected to. I filled the space with the planking that was meant to go parallel to the blank part. The planking that should have formed the back of the cubicle was cut in half, and the two pieces were used to make the fence between the steps and the end railing. 

That's all I've done at the moment. The next steps will be to fit drain pipes, the window guard rails, and the glazing. See you next time.