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Cranes for the depot


Mikkel

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I spent an enjoyable morning installing my two shed cranes in the goods depot. As previously mentioned, the cranes are copied from the ones used at Paddington Goods, although similar types seem to have been used in other large goods depots in the 1900s. I have not been able to find any technical specifications, but I doubt if they were able to handle anything heavier than light goods in vans and wagons.

 

 

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The cranes were scratchbuilt using plastikard and various other bits and pieces. I've decribed the build here.

 

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Looking at prototype photos I noticed that when a shed had multiple cranes, they tended to be grouped together in strategic positions. This makes particular sense with these cranes, whose purpose was to move goods from the vans/wagons to the cartage bays.

 

 

 

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I therefore placed the cranes so that they were able to swivel between the goods stock and the cartage bays, thereby allowing goods to be transferred directly, as per the arrangement at Paddington.

 

 

 

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One of the cranes was placed so that it could also reach the balcony of the mezzanine floor. This is inspired by the arrangement at Hockley. The safety chains for the balcony have been temporarily removed as I wasn't happy with them.

 

 

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The cranes were operated by a lever which connected to a mechanism beneath the deck...

 

 

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...and the lever was protected by a small cage. The latter hasn't turned out very well and I think I will have to redo them with more care.

 

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We discussed the livery of GWR cranes here. In my case I opted for the wonderfully ambigious "Medium Grey". Photos of the prototypes of these particular cranes alongside wagons suggest that their colour was not far from GWR wagon grey.

 

 

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Finally, a photo with the roof on. I do like the look of these cranes, it's a very neat design I think.

 

The final photo also illustrates a couple of challenges that I have to address as the next step: The weathering of the walls is a work in progress, and is tricky because it shows up too strong in photos, while it looks fine in reality. I am also repainting parts of the roof structure, as I wasn't entirely happy with the shades I had used. It never ends, does it? :-)

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Wonderful as akways, Mikkel

Regarding your comment

 

The weathering of the walls is a work in progress, and is tricky because it shows up too strong in photos, while it looks fine in reality.

 

...so if 's fine in your world, why change it for ours? It works for you; isn't that the only criteria? We (the collective awed) are more than happy to gaze upon such finery, in the sure and certain knowledge that the failings arise from the medium and not the message :) I remember one club member advocating a 'bespoke' colour for GWR green because he had lifted it from an image taken with 50's film stock that rendered the sky a weird yellow/green hue...

Smashing stuff, as always

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Great stuff Mikkel,

 

The atmophere in those photos is building up nicely.  It's as if those cranes are sat ready to receive some wagons to unload.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

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...so if 's fine in your world, why change it for ours?

 

Hi Jan, thanks and yes you have a point. It's just annoying when the photos don't match exactly what I see. I have a new compact camera, and I'm quite happy with it but I think I need to work on the settings a bit. The contrast is quite high.

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It's as if those cranes are sat ready to receive some wagons to unload.

 

Thanks Mark, yes one of the cranes will be turned out over the track, ready to unload. The other one will be over the deck. I was surprised to see that photos from Paddington showed the cranes left in all sorts of positions when not in use, and some with the hook lowered and other with it raised high. I would have thought thee was a standard rule for this, but maybe noone bothered.

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Beautiful done. Like the atmosphere. Wonderful scene already. Can only be better when all those other little things are added to it. 

Would be nice to see also one of your favorite not GWR goods wagon for unloading on the bay.

 

Greetings,

Job

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hey.

 

looking great. I think the weathering on the walls is actually preety good.

 

did you scratch make the levers?

 

(edited because of fat fingers on the phones keyboard)

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Hi Jan, thanks and yes you have a point. It's just annoying when the photos don't match exactly what I see. I have a new compact camera, and I'm quite happy with it but I think I need to work on the settings a bit. The contrast is quite high.

I often find I have the same problem when photographing weathered models, the eye picks up things that the camera doesn't see.  If you then see the photos in print, it's even worse!

 

The walls look good to me b)

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Beautiful done. Like the atmosphere. Wonderful scene already. Can only be better when all those other little things are added to it. 

Would be nice to see also one of your favorite not GWR goods wagon for unloading on the bay.

 

Greetings,

Job

 

 

Job, thanks. Yes I have some non-GWR wagons planned too. Including LSWR, MR and maybe M&SWJR (if I can find one), as a way to indicate the location as somewhere between Newbury and Westbury.

 

 

 

hey.

looking great. I think the weathering on the walls is actually preety good.

did you scratch make the levers?

(edited because of fat fingers on the phones keyboard)

 

 

 

Hi rc, many thanks. The brownish shades on the wall look a bit odd in some photos though. The levers are nothing but a sliver of plastikard with a cut at the top. So yes you could say they were scratchbuilt :-) 

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I often find I have the same problem when photographing weathered models, the eye picks up things that the camera doesn't see.  If you then see the photos in print, it's even worse!

 

The walls look good to me B)

 

Thanks Pugsley, I wonder if it can also be the other way round sometimes: That the camera records things exactly as they are, while our mind picks up all the different impressions and blends it all together into a processed version of reality? Wow, this is getting into philosophy now...

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Thanks Pugsley, I wonder if it can also be the other way round sometimes: That the camera records things exactly as they are, while our mind picks up all the different impressions and blends it all together into a processed version of reality? Wow, this is getting into philosophy now...

 

I use my camera for two mean reasons:

- to see if I don't make major mistakes ( for instance space between the ground and a building)

- to share my modeling efforts to get response from other modelers. To learn and improve my modeling.

 

Learned already a lot in both ways from the RMweb. I bought a photo tripod to make ( I hope) better pictures.

 

Regards,

Job

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Thanks Pugsley, I wonder if it can also be the other way round sometimes: That the camera records things exactly as they are, while our mind picks up all the different impressions and blends it all together into a processed version of reality? Wow, this is getting into philosophy now...

It can definitely be the other way round as well - the number of times that I've taken photos of a finished model, only to see in the pictures where I'd missed bits!  I think you're right about the eyes and mind blending things all together - it seems to work that way.

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It can definitely be the other way round as well - the number of times that I've taken photos of a finished model, only to see in the pictures where I'd missed bits!  I think you're right about the eyes and mind blending things all together - it seems to work that way.

 

 

Yep, sort of like the cords on the floor of our living room that I've been meaning to fix neatly in place for the last couple of years. Except I just don't see them anymore :-)

 

 

Mikkel: Awesome attention to detail and construction, as always! Jim

 

 

Thanks Jim, I look forward to the "micro-detailing" with all the goods, lamps etc. Oh, and the yard behind the depot needs to be done too...

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Mikkel , please dont apologise for what you see as problems , I suspect most of us here would

be thrilled to achieve this level of detail , I certainly would , I think you could take a photo

of a pile of coal and we would still go 'Wow ' .

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Thankyou Sidecar, is that a promise about the pile of coal?  :jester:  Anyway the weathering of the wall has now progressed, ie toned down a bit. It actually looks better, so thanks to the camera :-)

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Brilliant stuff as per usual, Mikkel.  Top notch modeling with the cranes - exactly as per the prototype.  Agree with the rest of the comments re weathering - can't for the life of me see why you think it's too heavy.  I'm sure white walls got incredibly dirty, especially around openings.  

 

As you have previously suggested about using photos in the warehouse openings to create depth instead of mirrors, I bet one of those pics you posted of the crane build (the one with the model crane placed in front of a photo of the real thing) would look the business.  Using photos is a clever idea and will really give a sense of a world beyond.

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Thanks Mike. That's an interesting idea about using some of the Paddington scenes as a backdrop. Must give some thought to that. This particular depot isn't supposed to be quite that large, but a selective use of some photos might work. Of course that would mean   accepting that it was black and white. But definetely worth testing, thanks.

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Terrific stuff Mikkel - they fit so well with their environment.

 

Being an apple fan, I especially like the use of the old iPad touch case which conveniently seems to be 4mm scale platform height :D

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I'm glad you think they fit the scene, Pete. Btw, that's an old ipod case, you must go and repeat your apple homework :-)

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This really is looking excellent. I know what both you and Pugs mean about photos; taking the lead from artists who do it with mirrors, I tend to take photos as I go and flip them on screen. It's amazing what suddenly jumps out at you as being not quite right, or even downright wrong. I foresee the end result becoming as inspiring as this...simply stunning.

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No way will it reach that standard! It is amazing. Funny how interiors seem to be in the vogue at the moment. But I suppose it was the logical step after all those years of viewing layouts from above.

 

Will follow your idea and use the camera as a fault spotter more often. Although I suppose there is a balance to be struck. The real layout is after all more real than the photos (or at least that is what we like to think!)

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You're too modest.  Yes, yours and John Dornom's are different styles and scales, but then Constable and Sisely's output were as chalk and cheese, nevertheless equally great to my eye.

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...don't you just love the 'edit' function on this software?...:lol:

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Adrian, many thanks :-)  I certainly wouldn't mind a chocolate 517 myself. It looks so good I wish it had been a standard livery. Armstrong meets Marsh.

 

Pete, edit works just perfrectt for me ;-)

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