After taking a diversion into laser printing for the future city centre of my model, I've been putting my 3d skills to more currently practical use.
The station retaining wall along Livery Street has been designed and indeed printed. It wasn't cheap and the brickwork is \ little hit and miss, but I did it this way for several reasons.
1 Speed - a have a very low boredom threshold and lots of unfinished projects. This way I could get most of the wall done before I got diverted to somethi
I've got the design of the facade finished and so thought I would share a few more pictures with you.
Its succesfully loaded up to Shapeways - though that doesn't mean much until you try to print it. As the cost of likely to be 125 Euros I'm gonna wait until their next sale. I'll share the results with you
In the meantime for those interested here is a link to one of the few images of the original
regards
Rovex
It being too cold to be in the shed, I have spent the day playing with Sketchup.
Opposite the entrance to Snow Hill id the Great Western Arcade. It was built over the tunnel carrying the tracks from Moor Street to Snow Hill. Originally it had a very impressive facade but this fell victim to enemy action and was burnt out. Rather than restore it after the war it was demolished and for a long time the arcade was somewhat truncated.
A modern building now occupies the site but the original a
Those who have been following my long winded efforts to build my model railway may remember that I lifted all the trackwork following a failed experiment in securing both the cork underlay and the track using spray adhesive. The warm weather saw expansion which resulted in track lifting and the cork bubbling. As the track had not been pinned the adhesive didn't prove up to the job.
So reluctantly the whole lot was lifted and I decided that I had to start again. Well the starting was delayed
The latest CAD ramblings.
I've been playing with the canopy parts to see if construction could be made simpler by putting all the parts together and this is the result.
I've ordered three of these to test out the modular design and see if it works. if it does I shall be selling a lot of unopened ratio canopy kits.
The eagle eyed amogst you will have spotted that one of the arms on the support has lost its detail. I don't know why this keeps happening, but it does not look like
Arrived home from work today to find that the sample side all had arrived from shapeways. This was done in FUD and I must say looks a far better product than previous samples. However this is reflected in the price.
I've sprayed in brick red as a primer and also to help it show better in the photos below.
An exterior shot.
close up of the column detail
Another exterior shot
and a partial interior shot.
The top and bottom screens will be glazed and you
As promised in my last entry, I have finished the design work on a section of the platform building. My idea is to create a kit of parts and to create the platofmr buildings from this "pack" of standard parts.
This is the image for the first of these, what I might call "full length large windows section". All the time has been taken in adding the brickwork. it all having to be drawn in by hand - if you thought scribing individual bricks was a long haul - think again.
A column with a
The laser prints arrived today. So I am posting a few pictures for comments.
I apologise for the quality of the photos but my camera isn't up to much when it comes to close ups and the flash bleached everything, so I had to turn it off.
These are probably the best of the photos. The surface is a bit rough and I managed to mismeasure the roof column so this is a bit short. I've corrected the uploaded version, so next time should get it the right size.
Would appreciate knowin
Last week I finally took the plunge and ordered the results of my CAD doodles. I sent for one roof pillar and enough canopy parts to make up some three sections.
I decided not to buy the valance sides and having designed a roof and failed to upload it properly decided from a cost point of view that these bits could be more readily constructed from plasticard.
When the items arrive I shall post the results.
For the last few days I have been playing with the roof column to make a piece
Well this 3d printing malarkey is something that can cause the brain to melt and dribble out of your ears. I have been playing around with a model for the overall roof columns. The hope is that if I can succesfully design one than it can be amended to create the other two types.
So having beavered away, I then have to convert it to a "dae" file, then download another programme and convert it to an "stl" file, then downlaod another programme , because Shapeways doesn't like the design - somet
Well a pleasant afternoon which should have been spent in the garden - or at the very least doing some productive modelling has been spent beavering over my new toy - sketchup - on the computer. The results are here.
The Central girder
The intermediate girder
the valance
and all four compenents shown together - roughly
Now I shall no doubt find that what I've created is unprintable.
Impressed with what can be acheived with 3D printing I have been having a play over the weekend with "Sketchup" a free 3D drawing programme that can be downloaded off the interweb.
I had intended to use the ratio canopy kits to produce the extensive canopies that covered the bay platforms at Snow Hill. Each one being approximately a metre long (or more) in model form. However the work needed to beef these up was concerning me, and I wasn't sure that they would look high enough.
They also
Following on from last nights post, here's the same thing after ten years of wear and tear.
Weathering has been done with some Humbrol white weathering powder and some old cars weathering powders, mainly black, brown and rust. The leadroof was first washed with the white powder and white spirit. Lead tends to whiten as it ages and then it was given a wash of the black and whiote white spirit. This took the edge of the white and added the soot.
The sides were done in a mixture
I have got around to painting the model of Brackhampton (pronounced Birmingham) North Signal Box I made several moons ago. I have been unable to find any decent colour pictures showing how the box was painted in real life and the girder supports were causing me some heartache. "black" seemed too stark and dark stone didn't seem appropriate either.
Anyway, last week I was leafing through a new book of GWR structure colours in Ian Allan's Brum bookstore when I found out that some features on G
track laying has recommenced. I don't know if I've mentioned this before but following an expansion problem and an experimental track fixing method I lifted all the track on my layout and decided to start again.
This time 4mm cork underlay has been glued down with copious amounts of undiluted PVA glue. On top of this the track plan has been pasted. It was printed out on heavy duty printer paper and then pasted down with wallpaper paste. This should ensure that the track is in the right place
Having had to lift all the track at Brackhampton due to my revolutionary track fixing technique proving about as effective as Network Rails maintenance of the Dawlish sea wall. I've been concentrating on scenic modelling whilst I save up to buy more finescale flexible track.
Latest thing I've been doing is building the platforms. The arrivals side has been started, using large amounts of wills platform kits and additional paving sheets. This has also meant I have had to have a go at the subw
I couldn't help myself - I had to upload a few photos of my latest ebay purchase. This is a model of GWr railcars 35 and 36 made from three Hornby railcars. Not my work I have to admit. Very well made and needs only a little bit of fillering and sanding to complete the bodies.
I intend to replace the plastic handrails and install flushglazing and other details.
I can now sell the Westward kit I bought of this train many years ago.
So now my Brackhampton has a suitable train for its e
Just a few shots of one of the stairways up to the footbridge. Construction is plasticard and slaters embossed brickwork. Doors and windows will be added from Scale link etchings once the stairs have been painted. The stairs themselves come from an old Hornby concrete footbridge glued together to get the necessary width and cut down to the right height.
Still some fillering to do and a bit of fettling to tidy this one up - and oh yes the one for the other platform to build too.
With quite a lot of the track down, I've been knocking up the platforms (well roughly at least). Nothing spectacular in the methods used. Paper template and a pencil held against the biggest coach.
The photo shows the platforms 1 to 6 (I think - it doesn't help that at some point the platforms were all swapped round). Platform bases are 12 mm ply and topped with 2mm plasticard scored to represent paving slabs. Later I'll build up brick walls to cover the edges of the ply, with suitable wirin
Work has commenced on laying the pointwork at the North end of Brackhampton. I've been waiting until Hayfield of this parish (who has been very patient with me and long suiffering) had built enough of the various pointwork to allow me to lay the mainline almost all at once. I didn't want to lay each piece as it was built only to find I had miscalculated and it didn't fit. These first two photos shopw the point work for the mainlines with the trackwork leading to the eastern bay platforms.
T
As I was in the shed this evening tidying round I thought I would take a few shots of the fiddleyard baseboards.
These are made of 12mm ply with 3inch wide strips of 12 mm ply for the edges and strapping. I've used this method before (although in that case it was 9mm ply) and found it generally quite sturdy as long as the boards are adequately braced underneath.
I'm particularly pleased with the hatch (I know sad isn't it). I added the diagonal brace as it was flexing too much when opened
Not much to report on the modelling front, but over the weekend I finally got power supplied to the shed. A heavily armoured cable has been laid down the garden from the mains fuse box to a separate fuse box in the shed, this has then been wired into the wiring I had already put in the shed for the security lightin, the ordinary lighting and a small ring mains with more sockets then I am ever going to need. Both the main fuse box and the shed box are protected with RCD breakers. I have also take
I recently purchased an old MTK kit of Ebay of a Sunshine stock slip coach to diagram F24. I'm not a great fan of MTK kits, for those who don't know they come with the sides and roof and solebars all folded up from one sheet of aluminium and they usually have badly fitting ends.
It was described as an unknown kit but resarch before I bid allowed me to discover the coach type and for £12 I didn't think I could go far wrong. The Ebay photo suggested brass sides and so I thought perhaps the pre
Not a great deal of progress since my last entry, mainly due to the fact that until I can get a trench dug gown to the garden shed to lay the electric cable, my modelling is limited to the weekends and eventhe only whilst the sun is up.
However "Hayfield" of this Parish has continued to do me proud with his trackbuilding and I thought you might like to see his latest builds. The first two shots show the South end of the station and once the pointwork to the left has been laid and connected i
Baseboard building continues a pace and these are few shots of progress. Holes have been cut for the streets and canal to pass under the station, although having checked google I'm going to have a cut a few more.
Track laying on the Southern end of the station has also started. Cork underlay is used and this is glued down with contact adhesive, Which has also been used to secure the trackwork. I lay no claim to having built any of this. It was all made for me by "Hayfield" of this site, and a
