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Forging Ahead......?

IanLister

Entry posted by IanLister

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Hi.
In order to develop and try out construction techniques to be used for the large number of stone buildings which will populate Tweed South Bank, I’ve concentrated over the last couple of weeks on making progress with the small industrial complex overlooking the Berwick line; this will be set back in one corner of the layout and needs to be in place before the corner board, currently in the middle of the floor, takes up its rightful position and stops cluttering the place up. I’m using mainly the same building methods I used on my 2mm FS layout, in order to see which transfer to 4mm and what needs to change in my approach to the scarily larger scale.
So…….welcome to the almost finished world of Messrs Sparrow and Cole, Blacksmiths, Iron Founders and Boilermakers………
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North Northumberland and the Lower Tweed Valley were in the forefront of technological advances in agriculture in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the associated developments in quarrying, mining and so on drew people to the area, which accelerated development of transport links. The industrial revolution came gently to the area, bringing benefits but without quite the same levels of squalor, slums and poor hygiene of most northern cities of the time. The coming of the Newcastle and Berwick Railway to the Tweed, meeting up with the North British Railway by the building of the Royal Border Bridge, drew local village craftsmen to the coast in search of fame, fortune and, in the case of the local blacksmith at the village of Ford (a certain Mr Thomas Black) the contract to supply spades, shovels and pickaxes for the construction of the bridge. A fair-sized contract, I would think, given the size of the finished bridge. In his haste to get started on this mammoth undertaking he sold Ford Forge and moved to the Upper Forge in Tweedmouth, high on the south bank of the Tweed Estuary and close to the new railway. Business boomed, and after twenty years or so he built the new Seaview Foundry in Spittal, which remained a successful manufacturer until closure in 1953. The Seaview Works is now a printing business.

 

Matthew Sparrow and Samuel Cole were two young iron workers from Dudley in the Black Country. As you can imagine, during the nineteenth century the Black Country got blacker and blacker…..unhealthily so. Matthew and Samuel, like many of their contemporaries, decided to seek pastures new. Unlike the vast majority of their mates, however, they didn’t seek the supposedly greener and pleasanter lands of the coal, iron and shipbuilding on the banks of the Tyne and the Tees; they headed further north and settled on the far more desirable banks of the Tweed (which must be hugely desirable, given the number of times people have fought and died to own them).

 

Sparrow and Cole bought the Upper Forge from Thomas Black, and a dynasty was born which, by 1960 (the year in which my model is set) was a successful small foundry and boilermaking business
catering to local small industries in Spittal and Tweedmouth and the local farming community.

 

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The model has a plasticard and foamboard shell with stonework scribed in lightweight filler which is also used for the ground texturing: a combination of stone setts, paving flagstones and trodden cinders. One new technique I’ve employed is the use of 110gsm adhesive-backed matt photo paper for window frames and roof slates. It cuts accurately, takes paint wonderfully well and sticks to perspex windows without fogging or other issues I’ve had before.
The stock racks in the yard are constructed from walnut strip (very satisfying to work with and easy to paint/weather) and have a corrugated aluminium foil roof. They’ll be a good place to use up all the odd offcuts of card, plastic and brass I end up with......

 

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The yard walls need their final pastel weathering and pointing, the cinder areas of the yard need painting, and the main roof needs finishing; then I’m going to try and get my head round how to do guttering and downpipes.

 

I’m happy with how this is coming along, which is a relief given the scale of architecture I’ll need to model to get the layout finished.
Regards
Ian

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Dave John
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I do like the effect you are achieving with the stonework.

 

May I ask which brand of lightweight filler you prefer? 

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IanLister

I do like the effect you are achieving with the stonework.

 

May I ask which brand of lightweight filler you prefer? 

Thanks Dave. I use Polyfill Advanced Lightweight filler; it's flexible enough not to be brittle, but not rubbery so you get nice sharp scribe lines. The toothbrush is the real key to success, however........

Ian

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IanLister

Thanks Don. I'm finding out which of the 2mm techniques work in 4mm.......interesting times and so far I'm pleased with it.

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