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Half-relief Kentish oast

JRamsden

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I haven't had as much time to dedicate to modelling lately. The colder weather has made spending time in the shed even less desirable too! However I have been making slow progress on my farm buildings.

 

The latest project is the half-relief oast house. Despite square kilns actually being older, there are far more round kilns dotted around Kent and Sussex and I prefer the look of them. I must see dozens of different examples every day in my travels. They are a firm fixture of this area and their design is nothing short of iconic. Of course I needed one on Addleford Green! I'm not a fan of pre-made resin buildings (not for a quality reason, simply because I enjoy building my own) but Hornby's own Scaledale version of an Oast is particularly garish! I'd be curious to know how much research they actually did for their model because it has a distinctly European look about it, rather than anything I've ever seen. See below:

 

998797847_HornbyR8568.jpg.e9d4ba009bb5b3badd7866a94870a852.jpg

 

For anyone looking to build their own oast, I'd highly recommend this website: http://oastandhopkilnhistory.com/ which is chock full of great information and reference.

 

It didn't take long before it was clear that making only half of a round building would be harder than it sounds! This one was tricky and took a lot of trial and error, not to mention plenty of glue and clamping! Deluxe Materials Roket Card Glue was a godsend here, bonding card and plastic very quickly and very firmly.

 

IMG_96622.jpg.70616cbb9a17e7b5ba735168353e07b8.jpgIMG_96662.jpg.24d81a9151bcc12466ca2429c3a52988.jpgIMG_96682.jpg.bd719b9dbd048cfce7e39fdbac521874.jpg

 

The cowl was the hardest part. I must have been through 7-8 versions before the final. It was all down to the angle. I couldn't get it just right. It's one thing to design a flat template using measurements, but it just didn't behave the same way when curled to shape! I wish I could describe what I did to achieve this, but ultimately it, once again, comes down to trial and error. It's mostly constructed from plastic strip/rod with a layered card exterior. The interior was built pretty much as an actual cowl would have been because the interior would possibly be seen so there was even less room to hide.

 

Painted version coming soon, hopefully!

 

All for now,

Jonathan

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nick_bastable
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the n gauge version is similar with a serious lack of detail  on the 1st floor (windows etc) however its better than my own square effort

 

rmw2.jpg

 

 

20191216_162448.jpg

 

 

 

Nick

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Mikkel
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Jonathan, that's a beautiful bit of scratchbuilding. And difficult shapes too, I can see how it would have been challenging to do in half-relief.

 

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For anyone looking to build their own oast

 

Not a sentence you hear every day. One of the reasons I like this hobby :)

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JRamsden
21 hours ago, nick_bastable said:

the n gauge version is similar with a serious lack of detail  on the 1st floor (windows etc) however its better than my own square effort

Nick

 

Not at all; I think your oast looks fab. Don't be put off using it on your layout because it is unique and that's really important. If you see enough model railways you start to see the same buildings time and time again. You can make a game out of it!

 

So nice to see someone else who is modelling a hop farm on their layout too. How did you make your hops? That'll be a future head-scratcher for me. Are you modelling a particular area or just putting in whatever inspires you? I'd love to have included hopper's huts like you, but sadly my scenic section is limited, having filled the rest up with the railway infrastructure.

 

10 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Jonathan, that's a beautiful bit of scratchbuilding. And difficult shapes too, I can see how it would have been challenging to do in half-relief.

 

Not a sentence you hear every day. One of the reasons I like this hobby :)

 

You're very kind, Mikkel. Thanks :)

 

I was so scared of making this thing that I put it off for ages. Glad it's out of the way so I can forge ahead and ruin it with paints instead! there's no limit to the clumsiness of fingers.

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nick_bastable
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1 minute ago, JRamsden said:

How did you make your hops?

 

 

I researched the basics on how there grown,   made the framing/supports from wire soldered to a drilled pcb base, then strung the wires linking them (soldered joints);   finally cheap super glue on green thread was sprinkled with foam flock ( took a few attempts build up and I used Mrs B beading frame to hold the cotton taunt )  once dried the now rigid cotton is planted by  dab of super glue at the base and one where it meets the stringing wire once dried trimmed to even lengths with scissors  took a while to build up the rows over several weeks

 

Nick

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nick_bastable
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23 minutes ago, JRamsden said:

So nice to see someone else who is modelling a hop farm on their layout too. How did you make your hops? That'll be a future head-scratcher for me. Are you modelling a particular area or just putting in whatever inspires you? I'd love to have included hopper's huts like you, but sadly my scenic section is limited, having filled the rest up with the railway infrastructure

Sorry forgot to say the layout is intended for the 2mm Diamond Jubilee Layout Challenge   http://www.2mm.org.uk/members/djlc.html

 

further information about this mini layout 

 

 

ask away if my description of making the Hops is unclear 

 

Nick

 

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