Paternosterrow

Excellent work, as ever, Mike. That wire must be the best investment that you ever made and it's still going!

 

David

4 hours ago, DavidLong said:

Excellent work, as ever, Mike. That wire must be the best investment that you ever made and it's still going!

 

David

Cheers, Dave.  Yep and I found it on a dump site so it was free!  It took 200 x 3ft lengths that had to be pulled straight in a vice first.  About a third of it was waste etc.  Those circular braces took up an awful lot and it was a tedious job overall to complete.

Mike, that is absurdly good. As I started scrolling down the first photo I thought "Oh good, he's going to build this station structure". Turns out it was the model itself.

 

The loco looks good but the structure steals the show. You're probably going to have to get used to that! I hope you're planning for lighting, we'll be demanding high noon shadows, late afternoon low light, and gas-lit night time shots! 

 

The facade is a work of art. It seems to be fairly lightly supported, isn't architecture magical sometimes (sometimes!).

 

 

4 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Mike, that is absurdly good. As I started scrolling down the first photo I thought "Oh good, he's going to build this station structure". Turns out it was the model itself.

 

The loco looks good but the structure steals the show. You're probably going to have to get used to that! I hope you're planning for lighting, we'll be demanding high noon shadows, late afternoon low light, and gas-lit night time shots! 

 

The facade is a work of art. It seems to be fairly lightly supported, isn't architecture magical sometimes (sometimes!).

 

 

Gosh, cheers, Mikkel.  That’s valued praise from a genuine master of the hobby and it’s come at the right time too as I was started to flag a bit.  Unfortunately, being limited by the materials I use out of economy I see all the niggles and mistakes.  The screen for example, is made of card and it doesn’t take well to readjustment.  You can see that things don’t quite line up and the angular nicks along the top of the windows are not all uniform as on the prototype.  The same goes for the roof structure and if you were to put your eye along the trusses you would see the wobbly bits and how out of tue it is in places.  

 

The layout was inspired by a single picture of a Fowler 2P taken in 1948 (Mike Morrant Collection) that I saw a couple of years ago.  Carlisle, at that time, was in a right state of decay and the screens at both ends (and roof) were filthy from years of neglect.  The shot is just so atmospheric that I couldn’t resist having a go at modelling it.  As you know from previous stuff, I love all that internal atmosphere from these Cathedrals of Steam.

 

I have all sorts of plans for dramatic lighting effects when the layout is complete - here’s hoping some of them work!  I’m not sure about gaslight though!

 

The Screens must have been magnificent when built in 1880 and they were all out of wood supported by a light metal span from behind.  This, in turn was connected to the roof structure - a real work of art that was sadly lost in 1957 because of years of neglect.  They were some builders those Victorians and the neo Gothic design  would have even undoubtedly been inspired by Pugin - it was all about art and function for them.  What a sad loss.

 

Cheers, again and I’ll keep plugging away at it now I know I’m on the right track (no pun intended). 

Edited March 21, 2021 by PaternosterRow

Hello Mike - brilliant (as ever) photo. I went back several times to check that it is a model and that you aren't spoofing us. Magic!

 

regards,

Alex.

7 hours ago, Alex Duckworth said:

Hello Mike - brilliant (as ever) photo. I went back several times to check that it is a model and that you aren't spoofing us. Magic!

 

regards,

Alex.

Hi Alex, hope you and the family are all well and good.  Thanks for the comment - very flattering given your skills at this wonderful hobby.  Don’t be over fooled by it all - photos always make the work look better!  Overall, I’m pretty pleased with results so far and I’m pushing on for the finish.  This layout has felt like a bit of a marathon so far.

 

Cheers again,  Mike

A marathon worth running!

 

19 hours ago, PaternosterRow said:

Unfortunately, being limited by the materials I use out of economy I see all the niggles and mistakes.  The screen for example, is made of card and it doesn’t take well to readjustment.  You can see that things don’t quite line up and the angular nicks along the top of the windows are not all uniform as on the prototype.  The same goes for the roof structure and if you were to put your eye along the trusses you would see the wobbly bits and how out of tue it is in places.  

 

Mike I think you're being too hard on yourself. I hadn't noticed any of the structural issues you mention, although admittedly I don't have a trained eye for such things.

 

19 hours ago, PaternosterRow said:

The layout was inspired by a single picture of a Fowler 2P taken in 1948 (Mike Morrant Collection) that I saw a couple of years ago.  Carlisle, at that time, was in a right state of decay and the screens at both ends (and roof) were filthy from years of neglect.  The shot is just so atmospheric that I couldn’t resist having a go at modelling it.  As you know from previous stuff, I love all that internal atmosphere from these Cathedrals of Steam.

 

I know what you mean, being inspired by one or two photos for a whole layout/scene. I think it's quite useful, it helps to keep up the motivation and gives a sense of direction, even if it is not slavishly followed. 

 

I've been experimenting with my home made lighting rig (see my Folgate Street Blog) I made from an old over head projector to see how the lighting effects being planned might work out.

 

 

 

 

I've sprayed on a bit more black to enhance the filthy state of the screen.  Painting and cleaning the Screens wasn't too regular in the 20th C and they appeared much filthier prior to 1936 when it was last cleaned and painted.

 

 

I'm clearly going to have to think something up if I want to create a more mottled, sun beam type effect when the model is completed.  I'm thinking of using a layer of white paper over the top with various pinholes and openings here and there.  This will all have to wait for now whilst I finish the layout.

 

Mike, those are extraordinary images - especially the last one. Apart from everything else there's some very effective atmospheric haze going on in those shots - or whatever it is, can't quite put my finger on it. And you're only just getting started!

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Mikkel

11 hours ago, Mikkel said:

 

Mike, those are extraordinary images - especially the last one. Apart from everything else there's some very effective atmospheric haze going on in those shots - or whatever it is, can't quite put my finger on it. And you're only just getting started!

 

Cheers, Mikkel.  The haze is simple cigarette smoke - not exactly PC these days but very effective.  These are high F stop, long exposure shots so you don’t get to see blue swirls just a sort of haze.  Love the shot of Gollum by the way!

Sigh; you've done it again Mike. Absolutely brilliant!

4 hours ago, AY Mod said:

Sigh; you've done it again Mike. Absolutely brilliant!

Thanks very much, Andy.

 

I’ll keep posting on progress etc.  It’s been a bit of a slog this one!  

I've a soft-spot for Carlisle station having worked there for a bit in the mid 2000's.  That is stunning- I love the lighting of those shots, and the complexity of the roof! 

2 hours ago, Ben B said:

I've a soft-spot for Carlisle station having worked there for a bit in the mid 2000's.  That is stunning- I love the lighting of those shots, and the complexity of the roof! 

Thank you for the kind comment Ben.  Large Victorian Stations are often referred to as Cathedrals of Steam, but I think Carlisle takes top billing here.  Those screens and the much larger roof must have been an impressive sight when first erected in 1880.  It’s a shame they were lost.  Thanks again, Mike.

Edited March 24, 2021 by PaternosterRow

I missed this first time around Mike.

 

 Absolutely stunning work  The roof is incredible and really good use of card for the front fascia. Looking forward to see your use of the mirror and lighting prowess to get some amazing shots of this.

 

Staying tuned now it’s on my radar! 
 

Very inspirational modelling...

That’s seriously impressive!