Jump to content
 

peter findlay

Members
  • Posts

    51
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Location
    Bo'ness

peter findlay's Achievements

64

Reputation

  1. Thanks Jason, I'm really happy with the way the staircase (and the rest of the signal box) has come together and with how easy it was to produce with the software and the Portrait cutter. Peter
  2. Been a while since I posted an update on the signal box, but have been able to make some progress. The walkway is complete and an initial coat of paint applied. Trial fitted in place on the model, final fitting will be done when roof and staircase are added. The next step is to produce the staircase. The aim is to produce something looking like the picture below. The individual pieces to be sent to the Portrait cutter were laid out as shown. I think it would have taken me much longer to cut these by hand and I doubt they would have been as accurate. The bulk of the pieces were cut from 10 thou so plenty of time was allowed for the pieces to set with weight applied to try and prevent warping. the bottom layer was scored using the portrait to represent wood panelling. The spindles, yule posts etc. were constructed from 40 thou square rod as for the walkway described previously. Small 2mm beads were super glued to the yule posts to add decoration. The final assembled staircase is shown below. It will be painted to match the walkway. Next step is to construct the roof. Peter
  3. The Portrait cutter was used to cut two 20 thou laminations for the signal box walkway. The cutter was also used to cut 1 and 2 mm square holes that would be used to house the handrail posts as shown below. The handrail posts were formed from 40 x 40 and 80 x 80 thou styrene strip. The post have an octagonal cross section, which has been represented by carefully filing away a small portion at 45 degrees along each edge. Each post is secured in the holes in the laminated walkway. The handrail is added and then the diagonal cross members. The front elevation almost complete. The handrail will be continued around both ends. Peter
  4. The signal box design includes a upper walkway supported by timbers protruding from the main walls. In the design of the box I have made the walkway supports extensions of the joists that will support the upper floor in the box. The main joists were cut from 20 thou styrene and two laminated together to produce each joist. The ends of the joists which carry the walkway has been rebated to carry the walkway and detailed as per the original plan. The Portrait cutter handled the fine dimensions very well as shown below. The joists are designed to slip through the holes on the main walls to provide the internal support for the floor. The walkway supports for the end elevations are shorter to meet the main joists from the elevation again with the same detailing. The joists in place passed through the main walls and secured. Next is to move on to the walkway itself.
  5. To achieve the recessed panels in the signalbox doors, two laminations of 10 thou were used. The individual panes in the windows are seperated by 0.5mm. The width of the sides are reduced to take into account the existing thicknesses. Before fitting the windows were painted off white and the doors LMS crimson. The cuts from the Portrait are very fine and much crisper than I could have achieved by hand. Next is to add the supports for the exterior walkway. Peter
  6. Quick update on the progress of the signal box. After the the brick detailing has been addded, the embossed brick is painted and dry bushed with Humbrol enamels. The sills and lintels are painted to represent stone. The score marks created on the lintels using the Portrait cutter are more visible now. Next step is to prepare the 10 thou laminations for the windows and doors. Peter
  7. The lintels and sills for the signal box are cut from 20 thou styrene. Before cutting the Portrait is used to score the individual blocks in the arched lintels and a guideline on the sill. After they are fixed to the embossed brick of the structure they sills are filed to the scored lines to form sloped cast offs for rain water. The picture below shows some of the sills and lintels in place. The signal box has brick detailing around the building so thin strips of embossed brick sheet (2 courses and 3 courses high at window level, 6 course high at base) were cut and added to the structure. The picture below shows this in process Leaving the box to set for 24 hours the next step will be to paint the brickwork. Peter
  8. When cutting the 20 thou styrene I had the blade set to 10 and the speed set to 1, with the double pass option selected in the software. The cut lines did not go all the way through, but were far enough through that it was possible to carefully "bend and snap" along the edges of the walls. For the apertures (particularly the windows with the arches) I found it better to gently score with a sharp scalpel blade just to go a little deeper and then they popped out no problem. Peter
  9. Geoff; I briefly considered trying the embossed sheet in the Portrait, but as it is thicker (about 30 thou if memory serve) I don't think it would have cut through. Instead I fixed the embossed sheets to the 20 thou styrene and then cut it by hand close to the Portrait cuts, and then finished with a needle file and sanding stick. Peter
  10. Happy with how the cardboard test went, time to cut some styrene with the Portrait. Main structure is cut from 20 thou with additional layers and details cut from 10 thou. Some of the cut parts are shown below. The main walls are joined first. Not the rear wall has been left off for now to allow easier construction of the chimney. Slaters embossed brick sheet is cut to clad the outside, taking care to align brick coarses around the corners. The window and door apertures are cut a filed to size. The chimney was attached to the rear section and clad before being joined to the rest of the structure. I have just started adding the window sills. Next will be the lintels and detailing. Peter
  11. I've been following the great work in this thread for a while and finally got a Portrait cutter for Christmas. ​ Jason's tutorial was really helpful in getting to grips with the software, so much so I've decided to use the cutter to build a signal box I've been thinking of making for a while. It's based on a design from 1880 ish. I've drawn up the basic plan in TurboCAD and exported the various component parts as DXF files to the Silhouette Studio. I've started by creating a cardboard test of the main components. . This was useful in checking some of the build steps. Next step is to move to 10 and 20 thou styrene. Peter
  12. My existing stock is somewhat light on L.M.S. stock, so I thought this would be a good oppertunity to have a go at building and few freight wagons. A quick browse on e-bay identified a couple of potential models - Cambrian C57 5 Plank High Sided open wagon Cambrian C80 LMS 12 ton van Parkside Dundas PC83 LNER Horse Box (not LMS but I like the look of it) I have a copy of "L.M.S. Wagons Vol. 1" by Bob Essry which I used as reference material along with a couple of pictures downloaded from the web. First up was the LMS open wagon. The kit went together really easily with the aid of some MEKPAK, the only slight issue being that despite having reference materials to hand, I still managed to get the axel boxes on upside down!! I used Tamiya acrylics to paint and HMRS Presfix transfer to finish, wheels are Alan Jackson. The picture below shows the current build. It still needs a coat of matt varnish and some weathering, but I'm happy with how it has gone so far. I've decided to try using Sprat & Winkle auto couplings. I think they have gone together OK, they will probably need final tweaks once I get the magnets laid in the track. I have found that the soft iron links I have made for them are a little long - I think I need to use a slightly smaller former when wrapping the wire. Next was the 12 ton van again by Cambrian models. Again this was a really nice model to put together, the shots below show intermediate progress. Again Tamiya acrylics and HMRS transfers to finish off. Finally the Parkside LNER Horse box I had a little issue here with the door closer (missing in image above). It was rather aggressively attacked by the MEKPAK and effectively dissintegrated. On the other side I swithched to Plastic Weld with out trouble. To remedy the other side, some evergreen strip was used to reproduce the door closer and attached to the wagon. The roof was painted matt white and the body sides LNER Teak (Railmatch). The plastioc roof vents were replaced by white metal versions. The transfers supplied with the kit were used as shwon below. Again final varnishing and weathering still needs done. All wagins were weighed and extra ballast (stacks of 1p pieces) were added to bring the running weight up to around 25g per axel. Overall I'm really chuffed with the way the kits have gone together, so much so I've bought a couple others to take on holiday !! Peter
  13. Well done for taking the plunge, given the quality of your first attempt I'd imagine the rest will look great as your experience builds. I have to admit that putting paint to model is one of my sticking points - I can picture what I want to achieve but lack the confidence to give it a go. This is despite my partner being a good artist and being able to give me plenty of advise. She keeps trying to remind me that it's better to start and have a go, it's only paint and can always be reworked. Peter
  14. For this new layout I am essentially using the track plan described by Phil Parker for Edgeworth (as serialised in BRM and on this forum thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79690-building-your-first-layout-supplement/). I'm going to make a few changes to make it more representative an ex-Caledonian / LMS branch line specifically in the style of the signal box and station buildings. I'm also going to try and squeeze in a cattle dock on one of the sidings to emphasise a rural working environment. So the current plan looks like this. The signal box will be scratch built, from plans I have from the National Archives of Scotland of the box originally built at Larbert Station. The station buildings / engine shed are undecided - I still need to find plans I like. Similarly the coal stage, cattle dock etc. I'll firm up on later. The base boards have been constructed from 9mm plywood with a 2x1 inch softwood frame - there is enough plywood left for fiddle yard but I haven't made up that board yet. Alignment of the boards is achieved through 40mm split pin hinges attached to the softwood frame. Although I'm using my existing Hornby track as much as possible I will need to procure some additional right hand turn outs to complete the upper track on the second base board. Cork floor tiles from my local Homebase have been used to create the track bed and ballast shoulder. This has been glued to the base board with PVA and left to set. To try and improve the look of the track I have removed some of the sleepers from the straight/curved sections of track to try and get approximately 2'6" scale separation between sleepers. The turnouts have been left alone - I'm not brave enough to fiddle about with them. The track itself hasn't been glued down but the combination of installing the electrical droppers and ballasting the track should secure it firmly. The picture below shows progress on board 1 at present: Peter PS. Yes there is some ballasting already taking place - I'm really bad at taking pictures of my progress!!!The track on this board has been tested, and I'll cover my attempts at ballasting in a future post.
  15. In an earlier blog I described my first attempts at modelling a trees, starting with a wire armature ... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/758/entry-13961-branching-out-a-first-attempt-at-making-trees/ ... and adding bark. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/758/entry-13972-adding-bark/ With the armature painted, it's time to add the foliage. For this intial attempt I am using Woodland Scenics clump foliage (Medium Green) torn into suitably sized pieces. Neat PVA was applied to the branches, working from those closest to the main trunk outwards. The individual clumps of foliage material were placed onto the PVA and held in place for a few moments to allow the glue to grab and then left alone as much as possible while the PVA dried. Only one or two clumps became detached and required another application of glue and resetting in place. The pictures below show the final results. For a first attempt at making a tree from scratch I am pleased with the results. However, applying a more critical eye I think the underlying armiture could be improved to produce a better result. I think on my next attempt I will use finer wire to construct the armatures and add more detail to the basic structure. The method of applying the bark and painting I am happy with although maybe some more careful detailing would improve the final appearance. Peter
×
×
  • Create New...