Marly51

One ‘Emett-style’ loco more or less finished... may add a few details before final photos. One tall carriage with a small footprint to follow! That drinks can came in quite handy!

Well said, Mike! That is a beautifully rendered image of those times. Our 1950s cities were grubby, gritty, grey places, but my memories of those times are still fond, despite the trials and tribulations our parents had to endure during the post war years! Marlyn

Good luck with this new project, Keith! There is a lot of potential for some interesting scenic work and operation in this scale, especially when there are space restrictions. You are not alone in the challenge of being realistic with your model making aspirations! Marlyn

What an interesting project, David! There are numerous Highland and Scottish stations I would love to model, but they cannot all be part of a layout! My foray back into modelling has been based on historical projects and an interest in modelling buildings. I look forward to seeing how this diorama develops!

Despite the challenges, it’s these small details which are quite satisfying and provide some rewarding finishing touches!

Thanks Kevin! This small diorama is a self-indulgent distraction from my half finished N gauge layout, based on a real location!

Checking the dimensions of the model within the cakebox. I am leaving fixing buffers to the carriage and locomotive until the main carriage structure is completed! Cab roof and smoke box door are painted and currently drying in the workshop!

I am afraid I would need another workshop, PaulRhB! I am working on an idea for a layout which provides a complete run around (possibly dogbone), with an interchangeable middle section. I could then enjoy modelling different themes, eras, etc to my hearts content!

Since the deadline for submission has been extended a bit, I remade the front of the smoke box, because the chimney was slightly off the vertical! Trust me to chose an oval cylinder for the boiler! While my model is nowhere near finescale or prototypical, it is still a challenge to cut the curves for the cradles under the boiler accurately out of card. I am also attempting to make the cab roof out of an aluminium drinks can and discovered the bottom of the can had a dome shape, which might work for the smoke box door... fingers crossed!

Because I have modelled the locomotive and carriage in paper and card, I find the detail becomes a little tricky when it comes to painting. So I decided to produce my locomotive linings and texture papers on the computer and print out on matt photo paper. The models are almost finished, but it is still working out quite fiddly, so just have to be patient! I follow Jim Read’s topics, where he has described modelling locomotives and rolling stock from card sealed with shellac, but I hope to have a go using his technique another time.

I mainly use DAS for paving/cobbles on relatively solid foundations such as plywood. But for small areas on structures, which are constructed of thick card, I find there is no noticeable distortion. I paint PVA glue onto the area to be covered, take small pieces of DAS flattened to the thickness I require, and smooth it down with a wet finger. I have a bowl of diluted PVA for smoothing down. For certain areas, like the platform edge, I use a sculpting tool to make sure the detail is retained. On the building I laid about 2mm of DAS, and on the platform it was a little less - 1mm. Once dry, the stonework is marked out in pencil, then scribed with an old scalpel blade.

Thank you Kevin and Ben B, for your kind comments! Inspiration has to be credited to Rowland Emett’s many crazy railway cartoons, which he produced for Punch magazine!

I was scrounging around looking for something to make a down pipe... going to have a go with this sleeve from an ‘Earth’ wire, a few old plastic stemmed buds (with cotton removed) and some garden wire to maintain the bend from the gutter. Found some moulded plastic which might work for the gutter!

That’s a shame HonestTom.... the model is looking really good! Marlyn

The one thing I enjoy in these small CakeBox challenges is the opportunity to explore other themes, scales, and techniques. In the past I have used photographs of stonework to reproduce the colour of paint used on scenic and building work, but this time I tried a technique used by a number of modelmakers, where you take some of the colours found in the stone, to pick out individually, on top of a base layer, then apply a black wash. I was quite pleased with the result. The building was built up in layers of paper and card, and the paper textures are scaled up from some 0 scale Clever Models texture sheets, which I have downloaded from their website. To create that exaggerated ‘Emett’ look, the chimney has a removable top piece, to comply with the rules that everything should fit inside the box! Some additional details to be added to the building and photos of the loco and carriage to follow shortly... and, yes, there is a tiny stove inside the building!

That’s great! Down to the wire for me, as usual!

Juggling all the different elements just now! Two more stage photos... Stonework moulded from DAS clay, scribed and primed along with baseboard. Track fixed and ballasted with fine aquarium stones. Who would have guessed that a standard toilet roll tube would be the same circumference as my plastic container?

Hi Kevin, To be honest, I use whatever materials I have to hand. It could be laminated cereal box card, corrugated box card, but in this case it was the 2mm grey backing board from an A3 sketch pad. You need a really sharp knife for this card, but it is a pretty good base for applying DAS clay, which is drying at present, before I attempt to carve out some stone detail! Marlyn

Moving on at a pace, with various bits, at different stages of construction and painting, spread over the house and workshop! This was the base before I fixed the track, ballasted and applied DAS clay to the structures for the stone effect!

Look forward to seeing your CakeBox projects sometime in the future, Huw! I still have a couple to finish and will continue to post! Take care, Marlyn

Thanks, Tom... I find planning in pencil on paper, then inking up with an ordinary Bic ball point pen quite relaxing!

Some lovely modelling! I have enjoyed making a few of the Kingsway free kits myself, and enjoy adding some extra details!

I use laminated cereal card for many of my scratch built models and downloaded paper kits. Three layers using PVA, then placed between two drawing boards with weights on top, until dry, results in a good flat board. For N scale models two layers are usually sufficient. When it comes to applying paper kits to the cardboard I use the jumbo Pritt stick and a wall paper roller to smooth out any air bubbles. I make my own adjustments cutting the card for paper kits, so not always too worried about thickness of the card suggested.

Well this coming week is going to be focussed model making! My solution for the loco chimney/smoke stack was to use a drinking straw as a former, and roll strips of paper around to create the rough profile. I am using air drying clay to smooth down the profile, then add details, once dry. It is in two sections, as the full chimney height is higher than the CakeBox.

Hope it works out OK? We have to be brave sometimes and give it another go! Marlyn