MrSimon

Hello everybody! Yesterday I got enough done on the pub to have a milliput session. I could cap the new chimneys, seal the cut off corner on the cream building, and create some piles on the wasteland: I’m going to paint it rubble colour and then pick out bricks in the piles, and add grass and shrubs and stuff The warehouse is now a single piece, next up is to trim it to size against the rest of the pub and build the roof. I got the harder part of the roof tiled while it was still a manageable size to handle; I can’t tile the right hand side until I’ve attached it to the warehouse and built the bit that goes round the corner. Next for this part of the building it needs another coat of cream, the 2nd floor and chimney brick colour, and the strip along the bottom in black. Next though it’s got to be the dormas Lots to do! Simon

No seat selector? That’s me not using Avanti then. I mean they can’t get a website to work so it’s probably asking too much anyway, but if every ticket bought is going to be window/pillar shoulder-crush roulette I’ll drive.

Hello everybody! I wouldn’t say I had an actual flurry of activity, but after a bit of painting last night everything came together this afternoon: I painted the window frames on this last night, so today I was able to glaze all the windows and then stick on the 2nd floor, make the chimney and then make/stick down both bits of roof. The roofs have now had a coat of grey paint ready for me to start fitting the York Model Making tiles. Windows painted and glazed meant that I could fit the back permanently. Next is the 4 dorma windows, some decorative brickwork to hide the join between the roof and back, and some downpipes from the bathrooms. Window sills and lintels done on here, I think the white needs another coat before I glaze the windows, then the front can be permanently stuck to the shell. I need to paint some harder to reach parts (and the big door) before I join it permanently to the cream building. Suddenly a Christmas finish is looking a lot more likely! Simon

Thanks Duncan, I’m working with the space I’ve got available, it’s freelance but based on the general look and features of older buildings around Newark and North Nottinghamshire. Other buildings on the layout were modelled from pictures (and the front of the pub was an amalgam of two Newark pubs), but I’ve mostly been making the back up as I’ve gone along based on what looks right... Gresby’s only 1ft wide (it grew out of a shelf layout) so I decided to just cut through buildings where the actual building would carry on through the back scene/off the front - I think if I was going to model the full front of the pub it would be symmetrical to make it 5 windows, with another 2 window wide part over an arch (making it 7 windows wide in total) and the warehouse would be 7-8cm deep (instead of 12mm) I’ve no idea if it’s going to be done by Christmas... Lots to do! Simon

Hello everybody! I thought it might look less mad if I covered it in brick: It doesn’t. The second floor is a separate piece until I paint and glaze the 1st floor windows. The ground floor is only the reliefs because you’ll never see them from an angle that you can tell there’s not an etch there... This is it for detail on the first two floors of the extension, the top needs more (some) and I need to make the chimney. The warehouse needs the sills and the doors making. Lots to do! Simon

Hello everybody! I made a start on the next section of the building: The main reason I started rebuilding the pub was that I wasn’t happy with the fussiness of the roofline. Now it’s fussier than before but I prefer it: There’s a large-ish chimney to go on here, just for that bit more idiosyncrasy Lots to do! Simon

Hello everybody! I’m sure I’m much slower at building buildings than I used to be... This afternoon I made a start on the next section of the pub. It’s an old warehouse. Maybe a warehouse for beer, maybe other stuff - but it’s all part of the pub now. Here’s the skeleton and the brick layer. Here’s where it sits in relation to the first half of the pub. I made a start painting the front section so I can get the windows stuck in and glazed so I can stick the back wall on - everything’s propped in place at the moment. Lots to do! Simon

I try to go on the 221s, they’re wider at shoulder level so I’m not squashed in like on a 390 - if you get a window seat with no window there’s about 2” less space. The 390s are great on train sets but I’d rather fly

“Avanti” makes me think of Peter Kay on Phoenix Nights... Avanti Jerry I won’t miss Virgin, every time I’ve used them they’ve been worse than the time before - I just hope their new trains are wide enough to sit in, three days after Warley my back and shoulders are still hurting from having the window seat

Hello everybody! Why do the inside of my buildings always look so ramshackle?! These are the inside of the roof, the formers of the slope the random bit of flat roof I thought was a good idea, and the shallow pitched but around the sky light... and gable end window I decided to add. I came home from Warley with a lot more than I went with but I only bought a few bits on the day, which made a nice change. Steps up the embankment and trackside platforms I thought I was picking up 2 KFA/PFAs, but came away with 5 - I forgot I’d ordered another 2 and my sister had got one for Christmas. I picked up another bulktainer too. Both are top quality models. Tonight I got half an hour to make the next layer of the roof: None of the top panels are stuck down yet. I need to make 5 dormas and then I can tile it... Lots to do! Simon

Thanks Duncan! There was time to knock up a chimney and slightly change the shape of the roof: The chimney needs more bits sticking into it, but I think a slight slope worked better that a flat end There’s going to be a dorma window but probably not in the gable end (there still might be one in the gable end too...) I bought a load of trees today but you’ll have to wait until Christmas to see them! Lots to do! Simon

Hi Duncan, Great job on the weathering, it looks like a well used engine! On the photos it might be the white balance on your camera - you've used a coloured back ground and there's no 'white' for the camera to judge the rest of the colours from, maybe try on a piece of paper (I prop an old envelope behind the loco) and the colours might come out more true to what you see on the actual model. Can't wait to see what's next! Cheers Simon

So considering I was only going to finish off the pub I seem to have done a lot to it... So far this afternoon I’ve made the back wall of the front bit and built the skeleton of the roof. The new front is bigger than the old one, I’m not working from a plan/design this time but here’s the new pub next to the old one. I don’t know if it’s going to be the same length or shorter with a second building... Also, I’ve lost my list of paints to buy at Warley tomorrow! Cheers Simon

Thanks Duncan! I’d been mulling over what to put in the little 2” section of baseboard - some sort of wasted space was the answer as it was too small to build a house without the car-lot building looking wrong, but I thought it could be where a house used to be. Hope it turns out alright as it’s right on the front edge of the baseboard! This afternoon I started work on the pub. I decided to finish the front and keep that, and make a better back. Most of today has been making a better skeleton for the front, the old one wasn’t really doing anything to keep the walls flat: There’s probably only 1 peeve I have looking at buildings on layouts, that’s when you can see from one side of a building to another/see between storeys (without it being the sort of building where you should be able to). Aside from everything else I’d always be worried about the buildings being strong enough. Here’s the bracing on the top floor of the pub, now when the roof goes on you won’t see light from the back windows in the front, and it’s graced enough to keep the shape of the front of the plasticard warps. Inside the middle floor, I’m going to make the ground floor as a module which includes the front (it will cut down on the handling the full building needs and be easier to build this way). The middle floor will get some basic detail and some posh- curtains. I’ve made a start on the new back too - the detail will vary from top to bottom - the bottom will be very basic. Lots to do! Simon

Hello everybody I’ve not done as much as I thought I would, but I think I started with the hardest bit: It’s the bit of wasteland - I’ve finished off all the walls, I just need to add the rubble and small trees, etch. These sides go alongside the alley and the entrance to the car lot. I also think I’m leaning towards keeping (adapting and finishing) the front of the pub and rebuilding the back. Also been getting my Warley shopping list together Lots to do! Simon