Scratch-built card and styrene structures (based on real buildings around London Bridge)

[grahame]

While New London Bridge House is mainly white and grey the other tower block I need to tackle, Southwark Towers, is mainly brown and a shiny/mirrored finish:

 

 

 

With both having a large number of repetitive features and floors the detail modelling is probably going to be rather tedious. And expensive. I think I'm going to be looking for some short-cuts and cheats.

 

 

Edited May 7, 2021 by grahame

[grahame]

5 hours ago, Gedward said:

Goods shed. Not sure where this prototype is exactly. Built from embossed card and styrene.

 

 

 

The corrugated roofing on the goods shed and lineside hut looks very effective. What was used and how was it finished?

 

 

[Gedward]

7 minutes ago, grahame said:

 

The corrugated roofing on the goods shed and lineside hut looks very effective. What was used and how was it finished?

 

 

 

Strips of card which have been embossed over heavy gauge wires, held in a jig.

Then painted with various Vallejo rust paints.

 

 

[Pete the Elaner]

2 hours ago, grahame said:

While New London Bridge House is mainly white and grey the other tower block I need to tackle, Southwark Towers, is mainly brown and a shiny/mirrored finish:

 

 

 

With both having a large number of repetitive features and floors the detail modelling is probably going to be rather tedious. And expensive. I think I'm going to be looking for some short-cuts and cheats.

 

 

3d printing & laser cutting are both good for repetitive features, if you can make them work for your subject.

[Stubby47]

3 hours ago, grahame said:

I think I'm going to be looking for some short-cuts and cheats.

 

Silver card:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/50-Sheets-A4-Silver-Card/dp/B0785GSQW4/ref=asc_df_B0785GSQW4/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=272036278997&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12936250775747115924&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007179&hvtargid=pla-487451022644&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

[DGO]

11 hours ago, grahame said:

While New London Bridge House is mainly white and grey the other tower block I need to tackle, Southwark Towers, is mainly brown and a shiny/mirrored finish:

 

 

 

With both having a large number of repetitive features and floors the detail modelling is probably going to be rather tedious. And expensive. I think I'm going to be looking for some short-cuts and cheats.

 

 

Mirrored privacy window film applied to the back of clear Perspex maybe ?

[grahame]

I've been to the model shop, purchased some styrene strip (although they didn't have enough), and knocked up a test piece for my proposed window pattern to see if it'll be suitable.

 

 

It'll probably be acceptable with a few tweaks such as gloss varnishing the dark window rectangles, some variation to window dressing/finishes, and painting the plasticard a suitable light concrete colour. And maybe some extra horizontal bars to represent the opening lights. Plus it's going to take the cutting of literally hundreds of sections of strip and glue them carefully in place . . . . 

 

 

 

[grahame]

I need to go to Halfords to get a suitable fawn/concrete colour aerosol to paint all the strips before adding and completing wrapping the carcass in the self adhesive dark grey plastic. It's a daunting task with a potential for getting things out of line meaning accuracy for each floor is going to be critical. I've placed some of the new strip recently purchased on the carcass to get a feel for how it will look;

 

 

However, I can't make any progress by adding them without more preparty work, and that means going shopping, undertaking some careful calculations and making a pattern to help get the uprights in the correct alignment and spacing. Consequently I've made a start on the roof for the block:

 

  

 

 

[grahame]

Slow, slow progress. I've been to Halfords and picked up a Ford Dove Grey aerosol colour which is a very light grey and seems rather like an old faded whitewashed concrete colour which should be most suitable. I've trimmed back the roof - it overhung the edges by too much and I've given it some paint colouring. It's probably too dark, certainly more so than the photo I have of it, so I'll need to lighten that up.

 

I've also covered one of the end sides with sticky back plastic. The other end is now painted dove grey as it faces away from the viewing position and won't be able to be seen so I'll not bother with adding windows or the sticky back plastic covering meaning I've just one large side to cover now. The covered end side will need a full building height structure made and added to the centre flat section which will thankfully reduce the window framing needing to be made.

 

 

Next to start cutting the strip and painting it.

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

Modelling has been taking a back seat again, I'm afraid, so nothing to report on building works.

 

However, last week I visited a friend. It was the first time that I've been to someone's house in over a year. The purpose, apart from a chance for a catch-up chat and socialising, was to take some photos of the latest developments of his model railway to accompany a magazine article. The magazine will be a self published one that I've been putting together for some while now during the pandemic. When it is printed, and hopefully available to order through ebay, I'll post up details assuming Andy York will allow it (I'll need to officially ask).

 

In the meantime here's a few of the photos I took that didn't make the cut for inclusion in the mag:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cornish trains jez]

22 hours ago, grahame said:

Modelling has been taking a back seat again, I'm afraid, so nothing to report on building works.

 

However, last week I visited a friend. It was the first time that I've been to someone's house in over a year. The purpose, apart from a chance for a catch-up chat and socialising, was to take some photos of the latest developments of his model railway to accompany a magazine article. The magazine will be a self published one that I've been putting together for some while now during the pandemic. When it is printed, and hopefully available to order through ebay, I'll post up details assuming Andy York will allow it (I'll need to officially ask).

 

In the meantime here's a few of the photos I took that didn't make the cut for inclusion in the mag:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cracking layout! That last photo looks familiar. What is the name of this layout?

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

 

[grahame]

The layout is 'Rhosteigne'. It's an old layout originally built by Keith Robbins but has been enlarged, remodelled and rebuilt by Nick (the current owner).

 

 

[cornish trains jez]

19 hours ago, grahame said:

The layout is 'Rhosteigne'. It's an old layout originally built by Keith Robbins but has been enlarged, remodelled and rebuilt by Nick (the current owner).

 

 

 

I thought it was. I remember seeing an article on this back in an old Railway Modeller magazine.

 

[grahame]

I'm attempting some small projects to try and snap me out of my current non-modelling malaise. Here's some 3D printed metal style dustbins I ordered on ebay from Mac's Models. Two packs of 12. They've been stuck on to a strip of card, sprayed with grey primer and given a brush coat of silver/aluminium paint. They need a quick blast of matt varnish to tone then down when fully dry.  

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by grahame

[grahame]

Matt varnished and now all bagged ready for future use. I'm quite pleased with the finish - it looks very much like how I remember them - even in a plastic bag:

 

[Michael Hodgson]

On 07/05/2021 at 10:20, grahame said:

And here's a close up of the bottom side detail and lift shaft structure when the building was fenced off ready to tear it down:

 

 

If that digger is going to knock it down by swinging the jib at the base of it, I hope the driver's wearing a hard hat & safety boots!

[Ian Morgan]

18 hours ago, grahame said:

Matt varnished and now all bagged ready for future use. I'm quite pleased with the finish - it looks very much like how I remember them - even in a plastic bag:

 

Don't forget, in the 1970's some of them would have black rubber lids.

 

( I emptied a few dustbins while waiting for A level results and starting university)

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

I had one with a rubber lid (although it was in the 80s). Someone bought it as a wedding present when I got married!!

 

But I remember many didn't have lids and were bashed about and dented. Others were converted to braziers (raised on feet and with holes knocked in them) to burn papers and garden cuttings. 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by grahame

[Ian Morgan]

... and some had ASH painted crudely on one side. They were heavy.

 

 

[grahame]

With this thread being ostensibly about scratch-building N/2mm scale buildings, I presume that many looking in might have an interest in N gauge. If so you might find the new magazine I'm about to produce of interest. Here's a link to the announcement page:

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/165115-new-n-gauge-magazine-due/ 

 

 

[grahame]

Of late I've been trying to find pre-printed examples of 48 sheet posters from the 70s and 80s in N/2mm scale as I don't have a printer to produce my own. 48 sheet posters (with an aspect ratio of 2:1) were very popular then and apparently are still the most popular size for outdoor billboard poster adverts in the UK. Unfortunately most commercially available N gauge landscape posters are not the correct 48 sheet poster aspect ratio. And believe me I've looked at a lot of ranges and companies. 

 

Consequently I've taken to producing some myself (and arranged for a friend to print me a sheet). Unfortunately it is very difficult and time consuming to find suitable images that are square on, without trees, lampposts, shadows etc., across them, of period 48 sheet posters. I've also made up a few and they're not all for the period I want, but here's what I've managed to collate so far:

 

 

If anyone is interested and would like a pdf (one sheet with three sets of the above) PM me with your email address and I'll send it as an attachment. But be warned it's a big file at around 17MB. And, although they should be to scale you might need to fiddle a little with print size settings and/or crop a little.

 

Anyway, here's a quick snap of what they look like (except the spock/heineken one which was a commercial one from Sankey Scenics - I was rather disappointed as the ebay ad showing it mentioned that others posters were included in the pack but none of those were 48 sheet posters and most were small portrait format posters).

 

 

 

 

 

[Stubby47]

Is this of any help?

 

https://www.advertisingarchives.co.uk/en/page/show_home_page.html#

[grahame]

Thanks, I've looked at that (or something similar) and rechecked again, but all the examples seem to be portrait format of magazine adverts or even magazine covers. However I didn't register as none of the samples from the 70s and 80s are 48 sheet posters. However I did notice the cover of the Dalek Chronicles one-off magazine which I have a copy of.

 

[acg5324]

I’ve done a fair few for Olympia…..and have the artwork Grahame if you want to add any to your sheet.

[grahame]

11 minutes ago, acg5324 said:

I’ve done a fair few for Olympia…..and have the artwork Grahame if you want to add any to your sheet.

 

 

Yes please, thanks. I'd be more than pleased and happy to add them to the file. They look very good.