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


grahame
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On request I've recently written an article for the DEMU magazine, UPDate, about constructing these buildings and provided some photos. It's not a blow-by-blow article but some observation and the methodology and techniques I use. I had to take some photos to illustrate it and one was of the junction (previously posted) but that I had to temporarily set up and retake. Obviously it's a view that can't be seen once the centre triangular viaduct section (between the two bridges) is put in place. The scene is not complete (traffic lights, signs, street lights, and other details yet to be added) but here's how it looked with a sky added in behind:

 

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It looks a little fuzzy (the original isn't) but by clicking on the pic you can get a larger higher-res version although you might need to scroll right to see it all.

 

G.

Edited by grahame
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I remember that the green shop you have modelled in Guildable Manor Street was once home to ABC (Alan, Brett, Canon) models. They moved there when their shop in Station Approach was turned into the walk way to Hays Wharf. They later moved back to Station Approach where eventually they closed down. My Father was a great user of there Chairway track. in the 1950s.

 

A model of a model shop? A bit early though.

 

CAT

 

Thanks. I have been trying to work out which of these was the ABC shop. I knew that one was but could not square that with old ABC adverts which give the address as Station Approach.

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Thanks. I have been trying to work out which of these was the ABC shop. I knew that one was but could not square that with old ABC adverts which give the address as Station Approach.

 

I think you'll find the street name was changed.

 

G.

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I've been reading through this thread for weeks and have finally caught up. Absolutely inspiring stuff that has got me building. Thank you for sharing this with us Grahame. Amazing work.

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Today I've been playing around with a Kestrel plastic building kit of a 3-storey town shop. Generally these building kits are considered to be a little on the small size so, using the original front and back walls (and window frames and shop frontage glazing part not yet fitted) I've tried to enlarge it by re-building the centre section. Here's comparative pic of progress to date:

 

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The carcass is my usual mountboard construction and the flank walls and new chimney stacks are clad in brick embossed plasticard. The card roof will be covered in Redutex tiling but after painting. I've added relief details to the front wall and a larger top frieze to give more height and prominence.

 

G

 

 

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I'm getting to a stage where it is almost complete - just the ridge tiles to be made and then to tackle the shop display windows part. I've fitted the window frames supplied with the kit - they're rather chunky and a little small to fit the apertures meaning there is a gap between the reveal and frame. I had looked at using SceneSetters window grids but none of the various sizes I had was a suitable fit and ditching the kit frames would mean even less of the kit remained. 

 

One other issue is the brickwork which is massively overscale and looks it compared to the flank walls which use N/2mm embossed brick plasticard. Luckily this is just a one-off project about bashing a Kestrel kit although there is not much of it left in the finished model. It's also not for my planned layout. I'm starting to appreciate why I bother to make my own building rather than use kits (like Kestrel and Metcalfe) which seem so popular on many model railway layouts.

 

The pic below shows me holding the front and rear walls in location as they need glazing before they can be glued in place.

 

post-33-0-00087700-1546613906_thumb.jpg

 

G.

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 I'm starting to appreciate why I bother to make my own building rather than use kits (like Kestrel and Metcalfe) which seem so popular on many model railway layouts.

Grahame, building your own means that your layout is not the same as those layouts where people have used the Kestrel/Metcalfe kits. (Other kits are available)

Your layout is unique to you. More power to your scalpel for it.

It is the approach I intend to use when I get to the buildings stage of Cwm Cynon.

Tim T

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I'm interested to know what embossed plasticard you use Grahame. Slater's seems a bit too rounded and SE Finecast hard to get hold of.

 

I've used South Eastern Finecast N/2mm brick plasticard on this model (flank walls and chimney stacks) but have also used Slaters (which as you say tends to be more a series of dots and dashes - the mould must be old and worn). But of course you've got to look pretty close in N/2mm to see the individual bricks and painting helps disguise the worst of it.

 

SEF is available mail order from retailers like Peter's Spares and Antics but, again as you say, can be difficult to find.  

 

G

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It's very fiddly and tricky painting the clear plastic part to pick out the window frames and dwarf walls, and I feel the paint will easily scratch off. I didn't make a very good job of it and here's how it looks in place:

 

post-33-0-96028300-1546696199_thumb.jpg

 

With the large display windows the model would benefit from making and installing an appropriate shop interior, but being just a fun side-distraction kit-build I'll not bother. However, it does reinforce my concerns and disappointment with many N/2mm building kits. They do really need to be used as a starting point for bashing in to something more acceptable and shouldn't be used just built as supplied. Unfortunately many layouts have rows of Metcalfe, Kestrel and other kit made buildings that have been basically constructed and haven't been improved or individualised.

 

 

 

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I tend to use a thicker plastic, scribe it, run paint in the channel and polish off excess on surface of windows.  That could be an answer to your window frame painting comments.

 

My 2mm model, Stratham, is packed away at the moment and this is the only photo I could find but it just about demonstrates how crisp you can get it

 

post-6781-0-63974700-1546701389_thumb.jpeg

Edited by George Hudson
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I tend to use a thicker plastic, scribe it, run paint in the channel and polish off excess on surface of windows.  That could be an answer to your window frame painting comments.

 

 

Unfortunately the part is a one piece plastic moulding, including the curved sections to the recessed doors, and the frames are mostly raised beading. It would mean paring off the beading and then trying to scribe the frames, around bends and along the outside of corners as well as the front flat sections, of a complex shaped part that can't be laid flat. If I were making it from scratch I'd probably make the sections from flat glazing with the frames applied separately (but the objective was to build the kit and I'd already dispensed with many parts).

 

Your building looks nice.

 

G.  

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The next project as part of the overall layout plan is a section of infrastructure - the U shaped ramp that leads up to the terminus platform levels and the associated brickwork:

 

post-33-0-04322900-1546793384_thumb.jpg

 

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I don't have many pics and I'm having to make a lot of assumptions - such as the ramp road width, although the drawing on screen (in the pic below) gives a fair three dimensional view despite some obvious inaccuracies. Does anyone have any pics of the area in the 70s, 80s or 90s as I'm a little concerned that the ramp looks a relatively modern addition?

 

Nonetheless I've drawn up a rough plan to full size which is shown on the PC keyboard in the same pic. I've needed to include some compression and reduce the ramp length to prevent the layout size getting out of hand. The thick dark outline is the footprint of Southwark Towers. St Thomas Street runs along the front (off the paper):

 

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With such a complex structure - it's not a simple building box structure - so the next stage is to think through the construction methodology and stages.

 

G.

 

 

 

 

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I've started by cutting a base from mountboard that fits up against the Southwark Towers structure. It will provide something to build up the ramp and associated structure from and the front section will become the pavement to St Thomas Street and Stainer Street on the right which passes under the station. I've added the boundary and angled dwarf walls. On top of the wall will be fitted palisade fencing as per the first pic in post #1143 above:

 

post-33-0-73006000-1546806260_thumb.jpg

 

G

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I've knocked up the basic structure for the ramp. It's seriously steep but that's due to the compression of the layout meaning that length is reduced but height is not and is required to be attained. It's a little less than 1 in 4 (25%) for the two sloping sections which is around that of Succombs Hill in Surrey (which is 25% and very narrow and twisty) that I used to drive up on my way to work and lorries and vans were occasionally seen going up. Oddly enough it looks even more severe in the photo below. I guess it's something I'll have to live with and try to disguise:

 

post-33-0-05749900-1546855512_thumb.jpg

 

G.

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I've not much idea of what the small compound at the foot of Southwark Tower, that the ramp goes over, was for, but have assumed it is a car park and have marked it up as such. Obviously only cars up to about 8ft high can get under and access to some of the bays so I need some height restriction signs. I've also painted the brickwork with a block colour ready for dirtying down and weathering:

 

post-33-0-81039200-1546869643_thumb.jpg

 

G.

 

 

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I've started to add the brick cladding and plain plasticard to represent the concrete sections of the ramp. With it in place shows how much of the compound/car park is covered, and towards the back is another structure (yet to be made) that will cover more as well as some of the lower section of the ramp:

 

post-33-0-84461700-1546873997_thumb.jpg

 

G

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I've mixed up what I hope is a concrete colour and slapped it on and also painted the brickwork a block basic colour ready to fiddle about with. Compare the pic below with the first pic in post #1143 - it taken from roughly the same level/angle (the compression is quite obvious):

 

post-33-0-70341100-1546885329_thumb.jpg

 

G

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