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

[grahame]

A bit more on the photo display should anyone be interested. It's a small rough and ready scenic non-operational display that I made many years ago for photographing and checking models. It's made from foam board. The track is 9.4mm gauge 2mmSA Easitrac - the N gauge equivalent British fiNescale track wasn't made/available at the time. The building is just a couple of bits of card covered in Builder Plus brick-paper with the window frames some old etched ones I had spare. It's removable and slots in to the grey hardstanding (below).

 

 

I either photograph the model/display with a piece of light blue card behind (as sky and as in the Warflat/Warwell pics above), or a few buildings (from my now large collection), or white paper that I electronically cut out and add a photo of a real scene behind like this below:

 

 

 

[grahame]

Think I'll start a new building project. And it'll be a rough facsimile of this building which was the Southwark district gas office in the Old Kent Road to go with the gasholder I recently built and where I started my gas career over 45 years ago:

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

It's my usual start to these sort of buildings. Sketch up a rough floor plan and cut various floors identically from mountboard. One will be the ground floor, one the roof level (it's a flat roof) and the other will be an intermediate floor. It is under scale size to allow for compression and it being at the back of the layout. Plus I didn't want it to dominate the other structures including the gasholder which is very much under scale.

 

 

[grahame]

I've also sketched up a plan for the main elevations to check on window sizes and floor positions:

 

 

And begun the process of gluing the floors together separated by internal walls around the atrium. The outer edges need lining up accurately so that the outer wall can be fixed vertically in place:

 

 

[grahame]

And the drawing wraps snuggly around the carcass (as a design test):

 

 

[grahame]

Last thing for today is making a start on one of the walls:

 

[grahame]

Slowly, slowly, catch your . . . .

All the plasticard brick walls are now cut to size. Next to mark up and cut the apertures and start adding relief details;

 

 

[grahame]

All the apertures are now cut out and most brick relief details added. I didn't bother with the far side (with the toilets) as that side won't be able to be seen. Next is the concrete/render inter floor panels to be added . . . .

 

 

[grahame]

The panels are now in place - hopefully they won't look so stark and bright when painted. Now to add the window sills and the remaining coping stones all round, then some tidying up before giving a coat of primer . . . 

 

[grahame]

Sills and coping now on and given a quick blast of grey primer. There's still some tidying up to do and the need to make and add an odd feature of the building, an entrance step and doors, plus dealing with the atrium. Then there's all the roof details of which there seems to be quite a bit. But this will do for today for now:

 

 

[grahame]

I've started to get some colour on this morning. I've tried to keep them fairly muted and gone for a more concrete grey for the panels rather than a bright white:

 

 

 

[grahame]

I've made the window walls and remainder of the building as two separate sub-assemblies. This allows for easier painting and glazing before fixing in place. The pic below has them just resting in place and not glued. Although I've got some basic colour on, there's still more details to make and add like the windows, front door and entrance steps, roof details, etc. Unfortunately that'll have to wait as I've some cooking to do this afternoon.

 

 

[grahame]

The cooking is done and I'm sitting down with a nice cuppa tea. I've now dirtied and grubbied down the brickwork (with a 6B pencil, weathering powders and a wash - and hopefully not overdone it) and have started fitting the windows/glazing:

 

 

[grahame]

Last thing for tonight - all the windows fitted and the door and entrance step made and in place. It's coming along, with roof details still to be made and added, and, as the Southwark district gas office, will form a nice companion for the gasholder I recently made. 

 

[grahame]

This morning I've knocked up a couple of simple structures for the roof, but my Model Rail mag has arrived so I've been a little distracted:

 

[Edward]

15 hours ago, grahame said:

Last thing for tonight - all the windows fitted and the door and entrance step made and in place. It's coming along, with roof details still to be made and added, and, as the Southwark district gas office, will form a nice companion for the gasholder I recently made. 

 

Amazed as always at the quality of your work- and the speed at which you create!

[grahame]

Some grubby roof structures now in place. I've still to make the hopper-heads and down pipes and a TX aerial for the roof - the emergency 'speedie' engineers were controlled from this building.

 

 

 

[grahame]

In front of what was the Southwark district gas office building (the one I've just made a rough model of) is a single storey, flat roofed, and what looks like a concrete pre-fab, building. It used to the the medical centre for the gas works in the 1970s although it now appears to be the 'Cliwom Sanctuary of Praise' which according the the internet is a multicultural liberation ministry church. Whatever that is. How things change over time. The Old Kent Road gas showroom, that was in front of that on the Old Kent Road has been demolished.

 

Nonetheless, I though it might be a good idea and challenge to make a version of the medical centre, although it'll need reducing in size as it's quite a sprawling structure. I'll try to do a little on-line research about it.

 

 

 

[grahame]

I can't seem to find anything specific abut the medical centre. I'm either no good at on-line searching or there really is nothing. Just these pics, one a current street-view and others I've cropped from aerial shots. I'll have to work from them:

 

 

 

[simonmcp]

As you've probably worked out the second photo or first ariel shot has been very badly cobbled together/photoshped and I wouldn't trust it for any dimensions or even basic layout.

 

Fantastic modelling on the office building, as usual up to your very high standard, I just wish I could do as well in HO an

[grahame]

1 hour ago, simonmcp said:

As you've probably worked out the second photo or first ariel shot has been very badly cobbled together/photoshped and I wouldn't trust it for any dimensions or even basic layout.

 

Fantastic modelling on the office building, as usual up to your very high standard, I just wish I could do as well in HO an

 

Thanks.

 

And yes, the second pic is a Google 3D 'satellite' view so is their lash-up composite to allow 'seamless' flying by and altering view angle.

 

 

[grahame]

Before I crack on with sketching up some rough plans for the medical centre, I thought I'd better make the hopper-heads and down pipes for the district office building. Just simply wire glued to slithers of plasticard for the fixing points and hopper-heads carved from plasticard. Fortunately just two to make. They need painting, varnishing and gluing in place on the building:

 

 

[grahame]

And with them painted, matt varnished and glued in place look like this:

 

 

Just a TX aerial to make and add but, being likely to be fragile, that can wait. Now to press on with the next project.

 

 

[grahame]

I've found another period pic (similar and samish location to the one I posted some pages back). Again a class 33, this time on a ballast hopper train. The road in the foreground is Ilderton Road (leading to the Old Kent Road on the right) with top centre the old New Cross Stadium and to its right can just be seen the Old Den in Cold Blow Lane (Millwall's home ground before they moved to the New Den). Both have now long gone;

 

Edited November 4, 2020 by grahame

[grahame]

I've been contemplating planning the medical centre single storey pre-fab and because space is very tight I'm going to have to significantly scale it back. In fact it's going to be a very much reduced model and there may not be room for it, but I'll press ahead. Even this footprint cut out will probably need cutting back. It'll just be a nod to the original: