bertiedog Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 I need a new narrow gauge engine shed in stone and slate finish, and was about to start work on a scratchbuilt version. But I noticed that Dapol still make the small stone finish village Church, and it set thoughts in motion about a simple conversion of the building. The shot shows the idea, the porch is recessed back to the side wall, and the tower end is removed, and converted to the main doors for the small loco shed. The Chapel end can be left as a workshop area. The windows need conversion or fitting with glazing bars etc, and a new round window in the end. A chimney could also be added to the workshop, and vents to the roof. I have ordered in one of the kits for assessment, it may need two to give enough spares, but the kits are under £6 each, great value these days The old Airfix station building can be used almost as is, again a good cheap kit from Dapol. The picture is only the planned idea, it may turn out a bit different after the build. I also need a goods shed and the second church kit may again be the basis for a simple conversion and will match the stone finish of the engine shed. The buildings are for a new narrow gauge shelf layout for the Bachmann Skarloey locos, and the 262 WW1 Baldwin when it arrives from China. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Interesting. It looks as though the church could be turned into various railway and industrial buildings. I used the garage and bungalow to make various buildings for "Walkley Goods Yard", but hadn't considered the potential of that one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 I have dug out a completed one to measure up, and it looks very useful. I need a goods shed as well, so a conversion would be needed for tat as well, two kits should provide all the parts bar improved windows glazing bars etc. The Stone finish is very respectable indeed, I think enough will be left to "patch" the walls, where things are altered, or castings could be done from a silicon mould to provide missing areas. The easiest finish for the chimney stack would be brick finish from Plastic sheet, or a random pattern of stone on a cylinder..perhaps! All other details like ventilators for the roof ridge can be from plain plasticard parts, or from saved scrap from other plastic kits. The Station will have supports for the awning added, but little else altered, apart from seeing if thinner glazing bars could be made or bought in etchings or laser cut parts. The Airfix station windows are notoriously thick mouldings, and need attention, with at least dark inner surfaces and a brighter finish on the outside to cover up the depth. The other main requirement will be iron railing fences, I think on cost grounds these will be made from brass wire, soldered in a jig into standard sections. The Etched versions are very expensive for several feet of railings. Both the loco shed and workshop will be lit by LED units, and a working door fitted to the loco shed. The station can be lit, as well as basic lighting for the goods shed and area around it, with gas lamps. The platform can have gas lamps as well, all LED types. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 Interesting. It looks as though the church could be turned into various railway and industrial buildings. I used the garage and bungalow to make various buildings for "Walkley Goods Yard", but hadn't considered the potential of that one. It looks like Lcut do suitable laser cut windows, which would need a suitable aperture cut in the stone work around the existing windows. I will check out the sizes they do, which are sold as separate items. Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 The classic Dovey Valley Railway used the Airfix (now Dapol) church for some of the railway buildings. I've also seen two joined to make a school. It's a useful kit! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 It looks like Lcut do suitable laser cut windows, which would need a suitable aperture cut in the stone work around the existing windows. I will check out the sizes they do, which are sold as separate items. Stephen That's one of the reasons I've got a Silhouette Portrait! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold phil_sutters Posted February 11, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 11, 2017 The church must have figured in so many ways on so many layouts since it was first introduced by Airfix. Our station building was created from one back in the early 1960s. Here are a couple of rather fuzzy old photos of it - largely obscured by trains I am afraid. I look forward to seeing your use of this good old faithful. Later - I have only just realised that it had been remodelled with a longer canopy and fancier chimney pots, as the colour photo shows. To add to the fuzziness of the handheld shot, the shadows from the room light appear to add extra chimneys and telegraph poles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Looking hard at the parts on the old assembled version, it is clear that several building types could be made from it. but for some you would need extra kits or moulded surfaces made for the originals. The goods shed is of the track going inside in a bay type, to save space The bare back wall can be put to the front, with Lcut windows added, glazing plus a stone surround, to light the bay. The far side can have the porch removed and a pair of sliding barn doors added to the shortened structure. On the engine shed and workshop, the tower can be converted to a roof mounted water tank, in riveted steel plate finish, made from plasticard, with girder supports to the roof. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Revised design allowing for the buildings estimated size, the board in 54 inch long by 9 inch. I have added an exit on the left as well in case it has a loop fitted later. The board is cut out already, a spare board from an old display layout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisf Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 It is incredibly nostalgic to see the venerable Airfix church being used as a source of raw materials once again. How easy it is to ignore its Norman origins! Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevelewis Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Nice thread this, for a change its about REAL Modelling!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 It's even made it into the latest Model Rail mag (MR232, Mar 2017). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 12, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 12, 2017 It's even made it into the latest Model Rail mag (MR232, Mar 2017). Agree, but in many respects it is only a return to the sort of thing Alex Bowie (I think) and others were ding in various magazine article back in the 1960s where the Airfix church seemed to have been a favourite for conversion into just about every sort of railway building you could think of. And I'm sure somebody even did an article about converting it into a far better representation of the church it was claimed to have been modelled on. Nothing new under the sun, but no bad thing for all that of course because it is an ideal kit for 'bashing'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 I was not aware of any current articles in the mags as I do not take them these days, and I can't remember many conversions from the past as such. One thing I will do is take a plaster cast of the rear stone wall. and use vinamold to make a flexible mould to cast further plaster or resin wall sections for replacing windows as needed. The Station will be left as brick, but the window sashes have got to go or be thinned down a lot. I may be possible with a metal jig to belt sand the back and front to get thin sashes, Other that that all can be sawn out and replaced with strips. At the moment the glass would be about 5 inches back from the front of the frames, and the look is all wrong. The rest of the station is OK as is, with a goof weathered yellow and faded red brick acrylic paint job and the usual posters, phone bells, post box, chocolate machines etc added, plus the internal walls for the loos and waiting rooms and ticket office. plus gas lamps etc., and some passengers of course. The layout will be called "Totally not Tywyn"as nothing matches at all, but has a bit of the flavour of the lines terminus. It will use my two Skarloey Locos and the Bachmann WW1 Baldwin when they get around to actually getting the Chinese to make them. Coaches will be Glyn Valley and L&B etc, plus Talyllyn goods stock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Cost of these models is a major factor, they are cheaper than the parts made from plasticard or moulded sheet stone material, indeed a fraction of the cost of other Kits and there can be no contest against the resin cast Chinese productions from Hornby and Bachmann, and are about £7 dependant on supplier. It would easily convert to a school, with bigger windows from Lcut, or a Pub, or private house with gables added to the roof. A village shop or butchers, a Village smithy, all are feasible, hopefully not all on the one layout at the same time. I can get away with it on the Station as both the goods shed and the loco shed would have been built together by the company. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisf Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 I wonder who else remembers the ruined castle made from an Airfix church? This was perpetrated by Dick Bizley, which I understand was a nom-de-craftknife of the late great Mike Bryant. Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Should be able to get this style shed out off the kits, a bit smaller than the Ratio, but suits narrow gauge. The sliding doors can cover the windows! Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold phil_sutters Posted February 12, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 12, 2017 When they were introduced by Airfix these kits were almost the only plastic ones around and, if you look at the range in the Dapol list now, you will see that the church was about the only stone building. I am not sure when Slater's started their moulded plastic sheets, but anyway not everyone wanted to start from scratch. As they were/are generally too thin to use on their own, it was like scratchbuilding, with stone cladding. So the church was used for everything, even when modelling in parts of the country where the stone was quarried and dressed differently. The favorite alternative, if you wanted to be more authentic was the use a scribed layer of Pyruma fire cement. I have seen reference to its use a couple of times recently - one suggesting as a modelling material now - another bewailing its habit of delaminating and falling off its backing. Who knows how old the model in question was - its use goes way back into the 1960s if not before. As far as the station windows, and most of the smaller house, shop and bungalow ones, are concerned, they are far too clunky to use. Even in the dim dark past we used to replace them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Updated design for the Loco shed, with tank, vents, and chimney over the workshop, which can have a skylight added as well. Yes, on the Station, it's those darn mouldings for the frames that ruins it! Maybe Lcut laser cut or Brassmasters etc., do some etchings etc., to replace without having to waste hours making them from sheet or micro strips! The rest of the station is good as is, bar the interior, or total lack of one! but at the price I can hardly complain. # Quick look at Lcut shows a frame that would glue on the back of the moulding, with the sashes cut out. it is bigger, but it do not need the Lcut edging as it will be glued to the Airfix frame backing. Ordinary glazing can go at the back, as the Lcut frames are quite thin. It will recess the windows a lot and greatly improve the overall appearance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 The windows aren't too bad if inserted from the back. They just need new sills added. And yes, the second photo is a Dapol kit, or rather a combination of bits from two different ones, as is the third photo! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 I think these will cure the window problem,if they are a bit large it does not matter, as each sash bar can be glued into a filed in groove in the back of the Airfix frame. If it turns out small, then the Lcut frame can be left in place. Either must be an improvement! The loo windows can be left with opal glazing, and all the frames painted green or maroon to quieten down the appearance generally The frames are only 19p each Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 The frames in the Airfix Station kit are already mounted from the back, the sill is moulded on the walling surface, so that trick will not work on this particular kit. The plan is to mount the frame after all the sashes are removed, on 30 thou side strips on the internal wall edge to the frames, to recess the whole frame more, then glue the Lcut sashes into grooves filed on the back, so that glazing is flush with the sashes and frame. This should push the frames deeper into the wall. The same side strips can be used for the other windows as well. The new Dapol version is on order, with two churches as well. Stephen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 There's also a bigger frame to fit the odd larger window in the back of the station booking hall, I'll get a quantity of each type and see what fits best. Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 A couple of the sheds will be ordered as well, the laser cut types are very nice but not as good a moulded plastic, especially when modified. They also take paint a lot better. The frames could be changed from spare Lcut station ones to get finer frames. I had forgotten these sheds where still made, and also it seems the figures are still made as well, workmen types, quite well modelled. Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Well, these kits are cheap by modern standards, the sheds are £4.39 or so dependant on supplier. The figures are still done at about £5.40. I may get Dart Castings items for the platform area, like the obligatory chocolate slot machine! The inkjet printer can handle posters and signage on any of the models, and I have some spare transfer paper that makes nice faded paint peeling wall signs. It looks like the whole layout will be transportable so maybe it will get shown when complete. At the moment it is to complement the Brewery OO line I am working on as well at present. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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