Rufford Red Lion Square

[James Harrison]

Well, having spent the last month or so building a model of the Mauretania in WWI dazzle camouflage, it was my intention to make a serious start on my Cakebox Challenge entry.  However, with the last project having taken a month to complete, and with the Cakebox Challenge likely to take.... I don't know how long!... I felt I didn't particularly want to start another big project straight off.  So, I pulled out that tramcar kit I bought recently. 

 

I think, where this kit is concerned, I'll be trying to detail it up internally, especially as it's basically a glazed box with some kindling between the glazing. 

 

I've settled on a livery of Dutch madder and citron (always get the important bits done first), ostensibly.  Humbrol call the colours 'wine' and 'pale yellow'.  The first thing I have done is to paint the Dutch madder bodywork, the whole kit being still in the flat at present.  I think this is going to be quite an interesting model. 

[Ravenser]

Well, having spent the last month or so building a model of the Mauretania in WWI dazzle camouflage, it was my intention to make a serious start on my Cakebox Challenge entry.  However, with the last project having taken a month to complete, and with the Cakebox Challenge likely to take.... I don't know how long!... I felt I didn't particularly want to start another big project straight off.  So, I pulled out that tramcar kit I bought recently. 

 

I think, where this kit is concerned, I'll be trying to detail it up internally, especially as it's basically a glazed box with some kindling between the glazing. 

 

I've settled on a livery of Dutch madder and citron (always get the important bits done first), ostensibly.  Humbrol call the colours 'wine' and 'pale yellow'.  The first thing I have done is to paint the Dutch madder bodywork, the whole kit being still in the flat at present.  I think this is going to be quite an interesting model. 

 

I have a couple of these stashed away for the theoretical benefit of the Blacklade Corporation Tramways (in abeyance these 30 years....) 

 

The simple straightforward thing to do is sit them on a motor bogie. In fact I wouldn't dream of anything else. In order of ascending preference - Tenshodo, BEC/TramMan, Black Beetle, Halling. 

 

Unfortunately order of preference is also order of cost, and the first two would be troublesome to DCC. Beetles are almost unavailable

 

The Board of Trade was extremely uncomfortable with narrow gauge 4 wheel trams being enclosed , in case a side wind blew them over . Hence the open balconies on the Birmingham kit. They tolerated enclosed cars at Derby (4' gauge) but not at Bradford (also 4' gauge), where there were hills.

 

On the subject of joint/through services - quite a common phenomenon - the best was the shortlived Leeds-Bradford service. Since Leeds was 4' 8.5" and Bradford 4' through-running was an "interesting problem" . A special batch of tramcars with one wheel loose on the axle were built , and at the boundary a special length of grooved rail tram track installed, which was standard gauge at one end and 4' gauge  at the other and tapered in between. As the tram ran down the track the grooved rail pulled out the sliding wheel to adjust the gauge.

 

After about a dozen years this lark was knocked on the head just after WW1 and passengers had to change at the boundary.

 

You couldn't make this stuff up.

 

You might find a small diorama tram layout with a tram  and a few buildings would be possible at home, and at least let you see something riun

[James Harrison]

The Board of Trade was extremely uncomfortable with narrow gauge 4 wheel trams being enclosed , in case a side wind blew them over . Hence the open balconies on the Birmingham kit. They tolerated enclosed cars at Derby (4' gauge) but not at Bradford (also 4' gauge), where there were hills.

 

On the subject of joint/through services - quite a common phenomenon - the best was the shortlived Leeds-Bradford service. Since Leeds was 4' 8.5" and Bradford 4' through-running was an "interesting problem" . A special batch of tramcars with one wheel loose on the axle were built , and at the boundary a special length of grooved rail tram track installed, which was standard gauge at one end and 4' gauge  at the other and tapered in between. As the tram ran down the track the grooved rail pulled out the sliding wheel to adjust the gauge.

 

After about a dozen years this lark was knocked on the head just after WW1 and passengers had to change at the boundary.

 

You couldn't make this stuff up.

 

 

I bet that was.... interesting! 

 

"Oi, Mister, do you know your track is skewiff?!"

 

The intention with this tramcar is to build it as a static model.  It would be nice to have it as a runner certainly, however I'm not sure I'll have the space available to lay out a decent or worthwhile tram route. 

[Ravenser]

 

I bet that was.... interesting! 

 

"Oi, Mister, do you know your track is skewiff?!"

 

The intention with this tramcar is to build it as a static model.  It would be nice to have it as a runner certainly, however I'm not sure I'll have the space available to lay out a decent or worthwhile tram route. 

 

You only really need a few feet . Maybe 18-24" for a working diorama. A return loop layout can be done in under 4' . Someone once built a continuos circuit inside a boxfile - it's in one of David Voice's books. A 4 wheel car can cope with 6" radius

[James Harrison]

Never say never!  RLS Phase 1 suggests only a couple of feet of tramway at most, immediately outside the station entrance.  However; nothing stopping me motorising it at a later date. 

 

 

 

Well, as you can see I've made a good start on it, painting it largely in the flat (mostly because before I can build it I need fabricate an interior). 

 

You might be wondering why I was so insistent on a Dutch madder and citron livery and the truth of it is that I like making obscure little references to other interests of mine.  The name "Red Lion Square" is derived from the address in London where Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (later Morris & Co.) was founded.  So it is with the tramcar.  The Dutch madder and citron is derived from the "No Votes League" in a short story by one of my favourite authors, Saki.   

 

Well, I've given away two of my sly little references and there will be more as the model develops.  We could make a little game of it. 

 

Oh, and something else arrived today. 

 

 

 

Given a bit of time and effort it could well make a nice little building in its own right; the more I look at it the more annoyed I get that the makers/ publishers obviously let that ha'porth worth of tar go wanting.  For now though it will go and sit in the build queue whilst I have a think about how I want my goods offices to look. 

[Poggy1165]

The powers-that-be seem to have been remarkably inconsistent in applying rules to narrow gauge tramways. Rawtenstall (4 ft gauge) certainly had some totally enclosed 4 wheelers; and Rawtenstall had some pretty steep ascents and awkward corners. Almost makes we wonder if they just rebuilt the cars without telling anyone.

 

On t'other hand, totally enclosed cars were relatively rare in pre-group days. Even Manchester didn't really get cracking with its bogie standards until about 1920ish. (Around the same time that they waited for Salford to buy some special low-height cars before lowering the road beneath the relevant bridge so their aforementioned standards could get under.)

 

As an aside, isn't it fascinating what obscure facets of human life the modelling of pre-group railways leads one to research? It's an education in itself.

[James Harrison]

Work is progressing only slowly with the tramcar, not exactly helped by the not exactly brilliant instructions.  Anyway; regardless!- it shall be done, eventually. 

 

Last night access to the table workbench was not possible, so I instead spent a little time looking at my new building and considering what exactly I'd like to do to it. 

 

 

Is it common practice to have a sketchbook dedicated for layout planning and design? 

 

Anyway- if you can read my scrawl you'll be able to see what I have planned.  If you can't read it, well my thoughts are pretty much as follows. 

 

1. Keep the basic design of the building as-per the kit.  I was thinking of changing the gables and adding dormers and the like, but I doubt I could get it all to match in with the kit parts. 

2. Lose the lower 11 courses of brickwork.  I'm not convinced by a scale 3' climb into the building.  (This might actually be kept on the model as a key to dropping it into the layout). 

3. The biggest part of the work is going to be to build and fit an interior. 

4. Brickwork.  Generally it's good but would benefit massively from painting and weathering. 

5. Window cills and reveals. To be represented as stonework. 

6. Brickwork up to the window cills to be blue engineering brick.  From that level up then it will largely be red brick, but the cills and window reveals will be linked by stringer courses of yellow brick. 

7. The roofing material is of a kind unknown to humanity.  In the magazine we're told it is slate, but the individual 'slates' look far too large for that.  These 'slates' are also arguably the wrong shape and do not reduce in size as they work up the roof.  They don't look like tiles either... I think a new roof covering is called for. 

8. Lead flashing to the chimneys and roof valleys.

9. Terracotta ridge tiles.

10. Painted bargeboards. 

11. New doors and windows.

12. Signage. 

[Edwardian]

Work is progressing only slowly with the tramcar, not exactly helped by the not exactly brilliant instructions.  Anyway; regardless!- it shall be done, eventually. 

 

Last night access to the table workbench was not possible, so I instead spent a little time looking at my new building and considering what exactly I'd like to do to it. 

 

 

Is it common practice to have a sketchbook dedicated for layout planning and design? 

 

 

It should be, as it is commendable and sensible.

 

I am a haphazard buffoon, so I don't bother. I am an example of why one should bother!

[James Harrison]

Sketchbooks are something I had drummed into me years ago as a student.  Actually, I think if my house were burning down they're the primary part of my works portfolio I'd try to save!  It's so much easier and cheaper to progress an idea through the medium of a quick five-minute sketch than spending all day on a proper drawing to find it doesn't work.  (Not to mention getting to the point of having cut and assembled material before finding you've miscalculated). 

 

Now, as far as the building is concerned I think a coloured isometric sketch might be a sensible next step.  I'm pretty good at imagining what something should look like, the issue is largely one of converting that mental image into a 3-dimensional tactile object.  Hence why I tend to spend more time drawing than modelling. 

 

The tramcar.... last time I looked at it I was having issues with forming the ends.  The lower half is a series of flat sheets folded up like origami, which doesn't work very well in plastic.  The whole lot wanted to spring apart.... well, tonight I managed to build both ends with a little fuss and hassle but nothing really show-stopping.  Once it's all been built it will need an awful lot of filling, sanding and final painting.  It's not the best kit in the world.

[James Harrison]

 

 

Work to date on the tramcar.  I've fitted bench seating to both decks (lengths of 8mm square plastic tube).  Still lots to do as you can see!

[James Harrison]

 

Yesterday I managed to fit the staircases and complete the glazing; after that I started the final touching-in of the paintwork.  This also seems a good point to start thinking about the other elements of the tramway; the traction poles and the tram shelter.  Now; I could have sworn that I saw kits (I really can't remember if they were metal or plastic) for these but I seem to keep drawing blanks today.  

 

The idea I have in mind for the tramway is a twin track route running past the railway station with a tram stop.  I anticipate a twin track setup with the shelter between the two lines, so for that part of it I'm just looking for plain poles.  Elsewhere though I'd quite like the more 'ornate' style of pole with scrollwork; one pole between the two lines with a pair of booms coming off of it.  Something pretty much like this:

 

 

I could have sworn, as I say, that I saw a kit for this style of traction pole but can I find it now? 

[James Harrison]

The tramcar is finished!  Well, err, actually.....

 

I've fitted the 'wheels' supplied with the kit.  It's designed for 16.5mm track, but as you can imagine with no axles the whole thing is pretty flimsy... one wheels has already shown a propensity for falling off and two of the others just will not fit square.  So; what is to be done?  My idea is to use a piece of plastic square tube or U-channel to form a subchassis, then I will take some plastic carriage axles (I have loads of these in the spares box going to waste) and I will file the flanges off the wheels to reduce their diameter so they fit, then paint it all up and fit it to the model. 

 

Meanwhile the tram has been varnished and is currently drying out; photos when I have the wheels sorted out and it has all dried as it looks rather sorry for itself at present. 

 

I've also made a start on the goods offices.  "Making a start" in fact runs to a very dilute coat of paint to fill in the mortar coarses.  I'm following a method laid down in a partwork that came with Railway Modeller nearly 20 years ago; a very dilute coat of mortar coloured paint, then a rub-down with emery paper to remove the excess, then work back over the brickwork with pencil colour.  It's probably going to be mind-numbingly tedious but we shall see. 

 

I don't anticipate going any further than this with the goods offices for the moment.  I have my cakebox challenge to work on- or rather, bits of it- so tomorrow I shall likely find myself fabricating some GCR rail-built bufferstops.  And if they work out well, I'll probably eventually find myself building several more for RLS!

[James Harrison]

 

There we go.  Shall I discuss the merits of this kit?  How long have you got?  It has 'issues', shall we say, and I could go on about those issues for hours.

 

If you insist....

 

The instructions consist of precisely one small and contradictory sketch.  Some of the parts have no bearing areas, so it's difficult to see how, exactly, you are to apply the glue to fix it all together.  There are no axles, interiors or glazing supplied.  If you fit glazing you then need to take care that the glazing material doesn't interfere with other parts of the kit.  It's a simple matter to use some square section plastic to suggest bench seating, but then again surely it would have also been an easy matter to supply seating with the kit in the first place.  The wheels fail on several levels.  They're not supplied on axles and the expectation appears to be that the small stub poking out from the wheel is sufficient to secure it to the frame.  Erm... nope!  What in fact happens is the wheels don't fit square to the frames, they don't fit perpendicular to the floor, the tram takes on a lopsided appearance for a short while and then inevitably a wheel comes adrift.... I could see this would be a recurring problem so avoided it entirely by replacing the supplied wheels with two wagon axles, the flanges on the wagon wheels having been filed away.  Much better.  

[James Harrison]

What I'm finding a little amusing at present is how I've finally gotten around to spending some real time and effort on my cakebox challenge, with the intention of using that as a test piece and proving model for materials and methods to apply to RLS, and yet having started that I'm now finding that RLS is providing the test piece and proving ground for the cakebox challenge. 

 

I've built around 250mm length of GCR-pattern platform facing out of balsa wood for the cakebox challenge and now find myself pondering how to model the brickwork.  I attempted last night to do it out of individual paper-cut brick slips but rapidly came to the conclusion that that approach leads to two places, and two places only.  Blindness, and insanity.  So then to approach no.2, which is embossed plastic sheet. 

 

I don't have any embossed sheet at the moment.  What I do have is my YMMV railway station and a bout of impatience. 

 

Two coats of Humbrol #83 for mortar and then some Humbrol #96 for blue engineering brick.  Hmm, doesn't look quite right does it?

 

 

Let's try that again.  Two coats of Humbrol #83.  Sand it down to get most of it off the bricks.  More Humbrol #96. 

 

 

Yes, I think that is more like it.  Proceed. 

 

 

Using Humbrol #RC402 for the red brick. 

 

Well, what do we think?

[richard i]

You can see the mortar. I go the other way though. Paint on brick colour the paint over white emulsion and wipe off diagonally quickly. Why diagonals? So the paint is left in the courses.

More than one way to skin a cat so if your way works for you. Keep going.

[James Harrison]

You can see the mortar. I go the other way though. Paint on brick colour the paint over white emulsion and wipe off diagonally quickly. Why diagonals? So the paint is left in the courses.

More than one way to skin a cat so if your way works for you. Keep going.

 

Very clever!- I didn't consider diagonal strokes.  I might give that a try another time. 

[James Harrison]

So this afternoon's task was to extend the paintwork to the other seven walls. 

 

Result?

 

 

 

Still a long road ahead of course but already that brickwork looks so much better. 

[James Harrison]

Last night was spent painting the cream brickwork. 

 

 

For the moment this building is going no further!- some embossed plastic sheet arrived today so I'm returning to the cakebox challenge to continue with that. 

[James Harrison]

What does the Easter weekend hold in store for RLS?  Not any proper construction work, sadly, my attentions in that regard are reserved completely for my Cakebox Challenge entry.  No, this weekend I think I'll be drawing up internal plans for the goods offices. 

 

Now, before I go on to discuss my ideas for the internal layout, a word or two on bricks.  Not the most captivating subject for discussion I grant you but as this is pre-grouping I assure you it's worthy of thought and consideration.  If you will look at the parts for the goods office, what do you see?  A clue, you say?  Well, I mean, look at the brickwork bond.  Now that I've noticed it myself I almost can't believe I didn't notice it sooner.  There are no headers....

 

It's been built in stretcher bond.  This means that if it were full size, we'd be looking at a building with cavity walls.  Now, cavity walls can be positively dated back to 1804 and possibly further still, so there isn't a problem in that regard, but they were quite rare until somewhat later.  Even the most jerry-built, cheapest, awful buildings tended to use a brickwork bond suggestive of a thick solid wall, the two best known being English bond (alternate rows of stretchers and headers) and Flemish bond (alternate stretchers and headers in the same row), or variations of same.  It's the sort of thing that, once noticed, kind of jumps out at you. 

 

Hurried research followed.  It would appear that cavity walls properly came into vogue in the 1880s, so I think we about squeak through for date.  Indeed even by the 1890s architects were experimenting with livening up the quite bare and grim stretcher bond brickwork of cavity walls, but then another problem arises.  I can't think of a single instance of the GCR commissioning a building that uses it.  I could be wrong, but when you consider how the London Extension used Flemish bond throughout.....

 

So you see I have a problem.  On the hand I quite like the finish I've given the building and am loathe to go back and do it again, but on the other it is something I know that the GC wouldn't have done.  Do I say that, similar to Lovatt House, it was a contractor's building that the railway bought?- or would that be too easy a cop-out?  More pertinently, do I think if I were to re-clad the building I could do a job as good as or better than the original finish?  My abilities with embossed plastic sheet are, as yet, an unknown quantity.  

 

So whilst I ponder over that, I am also thinking over the internal arrangements.  The rough idea I have is that the single storey block will be the enquiries/ drop off/ pick up office, with a large open public office to the one side, a counter and a couple of smaller offices to the other side.  The very end of that block would be the Goods Agent's suite of offices.  Then the two-storey block would be smaller offices for the clerks.  It's a case of the doors and the chimney stacks suggesting what the internal arrangement should look like.  The single storey range has a small chimney, suggesting a small number of flues and in turn therefore a small number of fireplaces and hence rooms.  The two-storey range in contrast has a much more substantial stack which suggests more flues, more fireplaces, more rooms.  Likewise the doors.  There's only one door into the two-storey range, which to my mind would open onto the street and be the entrance for the clerks.  There are two doors in the single-storey range, one each side of the building, which would suggest to me one doorway allowing public access to the parcels office and a doorway out back into the goods yard.  

 

I'm rather looking forward to designing and building the interior.  It is really going to allow me to put my own stamp on the model. 

[Compound2632]

It's been built in stretcher bond.  

 

.. a common problem with plastic models and even some printed card kits, to say nothing of full-sized modern pseudo-Victorian buildings!

 

Trouble is, once one starts worrying about the bond, there's all sorts of details that can't be kept at bay: quarter-bricks at corners and window recesses to begin with...

 

Then there's the question of course heights. Modern brick and most brick papers and embossed plastic sheets give course heights of 3" but quite a lot of Victorian brickwork - especially for civil engineering applications such as bridges - seem to be nearer 3.25" - which does make quite a visual difference and is also a trap if trying to scale a building from photographs.

Edited March 30, 2018 by Compound2632

[Regularity]

.. a common problem with plastic models and even some printed card kits, to say nothing of full-sized modern pseudo-Victorian buildings!

 

Trouble is, once one starts worrying about the bond, there's all sorts of details that can't be kept at bay: quarter-bricks at corners and window recesses to begin with...

All part of getting closer to the prototype...

[James Harrison]

I'm quite convinced that the only way to get brick bond 100% right is to build as-per the prototype; one brick at a time.  A few small drawbacks to that; 1. it would take forever; 2. the tiny size of the bricks could quite easily lead to ocular health issues; 3. the sheer weight of the finished model; 4. what do you build the model off?  how do you carry it around whilst building it? how do you stop it crumbling to pieces?

 

Plainly then that's not a reasonable option, unless you're building a small building at a large scale. 

 

Then you've got issues at corners and return walls, where you have queens (quarter bricks) filling up the gaps.  You can't model that with brickpapers or embossed sheet easily. 

 

And this is just discussing the more usual types of bond!- we haven't even started talking about the garden wall variants or rat-trap bond or the staggered joint types yet. 

 

It's the sort of thing that can be quite deceptive; it doesn't become obvious until you know what you are looking for.  I certainly didn't think painting the mortar would be worthwhile, until I had a go at it and saw that actually......

 

So where does all this leave buildings for RLS?  Railway buildings should be done in Flemish bond really as that seems to have been GCR standard; so far as the goods offices are concerned stretcher bond might be acceptable, going with the fiction of it being a pre-existing contractor's building brought into railway use. 

 

Now for the non-railway buildings, the only one I've designed in detail as yet is of course the Watson Fothergill building, and the brickwork for that is.... well bits of everything really.  How to do that in embossed sheet?  Hmm.....

[Compound2632]

I'm quite convinced that the only way to get brick bond 100% right is to build as-per the prototype; one brick at a time.  A few small drawbacks to that; 1. it would take forever; 2. the tiny size of the bricks could quite easily lead to ocular health issues; 3. the sheer weight of the finished model; 4. what do you build the model off?  how do you carry it around whilst building it? how do you stop it crumbling to pieces?

 

Plainly then that's not a reasonable option, unless you're building a small building at a large scale. 

 

Then you've got issues at corners and return walls, where you have queens (quarter bricks) filling up the gaps.  You can't model that with brickpapers or embossed sheet easily. 

 

And this is just discussing the more usual types of bond!- we haven't even started talking about the garden wall variants or rat-trap bond or the staggered joint types yet. 

 

It's the sort of thing that can be quite deceptive; it doesn't become obvious until you know what you are looking for.  I certainly didn't think painting the mortar would be worthwhile, until I had a go at it and saw that actually......

 

So where does all this leave buildings for RLS?  Railway buildings should be done in Flemish bond really as that seems to have been GCR standard; so far as the goods offices are concerned stretcher bond might be acceptable, going with the fiction of it being a pre-existing contractor's building brought into railway use. 

 

Now for the non-railway buildings, the only one I've designed in detail as yet is of course the Watson Fothergill building, and the brickwork for that is.... well bits of everything really.  How to do that in embossed sheet?  Hmm.....

 

One way forward is to make and print one's own brick paper using a suitable drawing package and good quality laser printer - essentially printing the elevation of the building, with wrap-rounds for window and door reveals etc. Alternatively, scribing plastic or good quality card sheet...

 

Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a 4mm scale individual brick system - possibly from the original C&L? As I recall, bricks had to be threaded on to plastic rod uprights. Unlike the track system, it didn't catch on.

[Caley Jim]

One way forward is to make and print one's own brick paper using a suitable drawing package and good quality laser printer - essentially printing the elevation of the building, with wrap-rounds for window and door reveals etc. Alternatively, scribing plastic or good quality card sheet...

Smart Models do a range of downloadable texture sheets including flemish bond http://www.smartmodels.co.uk/texture-sheets.html .  These can be imported into a CAD program and used to create your own print for a building in the way that Compound2632 describes as in this post with the final result here.  IMHO printed papers are perfectly adequate for brick and ashlar stone in 2mm and 4mm as there is very little texture in these materials at these scales.

 

Jim

Edited March 30, 2018 by Caley Jim

[James Harrison]

Smart Models do a range of downloadable texture sheets including flemish bond http://www.smartmodels.co.uk/texture-sheets.html .  These can be imported into a CAD program and used to create your own print for a building in the way that Compound2632 describes as in this post with the final result here.  IMHO printed papers are perfectly adequate for brick and ashlar stone in 2mm and 4mm as there is very little texture in these materials at these scales.

 

Jim

 

Beautiful work, there.  I must admit I rather fight shy of downloading brickpapers, mainly because I don't trust my printer.  So anything I do download off the net gets printed at work and I'm wary of taking that occasional privilege for granted or taking undue advantage of it.