South Hampstead c1940

[Pete the Elaner]

While looking an old photo of the bridge, there seemed to be 2 small brick-built structures just beyond or maybe even in the platform ramp of the disused up fast/down slow platforms.

The larger structure probably about the same height as a person with a pitched roof.

In front of this is something smaller but it is unclear from the photo whether this is a small wall or maybe a housing for electrical equipment, so I have chosen to represent the latter. It is roughly in place but may need moving a little. It needs a roof & some painting too.

 

Fast_line_hut1 by rip, on Flickr

 

The larger structure will be my next project. The roof pitches upwards from left to right. Unlike this one, it was built using stretcher bond.

Neither buildings are there now. They are replaced with a lot of overgrowth & some electrical cabinets.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Pete the Elaner

[SECR 235class]

Sounds intresting, If you are doing it in LMS will you have Duchess of hamilton in disguise and also do a Turbomotive also who designed the Bridges....

[Pete the Elaner]

I am not sure who designed the GC's bridges.

Hamilton was in disguise in the US, which I don't have. I know someone who does though.

I do have Coronation masquerading as 6229 in blue & my turbomotive is currently unfinished. I need some tiny bolts for the connecting rods.

[Pete the Elaner]

 

There is a photo of a class 24 at this location available on the net if you search for it but I am not sure it it acceptable to upload it here. There is a lot unfinished on the layout including platform tops & I need to touch up the ballasting before weathering it, but I am happy with the progress so far.

My APT-E was on the down fast when I took this, but the Patriot is hiding it. It would have looked more than a little out of place.

Edited May 14, 2019 by Pete the Elaner

[DavidMcKenzie]

Looks like you've made some great progress there Pete, it's really coming on and looking good.

 

All the best

Dave

[Pete the Elaner]

11 hours ago, DavidMcKenzie said:

Looks like you've made some great progress there Pete, it's really coming on and looking good.

 

Thanks. I am pleased with it so far.

I am spending a lot of my time & energy on a club layout at the moment so have not done much to this lately. I am enjoying the club stuff at the moment so I do not mind a pause in progress with this at the moment.

[1BCamden]

What a fantastic layout, prototypes are the best.

[Pete the Elaner]

Thank you.

 

I have not done much to it lately so recent photos would look more or less the same as what is already there.

Recent purchases (Hornby 87, Bachmann 90 & freightliners) have made me want to do the 1990 version but I still have loads to do to the 1940 version before even considering this.

 

[1BCamden]

I’d be interested to hear about your laser cutter experiences, and the brickwork

[Pete the Elaner]

1 hour ago, 1BCamden said:

I’d be interested to hear about your laser cutter experiences, and the brickwork

 

I wanted to get the tunnel portals as close as possible. I searched around at shows for different ones but nothing really came close to what I wanted: all were too fat. This made me observe tunnels on the real railway & they generally seemed to be taller & thinner than the available model ones. I had also narrowed the 6' distances on my layout so I wanted tunnels to match.

I felt the portals for the DC lines were particularly important. If you stand on the real station (or Kensal Green, which has similar tunnels at its western end), the tunnels look too small for the trains to get through. I really wanted to replicate this on the layout.

I was also unhappy with the available brickwork around arches for the DC lines. Most model tunnels have stones here, but those which do have bricks seem to have them lined up concentrically. This is not how real arches look because the larger radius requires more bricks, meaning they don't line up.

I did consider cutting the brickwork but I knew I would have lost patience doing this & I also wanted to replicate the portals when re-building the layout as a 1990 version, so I decided to take a chance that a laser cutter would be suitable.

 

I looked around on the net for a while & it seemed that the cheaper lasers were Chinese & based on an engine known as K40. The next level of cutter was about 3-4 times the cost, so I thought I would go with the cheaper option & maybe learn from it what features or qualities I needed to look for if & when I wanted to change it.

The cutting bed for the one I ordered is 300*200mm, roughly A4 so I figured the device would not be too big.

I got a shock when it arrived. The box was huge & the device itself is 820mm wide & 650mm deep. The laser also gets hot, so the cutter comes with a circulation pump & needs a water supply for which I use a bucket, sometimes filled with ice if I want to use it for longer periods. It also has a big hose for extracting fumes. This meant I ideally needed to place it in the kitchen by a window. Happily, I live alone so I was free to place it on the kitchen table.... It takes up half of it!

It comes with its own cutting software (LaserDRW) & a copy of Corel Draw (a cut down one I expect; I had never used this before).

 

I can comfortably find my way around a spreadsheet but am a bit useless with art & design software. Happily, a friend of mine is good with artwork for buildings & this transferred nicely to the required artwork for laser cutting.

I loaded the cutting software onto my laptop (which required a dongle - something I had not seen for years). A wall which should have been about 10cm * 10cm came out at about 1/5 of the size with the brickwork itself little more than a squiggle in the corner, so I had some learning to do.

After 2-3 weeks of getting nowhere with this, I really thought I had wasted my money on something useless. I just couldn't work out how to adjust anything with LaserDRW.

 

I found some freeware called K40 whisperer. This changed things completely. It was designed to work with another piece of freeware called Inkscape. Once I got the hang of these, I could finally cut things as I wanted. I did not need the dongle either.

The first item which cut as intended was very satisfying & a huge relief.

 

I was then able to cut sides for the bridge over the DC lines & also the DC line tunnel portals. Each piece took about 3 hours to do; most of it the raster engraving of the brickwork.

I feel the brickwork has too much relief, so I will turn this down when I do the 1990s version.

The fast & slow line tunnels have stonework around the portals. I was a bit concerned about how these could be replicated but the photos I took of these were superimposed under the drawing so they could be traced. This helped to get the stone the correct size & portal the correct shape.

The archways alongside the fast lines were then drawn up.

 

After a few months of use, the power supply failed. This was quite an expensive component, costing about 1/4 the price of the cutter. There also seem to be several different connectors so I had to be careful of buying the right one.

After a few months more work, the cutter stopped being recognised by the laptop. I suspected the controller card had failed. After considering an upgrade controller board which claimed to have finer control over shading (something I had never needed), I decided to replace it with a similar board, which cost about 1/3 that of the upgraded controller.

 

If you have managed to read through that, you have probably noticed my mind is more technical than artisitic!

 

[gordon s]

Thanks for posting this thread, Pete. Back in the late 50's/early 60's, most Saturdays and Sundays were spent at KX, but as I started to venture further afield, the lure of Liverpool Street, Paddington and of course Euston and St Pancras became far too much to resist. I'm fairly sure in those days you could buy a twin rover ticket for something like 5/- which gave you unlimited access to buses and the tube network. Realised pretty soon that Chalk Farm underground was a great stopping off place to bunk into Camden shed.

 

Having done that a few times, I saw that South Hampstead was the first stop for locals out of Euston, so that also became a great place to watch Stanier Pacifics on their way up to the north and Scotland.

 

Your model certainly captures the essence of the place, particularly the engineering blue brickwork. The laser cutter certainly turns out some lovely looking brickwork....

 

Is Charlie the same Charlie that works with Baby Deltic or just coincidence?

[Pete the Elaner]

On 29/12/2019 at 09:30, gordon s said:

Your model certainly captures the essence of the place, particularly the engineering blue brickwork. The laser cutter certainly turns out some lovely looking brickwork....

 

Is Charlie the same Charlie that works with Baby Deltic or just coincidence?

Thanks for the comments. The cutter has been helpful.

The engineering blue brick was actually done in the reverse order from convention: The lot was sprayed grey then the bricks were dry brushed with about 3 different colour of acrylic paint mixed up. I don't think it looks quite uniform enough so I have tried the conventional way for some brickwork of painting the walls in blue brick then washing in light grey for the mortar... but I feel this looks too uniform. I can't win 

 

It is indeed the same Charlie. The 3 of us have known each other for about 25 years.

[Pete the Elaner]

Infrequent updates mean I can actually see some progress when I look back at my own posts.

 

Using wallpaper paste flakes crumbled into the ballast was an experiment which did not go very well. After the initial swelling, it dried quite nicely, but continued to contract for the next 4-6 weeks, causing the cracks. It just crumbles apart now. I don't recommend it.

 

I will re-ballast these lines after adding some reed switches & LEDs to simulate sparks.

 

 

 

 

 

So I tidied up the fast & slow lines by ballasting with dilute Copydex. The area in between is cork chippings, again fixed with dilute Copydex.

 

 

 

& probably the most complete image is looking down across the GC lines at fast & slow line tunnel mouths. The brickwork is supposed to be different colours although the whole lot is too clean & needs some careful blending in with the airbrush.

 

[Johnny Rock]

I've read recently that adding Methylated Spirit to the pva mix helps to reduce surface tension thus allowing the mix to spread more effectively. I've not tried it yet though.

[Pete the Elaner]

3 hours ago, Johnny Rock said:

I've read recently that adding Methylated Spirit to the pva mix helps to reduce surface tension thus allowing the mix to spread more effectively. I've not tried it yet though.

Many have suggested using IPA to reduce surface tension (or to wet water).

When using their SI names (meths is mainly ethanol) & IPA is actually propan-1-ol) It is a similar compound to so will have similar properties. So although I have never tried it, I would fully expect meths to work well as a water wetter.

I consider PVA to be poorly suited for fixing ballast, which is why I tried alternatives in the first place. Copydex is my favoured ballast adhesive until I find something better, but this needs diluting & wetting just like I used to with PVA.

The cracked ballast section easily crumbles off in large chunks but. I have no regrets trying wallpaper paste as an adhesive but after seeing how it dries & ages, I consider it to be unsuitable for ballast adhesive.

[Johnny Rock]

Another wetter is good old washing up liquid. Just a couple of drops in the mix. 

[Pete the Elaner]

On 06/03/2020 at 14:07, Pete the Elaner said:

IPA is actually propan-1-ol.

 

I can't believe I said that. It is Propan-2-ol because the 'ol' (Oxygen & Hydrogen atoms) is attached to the middle, therefore 2nd carbon, not an end one. How silly of me.

[Pete the Elaner]

Modelling a prototype location usually involves scratchbuilding if you want to make it look right. The station building is one which I wanted to pay attention in getting as close as possible.

The earlier station building was a large wooden structure. I am inexperienced at scratchbuilding buildings so a friend helped (& did a lot more of it than me). He did warn me that the roof would be a challenge.

 

After an amount of progress, I felt I could correct some issues better by starting again. I felt guilty about discarding someone else's work but when I discussed it, he was very supportive of a second attempt.

 

Bits I was unhappy with the first time around (the white building):

The roof was too flat.

Some of the angles were a bit wonky.

I spilt a bottle of Mek close to the building & it warped the front wall.

The windows (now removed) were scratch built with plastikard. I made a poor job of this & they looked like a crazy paver had done them.

The parts of the roof should be at different heights (revealed by a photo which I had seen more recently).

The entrance for the stairs & walkway, with the different window arrangement had not been included (again revealed by the aforementioned photo).

 

After seeing results from a resin 3d printer, I decided that this would be my solution for building windows. I had to buy one first & learn how to use it. I was taught a few things with Sketchup so this is the 3d design software I have stuck with.

My friend then suggested using Sketchup to model the roof. This made things a lot easier.

I am happy with the result. Most of window frames were a fraction too large, so I shaved a little plastic from the building in order to make them fit. They are drying off right now, ready for a curing session under a UV lamp to harden them prior to painting.

The chimneys were an unusual square triple-stack design so I 3d printed those too. Some extra chimney & window frame prints can be seen to the right in one of the photos.

 

I intend to add lighting so need to build the interior but I am pleased with progress up to this point.

 

 

 

 

[Revolution Ben]

 

Hi there,

 

Only just come across this thread - fantastically insipirational, thanks for posting!

 

cheerrs

 

Ben A.

[Pete the Elaner]

On 23/10/2020 at 22:45, Ben A said:

 

Hi there,

 

Only just come across this thread - fantastically insipirational, thanks for posting!

 

cheerrs

 

Ben A.

 

I find it is a useful way to keep a diary of my progress for my own benefit too, especially when things don't go as planned.

[Nearholmer]

On 13/04/2017 at 22:27, Pete the Elaner said:

Scratch-building buildings is not my strong point,

 

Well, it is now! A very strong point.

 

Came to have a look, prompted by Fawlty Towers. Very interesting concept this.

 

Are you going to include the substation for the DC lines? An LMS one is even rarer in model form than a good SR one.

 

[Pete the Elaner]

45 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

Well, it is now! A very strong point.

 

Came to have a look, prompted by Fawlty Towers. Very interesting concept this.

 

Are you going to include the substation for the DC lines? An LMS one is even rarer in model form than a good SR one.

 

 

Thank you.

I learned a lot from the first attempt at the station building & really cannot thank L49 from this forum enough for the help he gave me with this.

 

I have indeed built the substation. I started it a few years ago but for some reason didn't like the thought of adding all those lintels to the many ventilation openings. They only took 1 evening once I got around to it.

 

[Pete the Elaner]

After being prompted to post the above, I feel I should update with what else I have done.

It does not seem like a lot, especially considering the lockdowns have kept me at home more than I would usually have been. Since I have learned to make buildings from scratch a little better, I have really enjoyed doing it.

 

The station building now has windows, door frames drainpipes, chimneys & facia boards. The door frames may look crude but they will be hidden inside a walkway & stairway which access the platforms. The building is more or less in its correct place but I have not built its support yet, which is why the track cleaning blocks are supporting it.

The chimneys were 3d printed in 3 separate sections & I am pleased with the result.

 

 

Back in August, I spent several weeks at my parents' house recovering from a broken leg. They live in a detached bungalow which seemed like an ideal candidate for building, so I got them to take some measurements & I started work making it. They had an extension built on the rear a few years ago, but I may make it with this on at a future date.

 

[Pete the Elaner]

On another thread I mentioned that I am building Fawlty Towers just for a bit of fun & because I am a bit mad in that way.

I am in the middle of painting the window frames right now. These are fiddly because only the outside of the frames are black so I couldn't just paint them before fitting. They look a bit of a mess at the moment so here is the building after I airbrushed it white.

 

 

Nearly everyone who I have mentioned this to has asked if I am doing the anagram nameboards seen at the begging of most episodes: I am having an issue with these but I am not giving up yet.

 

[WCML100]

Just came across this thread and regularly commute through the real location. Great work, following with interest!