Airfix/Dapol/Kitmaster engine shed

[bertiedog]

Whilst awaiting delivery of a couple of these engine sheds kits,  I realised I do not have the dimension of the Door face, the width of the doors entrance and the height to the top of the entrance.

I can estimate from the loading gauge, but want to plan a pair side by side for an industrial line, with the height and width pared to minimums.

 Can anybody measure the door aperture and max width if they have one to hand? It would save time to plan the mods needed. The shed is to take 4 Peckett sized locos in all, so can be slimmed down a bit overall to get a smaller footprint.

Stephen

Edited March 25, 2017 by bertiedog

[sandwich station]

44.5mm wide x 64.5mm high.

[DCB]

I think you will struggle to get 2 X Pecketts in each road, the shed won't take a single 57XX, we have had to use 1 and 1/2 Dapol sheds for our branch line terminus to take a 45XX.

 

The kit is great for kit bashing into a goods shed etc and can make a great low relief factory if you have any bits left over from extending loco sheds.

[bertiedog]

Thanks, I assume the dimensions are for the door way. Things can be trimmed down a bit, the length is no problem, a lean to workshop extension at the back will deal with that problem. It is just to scale the building down a bit from the generous size Airfix intended.

The workshop can be in plasticard with a corrugated roof on wooden rafters. The lack of an actual workshop will barely show!, but provide the extra couple of inches space.

 

Stephen

[sandwich station]

Thanks, I assume the dimensions are for the door way.

 

[Il Grifone]

As it stands the shed is rather puny and was really intended to to used in multiple, which  the kit design caters for. As it stands, it is about six inches long, barely big enough for an 0-6-0 tank, and comes with an optional lean-to shed on the rear wall to accommodate the coupling.

 

For a couple of Pecketts, a longer shed could be made from one and a half kits, as suggested above. They aren't very expensive, even if rather more in real terms than the 3/- they cost, when first introduced.

 

I'm building a shed from four kits (or rather some spare bits scavenged from toyfair parts trays). Progress is held up by a lack of a couple of roof sections. I might have to buy a complete kit!     

 

Still I could use the wall sections for a warehouse....

[BlackRat]

Old Airfix kits from eBay are much better.......they are made from a harder plastic mix, as opposed to the softer plastic Dapol now use....

 

It makes the moulds last longer.

As it stands the shed is rather puny and was really intended to to used in multiple, which  the kit design caters for. As it stands, it is about six inches long, barely big enough for an 0-6-0 tank, and comes with an optional lean-to shed on the rear wall to accommodate the coupling.

 

For a couple of Pecketts, a longer shed could be made from one and a half kits, as suggested above. They aren't very expensive, even if rather more in real terms than the 3/- they cost, when first introduced.

 

I'm building a shed from four kits (or rather some spare bits scavenged from toyfair parts trays). Progress is held up by a lack of a couple of roof sections. I might have to buy a complete kit!     

 

Still I could use the wall sections for a warehouse....

I've lots here......pm me and I'll sort you some.

[Colin_McLeod]

I always liked the Airfix shed. On a previous layout I used one on its own to house a narrow guage oo9 locomotive and it looked just right.

[brian777999]

I want to  join the two engine sheds end to end to make one long shed/factory. Will I have to move the roofs slightly to allow the two ends to butt up flush with each other ?

 

NOTE : the sides are badly warped and they are a real to get straight again ! Even placing them in hot water for 15 minutes then clamping overnight between two flat surfaces does not help much.

[Steamport Southport]

It's been a long time since I've seen one.

 

But ISTR it's designed to be flush so you can add more than one kit together. I don't think there is an overhang.

 

 

 

Jason

[The Johnster]

Yes, my memory of it is that it's a modular design to make any size of shed you want.  It is, in a perverse way, one of the reasons I have decided, at least for now, not to have a shed on my NCB loco spur because this was the best looking one available, most like the NCB sheds I remember from the 60s, and I want to avoid using ex Airfix buildings on the layout because they are a cliche.  And I want my W4 to stand in the open where it is visible, and the site is hemmed in by BR on one side and farmland on the other, so there is no road or pathway access for a shed.

 

I have an ambivalent relationship with engine sheds on layouts, as I like to operate and shunt.  In some ways, a shed, especially the smaller branch sub shed type, is a dead area where nothing much happens in terms of movement, and you can't see what is going on inside it (you can cheat and model it without a roof or with damage to the walls, which might be an option for my NCB shed).  NCB loco sheds tended to be rather plain brick or even corrugated iron/asbestos structures, and most RTP or kit offerings are a bit to well build and decorated, or modular pieces obviously intended to be bigger.  I looked at the Wills single road shed, which would sort the water supply issue out.  I don't think I need a coaling stage for a W4; have you seen the size of the bunker, it's not much bigger than a bucket!

 

I wonder if I could build an Airfix/Dapol/Kitmaster shed sort of inside out, with a side wall missing and no roof, perhaps there's been a fire.  One side, the back, and the door standing, with the brickwork facing inwards and the smooth outside surfaces of the walls rendered, or buy two kits so that I could have walls back to back and retain brickwork on the outside.  The roof wouldn't fit, of course, but I am doing away with that or using it elsewhere anyway.  This would preserve the view of the W4 and give the chance of modelling some of the interior of the shed; work is still going on there despite being open to the elephants, and a work bench, tool cupboards, maybe a lathe could be incorporated.  Work could be progressing on building a replacement wall and roof.  Too much other stuff to do for now, though, this goes on the 'when I take possession of my round tuit' list...

[Steamport Southport]

For a small industrial engine shed I've been looking at this.

 

Mainly as it's something a bit different. The Goods and Freight Sheds look like nice little industrial buildings as well.

 

https://miniart-models.com/products/72022/

 

If anyone wants one look at places like Amazon or military model shops as they are readily available. I don't know how dodgy it is ordering things from Ukraine.

 

 

 

Jason

[The Johnster]

Should be ok I'd have thought, but maybe don't order in the name of Putin or offer to pay in roubles...

 

Don't forget these are 1/72 scale for military modelling, and may be a bit bulky for model railway use.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

If you want to avoid a cliche, how about building a part demolished/derelict shed, say up to window level?

 

Mike.

 

[Dungrange]

23 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

Don't forget these are 1/72 scale for military modelling, and may be a bit bulky for model railway use.

 

I'm not sure that's a big issue - I find a lot of buildings sold as 00 to be bit under scale.  Unfortunately, I can't see dimensions of the building on the website: I'm not really interested in the dimensions of the box!!!

 

3 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

I don't know how dodgy it is ordering things from Ukraine.

 

There does appear to be a UK stockist listed on their website (albeit they don't have stock at the moment) - http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/buildings_172_buildings-c-1_219_218.html?oscsid=k25lppkiv84uh35dmfj5ib9825

 

[Hroth]

Another quirk of the engine shed is that the doors are short to clear Dublo 3 rail track and possibly Triang grey-based track too.  Over modern track, they look more like a fashion statement...

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Hroth
Withdrawl of incorrect supposition

[Steamport Southport]

1 hour ago, The Johnster said:

Should be ok I'd have thought, but maybe don't order in the name of Putin or offer to pay in roubles...

 

Don't forget these are 1/72 scale for military modelling, and may be a bit bulky for model railway use.

 

In a review in one of the magazines it said they were on the small side. I was wondering where I saw it and then it clicked. George Dent used one on his industrial layout.

 

http://georgedentmodelmaker.blogspot.com/2013/07/maudetown-shed-2.html

 

And he had to lift it up a bit to fit some of his locos.

 

http://georgedentmodelmaker.blogspot.com/2013/09/maudetown-shed-opens.html

 

I don't think they are really designed as an engine shed as it has nowhere for smoke to go!  

 

 

 

Jason

[Nearholmer]

At Mountfield Mines in Sussex, they glued a couple end-to-end to fit two locos in, but decided to leave the clerestory smoke vent off when they re-roofed after diesels had taken-over.

 

There’s a picture of it here with the clerestory, which is how I first saw it - I thought I’d stumbled onto a layout with a couple of Triang Dock Authority shunters and a load of Airfix kit wagons and buildings! https://www.flickr.com/photos/21602076@N05/4116669455

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Steamport Southport]

Nice pair of Thomas Hills.

 

So I found one of those kits on Amazon for £15 (also bought an Airfix tank for a Warwell to make it up to the free postage threshold).

 

I'll also get a Dapol one next time I order something. Thinking one for steam and the other for diesels.

 

 

 

Jason

[kevinlms]

7 hours ago, Hroth said:

Another quirk of the Kitmaster/Airfix/Dapol* engine shed is that the doors are short to clear Dublo 3 rail track and possibly Triang grey-based track too.  Over modern track, they look more like a fashion statement...

 

 

* For chronological "exactitude"...

 

For chronological "exactitude", should it not be

 

Airfix/Dapol kit, as this product was never a Kitmaster one!

 

[Steamport Southport]

16 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

 

For chronological "exactitude", should it not be

 

Airfix/Dapol kit, as this product was never a Kitmaster one!

 

 

It is now!

 

The packaging has Kitmaster on it.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/193533245915?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-153316-527457-8&mkcid=2&itemid=193533245915&targetid=4585032211933600&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=398226948&mkgroupid=1302921513642151&rlsatarget=pla-4585032211933600&abcId=2145997&merchantid=87779&msclkid=2fcc5d957ea51919960a02f1663f2a70

[DCB]

13 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Yes, my memory of it is that it's a modular design to make any size of shed you want.  It is, in a perverse way, one of the reasons I have decided, at least for now, not to have a shed on my NCB loco spur because this was the best looking one available, most like the NCB sheds I remember from the 60s, and I want to avoid using ex Airfix buildings on the layout because they are a cliche.  And I want my W4 to stand in the open where it is visible, and the site is hemmed in by BR on one side and farmland on the other, so there is no road or pathway access for a shed.

 

I have an ambivalent relationship with engine sheds on layouts, as I like to operate and shunt.  In some ways, a shed, especially the smaller branch sub shed type, is a dead area where nothing much happens in terms of movement, and you can't see what is going on inside it (you can cheat and model it without a roof or with damage to the walls, which might be an option for my NCB shed).  NCB loco sheds tended to be rather plain brick or even corrugated iron/asbestos structures, and most RTP or kit offerings are a bit to well build and decorated, or modular pieces obviously intended to be bigger.  I looked at the Wills single road shed, which would sort the water supply issue out.  I don't think I need a coaling stage for a W4; have you seen the size of the bunker, it's not much bigger than a bucket!

 

I wonder if I could build an Airfix/Dapol/Kitmaster shed sort of inside out, with a side wall missing and no roof, perhaps there's been a fire.  One side, the back, and the door standing, with the brickwork facing inwards and the smooth outside surfaces of the walls rendered, or buy two kits so that I could have walls back to back and retain brickwork on the outside.  The roof wouldn't fit, of course, but I am doing away with that or using it elsewhere anyway.  This would preserve the view of the W4 and give the chance of modelling some of the interior of the shed; work is still going on there despite being open to the elephants, and a work bench, tool cupboards, maybe a lathe could be incorporated.  Work could be progressing on building a replacement wall and roof.  Too much other stuff to do for now, though, this goes on the 'when I take possession of my round tuit' list...

You could always use the Airfix Church as a basis for a shed as the Rev Awdrey did on one of his layouts.  The tower is sort of separate.  Conversely there is a red brick church not far from Steam in Swindon which looks a bit like an overgrown Airfix engine shed with a bit of a tower.   I suspect industrial engine sheds were as much somewhere to lock the locos up  overnight as places for maintenance as used on main line railways.  End of shift fill the boiler, clean the fire, shove whats left of the fire up into one corner of the firebox,  lock the shed door and head for the pub.  I once used the fronts of  two Airfix engine sheds as a low relief loco shed, one door had the front of an Airfix Prairie protruding through it, the other had the back of the same kit. The viewing angle was very restricted so it worked well.

[Colin_McLeod]

6 hours ago, kevinlms said:

 

For chronological "exactitude", should it not be

 

Airfix/Dapol kit, as this product was never a Kitmaster one!

 

 

6 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

It is now!

 

The packaging has Kitmaster on it.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/193533245915?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-153316-527457-8&mkcid=2&itemid=193533245915&targetid=4585032211933600&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=398226948&mkgroupid=1302921513642151&rlsatarget=pla-4585032211933600&abcId=2145997&merchantid=87779&msclkid=2fcc5d957ea51919960a02f1663f2a70

 

So the thread title is chronologically  correct after all. 

[cypherman]

Hi all,

I cannot remember just how many of these sheds I have built over the years. I still have the parts for 2 of them languishing in a box somewhere. I built an 8 road round house for my Flieschmann turntable using parts from about 20 of them. Would have been cheaper to have bought a couple of European kits made for it. But it was fun to do. Sadly all gone now.   

[Steamport Southport]

I never had one. My brother did on his layout.

 

What he had done was put three or four of them together to look like it was a two road shed. As you couldn't really see the far side that was cobbled together with bits of plasticard.

 

That's the difference between us. He would knock something like that out in an afternoon. I would spend eight months looking at the drawings for Didcot planning how to build it.