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Caledonian Basin - railway-in-a-box diorama


brylonscamel
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PS I wonder if thy put a broom round the place when you left?

 

:no: Doubt it - if you ever visit a site where they carry out shotblasting you will see that they are absolutely filthy, as although they try to control the process, the discarded shot and the residue removed from the metal surface etc inevitably builds up on the floor.  Not really a problem but in their case they had no clear barrier between the shotblasting and painting areas and as we modellers know, dust dirt and spray painting processes do not make for a good finish!!

 

Jim

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:no: Doubt it - if you ever visit a site where they carry out shotblasting you will see that they are absolutely filthy, as although they try to control the process, the discarded shot and the residue removed from the metal surface etc inevitably builds up on the floor.  Not really a problem but in their case they had no clear barrier between the shotblasting and painting areas and as we modellers know, dust dirt and spray painting processes do not make for a good finish!!

 

Jim

 

I visited a local shot-blasting / powder-coating shop to refurbish bicycle frames - I did notice the dust and filth but my chap did seem to keep it confined to one room.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you look at this next batch of photos you might think I haven't been very productive with the little diorama!

However, the new factory building that's going to fit into the far bank of the canal wharf has gained a roof and some chimneys.

I found the roof an interesting challenge as it has a hipped gable-end and is cut off at an angle to fit as low-relief into the corner.

The ridge had to be complete - it would have looked odd, partially cut off (I tried this on a mock up and it looked weird!)

 

My basic schoolboy geometry came in handy - well, OK an online angle calculator came in handy!!

I'm happy with the look and fit. 

 

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The chimneys are based on those at the paint factory in Ruchill Street Galsgow, an intriguing canalside factory that largely survives today.

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Roof tiles are the stick-on ones from York Models. I have only just started to use them and nicked and cut a few tiles to break up the uniformity and add a bit of interest. Hopefully it looks OK

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Edited by brylonscamel
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They look pretty good to me. Excellent work on the chimneys too. 

 

Cheers Dave! .. always good to get a thumbs up.

 

I have a bit more building to do but it shouldn't be long before painting, weathering and a bit of greenery and railway activity can start! That'll be an exciting phase!

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They look pretty good to me. Excellent work on the chimneys too. 

 

PS I just followed your link - I'll be following your blog from now on, you're doing some lovely, lovely work!

 

Couldn't help noticing the comment about dogs and fireworks. You're not alone.

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I found the roof an interesting challenge as it has a hipped gable-end and is cut off at an angle to fit as low-relief into the corner.

 

The ridge had to be complete - it would have looked odd, partially cut off (I tried this on a mock up and it looked weird!)

 

My basic schoolboy geometry came in handy - well, OK an online angle calculator came in handy!!

 

Cracking stuff all round  :)

 

I also had to pull out the maths for the hipped roofs, and I put it into an excel sheet. I hope you don't mind the liberty of me attaching it here if others might find it useful??  If you put in the length, width, and angle you want, it calculates the cut dimensions for a flat piece to fold up to the right size...  (edit seems to work now : HippedRoofCalculator.xlsx).

 

I'm very much enjoying your build. I'm trying to do something similar at the other end of the canal, but at much slower pace and with considerably less skill I fear...

 

Fraser

Edited by FraserClarke
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Cracking stuff all round  :)

 

I also had to pull out the maths for the hipped roofs, and I put it into an excel sheet. I hope you don't mind the liberty of me attaching it here if others might find it useful??  If you put in the length, width, and angle you want, it calculates the cut dimensions for a flat piece to fold up to the right size...  (edit: seems to reject the attachment; fair enough given it's an xlsx file. I'll see if I can put it elsewhere).

 

I'm very much enjoying your build. I'm trying to do something similar at the other end of the canal, but at much slower pace and with considerably less skill I fear...

 

Fraser

 

Cheers Fraser, if you struggle to put the file somewhere let me know and I can send you a message with my email address. I work online so I can always post it up somewhere for you.

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The roof tiles look fantastic, and it's a nice touch with some damaged ones thrown in. I take it these are individual tiles that you stick on? Are they self adhesive?

 

The self-adhesive tiles come in rows and are available from York Modelrail.

 

You can buy them as random slates but I preferred to fiddle with the regular version as I think this type of building would have had even courses of tiles with just the odd slip or crack.

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Those long winter nights ...

 

Should see more opportunity for model making sessions. There's a lot of clay to be scribed and it's quite a relaxing evening pastime ..

 

attachicon.gif46488328_10155587142907397_3359831668734033920_o.jpg

 

 

Quality modelling! How do you get those stone coarses so straight and level??

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

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Quality modelling! How do you get those stone coarses so straight and level??

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

 

Hi Jeremy - no special tips I'm afraid - just a ruler, a pencil and a steel-tipped scribing tool to mark the horizontal lines of the courses.

 

Then freehand scribing of the individual stone blocks.

 

I did find that masking tape was handy to mark the horizontal lines around the curved parts of the lock entrance.

 

I hope that helps ...

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Me too! Where have you been hiding it?

 

It's now on my 'followed' list  :good:

 

David

 

Cheers David - I wasn't hiding it away, it's just there are a lot of forum threads and a lot of competition for our attention!

 

But I'm happy you found the model and are following progress - plenty yet to come as I haven't even got the paint box out yet!

 

Cheers, Brian

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Small progress

 

Here's a couple of photo of the little canal lock scene, now that I've scribed the clay and painted the parts in primer.

I'll need to blend the lock walls into the foreground- but the joins are small so it should be easy.

At this point the layout is entirely modular, so I can get everything out of the way to enable painting and scenery elements.

One view shows how small the position is, that it occupies in the box.

 

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This is the viewing position, with the rail bridge preventing anything other than a restricted view - hopefully enough to stop it being obvious that that lock is truncated!

 

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And further back - still a narrow window to look through

 

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Cheers! - I assume by 'proper modelling' you mean the fiddling, fettling and cursing type of modelling?

 

Definitely,

 

You don't need to curse to open the latest box from Bachmann so it can only be "proper" if you have cut or singed your finger and exercised your command of anglo-saxon!!

 

Keep up the cussing good work!

 

 

 

Mark

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Definitely,

 

You don't need to curse to open the latest box from Bachmann so it can only be "proper" if you have cut or singed your finger and exercised your command of anglo-saxon!!

 

Keep up the cussing good work!

 

 

 

Mark

 

In which case Mark I qualify, having had a recent tangle with a Stanley blade. Note to self - never take your eye off the ruler!

 

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Edited by brylonscamel
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Yesterday I took a set of photos showing how my busy diorama project can still be dismantled into component parts and reassembled.


I don't know if this is common practice but I found it reassuring to have access to everything whilst constructing the model. I feared for trapping things into inaccessible corners, making painting and adding scenic effects nigh-on-impossible!


It has probably made for slower progress but I'm happy with this approach whilst still in "learn mode".


 


All the component pieces ...


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Bridge and canal lock assembly


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The canalside factory


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The yard crane finds a hole among the cobbles 


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Est voila!


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Edited by brylonscamel
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  • 1 month later...

Despite the best efforts of life / Christmas / work to scupper my plans, I have made a bit of progress with Caledonian Basin.

The plan has been largely to see if I could 'kit-bash' some donated Metcalfe factory building packs into something that would fit nicely into a super-low-relief factory at the back of the elevated area in the diorama.

 

There is a mill/factory that used to stand at Dalmarnock that I tried to reproduce in styrene but it didn't fit the space very well - I'm hoping this one does the job better.

I thought of the idea for three reasons

  • Chris Nevard's inspirational article where he did a great job of tarting up and weathering the Metcalfe factory entrance and boiler house
  • The thought of cutting loads of arched window apertures in styrene
  • We are very lucky to have a cheap source of high quality printed and card punched models with Martcalfe - just that they are used so prolifically and suffer a bit from exposed card -edges and lack of texture

So here's some photos of progress to-date ...

 

The Metcalfe Factory gates get a twist, some additional stone capping and detailing and a side door and OK yeah I will touch up the visible card edges with paint

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How the complete factory will sit within the diorama box ...

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Some work to add interest to the roofs with styrene capping stones and some individual tiles ...

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Edited by brylonscamel
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