Torre Station - Western Region in the 1950's in P4

[Captain Kernow]

18 hours ago, MPR said:

I’m a big fan of compact mainline “bitsa” designs like Torre, they offer a lot of potential in a small space. If anything, if I was starting over, I would go even smaller than the 8’ x21” that Torre takes up

Couldn't agree more, Martin. I have plans for a 'pastiche' of Travellers' Rest in the Forest of Dean for my next P4 layout after 'Callow Lane', on a board 5' x 15".

 

Returning to these recent photos of your layout, the clean lines of your workmanship and the precision displayed are just superb.

 

[DavidLong]

1 hour ago, Captain Kernow said:

 I have plans for a 'pastiche' of Travellers' Rest in the Forest of Dean for my next P4 layout after 'Callow Lane', on a board 5' x 15".

 

 

The Forest beckons! Hurrah! Anything to do with Model Rail's 16xx tanks?

 

Back to Torre. Superb work, Martin, and without consuming acres of domestic space. So glad to see the recent updates. Look forward to seeing more of your progress.

 

David

[Captain Kernow]

4 hours ago, DavidLong said:

 

The Forest beckons! Hurrah! Anything to do with Model Rail's 16xx tanks?

One will probably feature, but there are also various other pannier types waiting to be used.

[MPR]

A slightly nerve-wracking day today, as the back scene was assembled. This had to go right first time -  I didn't buy any spare foam board and it is a very difficult material to fill and drill if a mistake is made.

As per the plan, this was to be in two layers - the front being split into two pieces, the rear into three.

The first step was to set the boards on edge and align, prop and clamp all five pieces.

The boards were set up on edge and the securing bolts tightened. A straight edge was used to ensure that the horizontals were aligned. Both the front and the rear boards were then carefully aligned and secured with every clamp I could lay my hands on.

 

The boards are 3 inches deep, so the mounting holes were drilled in pairs at the 1.5" and 2.5" marks. 

 

John (Re 6/6) recommended M4 countersunk screws and wing bolts, these have worked very well. The holes were clearance drilled to 4.5mm.

As each pair was completed, they were deburred and the screws fitted, working from one end to the other.

Half way there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by MPR
Duplicated images removed

[MPR]

The final holes having been drilled, I took a deep breath and screwed all the pieces together. It was a great relief when everything stayed aligned -  this will help disguise the join in  the sky as well as possible.

The front will be cut down at a later date, when the structures are fully set out.

The general idea is shown by these sketches - the foam board is 5mm thick, so there will be significant relief possible.

This also meant that I wasn't in a position to properly bed in the sides - this will have to wait for another day.

The other end of the layout, again missing the side board.

Edited April 18, 2023 by MPR

[MPR]

Now that this phase of the backscene is complete, I was able to reassemble all the structures. Attention will move to completing detail, texture and colour on the front of the layout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by MPR

[MPR]

I’ve reached the far end of the layout with the tile grout. (hooray!)

Post-it notes were used to mask off the platform wall, which has already been painted.

A few minutes scraping and levelling with the spatula was all it took to complete the basic coverage. It has already dried and been rubbed down, I will fill and make good a few damaged areas tonight.  The scriber will then be deployed for the setts directly in front of the station entrance - mercifully the only such area, as the rest was tarmac/chippings.

Edited April 20, 2023 by MPR

[vectispete]

It is certainly taking shape. Can’t wait for you to bring it alive with colour and detail. Keep up the good work.

[Oldddudders]

As I am an occasional user of Torre station - on arrival from France via Eurostar and GWR, Sherry meets me and whisks me off to her home in Cary Park, Babbacombe - I am enjoying watching this emerge. While much of the station is still extant, it looks a bit woebegone, and i am learning what I missed. 

 

Finescale modelling in every sense. 

[Bogie]

This just keeps getting better and better.

 

The potential detail is amazing.

[MPR]

Since the last update, the setts have been marked out in front of the station building. As the area is now mostly tarmac, I had to guess their size from a couple of 1950s photographs. I went for 10 inches x 4 inches nominal - with an allowance for gaps, I pencilled out 3.5mm x 1.5mm rectangles along the pavement edge. 
None of my scribers were fine enough, so I cut the head off a track pin and clamped it in a pin chuck.

I have now started the process of scribing the setts out - even for the limited area needed, this is going to take some time. Fortunately, any mistakes are easy to correct with a little more grout.

Edited April 20, 2023 by MPR

[Captain Kernow]

51 minutes ago, MPR said:

Fortunately, any mistakes are easy to correct with a little more grout.

Sometimes, with the setts at least, errors can be left in situ, as they add to the character!

 

[MPR]

On 16/02/2020 at 22:09, Captain Kernow said:

Sometimes, with the setts at least, errors can be left in situ, as they add to the character!

 

Yes, I’ve definitely contributed to the character of the build over the last couple of evenings

After the first session, I thought I’d done very well, until I realised that all those setts totalled just 2 1/2 inches.

I’ve speeded up a bit since, but you really, really need to be in the right frame of mind for this game.
Only 12 inches left to go.

Edited April 20, 2023 by MPR

[Siberian Snooper]

Looks very good, it takes a while, but the end result is well worth it!

 

 

[Southwich]

Just found this thread - the trackwork and buildings are absolutely stunning! 
 

Looking forward to more progress!

 

Will

[MPR]

Having finished a first pass along the complete length, I tried removing the blanking plate for the first of the drains. It came cleanly away with no damage to the surrounding grout, so I cleaned the edges up with a chisel ended scalpel and trial-fitted the etched drain cover. I was pleased with the result - and felt enthused enough to move back to the endless refining of the shape of the setts.

Edited April 20, 2023 by MPR

[D1059]

Wow - SERIOUSLY impressed with the modelling skill here - the buildings are wonderful - can't wait to see them painted

[Captain Kernow]

The drain cover looks great amidst the cobbles, Martin.

 

One thing that I also do, is to mark the cobbles out in pencil, to ensure that the width of them is more or less consistent. I also have a small jig to get the length correct (or consistent), but I find that I rarely need to use that.

 

[MPR]

3 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

The drain cover looks great amidst the cobbles, Martin.

 

One thing that I also do, is to mark the cobbles out in pencil, to ensure that the width of them is more or less consistent. I also have a small jig to get the length correct (or consistent), but I find that I rarely need to use that.

 

Thanks Tim, the etch wasn’t very expensive, particularly for the lift it gives to the scene. The setts are not as quite as uniform as I would have hoped - I did mark out with a pencil as you suggested, but didn’t get the lines as equally spaced as I really needed - a simple jig would have been a good idea. I am correcting a bit as I open up the joints with a thicker needle, but ultimately will probably redo the worst 5-10%  (cunningly hidden off-scene in the photo above!) The good news:

a) Errors are very easy to rework! 
b) the cobbles are really small 

 

Best Wishes

Martin

Edited February 20, 2020 by MPR

[MPR]

Well, I’ve finally reached the end of the road. The drain covers all fitted in place without problems, so now it’s time to get some colour down.

I tried my test patch in place, but think it’s a little too rough as it stands, so I’ll try a few further test pieces off the layout before I commit.

I’ve got a couple of colours of Attwood Aggregates material in roadstone and dust grades, plus some grey PECO scenic dust and talcum powder. The base colour will be acrylic on the grout, enamel on the styrene.

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by MPR

[The Great Bear]

Exquisite modelling, such attention to detail and execution...

[MPR]

A little more progress - the first colour has been applied. I mixed a little tan into light grey Tamiya acrylic and applied it with a fine brush in a fairly thick, even coat on all the setts to seal the surface. An even finer brush was then used to paint the drain recess matt black.

The setts came out both darker and shinier than wanted, but this will be corrected with dry brushing a lighter shade over the top later. The paint was left to dry and a very slightly browner mix was made up to paint the kerb stones.

I’m not too worried about the edges - these will be made good when the tarmac is laid.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by MPR

[Jub45565]

Thanks for covering this technique in the detail you are - I have some setts inside my loco shed to sort, which are quite different to any commercially available.  For some reason I was shying away from home made options, but you're showing that it is perfectly achieveable (and can always be reapplied for take 2 as necessary!).

[MPR]

Last night I trialled some of my new materials on part of the goods yard. By the 1960s it had been cleared and was looking very dingy, and as I don’t have any good photos of this area ten years earlier, I have decided to replicate this look, in the knowledge that it will be very straightforward to correct later. Besides, I wanted to try out the Attwoods Aggregates scatters that I had bought. I started by decanting some of each bag into some jam pots saved for this purpose. 

The roadstone grade is like N gauge ballast or a little finer, but the scenic dust really is very fine indeed. The letter codes are intended to obscure which quarries the materials come from, but are I believe entirely plausible for the area I am modelling...

 

 

The PECO dust is comparable in texture, but a slightly darker grey.

To stick  the material down, I started with Tamiya light grey acrylic, which I painted over the area to be covered. I tried a test piece first with the dust, it is important to keep the paint layer even in order to keep the uptake of dust even.

 

I used an old tea strainer to scatter the material, this proved to be great for the roadstone, but a little coarse for the dust. I loaded it, a bit at a time, from a teaspoon.

The paint soaked up the dust readily, so I added more until this ceased. When the paint had thoroughly dried, the excess was brushed off. This left a rough surface, with a well adhered, but slightly coarse finish, more so than I would have expected from the grade of dust applied. However, rubbing this my finger produced the finish above, which was smooth, but completely matt. It will be ideal for the tarmac surfaces, with all three colours plus weathering powders to mix up the shades.

 For the next trial, I wanted to see if acrylic paint alone was enough to retain the roadstone grade material. I mixed both colours of Attwood Aggregates scatter, then added further (very fine) yellowier ballast material to give a more varied look. This was scattered thickly over the acrylic, then further dust scattered over the top.

This was added to until no further wetting of the dust was visible, left for a few minutes, then lightly brushed off.

The finish obtained is seen below. The base colour adhered well, and was thoroughly matted down by the dust, but the paint alone was not enough to hold the roadstone sized material everywhere, leaving a slightly patchy appearance with bare areas and colour that was rather more uniform than hoped.

The next layer will add a little PVA into the mix to provide a better bond, and I will mix up the colour and texture a little to add more variety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by MPR

[Bristol_Rich]

For applying the dust scatter, instead of using a tea strainer why not load some into an old stocking/tights and scatter appropriately. Would be controllable and limit waste?