cakebox 3 City breaks in London and Paris

[Colin_McLeod]

On 28/08/2019 at 14:51, 47137 said:

I think the hardest part of the model will be representing the track, because Victoria should have BH with a third rail, and Gare du Nord should have FB without. ....

 

- Richard.

 

You could have two pieces of track, one flatbottom and one bullhead with third rail. Have the join hidden under the carriage and obscured by the platform.

[DMU]

Richard this looks really good.

[47137]

5 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

You could have two pieces of track, one flatbottom and one bullhead with third rail. Have the join hidden under the carriage and obscured by the platform.

 

This passed through my mind, but the third rail is always on the side of the track away from the platform - which doesn't exist here. So, essentially I settled on British sleepers and French rail, and "made" the track so I could keep my own modelling inputs limited to traditional materials like wood and metal.

 

- Richard.

[Mikkel]

5 hours ago, 47137 said:

So - the base is mostly done now. The colours are simple greys and browns, plus a blue around the edge:

 

These all tone with the colours of the coach - blue and grey outside, and brown inside:

 

 

This is extremely stylish Richard. I also like how the taxi areas are similar but not quite the same.

[Northroader]

Could you have respective coppers keeping an eye on things?

[47137]

19 hours ago, Mikkel said:

 

This is extremely stylish Richard. I also like how the taxi areas are similar but not quite the same.

 

Yes I do want to end up with a stylish sort of a model, but I didn't want to say this because I'm not trying to follow a particular style. The taxi ranks and kerbs are designed to put some asymmetry into the model, and I am deliberately staying away from traditional model railway finishes. In particular, the face of the Victoria platform is bare wood and not a brick paper, and most everything I am doing myself is in its raw state and not painted. The inspiration for this is the architectural models made in white with details drawn on in pen, but I've moved away from this to insert colour and rely on the form of things instead of detail. Arguably the people might be plain white or grey, but I think these need to be in full colour because they are the actors here rather than the train.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

17 hours ago, Northroader said:

Could you have respective coppers keeping an eye on things?

 

 

I like the sound of this but there are two snags. One is, I don't have a clue whether the Parisian one should be a member of the National Police or the Gendarmerie. I know the National Police would be in a large town or city, but if the role here is National customs or security, which would it be? Also I don't have any suitable figures.

 

The Preiser British police people are 00 not H0, but the funny thing is looking at your photo I'm sure an 00 one standing head and shoulders above the holidaymakers would look fine!

 

- Richard.

[Northroader]

Preiser do police figures in HO, both French and even English, but I fear when you factor in the cost, it’s rather salty for what you’re doing.

[47137]

29 minutes ago, Northroader said:

Preiser do police figures in HO, both French and even English, but I fear when you factor in the cost, it’s rather salty for what you’re doing.

 

Agree - the project would lose all sense of proportion if I bought some of these.

 

Yesterday I picked up a Skaledale pillar box for a very modest sum, and I think this will say "Great Britain" well enough on the Victoria platform. I've shortened it by 2mm or so and added a new plinth, and it can go near the taxi rank.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

These are the model people:

 

I found a British policeman in a bag of unbranded figures, it was moulded in a soft creamy plastic. The others are Preiser with extra luggage glued on. I might be able to convert the one at the left into a Gendarmerie officer, but I've never tried to alter figures this small before. These are all in Halfords grey primer. There is a porter too, it fell off the girder before the photo and is now back in place.

 

- Richard.

Edited September 23, 2019 by 47137

[DMU]

I like the figures Richard, will look nice once painted up.

[47137]

On 23/09/2019 at 10:34, DMU said:

I like the figures Richard, will look nice once painted up.

 

Bearing in mind the figures are well under an inch tall, and this will be a competition entry to be judged by my peers, I'm not sure whether this is supportive or a challenge :-)

 

Here they are, my very best attempt.

 

I couldn't understand why I was so uncomfortable until I realised I was holding my breath for ages each time the brush went on. I have no white paint at home(!) so the bobby had to have a blue shirt.

 

- Richard.

[DMU]

Richard you have done a great job painting up the figures.

[47137]

I have added a turntable underneath the base. I bought the bearing for this many years ago, for a pizza layout I still haven't started. It seems sensible to try it out here to see whether it can improve a model. This diorama is helped by not having any wiring back to a controller.

 

I ordered up the circle of ply with a square of ply to make the baseboard, they took ages to arrive so the model has the mdf you can see in the pictures. The brace under the base is going at a right angle to the platforms, and the front of the Victoria platform is structural too - so the base cannot twist.

 

This leaves me to fix the Paris skyline (this is underway now) and add the people.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

I have been pondering the positioning of the cut-out Paris skyline for a while. The simplest option is probably to set it as low as possible, and this seems to suit the model where I expect most viewers will be looking down onto the model rather than across it at eye level.

 

So I have put the skyline as low as it can go. It is sitting on three lengths of piano wire, I can trim these after the Araldite has set.

 

Looking at a map of Paris, the skyline is geographically reasonable for a view across Gare du Nord, with railway entering the scene from the left and the buffer stops to the right.

 

- Richard.

Edited September 27, 2019 by 47137

[47137]

The backscene has ended up quite sturdy,  a lot stronger than I expected - good.

 

I have added the people using thin brass pins pushed into holes in the figures and the baseboard, the pins are painted to match the ground surface. This lets me turn the figures to adjust where they seem to be looking, or pull them out and put them somewhere else. The pillar box has a brass pin too.

 

The people have rather transformed the model. I couldn't really visualise how the end result would be without them, and they won't stand up unaided.

 

I am very happy :-). I have wanted to make what I will call a "clean" model for ages. "Clean" meaning without loose granular material, weathering effects or obvious painting. My original idea was for an all-white model in Bristol board with colour on only the coach and taxis and figures, but I think the coloured paper works better.

 

I shall stop now - I cannot make the project any better by adding anything or taking anything away. I hope the scene is stylish but is still viable as a scale model.

 

Here is the model in its cake box:

 

This leaves me to take the photos for the submission, I might tweak the figures to do these.

 

- Richard.

[47137]

I have never ever made a model so difficult to photograph! The backscene gets in the way, it should have been detachable. The coach gets in the way too - the scene is designed to "draw your eye into it" but the camera is too big to get into space. And the coloured papers are totally matt and pastel shades to boot, and need a lot of effort to get any light to come back off them.

 

So - I've taken 50+ shots and worked them down to ten:

 

Welcome to London

 

I think the lady is glancing wistfully back towards their compartment, though she it looking at the corridor side of the coach.

 

The porter is bringing their bags from the fourgon, located at the front of the train.

 

The pins holding the figures are less obtrusive than they look here, and I think they would pass for hiking sticks.

 

 

Our Arrival In Paris

 

Why don't you LISTEN? The "fourgon" was a special wagon to put our bags in, not a funny French word!

 

Oh look! Is that a policeman? I wonder if he has a gun?

I don't care if he has a gun - have you still got our passports?

 

YOU'VE got the passports, in your hand with the tickets; I've got the extra suitcase. Anyway - stop fretting. It's only a short walk to the taxi.

 

 

Yes you're right. And the breakfast on the train great wasn't it?

 

I never expected to arrive quite so close to the sights. You sit in the front beside the driver.

He's sitting on the wrong side of the car!

...

 

The completed model

 

A friend suggested an outline of London landmark such as Big Ben, but I thought this would overload the scene. I found the Hornby letter box at a show and I think this is better.

 

The model accepts viewing from all sides, the tricky thing now is choosing the photos for the competition.

 

Finished with two days to spare.

 

- Richard.

[Northroader]

It’s a great concept, and you’ve put a lot of craftsmanship and artistry into carrying it out. Very well done.

[Neil]

Love the result. There's something of the posed sharpness of an advertising campaign there; brilliant.

[DavidA]

This is quite visionary Richard! The model tells a comprehensive story without words, and the stylistic approach you have chosen is logically, consistently and holistically applied. Well done!

[Mikkel]

Great result Richard. Not only very creative thinking, but you've also managed to actually execute it - which as we all know is the hard part. The skyline is a whole little innovation in itself.

[Colin_McLeod]

A great model Richard. 

[47137]

I don’t know which place I came in the competition (it must be from 2nd to 8th), but thank you to everyone who voted for my model, and also thank you for the kind comments and feedback.

 

I really enjoyed making this. The funny thing is, after making layouts on and off since the mid 1970s, this is the first time I have ever tried to depict a real location. Obviously very stylised, but tackling two major termini in an 8 x 8 inch square was always going to need a lot of compromise. Having a fixed end date helped me to decide what to do and be able to call the project finished.

 

I am very happy with the result. It is a “scale model” in terms of the modelled parts and details, but with the emphasis on neatness of construction and finishes using raw materials in the place of the usual paint and scenic dressings. I think my main inspiration for the style was the railway posters from the 1920s and 30s, but the idea for the general arrangement came from nowhere except somewhere inside my peculiar mind and a quick look at the timetables for the 1950s.

 

It was good to make a complete model using models and bits and pieces to hand. I had to buy the wood for the baseboard and the platforms, the coloured paper for the platforms, and the two taxis. And of course the skyline. There is plenty of the paper left over, it would be good for some natural stone finishes. The DS is very “Paris”, but I can use the other models on my layout. The FX4 was quite a find really, introduced in the late 1950s and still on the roads today.

 

This is my first attempt at fixing H0 scale figures using pins. I’ve done this for 00 and it is easier for 00 because the legs are thick enough to drill holes and hide the pins. They do show here of course, but more in photos than to the naked eye. I can pull the figures off the model or move them if I want to.

 

If I had started earlier I would have tried to rework the coach to show the interior (a bit like Chris's excellent camping coach) and I might try this one day. The work will involve making the roof easier to remove and replace, and cutting away some moulded parts across the top which give the model its strength. So it needs care. I don’t think I could dare remove one of the sides.

 

The coach is destined for a “VIP/special” train on my layout, where it can run with a Mk1 catering vehicle and a brake. This will need more mods to the coach, because its “true to scale” nature makes it derail on the succession of curves and gradients on the hidden part of my layout.

 

- Richard.