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Fenwick Pit: a North East Colliery in 2mm


Geordie Exile
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I've made some pleasing progress on the washery today.  Having marked out the plan on the plastic card, I then removed the window and door apertures, followed by the inset brick panels, and finally the outer walls themselves.

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(Hadn't realised how blurry that photo was - too late, I'm not doing all that again)

 

All of the edges of the apertures for the recessed brick panels were then lined with microstrip (miles of it - going to have to order some more!) and the panels glued in place.

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I'm now adding the window frames, again using very thin microstrip, and adding some depth to the arches.  They'll be visible from all angles, so I've got to create the impression of really chunky arches supporting the rest of the building.  That's one wall finished, and I'm knocking it on the head for tonight.

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Another good day's progress, and I'm quite pleased with the results so far.

image.png.f37d1bb91ec435c88b0ac283f6519960.pngimage.png.b9fd5c4e8753162684e7fc5db8f08937.png

I've got a lot of desk-clearing next with so much scrap plasticard! The plan is to black out the backs of the glazing, so there's still a reflection but the lack of internal detail won't be visible.

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19 minutes ago, nick_bastable said:

lovely buildings but please consider swapping to finetrax  or better still easitrac 

 

Nick B

 

 

Hey Nick.  When I do (eventually!) get to the track, my plan is to use Code 55.  I'm not intending to use any of my existing, 20+ years old rolling stock so shouldn't have any problems with flange sizes.  The settrack in the picture was just to make sure everything still fits.  I've not heard of finetrax or easitrac - will pay a visit to Google!

 

***Edit: dammit, both look better than Peco's offerings, so yet another decision to be made! ***

 

Richard

Edited by Geordie Exile
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Richard

 

modern n should run through code 40 without issues 

 

1600-080117065113.jpeg

 

code 40 v peco 

 

worth the effort with your building skills

 

Nick

 

you updated during my post I will retire for the interim

 

 

Edited by nick_bastable
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14 hours ago, nick_bastable said:

Richard

 

modern n should run through code 40 without issues 

 

1600-080117065113.jpeg

 

code 40 v peco 

 

worth the effort with your building skills

 

Nick

 

you updated during my post I will retire for the interim

 

 

Hi Nick

 

I'd forgotten I'd picked up a Wagon & Track Sample Pack from the 2mm FS stand at Perth last summer.  I've put the track together, and it does look so much better.  Fortunately I've still got lots of building work to do before I have to decide. 

 

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Somewhere earlier in this thread I commented that my original plan was to recreate a reasonable facsimile of a generic North East colliery, and I've ended up counting bricks, disappearing into the rabbit warren of the internet for photographs so I can reproduce Fenwick Pit as closely as I can!  I suspect I know which way I'm going to end up going...

 

R

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16 hours ago, Geordie Exile said:

Another good day's progress, and I'm quite pleased with the results so far.

image.png.f37d1bb91ec435c88b0ac283f6519960.pngimage.png.b9fd5c4e8753162684e7fc5db8f08937.png

I've got a lot of desk-clearing next with so much scrap plasticard! The plan is to black out the backs of the glazing, so there's still a reflection but the lack of internal detail won't be visible.

 

If you can find any shiny/glossy black card, you can add both glazing and blocking at the same time.

Stu

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Looking good. Stick with clear glazing and don't forget to take out a few random panes and break a few others. Black is an unrealistic colour and needs a light overspray with track dirt. If possible, try and fix it so it doesn't quite touch the back of the glazing. This is extra work but your building deserves it.

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22 hours ago, doilum said:

Looking good. Stick with clear glazing and don't forget to take out a few random panes and break a few others. Black is an unrealistic colour and needs a light overspray with track dirt. If possible, try and fix it so it doesn't quite touch the back of the glazing. This is extra work but your building deserves it.

Thanks for this, Doilum.  It's too late in the case of this building, but there are a few more to go so I'll give this technique a go.  I'm using a thick (1mm) super clear acetate for the glazing, which gives a really good reflection when painted on the back, so the effect is still decent, but I like the idea of giving it more depth. 

 

And there's no way I can remove any panes - they're just over 1mm x 1.5mm and I'll just destroy the frames in the process (although prototypically I've not seen a single broken/missing pane in any of the photos, so I'll claim that as the reason rather than the difficulty in modelling it!).  

 

Richard

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1 hour ago, Geordie Exile said:

Thanks for this, Doilum.  It's too late in the case of this building, but there are a few more to go so I'll give this technique a go.  I'm using a thick (1mm) super clear acetate for the glazing, which gives a really good reflection when painted on the back, so the effect is still decent, but I like the idea of giving it more depth. 

 

And there's no way I can remove any panes - they're just over 1mm x 1.5mm and I'll just destroy the frames in the process (although prototypically I've not seen a single broken/missing pane in any of the photos, so I'll claim that as the reason rather than the difficulty in modelling it!).  

 

Richard

Good idea making the glazing structural in a small scale. A light sanding with 2000 grade paper on the inside will also help prevent unwanted reflections. Keep working to the photos!

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Question, oh knowledgeable folk of RMWeb.  I'm now doing the slurry settling cone.  Did these things have a lid on?  There's an inspection platform which makes me think not, but maybe it was to allow access to the pipe feeding in at the top.

 

image.png.d606e9f1edf1a022e586327976455555.png

 

(Didn't the people who took these really useful photos realise that our models based on them are almost always viewed from above?  Option 2, of course, is build the entire layout at eye level...)

 

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10 hours ago, Geordie Exile said:

Question, oh knowledgeable folk of RMWeb.  I'm now doing the slurry settling cone.  Did these things have a lid on?  There's an inspection platform which makes me think not, but maybe it was to allow access to the pipe feeding in at the top.

 

image.png.d606e9f1edf1a022e586327976455555.png

 

(Didn't the people who took these really useful photos realise that our models based on them are almost always viewed from above?  Option 2, of course, is build the entire layout at eye level...)

 

They didn't usually have a lid. There was a walkway across the middle.

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If you look on the Pleasley Colliery website there is an excellent description and explanation of the coal preparation process. Most collieries with a Baum jig washer seem to have the conical styling tank, often made in concrete.

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Frydale has a settling pond. After painting the bed it was overlaid with 3mm perspex. This had been lightly sanded and lightly oversprayed Matt black. When dry, much of this was scrubbed off with a skotch pad. Once installed a layer of clear resin sealed the edges and was finally finished off with several applications of dirty varnish. The aim is to give an impression of depth to something you wouldn't be able to see through.

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4 hours ago, doilum said:

Frydale has a settling pond. After painting the bed it was overlaid with 3mm perspex. This had been lightly sanded and lightly oversprayed Matt black. When dry, much of this was scrubbed off with a skotch pad. Once installed a layer of clear resin sealed the edges and was finally finished off with several applications of dirty varnish. The aim is to give an impression of depth to something you wouldn't be able to see through.

 

Thanks, Doilum.  I'll play with these options - I just need to make sure I don't dissolve the thin plasticard that makes the cone.

 

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12 minutes ago, Geordie Exile said:

 

Thanks, Doilum.  I'll play with these options - I just need to make sure I don't dissolve the thin plasticard that makes the cone.

 

An inner come perhaps. Better still, one made from black plasticard. One problem with thin white plasticard is that,even when painted, it tends to remain translucent.

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That's me done for the night.  The slurry settling tank is structurally complete, but a lot of detailing needed.  Pleased with the results.

 

image.png.aae6d482995b9cf8222e7c584d81df2e.png

 

(And Doilum, you can tell the difference in terms of translucence: the washery is painted black inside; the cone, well...)

 

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1 hour ago, Geordie Exile said:

That's me done for the night.  The slurry settling tank is structurally complete, but a lot of detailing needed.  Pleased with the results.

 

image.png.aae6d482995b9cf8222e7c584d81df2e.png

 

(And Doilum, you can tell the difference in terms of translucence: the washery is painted black inside; the cone, well...)

 

How did I learn?

On Houghton Street I modelled an old door fence on the allotment. No amount of paint would kill the translucence. If only I had used 20thou black for the core layer!

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  • 3 weeks later...

The washery and slurry settling cone are now painted, and I'm building up the external detail in stages: add, paint before it's inaccessible, add some more, repeat!  It's a tight fit to get the loco under the spoil chutes and between the legs of the cone, but that tight fit is happily prototypical.

 

Here's what it's supposed to look like, sort of; there were significant changes to the facing gable end by the time I'm modelling around 1970 compared to the as-built 1926 version.  I'm struck that the bucket conveyor feeding into the gable and the two emerging from the washery machinery look to have been afterthoughts, as the lovely brickwork is then cut into to allow entry/exit.

 

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(Photo credit: J Tuck Collection, from "Backworth: An Illustrated History of the Mines and Railways" Elliot & Charlton, Hilton Iron Works (Houghton le Spring) 1994)

 

And here's progress on the 2mm version.

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I've got the angles of the spoil conveyors wrong, but it's too late to go back and change it now.  I'll add those wheels when I find appropriate candidates - I spent a frustrating few hours today trying to make them myself by grinding out metal washers and playing with thick plasticard, but neither method got even close!  Next steps are the exterior pipework and the access platform at the top of the building.

 

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