Dewchurch

[Gopher]

The Sand House

[Gopher]

More views of Station Road Dewchurch

Edited July 8, 2020 by Gopher

[Gopher]

Station buildings.  I now have two of them for Dewchurch, having just completed the Petite Properties kit..  Not sure which I prefer.   Photos below show the the  current Townstreet Models Building 

Edited July 9, 2020 by Gopher

[Gopher]

Here we have the new station building.   Different type of building, and being laser cut, more finely detailed than the excellent plastercast building.  I added a few bits to the kit, gutters, drain pipes and the station canopies.   Being single storey you do get a better view of  Station Road behind.  It strikes me as more of a branch line station building, but I think does not look totally out of place on Dewchurch - which is meant to be a largish town.   I suppose that I could imagine that there is another larger station somewhere in Dewchurch,  and that my station was always the smaller and poor relation, with limited facilities.              

 

  

[Gopher]

More photos of the new building in situ.  

[gwrrob]

As someone who has used both Townstreet and Petite Properties buildings on your layout how would you say they compare side by side. I fancy a pub on mine and weighing up the options available to me in all ranges.

[lmsforever]

Looks good makes the area seem larger my building went together well and sits comfortably on the layout ,enjoy.Chris

[Gopher]

1 hour ago, lmsforever said:

Looks good makes the area seem larger my building went together well and sits comfortably on the layout ,enjoy.Chris

Thanks Chris,  yes great kit to make and a nice looking building

[Gopher]

3 hours ago, gwrrob said:

As someone who has used both Townstreet and Petite Properties buildings on your layout how would you say they compare side by side. I fancy a pub on mine and weighing up the options available to me in all ranges.

Hi Robin,  I am a fan of both (as you can probably tell).  The Townstreet kits have a wider range of subjects (including a pub).  The kits contain some great detail (considering they are plaster cast).  Very easy to make, but inevitably you have to file bits or use filler to get a good finish on some of the joins (especially the roofs).  I use white PVA to stick the parts together.  They do not come with instructions, but there are so few pieces it is easy to work out how it goes together.   They take paint really well (I use Humbrol enamels for the kit) ,and then Tamiya acrylics for the weathering.  They look good when built.  There is very good relief on the brick and stone casts, so the finished article looks very realistic if painted properly.   Closer examination can reveal some minor faults in the casts, (slight warping in the wall or roof sections, or small holes where there were air bubbles in the plaster).  Most of these issues can be solved by good preparation during construction,  (filling, filing etc).  Some kits come with etched windows, other have the windows cast into the wall.  So the window frames can look a little thick when viewed closely.   My engine shed, sand house, one of the water towers, one of the station buildings, and quite a few of the low relief buildings are Townstreet.  The completed buildings have a real solid presence.    

 

Petite Properties do not have the same range of buildings as Townstreet (but they do have a country pub).  Their kits go together beautifully.  So no need for filing or filling.   Excellent instructions with each kit.  Easy to add interiors, and interior lighting (if that is your thing) .  You have the choice on how to finish them.  Brick or stone paper, embossed plasticard, Redutex (my favourite),  pebble dash etc.  Same with the roofing.  The windows and doors are finely detailed.  The bits that need painting take paint well.  You need to add guttering, drain pipes etc.  I think the finished article looks very good, and probably contains some finer detail than the plaster cast buildings.  Certainly the doors and windows are more finely detailed.  They are cheaper than Townstreet, but you have to factor in the additional cost of the other materials needed to finish them.  

 

If I jump off the fence, I have a slight preference for Petite Properties because of the ease of build and the flexibility, choice of applying different finishes.  I also think (depending on how well they are finished), they stand up to closer scrutiny.   They produce a more consistent and subtle result.   

 

Hope this helps.           

                    

[gwrrob]

Thanks for that. I've built a Townstreet corner shop but like the idea of a PP pub alongside, hence the query. Seen their stand at numerous shows but wondered about the finish of them, the Redutex option [plenty of different finishes] sounds promising. Maybe when you get a minute you could post what the instructions for their kits look like or even pm me.

[Gopher]

27 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

Thanks for that. I've built a Townstreet corner shop but like the idea of a PP pub alongside, hence the query. Seen their stand at numerous shows but wondered about the finish of them, the Redutex option [plenty of different finishes] sounds promising. Maybe when you get a minute you could post what the instructions for their kits look like or even pm me.

One thing I forgot to mention Robin is the windows with Petite Properties are printed acetate (like the old Downesglaze).   These tend to be white, but you sometimes get an alternative with some kits black or dark grey.   So basically you are stuck with white window frames (although some kits have nice patterned glass).

 

Sorry I had not realised you were already au fait with Townstreet.  I was going to post some photos from my archive showing my original Townstreet signal box and goods shed.   First Townstreet kits I made and you can see how badly I made them.

 

I'll dig out the instructions from the Petite station building and scan them and PM them to you.           

[gwrrob]

Just been drooling over Chris Nevard's build of Parson's Cottage into a Bell Inn on Facebook, it's a shame for his copyright that I can't share it. That kit sounds like it's very popular.

[Gopher]

5 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

Just been drooling over Chris Nevard's build of Parson's Cottage into a Bell Inn on Facebook, it's a shame for his copyright that I can't share it. That kit sounds like it's very popular.

Chris is a very talented modeller, his results are always excellent, just checked out the Bell Inn - brilliant.   I think Petite give you a very sound basic structure to enhance/finish as you please.  So a cottage can become a pub, I used their Marshalwick house for my post office building. 

 

I always visited their stand at Warley, and thought I must have a crack at one of their kits.  If you have not used Redutex before - it is pretty easy to work with,  can be lightly weathered,  can be a bit costly,  but one sheet does go along way as long as I do not make too many c*** ups.   

[Gopher]

Monkton Farmhouse back yard.  A bit more scenic work required to hide the gap under the stable.  Amazing what the camera uncovers

Edited July 11, 2020 by Gopher

[lmsforever]

I recently aquired a couple of Id Backscenes  products which have proved very useful ,BM020 wood fencing and roof tiles which can be weathered easily.In each pack there are ten sheets and they are self adhesive and easily used ,worth a try .Chris

[Gopher]

5 hours ago, lmsforever said:

I recently aquired a couple of Id Backscenes  products which have proved very useful ,BM020 wood fencing and roof tiles which can be weathered easily.In each pack there are ten sheets and they are self adhesive and easily used ,worth a try .Chris

Thanks Chris - I'll check it out.   

[Gopher]

Good shed is empty - as  night begins to fall

[figworthy]

9 hours ago, Gopher said:

 

 

Nice touch with this one with the light coming out of the shed on to the line.

 

Adrian

[Gopher]

12 hours ago, figworthy said:

 

Nice touch with this one with the light coming out of the shed on to the line.

 

Adrian

Thanks Adrian, more luck than judgement, but does give a certain ambience.  

[lmsforever]

A friend put me onto this site  modelrailways  scenery.com  interesting products and nice people .

[Gopher]

Crew of the Pannier have a break whilst shunting, cattle seem unconcerned. 

[Gopher]

Latest addition to the fleet, Bachmann Class 117 DMU.    I painted the carriage foot boards a wood colour, weathered the whole unit (heavier weathering on the underframes).  Changed the destination blinds to something more appropriate for the area I model, added drivers, added a sound decoder, and after much thought took the plunge and upgraded the speakers.  The new speakers are an improvement on those pre-installed in the model.  It is a lovely model and replaces a class 108 which I part exed to buy this.       

[Gopher]

The Veg patch

[Gopher]

Bachmann Class 117 leaving Dewchurch.  Excuse the dodgy camerawork.  I was trying to multi task -  operate the layout with one hand and shoot the video with the other.  The unit has a Digitrains sound project on a Zimo Plux 22 decoder,  and I replaced the pre-fitted speakers with two small 25x25x7 megabase speakers from Road & Rails.  

Edited July 16, 2020 by Gopher

[Gopher]

47xx being spruced up