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  • RMweb Gold

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AGWI | An extract of the workings of Fawley Oil Refinery

Having missed out last year on entering and having loads of spare time in the coming months I thought I would try and enter the challenge this year.

It is certainly a challenging challenge this year but it does give you scope for ingenuity if you are that way inclined!

 

So, what to do?

Initially an idea from Halfwit was that I could build a diorama based around one of the hangars at Calshot. I did give this quite a bit of thought, but I wanted something even more challenging. And besides, I wanted to do something a bit different from my previous layout. Therefore I looked a bit further afield - quite literally! A few fields over and a mile (ish) down the road from Calshot village is Fawley - or to be more precise, Fawley Oil Refinery. The book I have on the NG lines of Calshot also includes the NG line at the AGWI refinery. They were pretty extensive and the lines stretched for miles around the site. I think I read somewhere that it was about 60 miles of NG track, although that could be wrong! laugh.gif

 

What part to model?

After reading the text and looking at photos from the book as well as a really useful collection of birds eye images I originally decided to opt for part of the aerial ropeway (for hauling tar in barrels) and the engine shed as well as a few other buildings. However, this would never fit on a board of 20" x 11" as I found out almost immediately, much to my dismay. I was about to give up when I realised that the title of the challenge was not 'layout' but 'diorama'. Bingo! after a re-flick through the book I found a photo of the aerial ropeway with barrels of tar being manhandled onto precarious flat wagons. This scene look perfectly modellable and so that is where I am up to now!

 

The visualisation

Not up to my usual standard, but I haven't quite got used to the new version of the software. Still, it should help to visualise it a bit better:

 

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The plan

 

 

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So that's where I am

Now, I must state that I am still not sure whether it will fit in the allocated space - time will tell I guess.

I'd appreciate what you think about my balmy idea!

Any suggestions for alterations let me know. biggrin.gif

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  • RMweb Gold

Thanks Gents, glad you like the idea biggrin.gif

And Paul, I have no idea how I'm going to model it, but I think I really ought to try and make it operational. Might look a bit silly though considering how short the ropeway is unsure.gif

I guess styrene sheets and angled stuff will be much used in this project. I'm not even quite sure how the rope way worked to be honest - I just imagine it being a kind of ski lift! I have only two photos of it, neither show it in much detail apart from one showing a tower.

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I think that you would be better off making this non operational. The extra details that you will be able to include are what will make it great.

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This sounds like an interesting idea, Jam – I like industrial themes (which I guess this one would be after all!) a lot :yes: . Be sure to keep us posted when you do go ahead!

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Thanks Kris. I feel you'd be right in saying that making it no operational would be better. To be honest, even the railway side of it doesn't need to be operational either. I do like to add small details so that will definitely play a major part in the layout.

 

Dominik, thanks. I will of course keep you all updated when I start in earnest. I a hoping that I can build a full size mock up today to get a feel for how it may look (and to check it all actually works!).

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Thanks Peter. Have you noticed how I am slowly gravitating towards Marchwood with my layout themes laugh.gif

Well the last couple of hours has seen me attempt a mock up. It did show up some of the faults of the design - mainly the dominance of the aerial ropeway house. The second set of photos show a possible amendment. Where the NG reaches the back of the board there will be a pipe bridge in a similar design to one at the Sittingbourne & Kemsley [sp]?.

I am really excited by this diorama now having seen what it may look like.

 

Oh yes, and by the way the backscene is in two separate pieces - one for the left hand of the Fawley oil refinery and one on the right hand of the salt marshes (at Keyhaven) - they seem to fit the diorama really well too. Note how I have gone for mainly horizon upwards and a hazy backscene to maintain a sense of space.

 

More to follow tomorrow I expect... biggrin.gif

By the way, the white bit of paper will be the huge storage tank, the pylon is representing the aerial ropeway and there is likely to be another pipe bridge on the extreme left over the SG to hide that backscene abruptness!

Original

 

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Potential?

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A productive day today as the baseboard was built. It took me rather much longer than I had hoped but it is done so that is the main thing I guess. Basically as the photos will shows I have decided to got for the maximum board size allowed. The framing is simple and the baseboard top is just thin hardboard. Normally I would use a more substantial mateiral to keep it all level, but since it is a diorama and not an operating layout it is not a major concern.The backscene is from the same offcut of hardboard. Vertical cuts were made to make bending it that little bit easier. It still meant that it split but it should still have enough strength for what I need it for. Anyway, the photos should sum up pretty well how far I have got! The first image shows some of the pipe bridges that will be built eventually.

 

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Here are some photos of aerial ropeways which might be of some help. They are not of the best quality as they're scanned from a 1930's catalogue of Mitchell Engineering products and installations which is grainy to start with. There are more, with some text, if they are of interest.

 

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Arthur

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What a great selection of photos!

Thank you Arthur. If you have any more photos and information available that would be brilliant please cool.gif

It's good to see some close ups of the aerial rope ways, I've not previously seen any that close. It does look a little precarious if I'm honest - I don't think you'd want to operate them in gusty weather! blink.gif

 

Thanks again.

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Just a couple low light shots I'm afraid for tonight as I forgot to take some photos in the sun earlier. I'll try and get some better ones up tomorrow.

Anyway, I did manage to get a tiny amount of stuff done today. The big oil storage tank for the rear of the layout has been started. I appreciate though that it does not show up well in the photos! It is constructed from plasticard (thickness between 1 and 2mm I think). It was cut to shape and then layed in boiling water for 5 minutes. It was then bent to the desired curve. Unfortunately it didn't bend as well as I'd hoped, but I think there is enough curvature for it to be noticeable. This will then have the blocks carved out and then the whole thing will be weathered. Handrails need adding on top and there will also need to be a couple of metal bands around the outside. I will also be buiding a staircase (somehow!) at some point. The thing also started was the pelmet and fascia. Made on Paint.NET and then printed off in 4 sections on a bit of A4 paper. Nothing is stuck on hence it all looking a bit forlorn!

 

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Oh yes, and sorry about the topic title, I couldn't help myself... huh.gif

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Arthur, thank you once again for the uploaded photos - I really appreciate it!

Are you going to make the sleeper spacing of the rear narrow gauge section match the front or is this hidden?

 

Well observed! Although it will be partially buried, yes I will change the sleeper spacing on the rear track. yes.gif

I am still in process of shuffling it all about trying to find what works best. There are loads of options its just working out which one to choose...

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This afternoon I have been fiddling with the plans and after drawing a sketch out on the whiteboard (or the equivalent PC term) I came up with this:

 

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To me it looks much more interesting and because not the whole of the ropeway house is modeled I can fit a bit more in. There is now a gate (I've called it Gate 'B') and a roadway as well as a few pipelines. To me, the most interesting part of the diorama will be the aerial ropeway, the AR house and the loading platform. The loading platform will have loads of tar barrels (suitable supplier for loose 1:76 barrels anyone?). and staff manhandling onto (as yet unbuilt) flat wagons. There will also be a very intriguing NG vehicle appearing when I have time to make it after the exams yes.gif.

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It might be worth moving the whole concept round by about 5 degrees. This will just take the parallelness off everything.

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It might be worth moving the whole concept round by about 5 degrees. This will just take the parallelness off everything.

That's a good point Kris, hadn't even come across my mind before.

This is it turned by 5 degrees:

 

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I agree it does make it look less angular. Would you say it's an improvement - I think it is? yes.gif

 

 

 

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Further to Kris' point here is the outcome of the altered plan. A vast improvement! cool.gif

The beginnings of the loading platform and ropeway house can be seen. I have decided that the ropeway house will have a fully detailed interior (something I've never attempted before!). Again, apologies for the rubbish photos... I will try and upload some clearer ones soon.

 

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I finally managed to sort out the problems I was having with the 3D modelling program. Here is the outcome of what the inside of a aerial ropeway house looks like (from what I can tell from photos anyway). You can see the complex metalwork and thus why it took so long to do, and it still isn't finished yet:

 

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I won't be able to fit all of this in on AGWI, but I'd like to model as much of it as possible.

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Very impressive 3D modelling images, really captures the look.

 

Here are the pages from the catalogue, hopfully the text will be legible, if not I can pm it at a larger resolution. You'll be able to identify the photos which I have posted individually, if any of the others look interesting I can post them individually too.

 

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Arthur

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