Copenhagen Fields

[CF MRC]

The refreshment rooms are now complete, but the side stairway does rather make it look like a dodgy London maisonette conversion. 


I think it will look OK in context.  Knocking out buildings in three days makes me think it’s time to have a go at something else. 

It will be predominantly hidden by York Road viaduct, but CF is all about making the viewer look hard to find interesting corners. 

Tim

Edited January 27, 2021 by CF MRC
Added photo

[jcm@gwr]

I assume the order is oldest (covered stairs)

to newest (pediment, with gable roof)

[CF MRC]

5 minutes ago, jcm@gwr said:

I assume the order is oldest (covered stairs)

to newest (pediment, with gable roof)

Afraid you are 180 degrees out, Jeff. The gabled roof just didn’t look right - it had a bit of a continental look. The hipped roof is also more true to prototype. The stairwell was covered, as can be seen in the prototype photo, but the stairs are scarcely going to be visible on the layout. 
 

Tim

[jcm@gwr]

Ah, I had assumed that they were in reverse chronological order of the prototype,

not the real chronological order of the model, if you see what I mean!

[CF MRC]

That’ll do for the time being: it’s a bit impressionistic, but then aren’t all models?

Tim

 

[bécasse]

Wonderful what some paint and weathering can do. All semblance to a dodgy London maisonette conversion has disappeared and miraculously it now looks just like the typically GNR "backyard" building that it actually was.

[garethashenden]

What do you use for a base colour for London brick? I feel as if I've asked this before but I don't remember.

[CF MRC]

Funnily enough Gareth, I took a bunch of photos of the paints used in this building and then deleted them as being a bit boring, so I have recovered them specially for you.

The first coat is Farrow & Ball ‘London Clay’ to give a dullish background, and ‘Downpipe’ for the slates.

The yellow brick colour is then added with a wash of ‘Afrika Corp Tan Yellow’.  More care was taken with the chimneys and window/door lintels painted in a red oxide colour (‘Picture Gallery Red’) and the chimney flaunching and the windowsills in ‘London Stone’. The sloping roof was given a wash with the Lifecolor ‘Roof Grey’. 

The brickwork was then darkened in places and given some richness using Lifecolor ‘Sleeper Grime’ mixed in situ with the tan yellow colour. some individual bricks were picked out with either colour and any dodgy brush-marked areas painted out.  White and ‘Weathered black’ were mixed and used for the lead flashing, whilst the sloping roof had further coats of ‘Roof grey’ mixed with Lifecolor ‘Weathered black’ and F&B ‘Downpipe’ - which was also re-applied on the main roof. 

The final weathering was achieved with some feint washes of ‘London Stone’ to ‘bring the whole lot together’ and, most importantly, the use of ‘Dunkel grun’ washes to darken areas with rain run-off and add mosses & lichens.

In the this close up photo, the potato warehouse roof furthest away has had a wash on its north face, the one nearest hasn’t  - the effect is very subtle, but it really brings the model to life. 

Finally, the thing that brings the layout to life is colourful advertisements, figures and vehicles. The advertisements help massively in this view: the wall and pavement have recently been weathered.

The use of bright red patches is an excellent way of drawing your eye into a scene.  
All of the brick colours are applied in washes, rather than discrete colour blocks and it is an impressionistic way of painting, rather than slavishly painting brick by brick: that is needed occasionally for decorative patterns, but I tend to favour letting the eye see what it thinks it sees. 

I hope these ramblings are of some help, I would strongly recommend that people give the dark green washes a try around areas that are north facing, damp i.e. near the ground, or where people rub. 
 

Tim

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by CF MRC

[mullie]

Far from being boring that was a fascinating post. Where I live, it is difficult to get modelling paint and I can't use anything with strong fumes so over the years I have used Tamiya and Games workshop paints from the local Toymaster but don't often go there,  artists acrylics, anything I can find in DIY shops, talc, chalk, charcoal, water colour pencils and Barbecue ash!

 

With a growing family at the time I probably saved loads of money too.

 

Looking forward to seeing the layout in the flesh one day, the recent MRJ photos were superb.

 

Martyn

[garethashenden]

Thanks Tim. That explains why there's so much depth in the model, with all those washes.

[Lacathedrale]

I'm sure this has been seen before, but I just came across it - scenes from what I think are CF at around 6:15 onwards:

 

 

[bécasse]

Excellent. Almost certainly winter 1956-57. It wouldn't have been much different - some diesels, most carriages in maroon - when Keen House opened three years later.

[CF MRC]

That is a much better quality version than others I have seen William. Thank you. 

Tim

[-missy-]

Watching that film certainly gives you an understanding to why steam was phased out so quickly! What a horrible, dirty, and smelly place that was.

 

J.

[Grovenor]

Funny it didn't seem so filthy to those of us growing up in it, but it really was! I do remember the state of my shirt collars after a day out. Almost an unimaginable world now.

[grahame]

1 hour ago, Grovenor said:

Funny it didn't seem so filthy to those of us growing up in it, but it really was! I do remember the state of my shirt collars after a day out. Almost an unimaginable world now.

 

Yep, the steam era was filthy. I remember when as a youngster and travelling with parents being constantly told not to touch anything and don't look out of the window otherwise you'd get smuts in your eyes. Things didn't really improve until the smokeless fuels acts.

 

[CF MRC]

4 hours ago, -missy- said:

Watching that film certainly gives you an understanding to why steam was phased out so quickly! What a horrible, dirty, and smelly place that was.

 

J.

Who in their right mind would want to make a model of it!  With all the animal related industry in the vicinity of Copenhagen Tunnel it must have been pretty dire. Go back a 100 years and it was even worse:

http://catsmeatshop.blogspot.com/2010/09/lost-london-belle-isle.html

 

Tim

Edited February 12, 2021 by CF MRC

[2mm Andy]

5 hours ago, -missy- said:

Watching that film certainly gives you an understanding to why steam was phased out so quickly! What a horrible, dirty, and smelly place that was.

 

J.

I think an estate agent might describe it as "having atmosphere and character"....

 

Anyway, the ending to The Ladykillers wouldn't have worked nearly as well without the smoke and grime (and the infamous signal!) of Belle Isle;

 

 

Andy

[CF MRC]

Not a major amount of work, but it just finishes off an entrance. 

 

Tim

[John57sharp]

Fantastic clip, thanks William

[Nimbus]

On 12/02/2021 at 09:32, bécasse said:

Excellent. Almost certainly winter 1956-57. It wouldn't have been much different - some diesels, most carriages in maroon - when Keen House opened three years later.

Yes. Could perhaps get a bit more precise if given the date of 67793's works visit - it has acquired the later emblem, and has yet to get filthy.

 

The Nim.

[east barnet andy]

Tim , this may be sacrilege to even contemplate . . . .but CF needs loads of  road vehicles , so would you ever contemplate buying in , say , a dozen Oxford Diecast 1930s taxicabs , to stick on 

York Way? 

when i was a nipper , in 1952 or so ,  my dad took me up to KX to meet a family he'd been billeted on in Cape Town in 1942 ish , who were passing through London ; long story. but I , being about five years old , was impressed by the quantity of cabs there,  (and also by the giant bunch of bananas sitting on  the luggage shelf  of our cab alongside the driver ) ( but that is yet another story ) .

any thoughts?

regards

Andy. 

 

 

 

[bécasse]

Surely the answer with at least the more common and semi-standardised road vehicles (buses and taxicabs in particular) would be 3D printing.

[CF MRC]

Watch this space Andy...

Taxis would have been going up and down York Road, but our patch is certainly a long way from where they would park up. The Oxford Diecast models are good in parts, but vehicles near the front of CF need to be very fine. 

 

Tim

 

[CF MRC]

It is quite amazing how long it can take to fettle even a good white metal kit into something decent. 

More on the way...

 

Tim