John Ahern's Model Building Plans

[Chubber]

Another book that I would be very reluctant to lose is 'A World of Model Railways' by P.R. Wickham, 1949, Percival Marshall & Co. Ltd.

 

[It does not seem to be very well listed, but this link to Rev. Audry's books might interest you.. https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/P.R._Wickham ]

 

The book is a delight, he was a fine technical artist and for the times writes with an easy fluid style. Subjects as diverse as practical means of constructing O.H.L.E.  and a working practical girder swing bridge are clearly illustrated, layout planning, scenic backgrounds and perspective et al.

 

Produced only in a dull brown board cover, it makes an interesting and absorbing read.

 

Doug/Chubber

[ABeal]

Message for Chubber

I noticed your comment about trying to trace copyright for Edward Beal's material. I don't know the answer but if you contact me privately (anbeal@btinternet.com) I have some information which might be helpful.

[Pacific231G]

On 28/04/2020 at 03:51, SteveyDee68 said:

Just taken a look on eBay and Amazon for Mr Ahern's classic book - silly money + silly money postage from the USA on eBay, or paperback from Amazon for £56.

 

Guess I'll be giving it a miss! 

Just keep looking. The original Percival Marshall edition from 1949 may be quite rare now  (though I have all three) but a second edition was in print until the end of the 1970s at least  so they can be found at sensible prices. I happened today to go through a partwork from 1974 called History of Model and Miniature Railways (down to the usual standard of such publications but with  a few interesting articles and photos) and in a well written article by Cyril Freezer on 'simple workshop techniques' he made this comment.

"On the subject of card modelling we can do no better than to recommend John H Ahern's "Miniature Building Construction" (Model and Allied Publishers)  Although written in the mid 1940s it is not one whit out of date."

I don't think it's out of date even now so it's well worth getting hold of.

[autocoach]

So the Percival Marshall first edition was published in 1949.  There is no date in my treasured copy and I assumed it had been written sometime during the war due to the rationing references.

[Pacific231G]

14 hours ago, autocoach said:

So the Percival Marshall first edition was published in 1949.  There is no date in my treasured copy and I assumed it had been written sometime during the war due to the rationing references.

It may have been slightly earlier as I've seen a 1947  reference to Miniature Building Construction though my original like yours is undated and the revised edition is listed as reprinted in 1950 (though my later copy  is a 1955 print)

Miniature Locomotive Construction is listed in my MAP* edition as first published in 1948 and Miniature Lansdcape Modelling is copyright 1951 but that may be a revised edition.

Rationing continured for some years after the war and in some aspects actually got more severe as Britan's economy had been devastated. Timber, needed for reconstruction, was very restricted as were many materials such as metals that were diverted towards exports. You see this in the post war Model Railway News which in 1948 & 9 were actually smaller than the wartime editions which were themselves a bit smaller than normal.

John Ahern wrote a lot of articles for MRN during the war and in the years after, starting in 1940 with a couple on locomotives, but his first building article AFAIK was Bert's Garage and Cafe in September 1940. Curiously the caff is advertising 'hot dogs' and you can see the start of the Madder Valley in bare boards form around it. The same photo appears in the book on p115 probably from the same printing block as MRN was published by Percival Marshall. Quite a number of the photos illustrating the book had appeared in MRN but his MRN articles didn't go into so much detail.

The first appearance of the MVR as a complete layout was in March 1942 in an article curiously titled 'More News from Madderport' which included a plan (of Madderport not the rest). It's curious because there doesn't  appear to have been any earlier reference to Madderport as such. 

 

* Update

MAP (Model Aeronutical Press- soon renamed as Model & Allied Publications) bought the Percival Marshall organisation, including MRN, in November 1967. 

I have both the PM 1956 and MAP 1973 versions of Model Locomotive Construction . MAP's version is a paperback with a slightly smaller page size.  The actual pages are completely identical but with far narrower margins so it's clearly a litho reproduction (but a very clear one) of Percival Marshall's original letterpress version.

Edited May 17, 2020 by Pacific231G

[Pacific231G]

2 hours ago, col.stephens said:

Drawing BC12 - Small country station with attached living quarters

 

And, finally, one from Mr. Beale's 'Modelling the Old-Time Railways'...

Page 113 - Ornamental Type of Goods Shed (still under construction)

 

Terry

Very nice models Terry and I think somewhat above John Ahern's standard. How closely did you follow his constructional methods?

Taken from the background of a couple of my photos of the MVR so a bit  small. Here are JHA's models from two of those drawings (or possibly vice-versa)

 

 

 

I couldn't find the barn or the village shop in any of my MVR photos though I'm sure they're there.

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by Pacific231G

[simonmcp]

1 hour ago, col.stephens said:

Thank you so much for your kind comments and the photos of JA's models.  I didn't follow John Ahern's constructional methods too closely.  For instance, he advocated laying out the elevations of a building as one piece on thin card and folding same to create the corners.  My method is more akin to Scalescenes kits.  I usually produce each elevation separately from mountboard and cover in Scalescenes brick/stone paper before assembling them to form the shell of the building.  If anyone is interested, here is a link to the village shop build:

 

http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=15266&forum_id=14

 

and to the lighthouse:

 

http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=9614&forum_id=14

 

I can post other links if anyone wants to see the builds of the other buildings.

 

Regards,

 

Terry

Absolutely stunning stuff Terry, incredibly neat.

Simon

[SteveyDee68]

10 hours ago, col.stephens said:

Thank you so much for your kind comments and the photos of JA's models.  I didn't follow John Ahern's constructional methods too closely.  For instance, he advocated laying out the elevations of a building as one piece on thin card and folding same to create the corners.  My method is more akin to Scalescenes kits.  I usually produce each elevation separately from mountboard and cover in Scalescenes brick/stone paper before assembling them to form the shell of the building.  If anyone is interested, here is a link to the village shop build:

 

http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=15266&forum_id=14

 

and to the lighthouse:

 

http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=9614&forum_id=14

 

I can post other links if anyone wants to see the builds of the other buildings.

 

Regards,

 

Terry

 

Terry - those structures are first rate.  In fact, I like your rendition of the lighthouse so much that I may use that instead of a freelance "town wall tower" in my faux Great Yarmouth setting for "Woodhey Quay", especially as the great JA used it at the end of his harbour wall.

 

Do you have a build write up of the goods shed you are working upon, perchance?  I am currently attempting to emulate steal a small warehouse design from Alex's Frost Mill layout, but your little shed may be more in keeping!  Sadly, I don't have the drawing because the copy I found of Modelling The Old-Time Railways turns out to be just the dust jacket, wrapped around the RSPB Book of Birds!  Sadly, no sight of the original contents!

 

 

Steve S

[Spotlc]

 A lot of inspirational stuff here!  I've had a very battered copy of Miniature Building Construction for years, and I have recently made a few 3mm scale structures for a little project, one of which was this pub, loosely based on Ahern's sketch of the Duchess of Albany.

 

The Duchess of Albany was an Ushers pub in Salisbury (still there, I think, no longer a pub and much altered, into shops and an army recruiting centre!) This version is intended for a diorama set in East Anglia, so I have rendered it as a Dales of Cambridge house - the name is fictional but has real life precedents. It isn't finished - I hope to fit lighting at some time in the future, and perhaps some interior details, but this is my first foray into 3mm, so I'm taking it steady! 

 

Cheers, Mike

[kandc_au]

Bloody Lovely!!!!!!!

Khris

[Spotlc]

Khris, many thanks for your kind words !!

 

Mike

[Spotlc]

Terry, many thanks for your kind words!

Bert's Garage has truly been transformed by the new owners - really lovely work Terry,  Bravo !  

[hayfield]

Whilst browsing through a second hand shop there were a few old model railway catalogues

 

This was with them which caught my eye

 

 

More interesting was the regional prefixes for number plates

[joppyuk1]

Hayfield - this little book was an adjunct to the Modelcraft selection of road vehicle plans, mainly busses and lorries with a few cars from the 1950s, all at 4mm scale.

[SteveyDee68]

John Ahern's book is currently available at the bargain price of £47.20...

 

Wouldn't it be nice if the copyright holders could be found and persuaded to print it again in paperback? Given some of the models shown here, it might even be worth "updating" each project with colour pictures of more modern efforts to act as inspirations/guides to what might be achieved.

 

Plus it might bring the cost down a little!

 

Steve S

[DCB]

5 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

John Ahern's book is currently available at the bargain price of £47.20...

 

Wouldn't it be nice if the copyright holders could be found and persuaded to print it again in paperback? Given some of the models shown here, it might even be worth "updating" each project with colour pictures of more modern efforts to act as inspirations/guides to what might be achieved.

 

Plus it might bring the cost down a little!

 

Steve S

 

I guess they will be on the best sellers shelf in Waterstones at that price.  Guess I'll wait for Home Bargains to get them in.

I think I paid £2.50 for the Ahearn loco construction book, from the South Devon Museum at Buckfastleigh

[hayfield]

I think they may have a curiosity value, but that's it. More modern books are available plus the internet using methods for products now freely available

 

However I feel a book perhaps with drawings of properties of the time would be a useful modelling resource, though these could come from Peco's library over the past 70 years

[ikcdab]

On 18/01/2021 at 08:35, hayfield said:

I think they may have a curiosity value, but that's it. More modern books are available plus the internet using methods for products now freely available

 

However I feel a book perhaps with drawings of properties of the time would be a useful modelling resource, though these could come from Peco's library over the past 70 years

I tend to agree. For around a fiver you can download a Scalescenes kit and you will see from that very well how to build a robust card building. From that it is a very short step to designing your own using the Scalescenes techniques. I use a drawing package on the laptop for accuracy.

I did exactly this and produced this...

 

 

I was inspired by pictures of Winchester station. Used elements of Scalescenes medium station building. Google is the source for pictures of many buildings. Having said that, if I saw Aherns book for a couple of quid, I would buy it!

Edited October 4, 2023 by ikcdab

[grahame]

6 hours ago, hayfield said:

I think they may have a curiosity value, but that's it. More modern books are available plus the internet using methods for products now freely available

 

However I feel a book perhaps with drawings of properties of the time would be a useful modelling resource, though these could come from Peco's library over the past 70 years

 

Yes, it's straightforward (I won't say easy as some people struggle) to make a model, from scratch, of a building, but it is essential to have reference, in the form of drawings and/or photographs, to provide inspiration and to work from.

 

 

[Spotlc]

On 18/01/2021 at 09:35, hayfield said:

I think they may have a curiosity value, but that's it. More modern books are available plus the internet using methods for products now freely available

 

However I feel a book perhaps with drawings of properties of the time would be a useful modelling resource, though these could come from Peco's library over the past 70 years

 

I think to some extent it depends on the period of one's interest. Many of the illustrations in the book are of buildings and styles which have disappeared, but which could easily be appropriate to a considerable timespan, say from the 1920's until the 1960's.

True, they are largely sketches rather than dimensioned drawings, but there are some accomplished modellers on this forum who have convincingly demonstrated that with careful and sympathetic interpretation these sketches can produce the most delightful and realistic models.

The same can be said of card kits, either as downloadable files or pre-printed. With one or two exceptions they are all of generic designs, but they still make up into attractive buildings for a model railway.

An exact scale replica of a particular building or group of buildings is quite another thing, and is defined as architectural modelling, which, as you suggest, requires far more detailed information than a sketch can provide.

In the past we relied on the printed page, both photographs and drawings, the last often painstakingly produced, but the advent of the internet, high quality domestic printers and scalable vector graphic programs make the task easier now.

The printed design book is still a valuable resource, and one of my favourites is EricPlans, by Eric Illett, a series of booklets of scale drawings that were a superb example of the draughtman's art, and a delight to look at still, but I suppose they could also be called curiosities now!
(The original editions were published by Photomech of Cheltenham, and are much superior to the rather heavy handed printing of the Peco versions)
Best, Mike

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by Spotlc

[t-b-g]

If some of those buildings illustrated earlier have been built using these sorts of methods, I would say that there is nothing outdated about them at all.

 

Some sections of the loco building,  relating to the products, motors and drives from back in the day, may be out of date but many of the modelling techniques are the same ones I use today and they still work.

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, col.stephens said:

would be delighted to hear of any other publications dealing with making buildings from card.  I am always keen to add to my collection of reference materia

Buildings For Model Railways by Maurice Bradley published by David and Charles 1983

 

Others that use mainly plasticcard but mention card or have techniques that can be used in card:

 

Creating Model Buildings by Geoff Taylor Wild Swan Publications

 

Making Urban Buildings For Model Railways by David Wright  Crowood Press 2013

Making Rural Buildings For Model Railways by David Wright  Crowood Press 2013

 

Scratchbuilt Buildings The Kirtley Way by Peter Smith maybe self published?

 

[Chubber]

 

If Ahern buildings such as the cottage below ever become outdated or irrelevant, it will be time for me to hang up my craft knife and glue pot...No doubt if he were writing afresh today, he would include CLASP buildings, multi-storey car parks et al.

 

 

 

Take a drive around the Shires [Covid permitting] and have a look at all the irrelevant and outdated buildings, or, if you are rural-phobic, walk around your town scene and lift your eyes above the plastic 'Clinton Cards', 'Pound Shop' and 'Macdonalds' facades to see the outdated and irrelevant buildings they have been grafted to.

 

Douglas

[Pacific231G]

On 18/01/2021 at 08:35, hayfield said:

I think they may have a curiosity value, but that's it. More modern books are available plus the internet using methods for products now freely available

 

 

I couldn't disagree more.

I scratchbuild my buildings in card, paper and foamcore. I use modern adhesives  (Deluxe's 'Roket Card Glue' is particularly useful)   I use a computer to design amd modify them from original images , to print out the elevations, often several times for overlays and raised details, and even to print the wallpaper used inside rooms as well as any signage (either reduced from images of real signs or created using various font files) . The buildings I model are not even British. I have several books on my shelves about modelling technques for buildings and a file of articles from magazines but they mostly stay on the shelf.  

 

BUT, Architectural references apart (mostly referrred to at the design stage),   when I'm working on a building I quite often refer to Chris Pilton's Cottage Modelling for Pendon because, though my skills are nowhere near that league, it includes some very useful tecniques. However, the book I refer to most often is John Ahern's Miniature Building Construction.

Products have changed, and it is, for example, far easier to get good quality card than it was in the 1940s and foamcore was unknown as were the architectural detailing parts from Ratio etc. Neverthelss, the basic approach and methods are still completely relevant as is Ahern's knowledge of the fundamentals of architecture.

 

FWIW Here are four images from a model I built a few years ago showing stages of construction.

 

From this original postcard view....

I was able to generate elevations on the computer which is a lot easier for me than hand drafting which I'm not good at.  (I follow John Ahern's technique of laying out all four wall elevations together and folding them to produce a box- though it's usually overlaid over a foam core shell)

 

 

The interior construction, including light wells, came next and I probably included far more detail than I needed (but it was fun to do)....

 

and this was the finished building.

 

Now , this is not Pendon by a thousand miles (and the doors are too narrow). Ikcdab and Chubbers' buidlings shown in this topic are far better than mine but I can at least be sure that no other layout will have a model of this building.

 

This more recent building was designed from scratch and inspired by several real buildings  and its odd shape is to fir between a quayside and a street with the railway running down it behind

 

 These images should make it all too obvious that almost any modeller could achieve results as good as and probably better than mine but, by using these time proven techniques, I can create appropriate buildings for my layout to fit a particular site and don't have to wait for someone else to produce a kit. That notion is definitely inspired by john Ahern. 

 

Slightly OT but one good thing about producing elevations on the PC is that they can be printed onto thin card and used to make accurate mock-ups to try on the layout. In the past week, I saved myself a great deal of work by doing just that for a building that I thought would be ideal to add some foreground interest alongside the building above on the quayside in front of the Café Restaurant.  Placing it on the layout it just didn't look right so I won't build it and will think of another way of breaking up an empty space.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2021 by Pacific231G
tidying up of English

[Chubber]

Alternatively, look at Edward Beale, Railway 'Modelling in Miniature' [no ISBN] for 1940s, many scale building drawings including full info for a UK 30-40s sawmill, wagon repair shops, etc.

 

Or 'Modelling the old time railways' by the same author. These men wrote 'how to do it' before plastic moulding was invented and their techniques still astound me after years of studying heir work.

If  you are getting that keen, then 'Building Construction' by WB McKay Vols 1-3 should be on your list of 'must haves'. These 1950s volumes originally produced for the 'Clerk of Works' examinations have been re-printed in one modern volume [AFAIK]

 

Finally, though intended for plastic [yech!] modellers, David Rowes 'Architectural Modelling in 4mm scale' [Wild Swan] contains plenty of good advice, interesting methods of window construction and 'How to measure and scratch-build a real building' stuff.

 

Douglas