RMweb Premium Hal Nail Posted March 30, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 30, 2018 Wow - marathon day’s postings yesterday! Somewhere in there Railex caught my eye so looking forward to a viewing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 Wow - marathon day’s postings yesterday! Somewhere in there Railex caught my eye so looking forward to a viewing. Quite so. Maybe I should leave the Mac's keyboard alone and go and do some modelling... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Quite so. Maybe I should leave the Mac's keyboard alone and go and do some modelling... You and me both Chaz ! Appleman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Rich Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 not in the least. I honestly don't know. looking at the photo it certainly looks like it only has brakes on one side. Whether it has a lever on the other side as I think it should I can't say. You will forgive me if I don't spend the rest of the afternoon unpacking the stored-away layout to find it. Chaz I have often wondered with brake levers on one side only how much of a pain in the proverbial this must have been for the shunter if the mix of wagons meant the levers were on different sides, I assume he would have had some "trick of the trade" to get around the problem or were there alway levers on both sides but only brake blocks on one side of this type of wagon ? John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 They danced across the tracks, and occasionally got killed or maimed by the vehicles they were tending, hence the introduction of both sides brakes. A shunter was a dangerous occupation, particularly in wartime blackouts. It still is. https://www.railengineer.uk/2012/05/14/shunter-safety-the-industrys-hidden-concern/ Best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Rich Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Thanks Simon, interesting article. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 31, 2018 Author Share Posted March 31, 2018 Most of the Kappa board maquettes were broken up, either recycled or discarded, but that of the road bridge at the warehouse end of the layout lives on! The foamboard shell of the bridge which was the original maquette was good enough to be retained and developed. On the right you can see how the bridge and the warehouse building are cut away to allow cassettes to be pushed under them. Who pushed that scalpel blade into the baseboard top? And why? The pavements are formed of Kappa board as are the ribs shaped to get the road camber. Roads never look convincing flat IMO. The ribs have strips of thin card glued to their tops with PVA. The road surface will be glued on with Timebond - the thin card will be a barrier and will stop the solvent in the glue from attacking the foamboard. The photo above shows that end of the layout in a later stage. The bridge is partially covered with SE Finecast HIP brick sheets. I like these sheets, they are large enough to avoid the need for too many joins. Most of the brickwork on Dock Green was done with them. I painted the sheets before cutting and fitting them, but weathered the buildings later. The arched retaining wall on the right has a plywood baseplate so that there is a secure fixing for a couple of locating dowels but the arches have foamboard shells. This has the merit (as I said before) of being quick to work and very light when finished. Stringer courses, caps and bases were built up with overlays of thick card (artists’ mounting board etc) before the brick sheets were added. Chaz 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 (edited) Now, I could drone on at length about the the walls and bridges but I think you might have some difficulty staying awake so here's a brief list of techniques and materials that covers most of them... Kappa board shells, mostly built up as box shapes for strength. Glued together with PVA with dovetailed dressmakers pins to hold the joints together while the glue dries. Two or more layers of Kappa laminated together when necessary to get wall thicknesses. Blocks of pine or strips of plywood PVA'd inside the shell or to its underside where locating dowels are needed. Very large structures that'll be handled later can be stiffened with a length or two of pine section. Exposed edges sealed either with strips of card or at least a coat or two of PVA to protect the internal foam from solvent glues. Outer surfaces covered with HIP brick sheets or narrow strips of 0.6mm plywood to represent timber (platform decks etc) - HIP stuck on with Timebond, ply' with PVA. HIP pre-painted before cutting and fixing. Plywood can be stained with watered ink or painted. Ink can also be diluted with IPA. Inside surfaces of Kappa shells can painted with two or three coats of black, where necessary, to stop stray light passing through the sheets (bright sunlight from behind will - highlighting all the brush strokes on your HIP - I call this effect "radioactive bricks"!). There are two bridges on Dock Green for which I have a set of photos of the build as it progressed. I can post these, probably without text, if there is any interest. I would be quite happy to answer any questions relating to specific steps but I don't want to write out a full account. If you would like me to do this just click a "like" - if there's enough response I'll go ahead. Chaz Edited April 2, 2018 by chaz 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Now, I could drone on at length about the the walls and bridges but I think you might have some difficulty staying awake so here's a brief list of techniques and materials that covers most of them... Kappa board shells, mostly built up as box shapes for strength. Glued together with PVA with dovetailed dressmakers pins to hold the joints together while the glue dries. Two or more layers of Kappa laminated together when necessary to get wall thicknesses. Blocks of pine or strips of plywood PVA'd inside the shell or to its underside where locating dowels are needed. Very large structures that'll be handled later can be stiffened with a length or two of pine section. Exposed edges sealed either with strips of card or at least a coat or two of PVA to protect the internal foam from solvent glues. Outer surfaces covered with HIP brick sheets or narrow strips of 0.6mm plywood to represent timber (platform decks etc) - HIP stuck on with Timebond, ply' with PVA. HIP pre-painted before cutting and fixing. Plywood can be stained with watered ink or painted. Ink can also be diluted with IPA. Inside surfaces of Kappa shells can painted with two or three coats of black, where necessary, to stop stray light passing through the sheets (bright sunlight from behind will - highlighting all the brush strokes on your HIP - I call this effect "radioactive bricks"!). There are two bridges on Dock Green for which I have a set of photos of the build as it progressed. I can post these, probably without text, if there is any interest. I would be quite happy to answer any questions relating to specific steps but I don't want to write out a full account. If you would like me to do this just click a "like" - if there's enough response I'll go ahead. Chaz In my view you are certainly not 'droning on', on the contrary to are presenting a guide to others.. I looked at the 'Timebond' data sheet. How adjustable is it? A description of how you apply etc would be most useful. Do you coat both surfaces, how long do you let it dry for? Thanks again, Ernie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 (edited) In my view you are certainly not 'droning on', on the contrary to are presenting a guide to others.. I looked at the 'Timebond' data sheet. How adjustable is it? A description of how you apply etc would be most useful. Do you coat both surfaces, how long do you let it dry for? Thanks again, Ernie Timebond is quite adjustable. I coat both surfaces, spreading it thinly with a spreader. It's not necessary to do the whole of a large area - an inch wide strip or so all round the edge and a big "X" across the middle will suffice. I wait until they are touch dry (usually 5 to 10 minutes) and then the skin can be lowered onto the shell. You can move it around, lining it up with the edges or whatever other datum you have arranged until it's right. I try to get it as close as possible to the right position as I lower it. Once adjusted it can be firmed down - bearing in mind, of course, how easy it is to crush foamboard with too much pressure. If you are adding plastic sheet this will help to spread the pressure (like a wood pad does under a G cramp). One other thing about Timebond - a fresh tin or tube is easily spread, as easily as butter or soft cheese, but once it starts to go stringy it's best discarded as it will be very difficult to spread it on a surface without getting lumps or dollops which will not flatten. These will show once the skin is on. HTH Chaz Edited April 2, 2018 by chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 The two bridges I mean to illustrate the build of are pictured. The first will be the road bridge near the goods platform. This has a shell of Kappa board, as do the support piers. I ought to give full credit to Peter, who did most of the work on this bridge, including the design (having let slip that he had built one in 4mm!). The other bridge I will illustrate later is the railway bridge. Because of the type of this bridge the only Kappa board used is in the supporting piers, the rest is formed of HIP, both sheet and sections. The series on Peter's bridge will start soon. Chaz 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 ...... Glued together with PVA with dovetailed dressmakers pins to hold the joints together while the glue dries. I'm probably being thick Chaz, but I can't picture what you mean by 'dovetailed' pins - would you happen to have a photo that illustrates this? Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 (edited) I'm probably being thick Chaz, but I can't picture what you mean by 'dovetailed' pins - would you happen to have a photo that illustrates this? Keith Yep, Keith this will probably do it.... The problem is that pins pushed into Kappa board don't grip very well - the material is just too soft. So if you push a row of pins into a joint they will not hold - they can slide out as easily as they went in. If you push them in in pairs, slanting opposite ways (in the shape of a dove's tail!) and the joint tries to come apart one set of pins wants to slide one way - the other set are in opposition. A trick I was taught when in short trousers building a model boat from balsa wood at "Model Club" after school. HTH Chaz Golly - I seem to have answered your question about 20 minutes before you asked it. Edited April 2, 2018 by chaz 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share Posted April 3, 2018 OK here we go with bridge #4 (counting from the left). What I am going to do is put a couple of pictures on each post which show stages in the build. I will not be including text (apart from this) so feel free to ask any questions you might have. Full credit is due to Peter for most of what follows. Chaz 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Yep, Keith this will probably do it.... Golly - I seem to have answered your question about 20 minutes before you asked it. Many thanks Chaz, that's very helpful - it should solve a problem that I've had trying to use foamboard in the past! Also, do you think I could borrow your time machine when you're not using it.....?! Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share Posted April 3, 2018 Also, do you think I could borrow your time machine when you're not using it.....?! Keith Sorry mate, it has to be bolted securely to the floor and I've lost the spanner..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share Posted April 4, 2018 Bridge #4 - 2 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Western Star Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Also, do you think I could borrow your time machine when you're not using it.....?! Keith Sorry mate, it has to be bolted securely to the floor and I've lost the spanner..... Spanner? Just leave yours inside a Class 47... all you need is a sonic screwdriver and most children have one of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin.a.ball Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Hi Chas Thanks for the pictures on walls and bridges which is very much in my planning at the moment. You mentioned in a previous post that stringers, caps and bases are made from mount board then covered in brick. How do you avoid this looking like brick glued on white card glued on to brick. In the most recent photos of Peter's bridge the base detail looks like it has a brick course at the joint with the wall, is this scribed on later? Same question for how you formed the arch caps on the retaining wall. Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share Posted April 4, 2018 (edited) Hi Chas Thanks for the pictures on walls and bridges which is very much in my planning at the moment. You mentioned in a previous post that stringers, caps and bases are made from mount board then covered in brick. How do you avoid this looking like brick glued on white card glued on to brick. In the most recent photos of Peter's bridge the base detail looks like it has a brick course at the joint with the wall, is this scribed on later? Same question for how you formed the arch caps on the retaining wall. Martin We don't glue the mounting board over the brick - the brick is cut to fit up against the card. This makes for a good snug fit. The top edge of the card is cut at a 45 degree angle. (I buy card offcuts from a local picture framer. He sells the middles of mounts he has cut and these have angled edges.) This can be painted with a brick pattern - it won't stand up to close scrutiny but then everything on Dock Green is done with average viewing distances in mind. A refinement might be to use a filler to close up the gaps that you get at corners. I didn't bother - remember, average viewing distances! The arch caps (keystones) on the retaining wall were scribed up. A long strip of (20 thou' I think) HIP wide enough for the arches was marked up with a centre line. Then I used a quality compass with a divider point rather than a pencil to mark out the top and bottom curves. The "dent" in the plastic where the compass was pivoted for the bottom curve was highlighted. This was then used to lay out the joints in the keystones. Using a scriber to form the grooves between doesn't work very well - the scribed line is too fine, so I use a scalpel "held sideways". Hold the scalpel so that the blade is a right angles to the line, with the flat back of the blade against a straight edge. Slide it sideways and it will scrape a "V" which shows up much better than a scriber line. Sorry I don't have a photo' of this! Two or three passes might be necessary but be careful - scalpel blades can break if you press too hard and the point can go anywhere. Once the courses have been grooved the curves of the arch can be cut. Be careful with the finished arch - the grooves make it easy to break - best to form it and then glue it to the wall immediately. HTH Chaz Edited April 4, 2018 by chaz 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share Posted April 4, 2018 Spanner? Just leave yours inside a Class 47... all you need is a sonic screwdriver and most children have one of them. Sonic screwdriver - useless! The nut-threads have sooper dooper grade Loctite on them. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
railwayrod Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Nice work Chaz. The tip about using mounting board and your local picture framer is a very useful idea. Next time I am in St Marychurch I will go in and ask him to sell me some. Rod Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share Posted April 4, 2018 Nice work Chaz. The tip about using mounting board and your local picture framer is a very useful idea. Next time I am in St Marychurch I will go in and ask him to sell me some. Rod My picture framer sells them as a bag of various sizes, thicknesses and colours for a couple of quid. If no-one has asked him before yours might give you a freebie! If the pieces are too small for him to use for other frames they are a bin job anyway. Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 Bridge #4 - 3 Peter has just bought the bridge round to try it in place. A piece of detail from me to fit on the end of the bridge. Chaz 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I "liked" that little fence first time I saw it, and I still like it! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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