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Traeth Mawr -Building Mr Price's house , (mostly)


ChrisN
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3 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Oh goody, a bay platform. I can just picture your short coaches in there (rubs hands).

 

That is the theory, and my GWR rake is sitting in it at the moment waiting for the painters to turn up.  I will have a number of through coaches that may have to be stored there as well, but the longest of these will be short GWR bogies, the rest are mostly 6 wheelers.  Are?, er, will be.

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I would like to say that I am getting straight on with the platform,...... but I cannot, although it may be a quick thing to finish.  (How many times have I thought that!)

 

Over half term we went away to sunny Wales, on the Cardigan Coast with my eldest son, and family.  I obviously took some modelling with me and had decided when I bought them that the three Chris Cox wagon kits would be just the thing.  I also took a Peco station as I suspected that if grandad was modelling then grandson would like to do it as well.  Also, I took some Milliput to make some more hats.  My grand daughter had met the doctor's daughter, asked if she had a name and so was introduced to her family.  She then said that I ought to have models of her and her brother, so I took some figures for them to chose who they were.  I will need her parents as well.  (I have her dad as a nine year old or so but that is not very appropriate now.)

 

I also took with me all my sheets of plasticard, and all my Evergreen/plastrut strips.  We were due to stay in a converted school house and I wondered if there might be some old furniture there, and I was once very cross with myself when I went to stay at a friends and found they had a Welsh dresser and had to cut the strips for the panelling and I was disappointed in the result.  You can see where this is going?

 

Well, there was this amazing chair. so well, I had to build it.  It was solid wood with a drawer in the bottom, it had arms and a high back.  So first, two pieces of 20 x 40 thou plasticard were cut and glued short side together.  A piece of 15 x 125 thou of strip was then glued to the front and a piece of 20 x 40 thou glued in the middle of the back of these.

 

 

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and from the other side.

 

 

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I used polystyrene cement.  I then measured and cut the two front uprights.  These had to be wider at the top than the bottom as the piece next to them slopes.  Of course the photo does not show that.  

 

 

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I then cut a panel to go over the front, and in this scored and darkened where the drawer is.  The piece was cut away to leave projections into the seat, but about half a mil or so was left above the top of the base block as It seemed that it would be more accurate to file down the front panel to fit.  The back piece of plasticard was also filed to the same angle as the side pieces.  The back was then cut, glued in place and shaped with a file.  Here it is from the front,

 

 

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and the back.

 

 

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I then cut the two remaining side panels.  AS it was important that they were exactly the same, I found some Blu Tak, stuck them together and filed them until they were the same length and width, (yes they were measured and cut to the same size but....), then they were shaped.  Here they are having been separated.

 

 

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I suppose someone is going to say, "Where is the chair you are copying?"  Oh, alright then.

 

 

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No, I have no idea what is peeking round from the back.

 

 

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You can see why I just had to model it.  You will also notice that the seat projects out from the base slightly.  I cut a piece of plasticard to roughly fit and put in it two notches so that they would fit over the pieces at the front.  I then filed the piece until it fitted the seat.  It took two goes, but I did not think that it was worth trying to cut exactly.  I then cut two small rectangles and cut a wedge off the end, and glued these to the top of the side pieces.  When dry, I filed into rough shape.

 

 

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From the back

 

 

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At this magnification I need to get some very fine sandpaper or something and give it a smooth.  It is nearly done, just need a handle for the drawer and to check the space between the arms is wide enough to sit someone in.  I will then have to decide, is that paint job original, or a later addition, although it does not look artificially distressed.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

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Amazing. The table behind the chair next I suppose?

Now you need to have it somewhere so it can be seen, not hidden in a dark corner of an unlit interior.

I assume that the pew would still have been in the chapel in 1895 - and fairly new at that.

You obviously need to take more visit to the Cambrian Coast.

Jonathan

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40 minutes ago, Charlie586 said:

Looks really good. It is an unusual chair, I wonder what was originally kept in the drawer. 

 

Thank you.  It is a good question.  There is certainly nothing in there now.  I wonder if it belonged to the original building which was a Sunday School, although I suspect it was used for more days than Sundays.  If so then maybe it was the teachers chair with his books in.  It was crying out to be modelled, I have never seen anything like it.

 

I have just done a Goggle search using my photo and the first image was for a 'Solid Wood Church seat/settle/monks bench'.  I wonder if the Vicar sat in it?

 

16 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

Amazing. The table behind the chair next I suppose?

Now you need to have it somewhere so it can be seen, not hidden in a dark corner of an unlit interior.

I assume that the pew would still have been in the chapel in 1895 - and fairly new at that.

You obviously need to take more visit to the Cambrian Coast.

Jonathan

 

Thank you.  Actually I thought the table rather, er boring.  It is a plain table with curly legs, but I am sure there will be a house that needs such a table.

 

I do intend to have my buildings, demountable so that you can take the roof off and look inside.  I am not sure how else I would do it.

 

The pew seemed not that old. I mean the one in the back of the photo of the chair.)  The building dates from 1849 but it seemed newer than that.  There was a smaller, i.e., for only two people, in the entrance hall come utility room.

 

I will be back in Wales in September but in a modern flats.  I have been there before and know there is nothing worth modelling in it.

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Perhaps, if you have not already made the pilgrimage, a visit to Pendon?

 

some subtle lighting (it’s much easier now than it was then) and visitors can be invited to peer through tiny windows to see the delights within…

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9 minutes ago, Simond said:

Perhaps, if you have not already made the pilgrimage, a visit to Pendon?

 

some subtle lighting (it’s much easier now than it was then) and visitors can be invited to peer through tiny windows to see the delights within…

 

Thank you.

 

I need to suggest this to my wife on a Thursday in the holidays.  She has suggested Didcot, twice actually, although once was on the way to somewhere else, although she has no interest in railways or modelling.

 

I am not a fan of night time running with the lights on so something for the day would be nice, although another complication.  It is not that I would not be able to do it, but things take so long already.

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On 20/06/2021 at 08:56, corneliuslundie said:

I wasn't serious about the table. But the legs would be a challenge in 4 mm.

Jonathan

 

I could probably do bendy legs but not the carving.  :)

 

I took some pictures of a chest while I was away, a very old chest.

 

 

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Again this is probably a piece of church furniture but will now go in someone's bedroom, probably.  It was measured but not made until I was home.

 

Four rectangles of plasticard were cut out, two sets of two, slightly different.  The bottom was glued to the sides with  two pieces of square plasticard to get the correct shape.

 

 

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I then glued Evergreen strips on the front to get the panelling.

 

 

 

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I then checked the pictures and found it was wrong.  (I had been working from memory.

 

 

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The end strips were prised off and the cross strips shortened.  The side supports were cut out, Blu Tak'ed together, filed to the correct shape and then the piece in the bottom cut out.  I then realised that I had put the bottom in the wrong position, so started again, this time fixing the front feet on first.

 

 

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Then the top, finally cutting out the bottom and filing it until it just fitted, when it was swamped with Plastic Weld.

 

The straps on the top were then fixed, by putting a small amount of  glue on the end of a long piece of plastic strip and attaching it to the chest.  It was then turned upside down and cut off to a suitable length.  It was repeated for the second one, and was laid on the cutting mat, and lined up so the length was the same.  When it was dry more glue was placed on the free ends and the strip pressed around the chest.

 

 

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Eh, voila!  Two chests for the price of one.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

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Well, I have done some modelling, but not what you may think, or even what I was planning.  My son came over a couple of weeks ago and brought both his children, (well he could not leave them at home really.)  My grand daughter really likes James the Red engine, but was interested in the railway anyway, just long enough for her dad to say:-

"Dad, when are you going to add some scenery?"

"I am going to do scenery after I have built some coaches and some locos."

"But you have lots of coaches and locos."

"Yes, but they are the wrong locos and coaches."

"You have the wrong coaches and the wrong locos in the wrong setting.  You need to do some scenery so you may have the wrong coaches and locos but in the right setting.  You have not got a lot of time dad."

Me: Thinks, 'What does he know that I do not?'

 

I ignored what he said and the next thing I did was the frighten myself with the GWR livery and decided to buy some thin felt tips to do the lining.  While I was waiting I continued with one of my other projects which is photographing the people of Traeth Mawr.  I decided for once to do it in front of 'Honeymoon Cottage'.  While I was doing this my wife said:-

"Why are you not doing scenery?  You have lots of carriages and locos.  It will create more interest for the grandchildren. (Grandchildren- magic word.)  What scenery are you going to do?"

"There will be the station, and then the coal yard, and then Station Road."

"Is there anything that you can do quickly, and then perhaps you can paint the rest green until you get planning permission for the rest?"

 

Quickly?  Some of you will laugh at the word, as I never do anything quickly, and others will groan that I am doing something different.

 

So to prove that I am not doing coaches, although my wife would not really know if I can get something on the board, I decided to have a crack again at 'Honeymoon Cottage.'  The reason I stopped making it was because I was doing it all room by room complete with furniture and I have no clear idea if it will actually go on the layout.  So, for those who do not wish to trawl through 172 pages, here is the story so far.

 

 

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First of all I need a chimney.

 

 

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30 thou plasticard, for the sides, 40 thou square for the mantlepiece, 10 thou for the fire surround and 10 thou for the floor.  I frightened myself by looking in the fireplace at the other end and found I had made a grate so this time with 10 thou x 20 thou strips I made the front grating.  It was mostly stuck together with poly cement.

 

 

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Half way through painting.  The one on the right is for the kitchen.

 

 

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The chimneys get awfully dirty with coal smoke.  The yellow is Vallejo Pale Sand, and the floor pale grey.  

 

 

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This is to show you why the chimney in the kitchen is a strange shape.  It is to go over the range.  (Here is one I made earlier.)  The width of the chimney is fixed which is why it slopes across.  The front of the chimney is also quite close to the range so it may get filed to give more room.

 

As these things have pauses in them I am also working on my station building, which again was started over a 100 pages ago, and am revisiting all the help that was given me then.  

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

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10 hours ago, ChrisN said:

"You have the wrong coaches and the wrong locos in the wrong setting.  You need to do some scenery so you may have the wrong coaches and locos but in the right setting..."

 

 Any connection to Eric Morecambe or Mr Preview?

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1 hour ago, Nick Gough said:

 

 Any connection to Eric Morecambe or Mr Preview?

 

Probably not, as if I rearranged to coaches they would still be wrong.  For those who do not know about Andrew Preview here is an edited copy of the relevant part of the show.

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Good to see progress Chris, I've been admiring the overview shot of the cottage, the place has a very real feel to it.

 

22 hours ago, ChrisN said:

You need to do some scenery so you may have the wrong coaches and locos but in the right setting.

 

The simpler solution would be to change the setting so that the coaches and locos are right, but I dare not suggest that! :spiteful:

 

22 hours ago, ChrisN said:

Vallejo Pale Sand

 

Aha, my favourite Vallejo colour, useful for so many purposes. Good to see it works well for interior walls too.

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1 hour ago, Mikkel said:

Good to see progress Chris, I've been admiring the overview shot of the cottage, the place has a very real feel to it.

 

 

The simpler solution would be to change the setting so that the coaches and locos are right, but I dare not suggest that! :spiteful:

 

 

Aha, my favourite Vallejo colour, useful for so many purposes. Good to see it works well for interior walls too.

 

I am glad you think it has a real feel to it as 'Honeymoon Cottage' is based on a real cottage.  You may guess where I came across it but just to say my wife recognised it when I first made it.

 

My mix of coaches and locos is a bit random.  I have thought of moving it to 1940 but all the station colours would have to change.  I would also have to work out the new population and whose children married who, and who owned all the shops.  :)  I do know Mr Price's son is the Station Master.

 

I suppose I could buy a Dukedog and a Grange and a few Collet coaches.  The barracks at Traeth Mawr was expanded during the war so there would be lots of soldiers about so I would not have to worry about what colour the people's clothes were.

 

Pale sand though would not be a clothing option.  ;)

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Last week I went on holiday.  I decided that I needed to take some modelling, but not the cottage although I glued the chimney and wall in place before we left and left it to set. Given that I have to do scenery I took with me the station building that I started ages ago, plus also the GWR saloon, just in case.  I need to do the station building, as once it is finished, or at least built, I can then finalise the platform area, and from that the station yard, an then Station Road, etc, etc.

 

The station building is based on Aberdovey.  @Trains&armour kindly let me have a plan.

 

 

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I had printed the plan out, having worked out the correct scaling factor.  I had then cut out the sides from mounting board.  The station building at Aberdovey's roof comes down as far as the tops of the windows.  The station building I wanted to make did not have the cantilever awning of Aberdovey but the standard Cambrian building with the long heavy awning., as at Barmouth.  They are distinctive of the Cambrian, so there was very little choice.  This being the case the walls were cut to the height of Barmouth, Newton, Towyn, and Portmadog, to name a few.  The plans were then selotaped to the card and the doors and windows cut out.

 

 

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This is how I found it before I went away, one side completed.  We had a day of rain.  My wife had things to do so suggested that I spend the morning modelling.  I could hardly say 'no'.

 

 

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The result of a mornings work.

 

The originals were built of bricks with different coloured bricks where the lines are and white stone around the doors and windows, or stone with white stone where the lines are, as it this shot of Barmouth.  I decided I wanted stone.  There is a wide 'rim' at the base of the wall, so I decided to do this by cutting a strip of card, thinner than the mounting card, on the bottom, of the wall.  This extends below the wall a I intend to put a floor of mounting card and it means I can have a hole in the platform to drop the building into to try and get round making it looked plonked in place.  All buildings will have to be removable.   On top of the card I glued a strip of Evergreen 10 x 100 thou plasticard.  This left a strip of card at the top which I then scraped and cut to an angle and to this glued another strip of the same plasticard to give the slope at the top of the stone.  (Actually in the real buildings this was not all white stone, but I have it on good authority that the one at Traeth Mawr certainly had this feature.

 

 

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The top one has card, plasticard and then a row of stone above it, the bottom one mostly card.  You will notice that the windows on the top side are not as deep as the bottom ones.  It was not until I finished that I noticed that the two printed sides are a slightly different scale.  I am not sure if it is from the original or how I enlarged it.  It is not a problem though, it is only in one direction, floor to roof, and really only affects the window heights.  I had also spent a lot of time redesigning the station but in the end printed the original.

 

You will notice the cutting out is not very accurate.  I discovered on the two coaches I built that cutting through paper as a guide is a very poor way of marking out where to cut.  I had already started on this so continued.  I am not sure drawing the windows and doors on would give a better result in this case.  All is not lost as all the windows and doors are surrounded by stone, which with a bit of luck will be cut straight.  This means I have to wait until I have done this before applying the rest of the stone.  Or would applying the stone be better, and then cutting out the tiny sections to fit the stone work.  Umm, answers on a postcard.  

 

On Sunday my two eldest grandchildren are round so it would be nice to have something done by then.  Do I hear a laugh?  It may well be Blu Tak'd to give an impression.

 

Next exciting instalments,

 

Fighting with a Silhouette cutter to get fiddley bits.

Ordering more materials, and finding within two days I have not ordered enough and need other stuff as well.

A Cambrian coach from Jadlam?

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

Edited by ChrisN
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Looking forward to this. Station buildings and signal boxes are guaranteed get mojos flowing.

 

Your cottage detailing is a touch of magic. Nice Welsh dresser too but I don't envy you having to turn all those mug pegs in your Dremel.

 

Regards Shaun  

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Exciting development, Chris. Your family's gentle pressure guidance is clearly paying off :)

 

I had a look at Aberdovey station, a very nice choice. I like the idea of combining it with the Barmouth canopy, mixing prototype designs to create a believable fiction.

 

8 hours ago, ChrisN said:

All is not lost as all the windows and doors are surrounded by stone, which with a bit of luck will be cut straight.  This means I have to wait until I have done this before applying the rest of the stone.  Or would applying the stone be better, and then cutting out the tiny sections to fit the stone work.  Umm, answers on a postcard.  

 

Theoretically I suppose the smart thing would be to do the window surrounds first, so that if it fails you haven't wasted too much work. But whether that is practically feasible is another question. 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Sasquatch said:

Looking forward to this. Station buildings and signal boxes are guaranteed get mojos flowing.

 

Your cottage detailing is a touch of magic. Nice Welsh dresser too but I don't envy you having to turn all those mug pegs in your Dremel.

 

Regards Shaun  

 

Thank you.  Hopefully I can crack on with the station.  I have an idea of the type of signal box as well.  It is whether I go with a cheap kit, an expensive kit or try and find a drawing and scratchbuild.

 

The detailing in the end got to me, you can only build so many chairs!  I stalled as I was trying to make a comf y chair out of DAS or something and failed.  I made the Welsh dresser a few years ago and when I looked at it recently I was really impressed with it.  "Did I really make that?"  Fortunately I think in 1895 people did not hang their cups, cups mind you, mugs only became popular in the 70s, the 1970s, from their Welsh dressers so I am safe. (Hopefully.  :))

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If you are looking for a signalbox drawing there should be some suitable ones in the next WRRC publication, a small book of Mike Lloyd/Trefor Jones drawings of Cambrian and GWR structures. Both the small type as on the Mid Wales line and larger Dutton ones similar to Barmouth, Newtown etc.

Hopefully out by the end of the year.

Jonathan

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2 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Exciting development, Chris. Your family's gentle pressure guidance is clearly paying off :)

 

I had a look at Aberdovey station, a very nice choice. I like the idea of combining it with the Barmouth canopy, mixing prototype designs to create a believable fiction.

 

 

Theoretically I suppose the smart thing would be to do the window surrounds first, so that if it fails you haven't wasted too much work. But whether that is practically feasible is another question. 

 

 

 

 

My trouble is that there is so much that I want to do, all of it interesting.  Fortunately railway modelling is not like train travel.  You travel on a train to get somewhere, although you may enjoy the journey, but with railway modelling it is the journey that is important, and if you arrive, then you start looking where to go next.  My wife has told me that I need to get my priorities right when she asked what I had intended to do today, and said that I ought to be building the station.

 

I am trying to do the window surrounds first.  I am assuming the Silhouette does not cut embossed plasticard very well and I will have to cut the indents on those myself.

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Nice start on the station building Chris. Looking forward to seeing your progress on this.

 

Another distinctive building that shouts mid-Wales and Cambrian.

 

If I had a pound for every time I've visited the area around Barmouth station - I might have enough to buy a small, new Hornby/Bachmann/Dapol loco!

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