Scratch-built card and styrene structures (based on real buildings around London Bridge)

[grahame]

A bit of colour is on it now - I've gone with yellow as I had a nearly full Halford car colour aerosol. The cab needs glazing (consequently it's still held in place with blu-tac) and I've not yet made the hook block trolley, but here is it in place in side the steel framed building structure. The white weights/anchor is only temporary - I've not yet decided on the footings for it. And I was wondering if it might be a little tall but I need to check that the jib will over-sail the building located behind and not crash in to it.:

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by grahame

[grahame]

I've added some glazing - just to the front cab windows. As it doesn't look like there is any in place, I've not bothered with the side windows - it was fiddly enough for the forward facing ones - and, after all, there's no access ladder for the driver. Hopefully I'll get by with such tardiness. I think to add things like that would just over-clutter the model as it's still rather too chunky, particularly the mast. But at least there's now no blu-tac on view:

 

 

 

[grahame]

I've made a basic version of the trolley that runs along the underside of the working jib and that the hook block hangs from. It's very small and made from about a dozen bits of plastic so is only very rough and representational:

 

[grahame]

The weather and other house projects have rather put the kibosh on modelling over the last few weeks until today when I started to put together the tricky viaduct support section and bridge over Joiner Street from Findlaters Corner. Here's a couple of pics but they don't actually show much and are far from complete. But there is some progress in establishing the bridge decks and alignment over Borough High Street and Joiner Street, and ensuring sufficient height for double deck busses to pass under:

 

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

I'm off out today, for the first time to meet few people socially since lockdown started (finger crossed), so won't be undertaking any modelling today. But here's a quick pic showing how the various sections 'clip' together while being built as separate manageable sub-assemblies. That makes them easier to handle, paint and detail. When they are finally positioned on the layout they will be permanently joined together and any obvious joint/joins hopefully disguised (with filler, weathering, road work patches, etc.,) :

 

 

 

[grahame]

A little bit of cardboard engineering this morning and now I've started on the bridge plate girder sides. The bridge over Joiner Street had three rather long upright sides - two curved top and one straight. I've started on the straight one as pictured above over the no.48 bus (the curved rusty bridge section is the middle one behind it) and it is being made from styrene sheet and strip:

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

After cutting and gluing little bits of plastic together the bridge side starts to take shape. The two 'feet' will rest on round column supports as per the prototype:

 

 

It's not a perfect replica but it will be set quite far back from the front of the layout and I'm quite happy with it so far. With a little tweaking, paint and so on it should be very acceptable.

 

 

[grahame]

And roughly in place it looks like this:

 

[grahame]

Just a little bit of fiddling with the east side abutment section, to provide pedestrian access to the bridge over Duke Street Hill and London Bridge Walk, this afternoon. Here's a very similar pic to the one above showing it:

 

[grahame]

Here's how the other plate girder bridge sides play out - they're not parallel (as in real life) and the curved top ones should be taller than the trains (as in real life). The card deck is only temporary and the sides have been simply cut from a sheet of styrene. Next I need to start adding some detail to the two curved sides.

 

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

It's very difficult to ascertain the correct scale size/height especially as there is obviously an element of compression in the model and the bridge is under exact scale length. Getting the proportions right so that it looks authentic is probably more important than accurate scaling - well, at least that's how I see it. Here's a screengrab from a u-tube vid of a cab ride that shows the two curved top sides and gives a reasonable indication of the detail (despite the soft/non-sharp focus):

 

 

The east end (far end from these screengrabs) were a little tight for four tracks on the model, which was an area I was concerned about, so I've extended the abutment to allow the bridge to be opened out at that end for better clearance. Constant checking and re-checking at all stages is essential. 

 

Here's another screenshot from a little further back (on the bridge over Borough High Street) with Findlaters corner on the left between the two bridge sides:

 

 

 

 

[MAURICE040947]

looking at the screen grabs the right hand plate girder looks smaller than the left. Is this an optical illusion Grahame or are they really different?

[grahame]

Yes, it does appear that way. It is certainly shorter (in length from plan/aerial views of the real thing and as I've cut the basic template for the model version) and presumably doesn't structurally need to be so tall.

 

 

[cornish trains jez]

Hi Graeme,

 

Just seen this set of slides on eBay which may be worth purchasing to help with your project.
 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264827688921

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

 

[aardvark]

On 16/08/2020 at 22:58, grahame said:

After cutting and gluing little bits of plastic together the bridge side starts to take shape. The two 'feet' will rest on round column supports as per the prototype:

 

 

I'm completely in awe of how regular and straight and perpendicular your structure is, and N-scale makes it only more so.  I'm sure it's beginner stuff (that's me) - but how to you achieve such results?

[grahame]

11 hours ago, aardvark said:

 

I'm completely in awe of how regular and straight and perpendicular your structure is, and N-scale makes it only more so.  I'm sure it's beginner stuff (that's me) - but how to you achieve such results?

 

Perseverance? Patience? Skill? Luck? . . . . Nope, none of those things.

 

I simply marked the top and bottom positions of the uprights with a pencil against a rule and glued the strips on those marks. But, to be honest, they aren't as neat and accurate as they might appear. Some are a little skew-whif and not all the gaps between are consistent. However, it's the overall look that is important and what people see.

 

 

[grahame]

A little progress on the girder bridge sides this morning - basically simple plasticard modelling. The rounded top ones both need more details adding, like the pipework over the top, although some will wait until they are fixed to the deck. The smaller curved one (white/bottom below) will be fixed directly to the deck surface while the larger curved one will be fixed to the deck edge:

 

 

 

[acg5324]

On 19/08/2020 at 00:16, aardvark said:

 

I'm completely in awe of how regular and straight and perpendicular your structure is, and N-scale makes it only more so.  I'm sure it's beginner stuff (that's me) - but how to you achieve such results?

A small set square helps as well.

[Jon4470]

Hello Grahame

 

Really like the way the whole scene is coming together - and the individual models are superb.

 

Intrigued by the name Findlaters corner. The reason being that I remember my Dad talking about a competitor called Findlaters. They were wine merchants and, I think, opened a wine bar....when such things were a new idea!

Just wondering if the company or wine bar are linked to that corner....or just a co-incidence?

 

Jon

[grahame]

Yep, Findlater was a wine merchant. Apparently the company ended up with 50 shops around the South East. The shop  at London Bridge remained a wine merchants when it became Oddbins, although it is now empty. Some details here:

 

https://heritageoflondon.org/project/findlaters-corner/

https://knowyourlondon.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/findlaters-corner/

 

 

 

[Jon4470]

Thanks for that link....it set me off googling Gough Brothers which was the company Dad worked for. Interesting to see what is available. It seems that they all ended up owned by the company.

 

 

[grahame]

I'm not sure where to place this info so I've included it here on my buildings thread. 

 

Smart Models are offering N gauge (1:148) space invaders arcade style machines that comprise 3D printed bodies and include water slide decals. For a bit of fun I though I'd get a set and this is what you get. Should be simple enough to complete; just clean them up, prime, paint black and add the decals:

 

 

I'm not connected to the company and have just been a customer for a few items.  They do offer some other unusual and fun items and usually in N gauge scale. Here's a screenshot of their advert (details of their website is shown) should anyone be interested:

 

[grahame]

They've had a gentle going over with a fine sanding stick, washed/scrubbed with cream cleaner using an old toothbrush, rinsed under running water, dried, glued to a thin wooden stick (cut from an old spatula) and given a dusting of grey primer. When that's dry I'll give them a coat of gloss black - I've a Humbrol acrylic aerosol of it, although it's close to empty so hopefully there is enough. 

 

 

 

[grahame]

Getting the black paint on was easy enough, but adding the decals is very fiddly and tricky. They have to be accurately cut out as they are printed on white transfer paper which would show if not trimmed right up to the printed colour shape edge) and some of them are absolutely tiny:

 

 

The enlarged photo above is very cruel but shows where some corners need to be stuck back down and how dodgy my cutting out has been.  I think I'll put the rest back in the box and wait until I've got somewhere to use them and they're needed.

[Squirrel Rail]

16 minutes ago, grahame said:

Getting the black paint on was easy enough, but adding the decals is very fiddly and tricky. They have to be accurately cut out as they are printed on white transfer paper which would show if not trimmed right up to the printed colour shape edge) and some of them are absolutely tiny:

 

 

The enlarged photo above is very cruel but shows where some corners need to be stuck back down and how dodgy my cutting out has been.  I think I'll put the rest back in the box and wait until I've got somewhere to use them and they're needed.

Looks great- I know what you mean about photos though- I look at my pics and think what the heck(or similar) then look at the model and can’t even see it!