Rufford Red Lion Square

[Edwardian]

Clearer pictures would be a pleasure to see, but it looks very good and a massive improvement on the original kit. 

[James Harrison]

The awkwardness with the pictures is due to having to rely on a camera phone.  I do have a nice big bridge camera, but I'm also the sort of person who is likely to either spill things over it, or use it to knock things over.  So it only usually comes out to take the "finished! big reveal!" sort of photographs.  It also really doesn't help having the sort of phone that can take a nice, sharp and in-focus image, and then save it as a blur. 

[James Harrison]

 

A very, very ticklish little bit of work, this.  I'd decided quite some time ago that the cardboard canopy just wouldn't do, so I bought some whitemetal canopy columns and etched brass canopy brackets from Scale Link.  Each fretwork arch is actually made up from two of the brackets, secured to an offcut of etch; they're just slightly too short to bride the gap between the columns on their own.  Then on the building walls it looked like they just hang loose; so I fitted a guttering hopper to each side from my pack of Wills bits.  Well, they're described as guttering hoppers instructions but to me they look more like the big lumps of terracotta or masonry you're likely to find at the base of a decorative arch.  Now you might be wondering why I went for glue for this job and not solder; although I have soldered brass before quite happily, I've heard just too many stories about soldering whitemetal that end with a puddle of molten material.  So, until I get a temperature-controlled soldering setup, all whitemetal work is done using impact adhesive.  

 

One I'd got it to fit and I was happy with the location, I gave the whole canopy structure a decent coat of enamel paint.  My hope is (and we'll see quite shortly whether this has worked or not) that the paint finishes the job the glue started and has locked the whole thing up solid.   

[Regularity]

That really is looking the poodle’s doodles.

[James Harrison]

Well, it worked!  This evening I've spent just tidying up the paintwork in various places and I've got it probably about as good as I'm going to be able to manage.  So the only bit of work still to do is the guttering.  I'll try to get some decent photographs tomorrow. 

[Edwardian]

 

A very, very ticklish little bit of work, this.  I'd decided quite some time ago that the cardboard canopy just wouldn't do, so I bought some whitemetal canopy columns and etched brass canopy brackets from Scale Link.  Each fretwork arch is actually made up from two of the brackets, secured to an offcut of etch; they're just slightly too short to bride the gap between the columns on their own.  Then on the building walls it looked like they just hang loose; so I fitted a guttering hopper to each side from my pack of Wills bits.  Well, they're described as guttering hoppers instructions but to me they look more like the big lumps of terracotta or masonry you're likely to find at the base of a decorative arch.  Now you might be wondering why I went for glue for this job and not solder; although I have soldered brass before quite happily, I've heard just too many stories about soldering whitemetal that end with a puddle of molten material.  So, until I get a temperature-controlled soldering setup, all whitemetal work is done using impact adhesive.  

 

One I'd got it to fit and I was happy with the location, I gave the whole canopy structure a decent coat of enamel paint.  My hope is (and we'll see quite shortly whether this has worked or not) that the paint finishes the job the glue started and has locked the whole thing up solid.   

 

To borrow the phraseology of the cookery programmes to which the memsahib is devoted, you have "elevated" the kit with that ironmongery.

[Regularity]

A question if I may, but given the amount of reworking and replacing of the kit, might this have been easier as a scratchbuild?

[Compound2632]

A question if I may, but given the amount of reworking and replacing of the kit, might this have been easier as a scratchbuild?

 

One could say that the kit was, effectively, a template.

[James Harrison]

I see/ saw the kit as a sort of scratchaid.  Yes, you could build it straight out of the packet (and it would have been an awful lot quicker!) but.... well I mean, where's the sense of achievement in that?  I could, of course, equally well have gone out and built it completely from scratch, except that I'm not aware of any drawings of this station type having been published?  (watch someone correct me now! )  With my idea that everything has to be the best I can possibly make it, in lieu of drawings (or, indeed, good clear photographs) I'd have to find a surviving example of the type and survey it.  The GCR east of Sheffield and west of Manchester are not exactly local to me, so it would have been a roundtoit job, and then doing something in the way of a measured survey is quite an involved thing to do.  I did one, once, on a Gothic Revival lodge house in Oxford- part of my Masters degree studies- and the quick on-site sketching and measuring was over quickly enough, but then actually producing the proper drawings afterward took days. 

 

I think, Compound, that you're exactly right in describing it as a template.  It's just a set of pretty coloured cut-out drawings, to me.  Does that make it a scratchbuild?  There's precious little of the original kit on display, but if you were to cut away at the embossed sheet you'd find it lurking beneath the surface. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I think the results speak for themselves, no?

[richard i]

The building looks most convincing and well worth the effort not to settle for the card version.

Richard

[t-b-g]

That certainly evokes memories of some of the buildings along the old MSLR main line from Sheffield to Lincoln. It was a distinctive house style and while the model may differ in detail, it has captured the feel and the atmosphere very nicely.

[Annie]

We need a Craftsmanship/Clever +++ button.  What a lovely model you've created James.

[Edwardian]

I see/ saw the kit as a sort of scratchaid.  Yes, you could build it straight out of the packet (and it would have been an awful lot quicker!) but.... well I mean, where's the sense of achievement in that?  I could, of course, equally well have gone out and built it completely from scratch, except that I'm not aware of any drawings of this station type having been published?  (watch someone correct me now! )  With my idea that everything has to be the best I can possibly make it, in lieu of drawings (or, indeed, good clear photographs) I'd have to find a surviving example of the type and survey it.  The GCR east of Sheffield and west of Manchester are not exactly local to me, so it would have been a roundtoit job, and then doing something in the way of a measured survey is quite an involved thing to do.  I did one, once, on a Gothic Revival lodge house in Oxford- part of my Masters degree studies- and the quick on-site sketching and measuring was over quickly enough, but then actually producing the proper drawings afterward took days. 

 

I think, Compound, that you're exactly right in describing it as a template.  It's just a set of pretty coloured cut-out drawings, to me.  Does that make it a scratchbuild?  There's precious little of the original kit on display, but if you were to cut away at the embossed sheet you'd find it lurking beneath the surface. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I think the results speak for themselves, no?

 

Indeed, yes ....

[James Harrison]

Praise indeed!  I'm certainly rather happy with it. The only job outstanding is the guttering, which itself is progressing, albeit slowly.  I've almost finished the undercoating- all of these bits from Wills seem to repel acrylic paint, so need to be undercoated in enamel first- so that's tonight's job, then tomorrow I can be doing the top coat, then the weekend I can fit it and then- finished!

[Regularity]

Other than the basic shape (using the kit as a template) the finished product is all but unrecognisable from the starting point - and infinitely superior to it.

[Compound2632]

James has done a superb job on this but I would just like to take a moment out to praise the Metcalfe kit itself. Like a number (not all) of Nick Metcalfe's railway buildings, it's based on a real prototype - in this case a reasonably scale representation - which is more than could be said for many entry level card kits. I'm rather a fan: especially as he has done a number of kits closely based on Midland structures, though reduced in absolute extent - the goods shed, engine shed &c, and coal stage. Even buildings not (to my knowledge) based on real prototypes show a high degree of architectural awareness - they look right. The large station is an example. There are some straightforward things that can be done to improve them, such as colouring in the folded edges - enough to deceive the eye at first sight.

[Edwardian]

Yes, I like card buildings.  I sometimes seem jaundiced where Metcalfe kits are concerned, because they appear ubiquitous, and because I dislike the corner-groove feature of them.

 

I have seen them used to very great effect, however.  If you view them as a starting point and detail or improve, and above all, weather, them, they can make excellent models.

 

I would put in a word for Superquick.  Again, work must be put into them if the draw-backs of the medium are to be overcome, but these, too, can be 'elevated' and I think compared with Metcalfe, Superquick is a very under-appreciated range.  Perhaps the Might of Peco is a factor here.

[Compound2632]

I would put in a word for Superquick.  Again, work must be put into them if the draw-backs of the medium are to be overcome, but these, too, can be 'elevated' and I think compared with Metcalfe, Superquick is a very under-appreciated range.  Perhaps the Might of Peco is a factor here.

 

Hands up who didn't start out with a Superquick kit!

 

One thing I have noticed when Peco became involved with Metcalfe's distribution was a disturbing rush of Great Western-looking buildings. Metcalfe have, however, since showed their continued loyalty to their Yorkshire roots with some vary nice Settle & Carlisle buildings - the theme may be a little hackneyed but they do look good. 

 

I have to confess that my layout such as it is is an exercise in producing a topography and backstory that can justify as much of the Metcalfe range as possible!

[Edwardian]

Hands up who didn't start out with a Superquick kit!

 

 

 

And Builderplus!

[James Harrison]

I like card kits; I started out with the Superquick variety back in the late 90s/ early 2000s.  It's a nice, easy to use material and I see no reason not to use them.  Quite honestly- had there not been the Metcalfe kit available, I wouldn't have built Cremorne for Pittance. 

 

You might be asking why then I set out to use it solely as a scratch-aid; well there are a few answers to that. 

 

No.1, I've got this idea that everything on RLS has to be identifiably of a hand.  The goods office building from a few months ago set the standard I want to work to, so I wanted to work the kit up to that standard.  Had my original ideas worked there would have been more of the original kit on display- I only covered it all up because that was the only practical way of getting the surface texture I wanted. 

 

No.2, nice as the original kit is, it is limited by the practicalities of the material.  This is most obvious when you look at the station canopies and the bargeboards.  Seeing how Metcalfe have started to branch out into multi-media kits and laser-cut timber, maybe a laser-cut add-on kit for the canopies and bargeboards would be an option?  It would certainly do much to improve those areas. 

 

No.3,

 

 I sometimes seem jaundiced where Metcalfe kits are concerned, because they appear ubiquitous

 

I agree with this.  I sometimes heave a sigh of almost-disappointment when I see in magazines photographs of layouts which are just masses of card kits built straight out the packet.  You can literally play a game of 'spot the kit'.... fine if that's your particular take on the hobby but not for me. 

 

No.4, as I've said previously, I've treated it as a scratch-aid and, basically, a coloured template.  I don't see the completed model as a scractchbuild per se, but it's not far off.  I wanted to see how far I could take the kit and improve it, and I wanted to see if I have the skills to go for full scratchbuilds later on.  I think I've proved to myself I have.

 

Ultimately, if nothing else, I'd like to think I've shown the way for other ditherers like myself.  You can't tell it started life as a nice simple kit- but it did.  This is what you can do with it, if you want to.

[James Harrison]

The good news is- the main station block for Cremorne for Pittance is finished.  Photos to follow, I hope, this evening. 

 

Now, locos and rolling stock.... for the past five years or so I've been detailing these on a blog, the question is, do I want to start detailing them here instead?  At the moment it makes a certain amount of sense to split the carriages and locos off to their separate area and keep the RLS thread for the little bits of RLS I'm currently in a position to build, but at the same time I can also see a certain amount of sense in pooling everything together.  Meantime, I've started work on the Barnums this afternoon with the first of the bogie kits.  I've got one bogie half built and now find I need specific bearings (Eileen's Emporium part LF4AXPW, 40no. waisted bearings), which I've duly ordered just now.  Barnums temporarily on hold then until the bearings arrive. 

[James Harrison]

 

 

 

It's finished!  I'm a little unhappy with the guttering- specifically, the downpipes- but I don't think they stand out like a sore thumb, somehow.  If they start to annoy me I might see about replacing them but for the moment I think they're good enough. 

 

Yes, now the Barnums.... not quite a stalled project as I can of course be working on the second saloon whilst waiting for bearings to arrive.

[richard i]

The good news is- the main station block for Cremorne for Pittance is finished.  Photos to follow, I hope, this evening. 

 

Now, locos and rolling stock.... for the past five years or so I've been detailing these on a blog, the question is, do I want to start detailing them here instead?  At the moment it makes a certain amount of sense to split the carriages and locos off to their separate area and keep the RLS thread for the little bits of RLS I'm currently in a position to build, but at the same time I can also see a certain amount of sense in pooling everything together.  Meantime, I've started work on the Barnums this afternoon with the first of the bogie kits.  I've got one bogie half built and now find I need specific bearings (Eileen's Emporium part LF4AXPW, 40no. waisted bearings), which I've duly ordered just now.  Barnums temporarily on hold then until the bearings arrive.

 

Why these bearings specifically? Is it because of the axle you are choosing to use or is it because of the Eileen’s emporium brass bogie or the 3d print over lays?

Richard

[James Harrison]

Why these bearings specifically? Is it because of the axle you are choosing to use or is it because of the Eileen’s emporium brass bogie or the 3d print over lays?

Richard

 

These are the bearings that the instructions say are required to fit in the W-irons.  I'm guessing that the bearings and the axle box backs in the kit when combined create something that sits neatly in the W-iron and is sprung to ride up and down.  At the moment the axle box backs don't secure into the W-irons, they just slot in but there's nothing to keep them in place. 

[James Harrison]

Rufford Corporation Tramways has gained.... traction poles!  I've found some of the kind I've been looking for for ages- Sommerfeldt type 112, double track, central pole with the filigree thing going on at the top.  I reckonI only need two or three of them, considering there will only be a few feet of track.  Now for the shelter and whatnot to source.