hockeyshooter Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Having just built Metcalfe brick platforms, I find their most suitable kits for station and island platforms are stone. Grr! I'm after suggestions therefore for alternatives for the PO238 and PO239 kits of similar size and function but in brick - preferably also in card and therefore not scarily expensive! Era being modelled is BR green diesels; longest platform just about handles five Mk.Is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Superquick Island platform building http://www.superquick.co.uk/kitframes_a/frame_a04.htm Brit15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Scalescenes? http://scalescenes.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyshooter Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 Superquick Island platform building http://www.superquick.co.uk/kitframes_a/frame_a04.htm I've actually got one of those - in a bit of a sorry state after more than 30 years stuffed at the back of a cupboard. A possibility but just so recognisable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyshooter Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 Scalescenes? http://scalescenes.com/ Haven't ever made one but my two concerns are: they look a bit flat in the photos - and the longevity of inkjet printed paper. Guess I should just bite the bullet and build one to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted April 25, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 25, 2017 i started using scalescenes products but like you are concerned about the printing i printed a few pavements and roads over the space of a couple of months which have come out different shades due to ink levels in my printer and ive also found that should they get wet they stain easily, even the kids playing cars and doing 'brum brum' noises and a little bit of saliva getting on them left tiny splodges of rubbed off print as a product though the scalescenes stuff is very good, ive also done some low relief buildings (that im no longer using) and as they are individual downloads to suit you can adapt and expand at no extra cost, they seemed to print alright as i did them in one go on the same day and as they are out of sunlight they havent faded i also share your annoyance of the metcalfe range as they do card sheets in engineers blue brick but not any matching retaining walls so im going to have to build my own which wont look as good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartynJPearson Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 I've built a few Scalescenes kits and found that a coat of Humbrol MattCote gave them suitable protection. I had also tried acrylic spray, but found that didn't offer the same level of protection, and also seemed to add a pale haze to the surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 I've done a fair few Scalescenes kits, even some in 0 gauge, they are good I think. You do need a decent printer and yes, a coat of matte varnish will help to preserve them. Here's another: http://lcut.co.uk/index.php?page=pages/products&title=4mm scale . I bought a couple of these in 0 gauge and they do look quite impressive. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 If you're worried about fading with Scalescenes, a possibility could be to have them professionally printed using a laser printer. It shouldn't be prohibitively expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pctrainman Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 You might want to give Ghiant Inkjet fixative spray a try , it's not cheap but does a very good job of locking in the colour and adding a degree of protection against moisture on printed card models . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyshooter Posted April 26, 2017 Author Share Posted April 26, 2017 I've built a few Scalescenes kits and found that a coat of Humbrol MattCote gave them suitable protection. Just bought a tin of that! Here's another: http://lcut.co.uk/index.php?page=pages/products&title=4mm scale . I bought a couple of these in 0 gauge and they do look quite impressive. Have bookmarked the LCUT site, John, thanks. If you're worried about fading with Scalescenes, a possibility could be to have them professionally printed using a laser printer. It shouldn't be prohibitively expensive. I have access to an A3 colour laser printer at work... You might want to give Ghiant Inkjet fixative spray a try , it's not cheap but does a very good job of locking in the colour and adding a degree of protection against moisture on printed card models . Looks to be readily availble through Amazon too - £10 a tin. The moisture protection is a factor as this layout lives in a shed. Thanks everyone. Am going to build the free coal office/weighbridge office from ScaleScenes as a starting point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyshooter Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 Superquick Island platform building http://www.superquick.co.uk/kitframes_a/frame_a04.htm I've tested my old, sad example of this on my two island platforms and sadly its too wide - the canopies foul the passing trains (or the other way round). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tractionman Posted April 29, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 29, 2017 Having just built Metcalfe brick platforms, I find their most suitable kits for station and island platforms are stone. Grr! I'm after suggestions therefore for alternatives for the PO238 and PO239 kits of similar size and function but in brick - preferably also in card and therefore not scarily expensive! Era being modelled is BR green diesels; longest platform just about handles five Mk.Is. I'm also after an island platform building and like the look of the new Metcalfe model https://www.metcalfemodels.com/product/po322-00-h0-island-platform-building/ Again it comes in stone but one solution would be to overlay the kit's stone card with a good quality brick paper and use the kit pretty much as a shell. The other fixtures and fittings could all then be used too, windows, awning etc? It would also make your version of the kit different from the rest. Cheers, Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Colin Posted April 29, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 29, 2017 I'm also after an island platform building and like the look of the new Metcalfe model https://www.metcalfemodels.com/product/po322-00-h0-island-platform-building/ Again it comes in stone but one solution would be to overlay the kit's stone card with a good quality brick paper and use the kit pretty much as a shell. The other fixtures and fittings could all then be used too, windows, awning etc? It would also make your version of the kit different from the rest. Cheers, Keith Also, by overlaying with brick paper you would remove the need to get rid of those annoying "white lines" on the corners of an as-built Metcalfe kit. Just downloaded the freebie Scalescenes low relief warehouse for use on a small layout I am building, very impressed with the detail and colouring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted April 29, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 29, 2017 I am building some of those new Metcalfe stone station kits at the moment. The platform canopies are a little fiddly to assemble but well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted April 29, 2017 Share Posted April 29, 2017 We have some 35 year old superquick island station buildings still in use, the roofs are poor and ours have replacement plastic roofs frommwills sheets I believe. Keeping the railway room dark helps the longevity of Superquick buildings. The download and print buildings are OK if your office has a £3000 laser printer and you feed it decent paper, 120 or 150 gsm. If you don't have access to such a beast these download and print items really are a waste of time. They fade all too quickly if printed on an inkjet or cheap laser. I printed a lot of brickpaper on a big laser printer after changing the colour from grey granite to red sandstone which worked quite well as a stop gap. I did get offered one of these big copier printers for free but couldn't transport it a while ago. most annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted April 29, 2017 Share Posted April 29, 2017 Nah. I downloaded the Smart Models signalbox that was free with Model Rail a couple of years ago. Printed it out on a printer that cost less that £80 from Argos and it was perfect. The prices have come down even further since I bought that. Probably less than £50 now. You definitely don't need a £3000 printer. Link for Smart Models. Highly recommended. http://www.smartmodels.co.uk/index.html I was also quite impressed with the Metcalfe Models PO237 00/H0 Scale Country Station that my brother bought recently. Bought because it's based on his local station Sankey. https://www.metcalfemodels.com/product/po237-00-h0-country-station/ Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted April 29, 2017 Share Posted April 29, 2017 I had a Samsung cheapie laser printer that worked well for some years but it was crap at printing transfers. I recently decided to ditch it and get something better. Got myself a HP Officejet Pro 8720. This uses oil based ink so won't dry out as all my other ink jet printers did. I've used it for a number of Scalescenes kits and think it's excellent. The printer itself was $200 (113 pounds) on sale. It comes with a sampler amount of ink. The ink is as much again of course. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyshooter Posted April 30, 2017 Author Share Posted April 30, 2017 I'm afraid I didn't get far with the ScaleScenes experiment - just didn't have the patience! I downloaded the free coal office design, printed it on coated paper, glued the stated parts onto three different thicknesses of card as instructed. But cutting the thickest card (2mm), even with a brand new scalpel blade, was taking ages! The Metcalfe kits have spoilt me! Their PO237 brick country station will do just fine for the main station building, but the separate building that comes with it will be too wide for my island platforms, so I'll consider having a go at brick paper-coating their PO322 island platform building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campaman Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 IMHO a scapel is the wrong tool for 2mm card, I use a stanley knife or a similarly sized snap off blade and it cuts through in one or two passes. Re-covering Superquick or Metcalfe works, I recently re-covered an old super quick barn i found in a box under the layout Before After Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartynJPearson Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 For cutting the thicker card, I use one of the "pizza wheel" cutters - I got mine from Hobbycraft. I normally do a couple of passes with a scalpel so that there is a groove for the cutter to run through, then do several passes. When cutting card with a scalpel, I found that I frequently cut at an off square angle, but I seem to do better with the wheel cutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 I like scalescenes - I use a Windsor and newton spray to protect them. I do find some of the stuff overly complicated, the warehouse I think was a hell of a lot of phases to get the end result - that's ok if your main hobby is building buildings but a bit frustrating if it's just a means to an end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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