Burton-on-Trent South - Adding Buildings

[ISW]

Platform Building - Chimneys

 

It was some time ago when I 'finished' (ahem) the Platform Building but, as ever, there is always 'bits' to add. In the case of the Platform Building that included, but not limited to*, the chimneys.

 

* If you've ever read a construction project document, the Condition of Contract (or similarly phrased title) is always 'liberally sprinkled' with this 'catch all' phrase

 

So, while I pondered the 'fitting' of the roofs on the Overbridge Building, I thought I'd get the Platform Building chimneys made.

 

All my previous efforts (and I use that term loosely) at making chimneys have used a 'hollow' box method, and I've never been very happy with them. They always felt too flimsy, and they wanted to change into parallelograms instead of rectangles at the slightest opportunity.

 

Hence, this time my chimneys were going to be 'robust', and that meant making them solid cereal packet cardboard.

 

The 'kit of parts' comprised the following:

 

Which, after a lot of gluing, cutting, and folding, results in a 'basic' solid cardboard chimney as below (cruel close-up):

 

Yes, it still needs a 'top' and some actual chimney pots, but those should be easy to make and fit. I realise that some of the corners are a little 'rounded', but I've found that gentle (aka excessive) use of a small metal hammer against the sides makes them less 'rounded'.

 

As I needed more that just the one chimney, the Cricut had its work cut out (sorry, bad pun) and I made good use of a single sheet of cereal packet to do 4 batches of cutting on the single sheet. There wasn't much left at the end:

 

The observant amongst you may notice the 'Mark 1' version in the lower-right that didn't work out. The plan with Mark 1 was to make a 3D chimney in cardboard and then cover it in brickwork paper, but that turned out to be a bad idea. Mark 2, the one I finally used, is a straight chimney, brickpaper clad, with 'wrap around' brickpaper clad cardboard overlays to get the 'stepped' brickwork look.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Messing About with a Cheap CubeCAM

 

A while back, when the Platform Building was 'substantially' completed, I said I'd plonk it on the layout to see what it looked like. I could have used my phone camera to take some photos, but I decided to drag out my old CubeCAM. It's only 720p, so the photos are not hi-res by any means, but it does make it possible to take some 'arty' photos.

 

Platform Building, view looking North:

 

Platform Building, view looking South:

 

Looking through the cross-passage:

 

Looking through the Platform Building:

 

While I was at it, I thought I'd have a look 'inside' the Overbridge Building through one of the windows. This one really 'creeps me out' as it looks a little 'too' realistic:

 

Yes, I really should get some doors fitted.

 

Ian

 

 

 

 

[Fishplate]

On 23/02/2023 at 18:57, ISW said:

So if anyone has any useful tips / tricks for making chimneys out of cereal packet, do let me know.

 

In the middle of packing up to move house, otherwise would put a picture on. The single chimney I have made from cereal packet cardboard on my silhouette cutter was based on all the elements of a chimney in one cut out, with score lines the width of each side. This then folded up into the final shape, meaning only one glued joint on the least visible edge.

 

But your chimney with individual components looks great 👍. Looking forward to seeing more. Your cube pictures of the platform building look superb.

 

[ISW]

3 hours ago, Fishplate said:

The single chimney I have made from cereal packet cardboard on my silhouette cutter was based on all the elements of a chimney in one cut out, with score lines the width of each side. This then folded up into the final shape, meaning only one glued joint on the least visible edge

Yeah, that's the method I used to employ, but (back then) all the parts were manually cut out (years before I bought the Cricut). I started by building the "Brick Terraced Row" from the  Wordsworth Model Railway website. I have to credit them for getting me started on cardboard model building construction. Great place to get started.

 

If I'm not mistaken, that method can only product a continuous hollow shape (no brickwork stepping out), which was another reason I had to change my method. When I made chimneys that way I always ended up with a trapezoid instead of a rectangle. I could only ever get two right-angles! My cutting wasn't that good ...

 

Ian

 

[ISW]

Platform Building - Chimneys Complete

 

It took a while, and was obviously repetitive, but I've managed to finish the 5 chimneys required for the Platform Building:

 

The 'fit' onto the apex of the roofs is not too bad, but the small gaps that do result will be covered up by the 'lead' flashing that I still need to draw up, print, cut out, fold, and glue to the roof/chimney.

 

Ian

 

[ISW]

Platform Building - Finally, some Doors

 

I must have mentioned  the 'doors' umpteen times in the last few weeks, so it's nice to have actually made some door progress. My chosen 'design' is 3-layers. The outer 2 are inkjet prints on 230gsm paper (aka thin card) with a centre layer of cereal packet (well, what else did you expect?) with an opening for the glazing.

 

Here's the 'recipe' laid out for assembly:

 

Which, when assembled, results in a door like this:

 

The 'advantage' is this design is that it can, relatively easily, be adapted to make functioning swinging doors by the simple expedient of putting piano wire up the side of the middle layer, and 'wrapping' the outer two layers around the' hinge' side of the door. Or so the 'plan' goes ...

 

In the meantime, the Platform Building is getting 'glued shut' doors as these (in reality) are unlikely to have been left open for any length of time and there's not much to see inside either.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Overbridge Building - Hinged Doors

 

Following the success (?) of making and fitting doors to the Platform Building, it was time to tackle the 7 door openings of the Overbridge Building. As many of these are double-doors, it made sense to attempt these with actual hinges so that the 'inside' of the model can be viewed and/or posed.

 

Here's the recipe of bits, left to right:

• outer skin - inkjet on 230gsm paper
• inner frame - cereal packet
• glazing - old Peco turnout packet
• inner skin - inkjet on 230gsm paper
• 0.6mm piano wire 'hinge'
• hinge cover - inkjet on 100gsm paper

 

These are then assembled in the same manner as the Platform Building doors, but this time with the piano wire 'trapped' (but not glued) along one long door edge behind the hinge cover.

 

The door is then 'trimmed' to fit the actual opening in the model since, despite the accuracy of my design drawing, paper folded around openings always makes the opening a tad smaller. The door is then offered up to the door opening with the piano extending out of the base of the door. The piano wire thus gives a good guide to the location of the 0.6mm hole to be drilled in the base of the model. The piano wire is then pushed through that hole in the base of the model (from the top side) until none is visible at the top of the door. This allows the door to be correctly positioned in the door opening. A small hammer is then used to gently (?) tap the piano wire upwards into the top of the door frame. The excess piano wire is then trimmed off.

 

And you get this, a pair of doors installed in the Overbridge Building:

 

Which can be opened:

 

Finally, here's how it looks from inside the building:

 

So, that's one done, 6 more to complete.

 

Ian

 

[ISW]

Overbridge Building - More Hinged Doors

 

Six more doors sets now completed, all using the same technique as set out previously. They haven't been 'trimmed' yet as that requires removal of the piano wire and I want to leave time for the glue to set properly before I pull the piano wire out (so that it leaves a nice clear hole to put the wire back afterwards):

 

Yes, it was about as tedious as you'd expect with a lot of repetitive work involved. However, you do get into the 'swing' of things and, probably, make less mistakes while doing a 'batch' of the same items. Plus, you soon learn the 'shortcuts' and tricks to make it easier ...

 

Ian

 

[ISW]

Overbridge Building - Hinged Doors Fitted

 

First of all, I can't count. Turns out there are a total of 10 double-doors on the Overground Building, all of which have now been installed; to variable levels of success. It's really quite hard to (a) get the doors to be the exact size and, (b) even harder to get the piano wire 'hinge' in exactly the right spot. However, overall, I'm reasonably pleased with the results. At least all the doors look acceptable in their 'closed' position, which is a bonus. Next time, I'll make and install the doors as I make each side of a building as it affords much better access. Lesson learnt!

 

I've broken-out the CubeCam again to take a few photos, so apologies in advance for the poor quality of the photos.

 

Booking Hall Main Entrance, view from inside the Booking Hall:

 

Same photo with all the doors opened:

 

Booking Hall viewed from inside the roof (camera perched on some handy Lego bricks!) towards the Gallery exit:

 

Ditto towards the Main Entrance:

 

Inside some of the side offices [1]:

 

and [2]:

 

and [3]:

 

Finally, here's a view that'll be hard to replicate once the Building is 'finally' assembled, looking through the Ticket Windows into the Booking Hall (you can just make out the Departure Board on the opposite wall:

 

I'd like to be able to make and install the chimneys on the Overbridge Building, but that necessitates that the roof is completed. And I can't complete the roof until the forecourt canopy is installed as it slightly 'overlaps' the building roof.

 

Looks like I'll be constructing the forecourt canopy next then ...

 

Ian

[ISW]

Overbridge Building - Forecourt Canopy

 

As previously intimated, the next part of the Overbridge Building to be built will be the Forecourt Canopy. The design was, as usual, drawn up in Xara Designer Pro X10 based on the 'overall design' drawing I'd already made for the whole building. It very much follows the design and construction techniques I employed on The Gallery element of the Overbridge Building. This time, however, it's much shorter in length and a lot wider.

 

The Cricut cutter has been busy again, preparing the components for the build. Here we have (top-to-bottom):

• Gables: 2-layers thick, and of 3 different designs to suit the canopy shape
• Gable Ends: One for each end
• Roof: This was too long for the Cricut, so had to be cut in 2-parts and glued together with the Ikea-like 'finger' joints
• Signboard: Again, this was too long for the Cricut, so had to be cut in 2-parts and glued together with the Ikea-like 'finger' joints
• Support Framing: This was also too long to cut in one-piece on the Cricut, and so I had to use the 'overlapping' layers method used on The Gallery

 

Here's those Support Frames laid out in the 4-layers, showing how they will overlap to create a, reasonably, strong single element ~3mm thick:

 

The daft thing is, all that intricate framing detail will be hidden behind the station Signboard! However, it will the 'there' for any photos taken 'into' the Forecourt Canopy.

 

Indeed, it's just like the real thing was. Here's an 'early' photo of the Forecourt Canopy, showing off all the lovely framework detail:

 

And here it is under BR ownership, with the station signboard in place:

 

Not sure whether I'll go to the extend of adding the guttering and downpipes. I'll have to see ...

 

Ian

 

 

 

[ISW]

Overbridge Building - Forecourt Canopy Sub-Assemblies

 

The multi-various parts from the Cricut (see previous posting) have now been assembled and glued into their parent sub-assemblies, thus reducing the clutter on my bench by, at least, a factor of 2.

 

Here's the much smaller part count:

 

Each gable comprises 2-layers and the support girder is 4-layers thick from 8 elements.

 

Next a dab of painting ...

 

Ian

[ISW]

Overbridge Building - Forecourt Canopy Sub-Assemblies

 

The painter has been to do the 'dabbing', resulting in the support framework and the trusses painted in an LMS cream colour. The support columns were 'enhanced' before painting by 'wrapping' them in normal paper (to hide the layers) and adding an additional cardboard 'wrap' at the top and bottom to represent the real thing:

 

The bases of the support columns will be overpainted in LMS carmine red.

 

Meanwhile, the roof structure has received its layer of tiles and the underside treated to a 'timber planking' texture (inkjet printed) in a suitable cream colour. Additionally, the station signboard has been 'assembled' with an inkjet printed wrap over the cereal packet cardboard:

 

Hopefully I'll be able to assemble (ala glue) the trusses onto the underside of the roof next.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Overbridge Building - Forecourt Canopy

 

And then there were 2.

 

The number of components did go up after the Cricut had cut all the parts for the roof glazing, but after some gluing the component count is now down to just 2:

 

A roof and a support frame:

 

The undersides:

 

It is still a bit of a bummer that the station signboard covers up all the intricate framework, but that's how it was in real life.

 

The glazing went together quite a bit easier than on The Gallery roof because I'm getting the hang of what widths the Cricut can 'reliably' cut in cereal packet and 230gsm paper. I also 'improved' my assembly sequence, and that seemed to help.

 

When I get time I'll try to 'assemble' the whole Overground Building (at it's current state) to see how it all goes together, particularly the roofs.

 

The Cricut has done all the cutting on my projects for the last 5-years, and all with the same 'deep cut' blade. As it's probably getting a little 'dull' by now I recently purchased a twin-pack of replacement 'deep cut' blades. Not bad at £12 (aka £6 per blade) for so many years of cutting.

 

Ian

[61656]

Your progress is just relentless and really very impressive. I must have missed the photo of what the cricut looks like - I can’t visualise how you’re turning what I assume are your own drawings into essentially card kits. Apologies if you’ve already shown everyone this…

[ISW]

12 hours ago, 61656 said:

I must have missed the photo of what the cricut looks like - [SNIP]. Apologies if you’ve already shown everyone this…

It was way back on November 21 when the Cricut made it's photographic appearance. Here's the same photo to save a lot of scrolling (sounds painful ...):

 

A lot of other modellers seem to be using the 'Silhouette Cameo' cutter instead. Indeed, there's an long RMWeb Topic that's been running for several years. I have 'interjected' a few postings about the Cricut, but to no avail.

 

I bought mine many years back, while it was 'on offer' at HobbyCraft. I recall it was £200 back then. Then it sat unused for a couple of years and I wondered if I'd wasted my money. Not now though. I couldn't do this 'cereal packet' modelling malarkey without it.

 

Ian

[ISW]

Overbridge Building - Forecourt Canopy Completed

 

Well, as ever, I'm using the term 'substantial completion' for a few reasons. Firstly, no modelling is ever 'complete', and until it actually installed on the bridge over the railway [1] it can't be properly embedded into the roads.

 

[1] - The plywood has been bought and it's sitting in the garage. That's a job for when it gets a bit warmer

 

The canopy has seen some 'tweaking' to get it to fit with the other roofs and, while I was at it, the 6 side roof sections have been amended such that they are now a 'snug' fit onto the walls. Previously I was relying on gravity (that most unreliable of forces) to keep them in roughly the right place.

 

After clearing the desk, I assembled the whole Overbridge Building for the first time.

 

View from over the Southbound Track:

 

View from over the Northbound Track:

 

I then added some 1:76 scale 'vehicles', including a Midland Red bus (of course), to give a sense of size. This is looking into the forecourt canopy from over the Northbound track:

 

And here's the same view from over the Southbound track (the bus has moved ...):

 

And finally, here's a slightly more close-up view of the completed forecourt canopy:

 

Looking back at my records, it's taken just under 2-weeks to complete the forecourt canopy, which feels like too long. I'm sure that if I did it again it'd take half that time, but then again, there would be no design drawing to do or preparing the drawings for the Cricut either. It therefore seems that the drawing side of things took about 1-week and the actual construction about 1-week as well, which I suppose is quite good.

 

Not sure what I'll be building next, but the Overbridge Building would sorely benefit from some chimneys ...

 

Ian

[John76]

Ian 

 

I have really enjoyed reading this thread from the outset but what you have done to create the station buildings is brilliant.

 

John

[ISW]

22 minutes ago, John76 said:

Ian 

 

I have really enjoyed reading this thread from the outset but what you have done to create the station buildings is brilliant.

 

John

John,

 

Glad to hear you've enjoyed the 'ride' through the build of my layout and buildings. I do try to make my comments / thoughts / descriptions as 'readable' as possible. Who knows, maybe one day I'll have to look back and read some of it again myself!

 

Designing & making the station buildings has been something of a passion project. I know the layout will benefit from having a 'proper' station, and I was determined to be as faithful as I could (within my space limitations) to the 1883 station.

 

There's still a long way to go yet though. Those platform canopies will take ages to make, and I haven't yet decided on a construction method. Then there is the access staircase between the Overbridge Building (out through The Gallery) and down to the platform. I'll looking forward to doing that element of the station, although it may have to wait until I have the overbridge structure complete in order to ensure I get my heights correct.

 

Ian

[5BarVT]

6 hours ago, ISW said:

including a Midland Red bus (of course),

Of course, what else?

But that isn’t a proper Midland Red bus, it’s just a Leyland National II masquerading as Midland Red.  If it doesn’t say BMMO on the front it’s a fraud!

:-)

Paul.

P.S. The canopy is as excellent as the rest of the building.  Well done.

[young37215]

Excellent work Ian, the building really looks the part.

[ISW]

16 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

But that isn’t a proper Midland Red bus, it’s just a Leyland National II masquerading as Midland Red.  If it doesn’t say BMMO on the front it’s a fraud!

Paul,

 

You are perfectly correct. In my defence, m'Lord, it was the first 'Midland Red' bus I found in my box of Midland Red buses, and I thought 'that'll do'.

 

Whilst I have quite a few Midland Red buses, the only BMMO buses I have is a D9 (but I have no recollection of any coming to Burton-on-Trent; it was a single deckers only), an LS18A that is 'badged' BMMO even though it's a Willowbrook bodied Leyland Leopard (& it's in West Midland blue & cream - it needs a repaint), and a C5 coach. All the rest of my models are 'imports' under NBC ownership.

 

I have particular memories of the C5 coach as one appeared on my regular bus to school one dark , wet, morning in late 1970. It had high backed seats (oooh), which were actually comfortable (oooh), and the lighting was naked bulbs that looked like they were on half-power. They were very dim, which only added to the dark morning.

 

My 'usual' Midland Red bus to/from school was one an S17, LS18, LS20, S21, S22, or S23. However, that just got me to/from town. Then I had to take a Burton Corporation bus to/from school. Burton Corporation (nice livery) later became East Staffordshire District Council (ESDC), with it's ghastly livery.

 

By the middle of the 1970s, the Leyland Nationals had appeared and they were like 'spaceships' compared to the BMMO buses that I become accustomed to. They were smooth, quiet, air-conditioned/heated, and had much better acceleration.

 

Wonderful times.

 

Ian

[Fishplate]

On 15/03/2023 at 20:47, ISW said:

the same view from over the Southbound track

 

Brilliant build @ISW. Congratulations 👍

[ISW]

5 hours ago, Fishplate said:

 

Brilliant build @ISW. Congratulations 👍

 

On 16/03/2023 at 08:36, young37215 said:

Excellent work Ian, the building really looks the part.

Thanks for your appreciative comments. It's good motivation ...

 

I think the next task will be to prepare the design drawing(s) for the staircase. That'll keep me occupied for a few days. I might have to hold off actual 'building' until I have the overbridge plywood in place, just to make sure I have the right vertical distance.

 

So it's back to Xara Designer Pro X10 again ...

 

Ian

[mallaig1983]

Is the overbridge ply far off Ian? Sounds like that probably needs to be your next move.

You're spoiling us with your updates and focusing our minds to aim as high as we can with our own projects which is great. 
You must be pleased as punch with how your building is turning out. It’s an absolute masterpiece and a standard I wish I could aspire to. My cap is doffed Sir.

Wonderful stuff.

[ISW]

17 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

Is the overbridge ply far off Ian? Sounds like that probably needs to be your next move.

As I've said, the plywood is in the garage awaiting 'attack of the saw blades'. I've already worked out the height it needs to be and have sufficient lumber to make the necessary spacers. What I haven't worked out is how to attach it to the Upper Level baseboards in such a manner that it can 'easily' be removed (to give access to the tracks underneath) without too many tools.

 

Once it's in place (ish) I'll be able to 'shape' it to the outline of the Overbridge Building and the adjacent 'car park' area.

 

In the meantime, I can proceed with the staircase design drawing because I know the overall height.

 

17 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

You must be pleased as punch with how your building is turning out.

I am fairly pleased with it but, being self critical, I know where it could have been made better. However, I'm looking forward to seeing it in place on the overbridge plywood.

 

Ian