The Airfix/Dapol Thatched Cottage

[TangoOscarMike]

Hello - I haven't posted in this part of RMweb before.

 

Many years ago, aged 10 or thereabouts, I was given the Airfix thatched cottage kit. As I recall, I painted it crudely, sloshing black and white paint around, and giving it a bright yellow roof.

 

This time round, with the Dapol edition, I'm trying to do a little better.

 

I've used a very dark brown for the timbers, and washes in various shades of cream and brown in between, for a gingerbread house effect. The roof has washes and drybrushing in browns and greys, and the chimney  has stones picked out in a few different colours.

 

 

The window frames are extremely crude, so I've been carving out the central portion, and making the transoms and mullions (please correct my terminology, if necessary) thinner, as shown in this blurry picture:

 

 

I've made glazing material from plastic packaging (it's horrifying how much of this stuff there is). The diamond pattern is a home-printed waterslide transfer.

 

 

It isn't very transparent, but that's fine, since I have no intention of making an interior.

 

I'm off work for a couple of weeks now. Hopefully I'll be able to make a bit of progress.

 

[Paul H Vigor]

1 hour ago, TangoOscarMike said:

Hello - I haven't posted in this part of RMweb before.

 

Many years ago, aged 10 or thereabouts, I was given the Airfix thatched cottage kit. As I recall, I painted it crudely, sloshing black and white paint around, and giving it a bright yellow roof.

 

This time round, with the Dapol edition, I'm trying to do a little better.

 

I've used a very dark brown for the timbers, and washes in various shades of cream and brown in between, for a gingerbread house effect. The roof has washes and drybrushing in browns and greys, and the chimney  has stones picked out in a few different colours.

 

 

The window frames are extremely crude, so I've been carving out the central portion, and making the transoms and mullions (please correct my terminology, if necessary) thinner, as shown in this blurry picture:

 

 

I've made glazing material from plastic packaging (it's horrifying how much of this stuff there is). The diamond pattern is a home-printed waterslide transfer.

 

 

It isn't very transparent, but that's fine, since I have no intention of making an interior.

 

I'm off work for a couple of weeks now. Hopefully I'll be able to make a bit of progress.

 

As younger modellers these were 'kits'. As time-served, adult modellers they are better described as scratch-aids. Looking forward to seeing that you make of it, second time around!

[TangoOscarMike]

23 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

As younger modellers these were 'kits'. As time-served, adult modellers they are better described as scratch-aids.

 

I'm plotting a fairly haphazard course between "models that look realistic to me" and "revisiting my childhood toys". On the one hand, I don't want to have off-the-shelf Hornby station buildings on a flat, featureless baseboard. But on the other hand I don't have any objections to Hornby tension-lock couplings or their toy 4-wheeled coaches. There is neither rhyme nor reason to my tastes!

 

But this window, upstairs at the end of the cottage, will not do. Even after my whittling treatment, it looks to me like a factory vent, or part of a livestock enclosure.

 

 

I hope that this is an improvement, but I won't be able to tell until later in the process.

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul H Vigor]

36 minutes ago, TangoOscarMike said:

 

I'm plotting a fairly haphazard course between "models that look realistic to me" and "revisiting my childhood toys". On the one hand, I don't want to have off-the-shelf Hornby station buildings on a flat, featureless baseboard. But on the other hand I don't have any objections to Hornby tension-lock couplings or their toy 4-wheeled coaches. There is neither rhyme nor reason to my tastes!

 

But this window, upstairs at the end of the cottage, will not do. Even after my whittling treatment, it looks to me like a factory vent, or part of a livestock enclosure.

 

 

I hope that this is an improvement, but I won't be able to tell until later in the process.

 

 

 

 

 

Time to break out the Evergreen micro strip! 🥸

[BernardTPM]

At one point Airfix recommended gluing the windows in from the inside so the bars looked thinner due to the mould draw. I think these days I'd make new windows for them.

[TangoOscarMike]

On 20/12/2022 at 23:45, BernardTPM said:

At one point Airfix recommended gluing the windows in from the inside so the bars looked thinner due to the mould draw. I think these days I'd make new windows for them.

 

That has inspired me to place the windows temporarily on the inside as a guide for making inner frames to hold the glazing.

 

  

 

And I also used the windows as guides for cutting out appropriately-sized pieces of the glazing material.

 

 

In this picture they are just sitting in their frames. Once the kit windows are painted and glued in, and once the outside has a coat of matt varnish, I will secure the glazing in place with wider pieces of polystyrene strip.

 

This seems a bit over complicated - I'm doing it to avoid using glue on the glazing, which I think could lead to problems.

 

[TangoOscarMike]

I had to relinquish the modeling table for a few days, since it's also the dining table.

 

This is the glazing, held in the inner frame, and this is how it looks from outside. I might add some suggestion of curtains, but apart from that this end is finished. It could be worse, it could be better.

 

  

 

 

The front door has hinges, which are perhaps the finest detail in the kit, and a handle. The back door has neither. I've added crude representations - there might be more more whittling before I apply paint.

 

 

[rovex]

I liked these kits as a kid and have to agree the big let down was the windows. Which with the thickness of the bars are only fit to represent modern uPVC windows 

[Halvarras]

On 19/12/2022 at 20:50, TangoOscarMike said:

 

Many years ago, aged 10 or thereabouts, I was given the Airfix thatched cottage kit. As I recall, I painted it crudely, sloshing black and white paint around, and giving it a bright yellow roof.

 

 

Yep, same here, about the same age and all in gloss paint (matt paint, wassat?!) I also built the Booking Hall, Engine Shed and Public House, all similarly gleaming! Well, what was wrong with painting red bricks red......?😁 Also back then it was 'build first, paint later', with predictable results......these and other Airfix kits including the inevitable platform saw use with a Hornby Dublo 3-rail roundy and then a more elaborate Tri-ang Super-4 layout.

 

They lived in a box in the loft for decades and I only chucked them out in 2019 when having a clear-out for a house move. However I retained the canopy from the Booking Hall because I have an unmade original Airfix kit which I'm planning to install on a small layout and will look at extending the canopy around one end, so forming an L-shape - it would be nice to have at least a small part of my formative modelling years live on. I'll also modify the window frames as they're too......'busy'. And this time I will try NOT to glue in the window frames with the sills on the inside and one end wall upside down 🤣!!!

[TangoOscarMike]

On 28/12/2022 at 20:17, rovex said:

I liked these kits as a kid and have to agree the big let down was the windows. Which with the thickness of the bars are only fit to represent modern uPVC windows 

 

On reflection, I don't think the timbers are all that good either - a bit too spindly, and not enough diagonal bracing. Although I am by no means an expert.

 

On 29/12/2022 at 16:35, Halvarras said:

 

Yep, same here, about the same age and all in gloss paint (matt paint, wassat?!) I also built the Booking Hall, Engine Shed and Public House, all similarly gleaming! Well, what was wrong with painting red bricks red......?😁

 

I can't be the only one who had to ask adults for white spirit so that I could clean my brushes. Normally I would get a jam jar maybe 1/3 full, although for a while I had a puddle of the stuff in a tobacco tin, for some reason. When the white spirit was utterly filthy I would go cap in hand to beg for some fresh stuff. The sages who wrote in Railway Modeler would recommend several coats of thinned paint, but from my point of view they might as well have advised me to use unicorn tears.

 

I was delighted by Tamiya acrylics, which freed me from my dependency on grown ups.

 

The only other Airfix lineside kit that I had was the water tower (green paint, gloss as you say!). At the time this seemed pretty realistic to me, although this might merely mean that it has lots of over-scale rivets. I mean to revisit this kit one day and find out.

[TangoOscarMike]

Here is the front wall, complete unless I add curtains. I think that careful painting of the door, followed by a dirty dark brown wash, has been rewarded. But the camera and its flash are cruel.

 

 

[Halvarras]

1 minute ago, TangoOscarMike said:

 

I can't be the only one who had to ask adults for white spirit so that I could clean my brushes. Normally I would get a jam jar maybe 1/3 full, although for a while I had a puddle of the stuff in a tobacco tin, for some reason. When the white spirit was utterly filthy I would go cap in hand to beg for some fresh stuff. The sages who wrote in Railway Modeler would recommend several coats of thinned paint, but from my point of view they might as well have advised me to use unicorn tears.

 

Oh yes, good point, no you weren't! Back then I had to clean the brushes in soapy water, shifting enamel paint that way wasn't easy and took a while. My dad, seeing the bother I was having, let me have some white spirit, and yes, in a jam jar (with the instruction to treat it with care) and to my youthful eyes it was like some kind of miracle fluid!

 

Your just-posted completed front wall looks excellent - I know only too well how digital photography can be cruel but even so, nice job on this 'old timer'! 

[Paul H Vigor]

I'm on the edge of my seat awaiting how you will tackle the plastic thatch! Roye England 'Chinese hair', perchance? 😉

[TangoOscarMike]

23 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

I'm on the edge of my seat awaiting how you will tackle the plastic thatch! Roye England 'Chinese hair', perchance? 😉

I knew he used hair. Did he really describe it like that? Zounds - it really was another century.

 

I'm not planning to deviate from the basic materials - the roof will be the original moulded parts, painted as in the first picture in this thread.

 

The ends of the straws are completely smooth in the moulding, and I've experimented with a little stippling. This was not a serious attempt to depict the ends - I just wanted to break up the smoothness. But mostly I'll rely on the murky colour and normal viewing angles.

 

 

[Paul H Vigor]

16 minutes ago, TangoOscarMike said:

I knew he used hair. Did he really describe it like that? Zounds - it really was another century.

 

I'm not planning to deviate from the basic materials - the roof will be the original moulded parts, painted as in the first picture in this thread.

 

The ends of the straws are completely smooth in the moulding, and I've experimented with a little stippling. This was not a serious attempt to depict the ends - I just wanted to break up the smoothness. But mostly I'll rely on the murky colour and normal viewing angles.

 

 

Apparently he visited Chinese barbers who kept cut hair for him - straight hair, not curly!

 

It seems no one's hair was safe, if considered suitable!

 

 

Edited January 2, 2023 by Paul H Vigor

[TangoOscarMike]

The back wall. The door is dark green, although that's not clear in this poorly-lit picture. I carved the hinges a little bit more with a knife, to make them resemble those of the front door. I've been using the same off-white for all the windows, so for a little variation I used a different off-white for the two windows either side of the door. Recently painted, perhaps.

 

 

I think my daughter has some crepe paper from an art project, so I might ask for some of that for curtains. Meanwhile, I've been considering the chimney. This won't do as-is.

 

 

So this is the start of a chimney pot attempt. I'm going to try using a small hand-drill as a lathe.

 

 

 

[TangoOscarMike]

Using the hand drill as a lathe didn't work. I had better luck with my electric drill, and some files and sandpaper to shape the chimney pot.

 

I'm a little bit worried that it might be too big, but apart from that, it'll do.

 

 

As ever, I just hope that it looks better when the whole thing's assembled, and in normal light!

 

[Paul H Vigor]

31 minutes ago, TangoOscarMike said:

Using the hand drill as a lathe didn't work. I had better luck with my electric drill, and some files and sandpaper to shape the chimney pot.

 

I'm a little bit worried that it might be too big, but apart from that, it'll do.

 

 

As ever, I just hope that it looks better when the whole thing's assembled, and in normal light!

 

Hope the precision milling didn't drive you potty! 😎

[Paul H Vigor]

What has happened to the emojis? The last great rmweb 'crash' has left me wary!

[TangoOscarMike]

7 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

Hope the precision milling didn't drive you potty! 😎

 

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I wonder, does the missing emoji depict a man being chased by an angry anti-punning mob?

 

Actually, it was a bit of a trial. I'm not sure what this plastic is - polystyrene cement works on it, but it isn't as soft as plasticard. Twice during the turning I applied too much pressure, and the top ring became un-glued.

 

I was in a freezing cold shed, using my left hand to hold down the drill, my left thumb to push the trigger and my right hand to hold the tools. Under other circumstances I might have persisted a little longer!

 

[Paul H Vigor]

4 hours ago, TangoOscarMike said:

 

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I wonder, does the missing emoji depict a man being chased by an angry anti-punning mob?

 

Actually, it was a bit of a trial. I'm not sure what this plastic is - polystyrene cement works on it, but it isn't as soft as plasticard. Twice during the turning I applied too much pressure, and the top ring became un-glued.

 

I was in a freezing cold shed, using my left hand to hold down the drill, my left thumb to push the trigger and my right hand to hold the tools. Under other circumstances I might have persisted a little longer!

 

We suffer for our art! 

[TangoOscarMike]

Curtains: These are made from crepe paper, glued to the inner frames and then trimmed once the glue has dried. I'm using Revell glue, which is pretty thin and soaks through the paper. It seems to have done the trick, although perhaps in three years they will all suddenly fall off. That sort of thing happens.

 

I hope these colourful curtains (or any curtains) are not anachronistic for the period I'm modelling (which is "olden times"). From the inside they are far too gaudy:

 

 

But from the outside it's quite hard to see them, which was my intention.

 

 

[Paul H Vigor]

5 hours ago, TangoOscarMike said:

Curtains: These are made from crepe paper, glued to the inner frames and then trimmed once the glue has dried. I'm using Revell glue, which is pretty thin and soaks through the paper. It seems to have done the trick, although perhaps in three years they will all suddenly fall off. That sort of thing happens.

 

I hope these colourful curtains (or any curtains) are not anachronistic for the period I'm modelling (which is "olden times"). From the inside they are far too gaudy:

 

 

But from the outside it's quite hard to see them, which was my intention.

 

 

Coming along nicely! 😎

[TangoOscarMike]

And now it's assembled. I found that both roof halves were rather warped, so I heated them in the oven and straightened them with my fingers. And with that done the parts were a pretty good fit. There was still an unsightly seam at each corner...

 

 

Rather than use filler, I flooded the gap with liquid cement and then put a strip of plasticard into it. When the plastic was soft, I pushed it further into the gap with a sculpting tool, taking advantage of an effect that normally spoils models. Once it was set I filed, sanded and painted the corners.

 

 

In spite of the general good fit, there are gaps on both sides between the chimney and the thatch:

 

 

 

I've managed to get brown paint onto the unpainted plastic, so these gaps are now much less visible. I'm procrastinating about what to do next. Firstly, I don't know what would actually be realistic in this case (although I'm sure the internet can help!). Secondly, there is a risk that anything I do will actually be more conspicuous than the gaps.

 

 

 

[TangoOscarMike]

Well, I'm not going say it's finished - that's pretty intemperate language. But I have stopped, for the time being.

 

I decided not to deal with the gap between thatch and chimney. The cure might be worse than the disease.

 

I had a horror of people looking in through an upstairs window and out through a downstairs window, so I was planning to install card baffles inside. That turned out not to be necessary.

 

 

If this was a brick building it would clearly be an H0 model - hopelessly small for 1/76. But it's alright for an old timber framed house to be small and have low ceilings. This elegant Andrew Stadden lady would have to duck to get in even without her hat. But in fact she wouldn't dream of entering such a nasty little hovel. She's only here to deliver religious tracts and pamphlets about the evils of drink.

 

 

She's wasting her time. Druids have been operating a still in here for 9 generations.

 

My next piece of model building nostalgia will involve Linka moulds.

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by TangoOscarMike
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