Airfix Booking hall revisited

[Bassettblowke]

Sixty odd years ago as a child I tried my hand at one of these and can remember being sorely disappointed with the result. Glued with cement and painted with Airfix gloss paints that came in little bottles it was poorly  constructed and painted and was an eyesore. The purchase and acquiring of paints, brushes, cement etc cleared out my pocket money for at least a fortnight. 
Chastened by the experience it was some time before I tackled another one, the water tower  if I remember correctly which was a far more rewarding experience.

Anyway now in my dotage and having time on my hands I thought I’d have another go for a bit of fun. An opened boxed kit was acquired off eBay for a fiver and battle commenced.

Hampered by a set of sausage fingers , wobbly hands and dodgy eyesight I set about the beast. I should probably have used solvent weld but lurking in the cupboard was a tube of part used cement, so for old times sake stringy cement it was.

A variety of paints were used all modern acrylic, Tamiya, Revell and Humbrol the parts were washed in the sink with a dollop of fairey liquid and left to dry. Once dry the lot was treated to a coat of grey rattle can primer to obscure the bright red plastic. Individual parts were then painted and once dry assembly commenced, there’s not much to the kit so it was pretty straight forward the only delay being down to the use of cement instead of solvent weld which is a lot quicker drying.

Here’s a picture just prior to attaching the canopy and the entrance doors. Finishing off will include touching up in various places highlighted by the Flash photograph which always gives you a warts and all view.

The windows were glazed with some gunk called glue and glaze by Deluxe and the chimney pots were 3D prints bought  off an eBay trader.

All in all an enjoyable build I am now eyeing up the Station Kiosks and Lineside huts

Things I should’ve done,

1. Paid more attention to tidying up the mouldings especially the window frames

 

Edited May 13 by Bassettblowke
Sausage fingers

[Halvarras]

I also built one of these a very long time ago, thinking about the circumstances it would have been pre-1962 when we moved house, to decorate the HD 3-rail set I had at the time, so age-wise I was still in single digits (I got into Airfix kit building at such an age, encouraged by an aero-modelling uncle). I somehow managed to glue one of the end walls in upside-down! Like you I also used gloss paints, also on the engine shed and signal box kits, and much else besides! Some of these survived in long-term loft storage until we moved house in early 2020 (just in time.....) when they failed to survive a ruthless clear-out. However the Booking Hall's canopy was retained as in 1996 I had picked up another bagged kit for £2.50 which I thought I could use at some point and maybe the old canopy could provide an extension around one end. It hasn't happened yet but it's still very much on the cards....... 

 

As a point of interest it appears that Airfix modified the kit at an early stage as my original one had sills attached to the window frames which were glued in from the outside - this was not ideal from a visual viewpoint as the inside faces of the frames were now on the outside which made them look flat and thicker. As with your and my second-go kits the modified kit had sills moulded onto the walls below the window openings and the frames were now attached from inside, giving a much better appearance.

 

When I (finally) get to building my Airfix Booking Hall 2 you've convinced me that those chimneys need improving, so thanks for the tip!

[cypherman]

Hi,

I think this was the only plastic kit by Airfix for model railways I did not build I did not like the look of it. Besides I had discovered Superquick kits and was enamoured by them for my building needs at the time.

Edited May 19 by cypherman

[andyman7]

Yes, the moulds for this were modified early on to reverse the window fittings. I've built a few of these, it's quite a nice model but has too many windows to be plausible. I have one somewhere with an interior added and to get it to work (ticket office, Gents and Ladies toilet etc) I had to seal a few windows up and then it looked a bot better.

[Bassettblowke]

The underneath of the canopy carries the name Airfix Poducts 1958 so it’s a very dated kit which is why it appealed to me. If realism is your thing there are far better options these days in both plastic and card and increasingly laser cut mdf. I don’t consider myself a true modeller more like someone trapped in the past that’s why I pick these very dated items.

Funny that Superquick gets a mention as my first outing into vintage kits was building an early Superquick goods shed and an early island station platform building, these were the ones with the chimney stacks, long since deleted with the current offerings being devoid of a chimney, sacrilege !

PS I agree the window frames are far to thick, I did contemplate taking a file to them or reducing the amount of panes but in the end decided I wanted the look of the old Airfix kit retained albeit with a few minor alterations. If it gets used it will be with a 3 rail Dublo layout.

Edited May 14 by Bassettblowke

[Il Grifone]

I built all these back in the day when they first came out (2/- each in Woolworths - conveniently near school). Youthful incompetence, plastic cement in tubes and Humbrol paint - only came in gloss back then and flatting agent was a thing for the future - ensured results were less than they could have been.

This one seems on the small side - the Ladies and Gents are larger than the rest of the waiting room (or is it the ticket office? I can't remember, but either way it's too small).

[andyman7]

The Superquick buildings were all rather compressed too - and the main station buildings were designed to sit flat on a baseboard alongside the platform so in real life would have required some sort of internal staircase to platform level, an arrangement almost unheard of in real life. But they looked plausible to youngster's eyes which is what mattered.

[cypherman]

10 hours ago, Bassettblowke said:

The underneath of the canopy carries the name Airfix Poducts 1958 so it’s a very dated kit which is why it appealed to me. If realism is your thing there are far better options these days in both plastic and card and increasingly laser cut mdf. I don’t consider myself a true modeller more like someone trapped in the past that’s why I pick these very dated items.

Funny that Superquick gets a mention as my first outing into vintage kits was building an early Superquick goods shed and an early island station platform building, these were the ones with the chimney stacks, long since deleted with the current offerings being devoid of a chimney, sacrilege !

PS I agree the window frames are far to thick, I did contemplate taking a file to them or reducing the amount of panes but in the end decided I wanted the look of the old Airfix kit retained albeit with a few minor alterations. If it gets used it will be with a 3 rail Dublo layout.

I still have a half built Superquick main station building in a box from the 1990's Maybe I will finish it one day.

[Steamport Southport]

On 14/05/2024 at 10:47, Il Grifone said:

I built all these back in the day when they first came out (2/- each in Woolworths - conveniently near school). Youthful incompetence, plastic cement in tubes and Humbrol paint - only came in gloss back then and flatting agent was a thing for the future - ensured results were less than they could have been.

This one seems on the small side - the Ladies and Gents are larger than the rest of the waiting room (or is it the ticket office? I can't remember, but either way it's too small).

 

They're usually correct though, they just picked small prototypes. Found a few of them over the years.

 

The church is Old St Boniface, Bonchurch

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_St_Boniface_Church,_Bonchurch

 

Engine Shed is Tanhouse Lane

 

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/t/tan_house_lane/index21.shtml

 

Signal Box is Oakham

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakham_railway_station

 

Windmill is said to be Outwood

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outwood_Windmill

 

Can't remember the Water Tower but it was almost certainly GWR and from the Midlands. Some very similar ones on the Warwickshire Railways website. I have it in the back of my mind that the Booking Office was from the same area.

 

 

 

Jason

[CKPR]

I've always thought that the Airfix booking hall was based on a GWR standard design from the early 20th century.

[Steamport Southport]

12 hours ago, CKPR said:

I've always thought that the Airfix booking hall was based on a GWR standard design from the early 20th century.

 

Probably is, I've just never really looked and never had one to compare to photos.

 

I went from the Hornby "mainline" station of the late 1970s, to the Hornby plastic kit of Dunster* and eventually to the Ratio kit of Castle Cary.

 

I still think these Airfix/Dapol kits have their uses though.

 

 

*Now sold by Gaugemaster as Fordhampton and pretending to be Southern

 

https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/gaugemaster-gm401.html

 

 

 

Jason

[Il Grifone]

21 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

They're usually correct though, they just picked small prototypes. Found a few of them over the years.

 

The church is Old St Boniface, Bonchurch

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_St_Boniface_Church,_Bonchurch

 

Engine Shed is Tanhouse Lane

 

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/t/tan_house_lane/index21.shtml

 

Signal Box is Oakham

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakham_railway_station

 

Windmill is said to be Outwood

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outwood_Windmill

 

Can't remember the Water Tower but it was almost certainly GWR and from the Midlands. Some very similar ones on the Warwickshire Railways website. I have it in the back of my mind that the Booking Office was from the same area.

 

 

 

Jason

 

I knew the church was located somewhere in the I.O.W., but not exactly where.

[andyman7]

21 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

They're usually correct though, they just picked small prototypes. Found a few of them over the years.

 

The church is Old St Boniface, Bonchurch

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_St_Boniface_Church,_Bonchurch

 

Engine Shed is Tanhouse Lane

 

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/t/tan_house_lane/index21.shtml

 

Signal Box is Oakham

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakham_railway_station

 

Windmill is said to be Outwood

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outwood_Windmill

 

Can't remember the Water Tower but it was almost certainly GWR and from the Midlands. Some very similar ones on the Warwickshire Railways website. I have it in the back of my mind that the Booking Office was from the same area.

 

 

 

Jason

I reckon 8 of the Engine Shed kits would give you a fighting chance of building Tanhouse Lane shed 🙂

[railroadbill]

 

Vintage Airfix, from my h-d 3r layout made when I was in single figures. Didn't actually paint them (I think they came with a small flexible container of glue?)  They got saved by being with the 3 rail stuff.

Don't know why a station would need 2 newsagents kiosks unless it was very large.

I just moved them onto the current layout platforms.

Also the 2 trailers to left are Airfix, same era. The tractor unit could be Dapol, can't remember but that's at least 25 years old!

[railroadbill]

Also signal gantry, still doesn't have signals added. Original Airfix kit. Actually the telegraph pole could be Airfix.

 

 

[Il Grifone]

57 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

I reckon 8 of the Engine Shed kits would give you a fighting chance of building Tanhouse Lane shed 🙂

 

I did start building a four unit shed. Unfortunately the roof collapsed and the rear wall detached itself from the sides.  It's now in one of the 'roundtoit' piles. (or maybe two or three of them...!)

 

25 minutes ago, railroadbill said:

Also signal gantry, still doesn't have signals added. Original Airfix kit. Actually the telegraph pole could be Airfix.

 

 

 

I have one of these too. This one was actually finished with working LED lights. I've a picture somewhere. I'll see if I can find it.

The telegraph pole is definitely Airfix. The giveaways are the two slots for additional bars and the solid steps. I've a pile of these ready for the new layout and a level crossing as well which I intend to motorise. Meccano to the rescue here!

Edited May 16 by Il Grifone
Stroppy computer problems!

[railroadbill]

18 minutes ago, Il Grifone said:

 

I did start building a four unit shed. Unfortunately the roof collapsed and the rear wall detached itself from the sides.  It's now in one of the 'roundtoit' piles. (or maybe two or three of them...!)

 

Below:-

I have one of these two. This one was actually finished with working LED lights. I've a picture somewhere. I'll see if I can find it.

The telegraph pole is definitely Airfix. The giveaway  is the two slots for additional bars. I've a pile of these ready for the new layout and a level crossing as well which I intend to motorise. Meccano to the rescue here!

 

There's some very useful models or indeed parts to modify from those old Airfix, now Dapol kits,  turntable, girder bridge - level crossing, now there's a thought!

[Il Grifone]

As threatened, here's a photo of my signal gantry. Unfortunately it was taken before I had fixed the actual signals and in pre-digital days (something like 20 years ago), so the exposure leaves something to be desired.

Edited May 16 by Il Grifone

[railroadbill]

Looks good with the uprights moved inwards. I also spotted the Airfix cable drums! And the station fencing with the name board, but I think that's triang.

[Il Grifone]

Thanks - it was a necessary modification to fit between the tracks. IIRC the drums are one Airfix and 3 Mastermodel and, yes, the nameboard is Tri-ang. A couple of Tri-ang buildings appeared later.

 

The picture I was looking for is this one:-

 

The Airfix gantry is on the extreme right and the other two colour light signals are Trix. There were Dublo ones elsewhere on the layout.

 

No prizes for identifying the water tower!

 

Edited May 17 by Il Grifone

[Captain Slough]

Might interest that a couple of the current Dapol building kits were actually first introduced by Tri-Ang as *Tri-Ang Model Land* and were sold to Airfix along with Meccano after the Tri-Ang / Hornby merger: https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Model-Land

 

As recently as the 1990s a majority of the Model-Land range were still listed as available via Dapol - I have a constructed *Villa Fernando* (Tri-Ang RML-11)  that I bought in Dapol packaging