Buildings for 'Bacup'

[MichaelW]

Hi Sandside - that's a brilliant start to the step by step guide! I'm looking forward to the next installment already...

[Jason T]

The next stage is where it gets slightly trickier, although as long as you take your time it's fine and you don't have to follow all the steps that I do. Basically, on most of the recent builds, I have been recessing the stonework into the window apertures and removing material above the windows, etc., to add flush lintels. I don't know why I do really as it's not hugely noticeable when everything is painted, etc., but I kind of enjoy the little fiddly bits.

 

Anyway, this stage is about adding the plastikard skin to the mounting board.

 

I start by ensuring that I have straight and level edges to start from, using the straight ruler, set square and trusty craft knife to get this. Once it is square, I stick the front of the mounting board formers to the back of the Plastikard (note how I have marked it up as Inside - yes, I have stuck the wrong side down before) using a few random blobs of UHU.

 

 

With it lightly attached, I then lightly score around the outside edges of all windows, doors and the former itself and then remove the mounting board from the plastikard, leaving it marked with the outlines I need

 

 

Then, using the set square and / or steel rule, I score the edges of the window apertures with the Olfa Cutter, dragging it down to remove enough material to allow the plastikard to be bent without going all the way through. Of course, you may well choose not to bother doing this, in which case just carefully cut the plastikard to match the mounting board (which you may want to do whilst it is still glued together)

 

Anyway, this is what I do.

 

 

Once that is done, I then measure up where the lintels will be and remove this material, as well as removing the mid section of the windows, leaving two flaps for each that will be bent round (see later on)

 

 

You are then left with this (which has the recess 'flaps' bent back). Secondly, offered up to the mounting board

 

 

 

Glue the two together and then one by one, using Mek-Pak (which I have found to work best), glue the recesses in place. Some may be a bit of an awkward fit, but they can be trimmed or have more material (carefully) removed with the craft knife. Some will take a few wipes of Mek-Pak before they stick back but persevere....

 

 

Once they have all been glued back and are staying in place, the excess on the inside needs to be very carefully trimmed away so that later, when we add the clear plastikard for our glazing, it sits flush against the inside of the wall. To do this, I use my smallest craft knife and VERY CAREFULLY trim the excess away. Hopefully the photo will show that I press the small steel rule up against it (with the pressure into the glued surface) and with the knife held at as low an angle as possible, gently score and score until the excess is removed. Warning - I have removed some skin from my fingertips in the past doing this.

 

 

You are left with them all flush

 

 

For the end walls, once ready to stick the structure together, these will sit inside the front and rear (if you see what I mean) so I have left an overlap of plastikard at each edge to allow for the thickness of the edge of the mounting board on the front / rear sections. The chimney section has been left off because later on, I will be adding mounting board to give it the correct depth and then, using the Olfa Cutter again, wrap the plastikard around it.

 

Oh, and I make every effort to ensure that the mortar courses line up between each face of the building. When the glue is still setting on the end piece, I offer it up to the already done part and ten move it until it lines up as good as possible.

 

 

 

 

And here is where I currently am; front and one end clad, window recesses glued back. I'm working in London tomorrow so will be offline pretty much all day but on Thursday, I'll add the lintels, etc and then, surprisingly, it's time to start painting !!!

 

 

p.s. I must have been doing too many of these as to get to this point (as well as writing this, having a few ciggies and a cuppa) has taken four hours

[billyb_imp]

Another thread full of great info & tips one to follow.

 

My wife Margaret as actually built all our buildings so far (I think she decided to take the view "if you cant beat them join them" the are card kits but i'm sure she would like to have a go at something scratch built, I will point her in this direction

 

billyb

[Andrew P]

Hi Scott, I must admit that I have never looked in this section before, Well I do not have time to read all that you have done so far but I will have a good read and make some notes over the next few days. I was very impressed with the start page yesterday showing the tools used, all looks very good mate, Well done again.

 

Andy.

[Andrew P]

SORRY JASON, for some seneile reason I called you Scott in the last post and it won't let me edit it. Cheers again, Ann, whoops no Anabell, Whoops no again its Andy

[Jason T]

I did wonder Andy. I've been called much worse in my time

[Jason T]

The next step is to add the lintels and sills. As mentioned, I remove material above the window apertures so that the lintels are flush and depending on the building, either do the same for the sills or stick them onto the Plastikard if they stand proud.

 

You may have noticed that when I removed the material for the lintels, for the top floor, I cut all of the material away up to the roofline. The reason for this, especially when the lintel is so close to the roofline itself, is because what embossed plastikard would remain above it is so thin that it invariably bends, snaps, etc., and as the area will be hidden under gutters, it's just as easy to insert a larger piece of plastikard to represent the lintel than to mess around. Yep, I learned the hard way.

 

For these cottages, I removed an area 2mm above the height of the windows and a 2mm area surrounding the doors (a lot of the houses in Bacup had the full front doors surrounded by dressed stone). The lintels are added in using 20 thou Microstrip to the correct (2mm) width although I have to admit that I didn't have any so cut a suitable strip from a 20 thou sheet of Plastikard.

 

It is inevitable that you will need to trim the embossed plastikard in places to get a straight edge and that a tiny amount of tidying up will need to be done and for this, I use my smaller craft knife with a new blade, as well as the smaller steel rule.

 

It's pretty obvious really, although what I do is put one end of the microstrip into the area where the lintel will be, mark up how long it needs to be, and cut to size. I used to glue them in with Superglue but after a few too many incidents where I glued my finger to the building and left a huge fingerprint that was difficult to remove, I now use Mek-Pak instead. It really is amazing what you can glue together with this stuff; it has no problems sticking plastic to card !!!

 

So, here I am popping one end of the strip into the recess. I then measure the width (usually by lightly scoring the other end with the craft knife)

 

 

The sills are done in the same way, measuring the length required and then glueing them under the windows with Mek-Pak

 

 

Once all of them are added, the sides look like this. You will notice that I didn't do full door surrounds for the back or put a step in; the latter will be added once the building is set into it's 'hole' on the layout.

 

 

The next step is to start painting. I know this may seem the wrong order to do things but it is far easier to paint and weather the apertures for the windows and doors before the items themselves are added. I paint the whole (external) structure with Stone colour (Humbrol 84). It doesn't matter if the lintels and sills aren't fully covered because I will be adding brown and black onto them at the next stage of painting.

 

 

Whilst the paint is drying, I continued with the chimney stacks. I measured and cut the stacks on the end and internal dividing wall to be 14mm wide so I cut a 14mm wide strip of mounting board and then divide this into suitable length sections

 

 

I then glue these to the chimney stacks on the end/internal walls with PVA and use these little grip jobbies to hold them together.

 

 

I then prepare the embossed plastikard for the stacks. I first measure the length and width I require and mark up the Plastikard to suit (in this case, a piece I had already painted and weathered for such jobs).

 

I first use the set square and lightly mark on the corners (1), and then use the Olfa Cutter to remove enough material to enable the piece to be bent round the mounting board chimney stack (2).

Next, I cut out the section (3) and then bend it into the required shape, along the lines that I have removed with the Olfa Cutter (4).

Lastly, I glue it to the mounting board one side at a time, beding it round and ensuring that it all lines up (5)

 

 

 

I end up with the stack looking like the below photo.

 

I also started to cut the slates but that can wait until a later update.

[Mythocentric]

Excellent tutorials our lad! I'm not far away from starting my goods shed (just finished the drawings based on Holmfirth) and this is clearly the way to go. Beats laminating endless sheets of 40 thou plasticard hands down. Also means speeding me up from my usual continental drift rate to at least slow-but-steady (only-slightly wobbley)

 

Regards

 

Bill

[Michaelaface]

I'm so glad this thread exists, not only has it shown me how to do things its also helped with my motivation!

[Andrew P]

Hi Jason, this is not only a good read, but an easy read, not to over technical, I wish I had the confidence to try a propper building, maybe one day!

 

keep up the good work

Andy

[Jason T]

The next stage is to weather the stonework. Now obviously if you are constructing a brick building (as I imagine most people will be) then you may want to do it slightly different, e.g. paint it brick colour first and then add the mortar courses by carefully dripping in a tinned down mortar colour and letting it run down the courses (I have used emulsion for this in the past) although the method I have used for stone does work with brick as well.

 

The base stone colour I have covered the building with are a decent colour to represent the mortar so what I now do is to build up the layers of grime on top, remembering to ensure that all the door and window apertures are also done.

I also find that enamels are far better for this than acrylics, which dry far too fast.

 

With a suitable brown shade (I have used Sleeper Grime and/or Frame dirt, because both were handy), I find it easiest to start by dry brushing the window and door apertures, as well as under raised sections (e.g. sills) where the later dabbing/wiping method won't reach.

 

I transfer a small amount of the paint from the pot to an old jam jar lid and then using an old brush, dip it in and wipe most of the paint off on the lid, leaving only a tiny amount on the brush. I then lightly drag the brush over the area to colour, ina diagonal move if possible, to try and avoid getting paint in the mortar courses. It doesn't matter if you get a bit in there, but basically I am wanting the courses to remain in the original stone colour.

 

 

Once this is done (and you may need to do it more than once to get a decent layer of paint on; patience is best here rather than trying to get it all done at once), the next stage is to paint the remaining stonework. To do this, I once again transfer paint into the jam jar lid and then using an old cloth (an old T Shirt in this case), I dab it in the paint, wipe any excess off on the lid so that there is only a thin covering on the cloth (e.g. no visible drips) and then wrap the cloth tightly around my index finger before dabbing the stonework gently. You can see my cloth-wrapped finger on the right of the below photo.

 

 

Once I have done the whole exterior in brown, I leave it for a day and then repeat the process with black; weathered Black in this case.

 

The end result is that the external walls will look like this, with the mortar courses clearly visible.

[Jason T]

It is now time to add the windows. I have now got into the habit of forming these with Microstrip but if you wish to use etches or pre-printed ones, then you will save yourself a fair bit of time and hassle. The only pitfall I can see is that you will need to be very accurate when cutting out the apertures, to ensure that the size of these match that of the windows you are using. Also, obviously if you are using etches, then you will attach the frames before the glazing.

 

However, this is how I do it so I will waffle on about the Microstrip method.

 

I start by marking where the internal walls will be on the inside of the building, to ensure that I don't glue clear plastikard over the areas by mistake (which I have done before, and then had to amend the internal walls to fit round them). Once this is done, I measure the area of clear plastikard required (a few mm taller and wider than the apertures) and cut these from the sheet.

I then pour a small amount of Superglue onto a scrap of Plastikard and using a cocktail stick, wipe it round the aperture before pressing the glazing on and holding it in place for 10 seconds to ensure it has taken. If it hasn't, it's easy enough to add a bit more glue by using the cocktail stick again.

 

 

 

Once they are all attached and set, it is time to start to build the window frames from Microstrip. I use 25 thou by 10 thou for the frames and 20 thou by 10 thou for the cross and down bars.

I start by adding the frame around the outside. I take the strip, wipe the superglue on the back and then place one end into one of the corners, before gently pressing it down with the knife blade, and gradually working my way up the strip until I am close to the top. At this point, I press the strip into the corner and cut (it is best to have a brand new blade fitted for this), before pressing the end down.

If the frame isn't straight, you have a few seconds in which to straighten it out, which is what I am doing in the below photo.

 

If the strip is too long, you should easily be able to remove the excess when it is down; if it is too short, then you can trim it to the width of the strip and then start the next frame from the edge of the aperture, so it all butts up ok.

 

 

Once you have all the external frames added, it is time to add the central bars. If you are nervous about getting these in the correct place or aligned straightly, then it is worth measuring up on the back and lightly scoring a line on the inside to act as a guide.

In the same way as I did for the frames, I wipe on glue and then work it across before trimming at the other frame edge.

 

For the down bars, these need to be done in two halves (obviously) and I find it easiest to work from the edge of the windows to the centre , as it is easier to cut the strip there. I do all of one half first, followed by the other half.

 

You will notice that I do not build up the frames to include the sash detail (although I have in the past) but if you wish to, then it's simply a case of adding another layer of microstrip onto the top of the first, for the top half only (from the outside, it is the top half of sash windows that are further out).

 

 

The windows are now completed externally, but I plan to add nets and curtains to the inside so it's not time to put away the Microstrip yet unfortunately.

 

When the nets and curtains are added, if they are glued directly onto the clear Plastikard, it will be a nightmare to align them and there is also a strong possibility of getting glue on the window area itself (not to mention the colour of the curtains running, etc).

Now this may seem like a lot of hassle, but I add Microstrip to the inside of the windows (not as neatly as the outside) so that I can apply the glue to them and keep the curtains slightly away from the panes. The photo will show this more clearly.

 

 

The next step, when I get round to it, will be to scribe and add the doors and then the bit I hate, add the curtains and nets; I always end up with superglue all over my fingers !

[Jason T]

So, fitting curtains, nets and doors.

 

With the additional bars on the back of the windows, I first take a plain tissue, separate it to be one ply and then cut suitable size squares from it. I then wipe superglue on the bars and stick the tissue onto them, carefully. I usually stick my finger to the tissue and the structure at least once in this process, swear a bit, remove the erroneous (and now ripped) tissue from both the structure and my fingertip with a craft knife, and start again. The important thing is to ensure that the top edge is straight and lines up perfectly with the bar, so that when viewed from outside, only the lower pane has the curtain.

 

Disclaimer: For most of my windows, I only add half nets. The reason I add net curtains at all is because I figure that due to the proximity of most of the houses to pavements, mills, etc., the occupants would put up nets to stop nosey gits peering in. I don't fit them to bathroom or kitchen windows because my thoughts there are that you wouldn't want your nets to get covered in stuff from the kitchen and in most cases, both these rooms would face the back of the house into the yard, hence being less likely to be over-looked.

 

Once the nets are in, I print off a range of colours on normal photocopier paper and then cut the curtains from this. I tend to go for understated colours most of the time and also add a few beige and cream ones to represent the curtain linings, which when seem from outside, are cream / beige.

Anyway, I add a bit of superglue around the edges of the bars glued on the backs of the windows and then stick the curtains on. It should be simple, but it's best to flip the side over and check that you have it lined up correctly, that the two curtains are pretty symmetrical, etc.

 

Nets first:

 

Then curtains:

 

Once the curtains are done, the next step is the doors.

 

For these, I use 20 thou plastikard. I start by measuring the width and height of the door aperture, remembering to take toplights (for front doors) into consideration. I add 3mm to the height of the door to sit below the aperture. So, if a door aperture is 37mm by 14mm, I first measure out a strip of 20 thou that is 20mm wide and then measure 4.5 - 5mm in from this line and draw a line upwards in fine pencil. This will basically be the inside edge of the external planks of the door (e.g. the point where the panels start/finish).

 

Height wise, I have worked on a visible door height of 28mm so add the 3mm extra to sit below the aperture, takes it to 31. I measure 5mm up from the bottom and draw a line on (to represent the bottom of the panelling) and 2mm down from the top, and do the same.

 

Using these lines, I can then mark on where any panels and window panes will be, in pencil. See step 1 below.

 

Next, I very carefully scribe grooves to represent panels and then cut out the areas for the window panes and tidy up the edges afterwards (step 2).

 

Once this is done, I turn the door over and add a piece of clear Plastikard to the back (step 3) and then add a piece of tracing paper (step 4) as from what I have seen, most window panes in doors are opaque, patterned or have nets.

 

I then attach the doors by laying them down on the cutting mat, applying glue (superglue again) to the inside wall and then lowering the wall down onto the door to assist with alignment. The toplights are glued in place after the door, on the inside. What you are left with is step 5.

 

 

The frames for the toplights are added in the same way as the windows (although they are a bit trickier), the doors are painted and (not shown here) when the paint is dry, I drill tiny holes with a pin vice and add suitably small pins to represent door knobs, glue them in place from the back and then trim the excess off.

 

[Jason T]

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, one week since I started (with 3 days of no progress due to work, etc) and as of now, the roof is on, slates added, just awaiting ridge tiles and lead flashing before painting. Gutters are also made and ready to add. But that is for tomorrow's update

[Jason T]

We now move on to glueing the structure together and adding the roof so for the time being, the Superglue can be put away and the PVA brought out.

 

I start by attaching one of the end walls to one of the main walls (and with these houses, I only have one end wall as it is sort-of low relief, hence the weird extra door and window). I overlapped the plastikard stonework on the end wall to allow for the thickness of the card and plstikard on the main ones and as such, glue the edge of the end wall onto the side of the main, so that the plastikard overlap is flush with the edge of the main. I use PVA and apply quite a thin later then leave it to stand for a couple of minutes before sticking the two pieces together, making sure that the bottom of each piece is level. To ensure that I have a right angle, I use squares of spare mounting board and affix these on the insides.

It is sometimes necessary to hold the pieces together for a minute or so to ensure that the glue sets, checking the alignment and squareness.

 

The two dividing walls are added next, once again with offcuts of mounting board and this time strips of balsa to ensure that all is correctly aligned and square. Once they are all attached, I add the other main wall using the same methods.

 

 

 

Once the main structure is together, I measure up the dimensions of the roof panels, with one being 1.5mm deeper than the other so that it overlaps and gives a better edge. I then hold these up to the chimney stacks, mark on where the stacks are and then cut out the required area to allow the panels to fit round them and up to the centre line of the roof.

 

 

Next, after checking that the panels and the removed sections are correct with a dry run, I mark on parallel lines to assist with the addition of the slate strips and then glue the panels to the main structure. As can be seen from the photo, one of the panels overlaps the other to give a clean edge, and I am using pins to hold it all together whilst the PVA dries.

 

 

And now the bit you've all been waiting for............ the slates.

 

Using Microsoft Excel, I amend the column widths to 13 pixels, row heights to 18 pixels and then use the Border tool to draw on the grid. Then, in Page Setup, I widen the page borders as wide as they will go and print onto 150gsm card (packs of which can be bought from places like Rymans for hardly anything).

 

Once I have my sheet, I trim the edges so I am left with just the grid and then cut up each grid line (just over a row's height) along a full width, before taking the steel rule and knife, and removing two rows, e.g. a row of 'slates' and enough material to hold them together. You usually end up having to cut more rows than you imagine; the large mill took about 190 rows !

 

 

To attach them to the building, starting from the bottom of the roof (obviously), dip your finger into PVA so there is about a smeared pea's worth on there (a mushy pea?) and wipe it along the bottom edge of the roof panel. You want it to be as tall as a single slate strip and from experience, it's better to ensure that the slates themselves are glued down rather than the solid bit, otherwise the slates curl up.

 

Take the strip of slates and stick one corner down, then work your way across, rubbing it down and on with your finger, trying to keep it as straight as possible (this is where the parallel lines come in handy). For the first strip, remember to let them overhang slightly.

 

Once the first row is on, add glue (as before) to the non-slate section of the first row and slightly above and then stick your second strip on as you did before. The grid lines on the first strip assist with alignment.

 

 

 

 

Once all the slates are added, the ridge tiles are made. For these, I cut two uncut rows from my 150gsm card (although it was 1.5 rows in this case) and then press the row down onto the cutting mat with the steel rule, with half of the row covered. I then use my craft knife to carefully bend the uncovered half up so that the full row is V Shaped.

Using the grid lines marked on for the slates, I then cut out the ridge tiles, 2 'slates' deep and then affix them to the ridge of the structures roof with PVA.

 

 

The lead flashing, especially the angled stuff, is done in the same way but cut narrower and with sharks teeth cut into one side. The photos will probably explain better. To attach it, I use PVA again and once placed on, manipulate it with teh end of a cocktail stick until it is in place. The PVA holds it fine.

 

 

 

It's then time to paint the slates and lead flashing before finishing off the chimney stacks with Milliput and then moving onto something I've not actually got round to doing for most of my buildings yet (in fact this one is a bit of a test if I am being honest) - gutters and downpipes.

 

Anyway, here is where it currently stands; the downpipes are still drying:

 

[landscapes]

Hi Sandside

 

I have just come across your tutorial thread for the construction of your buildings for Bacup.

 

Fantastic quality and probably the answer to my prayers as well.

 

I am constructing a 4mm scratch building model of Haymarket 64B MPD and for some time I have been looking at different options for the roof finish.

 

As good as they are I am not convinced about using embossed printed slate roof sheets, and ready made plastic roof panels from companies like Slaters will cost quite an amount as I have twelve area's of transverse roof to cover each 510mm x 65mm in size.

 

Your printed slates on 150 gsm card look very good and very realistic as well.

 

May I ask what card thickness you used to make up the main roof panels?

 

Also many thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge and model making skills in a step by step guide.

 

I enclose a couple of photo below of the building so far, and any comments and advise from you would be more than welcome

.

Regards

 

David

[Jason T]

Hi David,

 

I use mounting board, sourced from art shops and / or stationers and having just measured the thickness, it is 1.5mm thick. I bought my latest supply from Broad Canvas on Broad Street in Oxford, who were (and probably still are) selling 10 A1 sheets for 25 quid.

 

I have seen your thread and the above shed, which is most impressive in both scale and detail. The only thing to add on the construction would be to ensure that you have enough supports for the roof structure, but I'm sure you already have that in mind. I would say that the mounting board / paper slates method would be perfect for you as I can't imagine how you would avoid the dreaded warping if you needed to span that width using plastikard and embossed slates!

 

I see you are modelling a Scottish shed in Swindon; best not let the locals know or they'll string you up for heresy

[landscapes]

Hi Sandside

 

Many thanks for the quick reply, you really have been a great help to me.

 

I am really looking forward now to following your Bacup thread.

 

I have lived in Swindon for the past 28 years but originally came from Tottenham in North London where I spent most of my early years trainspotting at King's Cross station in the early 1960's, I was always fascinated by the Scottish pacific locomotives that were very rare in the London area at that time.

 

The locals do seem to accept my addiction for Gresley, Thompson and Peppercorn Pacific's

 

Great to talk to you, if my Haymarket roof comes out anywhere near as good as your work I will be more than satisfied

 

Regards

 

David

[Jason T]

It's now time to finish off with the fiddly bits; the detailing I suppose you'd call it.

 

The next step is to add the mortar (or whatever you call it) at the top of the chimney stack and for this, I use Milliput. I have, in the past, glued bits of Plastikard together and then filed and shaped them but the slight unevenness of the Milliput just looks better to my eyes and it's a doodle to work with, shape, file, paint, etc.

 

Milliput comes as two sticks, which need to be mixed together evenly in order to ensure that it is first malleable and then sets hard later on. I always have an old paint mixing tray close to hand with a bit of water in, as Milliput mixes and spreads much better when wet / damp (don't go crazy with the amount of water). Cut off a pea-sized lump from each of the sticks, wet your fingers and start to mash them together. It's best to keep wetting your fingers and going for about a minute or so to ensure you have mixed it together properly. When finished, roll it into a sausage and it's ready to use.

 

Using an old blade, wet the blade and then cut off a small amount. Transfer this to the area and then basically trowel it on into the required shape. If, at the end, it is a bit too uneven, wet your finger and rub it across.

 

 

 

Next, it's time for the gutters and downpipes. As I mentioned previously, I've been a bit lax on this front and to date, only two houses have gutters and the only building to have downpipes is the northlight factory. I just couldn't decide what would be the best way to do them and the task at hand was a bit off-putting (we are talking metres and metres of both gutters and downpipes here; tell me that YOU would get enthusiastic about it )

 

Anyway, as I was doing this Step-By-Step, it made me have a think about it and make a start, the result being that these essential items should soon start to appear on the other buildings too.

 

Enough of that though, because you want to know what I did.

 

For the gutters, I took a length of half-round Evergreen Strip and on one edge of it, removed 0.5mm of material so that I had a square edge, with the other side still being curved. I then glued this to a length of Microstrip. The photo shows it better really.

 

The 'inside' of the gutters are painted with a quick wash / wipe of acrylic black and brown to give that impression of dirt. They look a bit 'full of tar' in the photo but as it's acrylic, I later scraped off the excess on the outside of the gutter easily enough.

 

 

For the downpipes, I have used Plastikard 0.060" Microrod, round which I have wrapped thin strips of sticky labels at suitable intervals. To make sure that these didn't unwrap themselves at a later date, I dipped a cocktail stick in superglue and dabbed it over them.

 

 

The drainpipes were painted before fixing, whilst the gutters were fixed first and painted afterwards. In both cases, I used Superglue to affix them to the house which will hopefully hold......

 

Anyway, other than a bit of touch-up painting, adding chimney pots (need to source about 300 of them !!!!!) and the possible addition of sink waste and stench pipes, that's the house finished.

 

Reading back, it sounds a lot but broken down into the steps and with a bit of time taken, it's a relatively easy structure to build and paint.

 

So, ignoring the lack of chimney pots, here is the finished house.

 

 

[ChrisN]

Jason,

I would also like to say, as others have said, how useful I think this step by step guide is. The trouble with scratchbuilding is that people think it is difficult as they do not know where to start and have no instructions to follow. This thread provides both and shows that scratch building, at least simple structures, is not that difficult. Not to say of course, that to produce the quality of models that you have does not require skill.

 

I personnally have always built kits and started last year to build a Ratio station. I decided to model the interior and to be honest, once having cut out walls, made holes for doors, split double doors in two etc., it was not a great step to start scratch building a representation of the cottage that I spent my honeymoon in. (I have used Wills doors and York Models laser cut windows but mine is a one off and not three streets worth!)

 

I have already have some experience of the sort of approach that you have taken, in terms of planning and drawing things out, but there is so much in this thread that I can take away and use, plus it is nice to have the experience of someone who has 'been there, done that, got my fingers glued to the T shirt.'

 

Frosted windows: In the Ratio kit it gave a method of making them by dipping clear plasticard into cellulose thinners. It works well but probably a bit fiddly for the amount that you needed to make.

 

Curtains: I do not think anyone has replied to this and it is a bit late, but as far as I can remember growing up in the 50s and 60s we did not have curtain linings, even though we lived 'darn sarth' on a Tottenham council estate. In fact thinking about it I well remember walking home seeing the new red curtains that my mum had put up in one of the bedrooms, so they definately did not have linings.

 

Keep up the good work.

[landscapes]

Hi Chris

 

What was the name of the estate or the name of the road in tottenham were you lived in the 1950's and 1960's.

 

Regards

 

David

[ChrisN]

Hi Chris

 

What was the name of the estate or the name of the road in tottenham were you lived in the 1950's and 1960's.

 

Regards

 

David

 

David,

I actually lived just over the border in Edmonton but the house was a Tottenham council house. The road was Weir Hall Avenue, which was off Weir Hall Road. I was twenty minutes from the Spurs ground.

 

I tell people I was conceived round the back of the Spurs ground! My parents lived in the downstairs two rooms of a slum off Park Lane.

 

Rather than hijack the thread, would you like to PM me about where you lived, and we can chat about schools and stuff, unless of course it was in one of the numerous victorian terraces, a description of which might just about fit in.

[Jason T]

There seems to be a number of threads showcasing buildings popping up in here, which I (as well as everyone else) am loving. so, I thought I would pitch in my meager efforts which, although not in the same league (and not actually finished - drain pipes, etc), I am chuffed with.

 

As per usual, the lighting is awful in the attic but following the house move, I should hopefully be able to do something about that in the future.

 

To begin, houses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional house and mills / warehouses / factories

 

 

 

 

 

 

Railway properties

 

 

[keefr2]

Well, I pressed the new 'like' button, but it doesn't really seem enough - how you can describe those wonderful buildings as 'meagre efforts' Jason, I don't know!! I

 

I think they are superb, and I'm particularly taken by the row of terraced houses in the first photo, dropping away down the hillside - excellent!! That station building isn't too shabby either!! 

 

Great work on them all, I wish my efforts were as meagre as yours!

 

Keith

[Removed a/c]

These are some of the best buildings on here. I never tire of looking at them.