Chubber

"...The kit has them as sliding doors...." [EBBOM} I asked because when I built a Wallingford E/S exactly to drawings, I had a real scare when I found my pannier only just fitted as shown below! Definitely a place for a 'Beware Restricted Clearance' sign or two.... Doug

Richard, is that because the doors hinge from the inside of the doors? They would ordinarily hinge from the outer wall face so that they open clear of the opening... Curious, Doug

Thank you for that explanation, Doug

Perhaps interested bodies within the NYMR have a means of leaning on the relevant authorities imagining your enterprise will compromise the NYMR footfall? Just because they 'love choo-choos' doesn't mean their accountants and shareholders love 'Choo-choo Shoppy'! I'd come and camp Chez-vous on what you have envisaged....

We like that... (SWMBO et moi) What is the model, please? Doug

For opening doors for big sheds, see here, posts 10 and 34 http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/51015-an-engine-shed-for-a-gwr-branch-line/ and here is a bit more detail. The breakthrough moment after many coc%-ups was using a little spatula to put superglue under the hinge with everything held in place by the surrounds/frames. Hope it helps Doug

It is beautiful, I am amazed. Please tell us what scale it is or how big it is. Please explain how you built it by showing more pictures. I do not think I have ever seen such a stunning first post, thank you for showing it to us. Doug

Thanks for all the likes, etc! Doug

Benchmark raised another fathom... Doug

Herewith my attempt at the Scalescenes 'Edwardian School'. When I first saw the TO36 School building [ http://www.scalescenes.com/products/T036-School] by John Wiffen I was looking for a free-lance 1920-40 station building, and wondered if I could kit bash this charming model. First of all, even as a practised admirer of John's work this is not a building for the beginner, or indeed someone lacking staying power. It is complex and ingenious. With advancing arthritic problems in my shoulders, I knew cutting out a number of components in 2mm grey pasteboard would give me grief, so have deliberately chosen to use 1.3mm and 0.6mm white card rather than the recommended 2mm and 1mm, concious that I would have to supplement the thickness of 'stacked' components with an extra layer or two. I have read each of the 11 pages of instructions and studied the 14 pages of components and reckoned that the alteration in thickness of the card would not compromise any 'length' accuracies, but the thinness of card would necessitate additional layers to make up the 8mm thickness needed for chimney stacks, which are covered by a complete wrap of texture paper. I made them up in two layers of 1.3mm card, allowed them to dry and then stick them as often as needed to extra layers of card, cutting each using the component shape as a guide. This avoided the need to print out additional copies of the components. I have missed off the rear flat roof extension, allowing the long rear wall to be adapted for a variety of uses, I have thought about an 'ambulance entrance' and making the building a rural maternity home for example. Both the large and small gables build up as separate features, and in theory can be stuck on the end/side of another building and a roof cobbled over the top. It was an enjoyable model to build, it proves that you do not need to stick rigidly to the 2mm and 1mm card thickness recommended by John at Scalescenes if you are prepared to examine the instructions carefully, calculate the thickness of components that need to be 'wrapped' with a pre-printed texture and can make up the dimension to within 0.5mm. In this case, the floor plan was a great help. I think you'll agree, another lovely model from JW, and one not found elsewhere [AFAIK] Poop-poop! Doug

Lovely wevvering! Doug

Welcome! More please... Doug

When I lived in Basingstoke I would enjoy my visits, and Bobs rather laconic humour. Huge stock, plenty of 2nd hand books at realistic prices and advice for the asking. When he gave up smoking, I asked how he was getting on 'I'm putting all the cigarette money in a pot...' Much later, and no ciggies in sight I asked how much he'd saved up and he mentioned an improbable figure. 'Going on holiday with it, then?' 'No, spent it all on a rake of hand-built brass Pullmans...' Happy, healthy retirement, Bob, best wishes to his son. Doug

Thank you for your kind remarks, Mikkel, I built the model from the drawings below in J Ahern's Miniature Building Construction for the challenge of the 'eyebrow' dormer, as he gave no hints as to how it could be done. I had not intended to add the garden areas, but SWMBO asked me to do so. As I was angling for a steak and kidney pudding that week, I agreed! Copyright CV Russell and E Fells Reproduced with their kind permissions. This is how I work up the drawings Here is how I tackled the eyebrow dormer, I had to cut it from the centre of a larger piece to stop it tearing, then work that into the roof outline. I covered it with stretched watercolour paper printed [scalescenes 'Old Tile'] with Epson 'DuraBrite' inks, alternately wetting and stretching it as I did so over a couple of days, holding each stretch in place with pegs. It speaks voloumes for the quality and water-fastness of Epson inks, and Daler-Rowney 140gm watercolour paper. Eventually I found it could be done in one piece instead of trying to join two pieces. Of course, like a kid, once I started I didn't want to stop, so the shepherd's cottage got some detailing Finally, SWMBO said that the bay window needed a plant in a pot. 'What sort of plant?'...She got a Sansaveria [sp?] i.e. 'Mother-in-Laws Tongue'! Well, I hope that has amused someone, Thank you for all the likes, etc., Doug

Well, you asked for it, herewith pictures of my version of Aherns Cottage Row.... Yup, all card save the glazing and the dog kennel fences. Scalescenes texture papers, down-pipes are florists wire/solder with tiny wraps of paper for brackets, gutters are scraped toothpick and BBQ skewers, flowers are grated crayon. Hope they are of interest, Doug

Did I ever upload anypictures of this cottage group? If I have, sorry to bother you, if not, I'll do so. It's difficult to 'search' negatively! Doug

Thank you gentlemen for your replies, apologies for tardiness. PLease be sure to upload some piccies when complete! Re roof fitting, I cut off the tabs that stick up in the 'rafter' parts and stuck it on with S'glue... Doug

'Bumping' this to see if anybody has indeed completed more ABM models........ Doug

H1405 4807 in GWR Wartime black with G W R lettering ......I wonder how long she stayed in black? Shown at Wallingford 1936 - 1948, one of my favourite places. [source P. Karau 'The Wallingford Branch']

Sorry, about a year too late with this, but, re the glycerine- When my Mum was still with us I used to get roped in to climb and snip small branches of 'copper beech' trees for winter/dried flower arranging. A real PITA because she insisted it be done before the sun got on them and to hurry to get them home asap so that they could be stood in a water/glycerine mix halfway up their stems in a very tall Kilner jar. There they would stay for more than a week, they appeared to suck up the liquid which went as far as the leaves. [i have no idea what strength mix] She did the same with a plant called 'Paper Moons' [?]. They had circulat flat transparent discs after flowering that contained a seed and with leafy Hawthorn twigs when they had developed berries. Perhaps that is the way it could be done? Doug [if you can eat it, I can grow it but know diddly-squat about 'flooers']

See http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/75260-cottages-after-john-ahern/

This device may help with the tricky business of cutting 'just so deep' along that edge line. You just need to rob a 13amp 3 pin plug of its earth pin! If you are left handed cut the saw slot [with an Exacto razor saw] across the opposite diagonal. Make sure the head of the screw is nicely smooth and snag-free so it slides nicely along a straight edge. Good luck, Doug

Metcalfe models just cry out to be touched up, a good halfway house to scratch building. They are useful to gauge scale/size when you are starting scratching, though I think they are about 5% too small. The link below shows how different they can be made to look, even covering the roofs with some different paper makes a huge difference, as we see proportionaltely more roof in a model railway than we do in real life. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/39980-metcalfe-kits/ Doug

Thank you for that, Jason. I wonder if you could take A4 thin card, glue-stick that to A4 SA paper then feed the sandwich through the machine? It might be easier then to take the stiffer card/SA paper fret off of the sticky mat, peel off the SA backing and stick that straight to the acrylic sheet. Using your suggestion of coloured card it could save a lot of the fiddly frame painting... Just 'finking....and you wouldn't have to pre-print the card first, just let Silly Etty do it from a drawing in her head. Have you tried that, or have I missed something? It's the sticky glue everywhere syndrome I'm trying to avoid. Doug PS just want to revoice the various thanks for taking the time to post all this.

Just an update, there will be a build review of the Isfield box [Lavender Line] by myself in the December Railway Modeller, according to the Ed., Steve Flint. abmrailcraft.com Doug