Ron Heggs

I am still here and health is OK

As previously advised at the end of May I am involved in a very large commission which involves the build of some 60 HO scale model structures associated with the highland railways in Sri Lanka. This is taking all my spare time

The first batch of fifteen plus models will be completed by mid-December - four viaducts, one bridge, eight stations with goods sheds, one bus terminal and a church. All built in styrene - of course

Hopefully, with the commissioner's permission I will post in a relevant thread - Link now in my Signature

There should be a short interlude after Mid-December, before taking on the next batch, when I may be able to restart my layout again

Cheers

Ron

Typo or an admission?  If the latter you must have been drinking heavily for the past couple of years!

No just wearing modelling glasses for long periods, and still having to squint to focus on some small detail

Gave up drinking shortly after coming to Spain, as it was too easy to over do it. It's cheap and there is a lot of sun. Not good for your health or modelling

Cheers   - Ooops

Or perhaps its too hot to do anything but sit in the shade and drink Sangria  

Almost right. Definitely in the shade, always when I am modelling. Only drink Gaseosa (Spanish tasteless lemonade) with Lime juice (Juicee) during the day - I can go crossed eyed without alcohol

Ron

Maybe he's trying to get everything done before Brexit takes effect? 

I thought that with all the scaremongering going on that WW3 was taking place - £ / € is still above 1.06 which it was when I moved over to Spain almost seven years ago - The food and drink is still cheaper than the equivalent in the UK

The only problem I foresee is that the price of Evergreen Styrene will shoot up in the short term - but there are ways of getting round that

Oh, I nearly forgot - I ordered my new car in early June on a fixed price - delivery October

Ron

Hi Ron,

 

First I note that you haven't posted in a while. Hope everything is ok?

 

I have spent the last two days reading through this outstanding thread. It's raised the bar miles above what I previously thought possible, and it is incredibly what you have been able to achieve. Indeed after seeing the buildings, I have decided to not use any RTR buildings and a minimum of kit buildings on my layout, and have also gone and put more flowing trackwork in the plan! Although I doubt I can get anywhere near the skill level you do! It's certainly made me do a rethink of how I'm going to do my layout, and if I can get mine anywhere near the amount of detail yours has (even though not trains are running yet!) I will be incredibly happy!

 

*mutters incoherently... i am not worthy.... i am not worthy...*

 

Hope all is well and look forward to some updates soon!

 

Astonished and amazed,

 

Peter

 

Edit: Oh, and I doubt you could hear it... But my jaw just created a 10m deep hole in the kitchen floor!

Hi, Peter

No health issues other than being very busy on other matters

I have noticed over the last few days that you were into a marathon read of this topic. Glad to see you have come out this end in a coherent fashion - Many thanks for all your comments, they are much appreciated

My layout build has stalled a little whilst I have been undertaking a commission build of a number of bridges, viaducts, stations and numerous other railway related buildings, which came out of the blue in early April. Details will be posted when the project manager gives his go ahead for a topic on their layout. It will probably be another couple of months before I can get back to my own layout build

You can guess from this topic that if you need any advice on your projected layout, I and many others are here to help, just ask

Cheers

Ron

I haven't used mine much yet, and have found that 10 thou is the maximum it will cut. I've snapped out thicker pieces, but what I haven't tried yet is using a knife to finish cutting out thick material. It's got to be easier, more accurate, and less likely to go wrong, than marking out and cutting entirely by hand.

That is my preferred way of cutting out thicker materials. I even use the same method when cutting small intricate shapes in 10thou to prevent tearing of the material when the odd piece comes loose off the mat. It may be a bit fiddly and increase the time spent, but it does preserve the accuracy of the cut item

Cutting and snapping, or cutting and hand finished cuts I find are the best way to go

Ron

Hi, All

Certainly not taking umbrage or inflicting silence on anyone

The month of May is a very busy period for my wife and I, as we both work part time for the local charity fundraising organisation which covers nine local villages in the valley. Barbara is the central stock warehouse manager, and I provide the transport for the stock movements to and fro, between the warehouse and the two charity shops. In addition we both had three busy and successful weekends (Friday through Monday) involved in local village May Fairs

Also to add to the temporary pause in the layout modelling, I am involved in a rather extensive commission, of which I am not at liberty to post any details at the present time. This is a bit of a two edged sword, as the pause has allowed me to investigate additional sources for materials in Spain, with success in achieving some spectacular discounted prices and shorter delivery times. With a bit of planning, continuation of the layout construction should start again this next weekend

Cheers to all

Ron

It has just occurred to me that the blade will still be (say) vertical after cutting the last of the vertical lines, so that it will have to turn to horizontal at the start of the first of the horizontal lines; this will make that particular corner a bit jagged.  If I could work out how to make sure that it became the first cut, it could be advantageous to cut a simple horizontal line first to orientate the blade before it cuts the required lines.  I think, though, that working out how to get this line to cut first may be too difficult to make it worth doing. 

 

I think that the lines are generally cut in the order they were created (their "z-order"), though there are various options in Studio for the cutting order - no sort(ie z-order); mazimise speed; minimize roller movement; or sort interior contours first.  When cutting small items with small strips between holes, or even cutting coach panelling, the latter option (which is selectable separately from the others) is probably a good one in order to cut the smallest holes first before cutting out the complete item.  I have found in the past that complete small items (eg hand-wheels) can get detached from the backing sheet before the internal holes have completely cut through (perhaps because of the order the lines are cut).

 

On balance, I think I can live with the issue of a single curved cut at the start of a new colour, as it really only shows up at high magnification.  I will, however, try out the internal contours cut option for the future.

 

Mick

A thought Mick

Can you put single dummy horizontal and/or vertical lines of unique different colours. Then before making your specific horizontal/vertical cuts, cut one of the relevant dummies first. This should line up the blade before its proper cut

Ron 

Ron,

 

I continue to be amazed by your skills, patience and abilities. When you have finished, it will be a truly remarkable piece of re-creation in miniature of a piece of Mancunian railway history.

 

At grave risk of being considered macabre or ghoulish, have you thought about its long term future? It would be truly horrendous if it all ended up in a skip one day in the far and distant future. So please would you consider bequeathing it to the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, or to the NRM, or some similar organisation so that future generations can also marvel at it and at your immense dedication in creating it.

As mentioned in a previous post, it was never intended that the layout was to be made to be transportable. The fragile nature of the station structure alone would necessitate a surgical team to remove it from the layout and the railway room for transportation. Luckily, the whole layout is built for lightness, on 30mm thick foamboards over an open 400mm x 400mm x 150mm deep egg crate support structure, so a dedicated team could probable cut it into suitable sections for extraction, and transportation, but I wouldn't envy them their task

Ron

Method used to produce the decorative double row of angled brickwork -

The CAD drawing needed for the Silhouette cutter -

The length each 45 deg angled face is 1.103mm, and each double strip is 5.78mm wide and 132.5mm long

One half of the cut 10thou styrene sheet -

Three cut double strips ready for splitting. To split the individual strips, they are first folded in half, and then pulled apart -

Split strips ready for laminating (3 strips for each row of brickwork) -

Two sets of offset laminated strips assembled as a single unit -

The next step in using this type of unit in the detailing of the Station Wall build is still a week or so off

I must admit I failed to follow how you contrived modelling the angled blue brick courses using the silhouette cutter and solvent welded styrene.

 

Will put the method on a post - probably late Friday

Ron 

Presumably the odd shaped flat area was a lead lined parapet gutter. I assume the rainwater pipes are at the rear with lead lined boxes passing through the building as there are no outlets on the front wall. I've seen plenty like that on full size roofs and they always cause trouble eventually, which is why I get called in to clear them out.

 

Dave

You are right. There were no external drainpipes from either of the roofs. They must have been run internally and down into the Undercroft, which would have had suitable drainage arrangements to prevent flooding. Probably into the disused canal which ran through/under the undercroft

Ron

The Station Parcels Offices which faced onto the forecourt. Strangely it was the only building or structure on the whole site which was not rectangular or tapered in plan -

Just needs planting on the layout, and a small canopy constructing over the public access frontage

Quick update on the Train Shed East Wall construction -

The upper wall section is 3 bays of internal face and core with the printed brickwork facings

The lower wall section is 4 bays of external face and core with the printed brickwork facings - work in progress with two bay facings, and window rebates fixed, two rebates await fixing

The internal and external wall sections will sandwich the centre core comprising the windows and doors

Still await the styrene delivery which will enable progress on the goods yard canopies

Detailing of the Parcels Offices on the Station Forecourt is almost complete - pictures tomorrow

Keeping a reasonable supply of specific items of styrene is becoming more difficult as the final structures require differing quantities of various sizes not normally held in stock

Whilst waiting on the next delivery of styrene (from UK), took the opportunity to also stock up on 1.25mm thick mountcard (from Germany), 5mm thick Foamboard (from Spain), and new cutting mat and blade (from USA) - all in preparation for the Train Shed West Wall and Goods Yard Canopies construction

Have cut the mountcard laminations for 8 bays of the 15 bays of the wall, comprising Inner Cores and Faces, and Outer Cores and Faces. Printed and cut the Inner and Outer Brickwork card facings ready for tonight's modelling session

This morning took to the Silhouette cutter to produce a sample of the brickwork detail for the high level ornamentation - specifically the two levels of brickwork laid at 45 deg -

The sample was made up from 6 laminations of 10thou styrene - 3 layers make up a 1mm (40thou) brick height - it's the solvent welds that make up the difference in height when no pressure is applied

Sufficient for 16 bays can be cut from a single 270mm x 140mm sheet of 10thou styrene

The rest of the ornamental brickwork will be produced in a straightforward manner

When cutting the 20 thou styrene I had the blade set to 10 and the speed set to 1, with the double pass option selected in the software.

 

The cut lines did not go all the way through, but were far enough through that it was possible to carefully "bend and snap" along the edges of the walls. For the apertures (particularly the windows with the arches) I found it better to  gently score with a sharp scalpel blade just to go a little deeper and then they popped out no problem.

 

Peter

Agree. I find this approach is the best one can hope for with 20 thou styrene. Cut with the Cameo at speed 1, pressure 33, and blade set at 10, double pass, then carefully score with craft blade to ease the waste out from within the apertures

Ron

Pictures of the glazing bar base cut-out, and start of canopy #4 build - 

The base is cut from 20 thou black styrene - to assist in displaying the build steps. The glazing bars and ridge purlin added in white styrene

Mid and eaves purlins, and trusses added in white styrene

Always trying to find shortcuts and new methods to achieving stronger structural builds, and easier and faster construction. The strip method to fabricating Tees & Angles, and subsequent cut to length sections being used to construct a fairly flimsy structure, is slow and prone to warping, due to the number of individual joints and seams

Have found a quicker method using fewer pieces of styrene which produces an overall stable structure with less warping. The flanges of the glazing bars and the roof purlins are cut as a single fret from a sheet of 20thou plasticard. The webs of the glazing bars and purlins are then fixed onto the upper and lower faces of the fret. This produces a single roof/glazing assembly ready for fixing to the roof trusses of the canopy

Pictures to follow when ambient lighting conditions improve. Hopefully tomorrow

Using a good part of the 3.5m length of fabricated styrene angle, have built two lengths of canopy girder. One 390mm long and the other 167mm long. This shorter length will be used to extend the existing long canopy girder to its overall required length of 542mm

The build of the shorter girder has been photographed as the construction proceeded -

First the main elements cut to length - four pieces of angle 167mm long, two 20th x 80th x 16.5mm end strips and 22 diagonal struts/ties 20th x 40th x 20.5mm long

Top and bottom angles fixed with the two end strips. The spacing between the two angles is ensured by the use of a 14.5mm wide movable spacer, and two SS rulers 

The first diagonal strip fixed checking that the linear spacing is 15mm 

Second diagonal strip fixed, checking the overall linear spacing is 30mm

Eleven diagonal strips complete the first side assembly 

Short pieces of strip as back to back spacers, and 20th x 80th x 3mm spacers/vertical plates for attachment of the roof trusses, fixed to the rear of the assembly

The remaining two angle lengths fixed to the spacers

Second set of eleven diagonal strips fixed to complete the girder

The girder awaits painting, and fixing to the existing girder. The 390mm long girder will be painted at the same time and allow construction of the next canopied bay

Ron

 

Where the girders meet the wall, you have "stones" set into the wall, to spread the load into the brickwork - does the girder need some further parts in the web to support the upper flange - it seems somehow "incomplete" to my eye?

 

Best

Simon

Hi, Simon

The photo showing the original canopy structure and its support, indicates that the end of girder was encased within the wall of the office block with no visible additional support for the upper flanges. I can only assume that there was a steel member between the lower and upper flanges, similar to the other end of the girder, that was within the brickwork

Looking at pictures of other buildings during their demolition, where the remaining canopies were originally abutted to, they show what remains of the upper and lower flanges of the girders just proud of the brickwork, suggesting that the end of flange members were within the brickwork

Ron  

The part rebuild of the canopy between the two goods offices is almost complete. Just requires re-glazing before placing on the layout -

The near canopy corner will be supported from the CLC Goods Warehouse corner. The nearest tubular canopy support has the round concrete base modelled from Plasticene

Canopy fixed to one of the goods offices

A 3.5m length of angle has been fabricated from 20thou microstrip, and will be used to construct the next canopy bay trusses -

The windows for the extended and re-shaped end of CLC Goods Warehouse are in the process of being fitted. Pictures when the flat roof has been re-laid

That could take a while!

It's a sure way of either going cross-eyed or slipping into a deep sleep 

Ron

 

That is the problem with OS maps they are not surveys and inaccurate I often use them for early work on construction projects but you need some check dimensions and even then if you correctly scale one part another section will be incorrect. I seem to,recall you have been using CAD .

It may be worth drawing up the room and positioning the key items on the layout and overlaying OS maps and aerial photos you could then fit in the gaps on the computer before committing to cutting plastic.

If the buildings are still extant, you could use google satelite, take a couple of dimensions using the ruler tool, then take a screen shot and paste it into Autocad and then scale the picture using the known dimensions. When I have used photos to draw up buildings I draw a box to the scale dimension of a door and then scale the picture to fit the door to the box, it may not be dead accurate, but everything is in the same proportions so it looks right and no need to measure or count bricks etc.

Thanks for your comments which as ever are much appreciated

The overall layout of the major buildings and structures was accomplished relatively easily, as all the viaducts still exist and site measurements, google maps, pictures, etc. have all been used to achieve a reasonably accurate dimensional positioning

If all the structures were rectangular and at right angles to one another then the task would be much easier. However, the whole area was developed with the structures at odd angles to match the then existing road layouts very few of which now exist on the same alignments

This particular problem has only just raised its head because some of the buildings/structures no longer exist. Therefore dependent on OS maps and aerial photos, all of which give distorted views. The only way to achieve any sort of reasonable dimensions is by counting bricks from the few pictures available. Of course where there are large areas of steel structures that method is not available. In some cases no photos have been found, and a few cannot be used with any sort of confidence

This is where juggling the structures around in CAD is helpful in highlighting some angular and dimensional inconsistencies. The smaller and non-rectangular the structure the more the inconsistencies appear. It is in deciding on which is the least inconsistent and has the least knock-on effect that is slowing the project build at present. It is inevitable that some small rebuilds will be necessary - which is no problem in itself. As the number of these minor structures still outstanding are reducing rapidly, I cannot foresee any further problems

Of course 'modifying' existing buildings which were constructed over 10 years ago is a delicate task, ensuring that the least invasive method is employed and a good match can be achieved. The desire to upgrade the finish of the earlier builds has to be suppressed somewhat

Ron

The last few days have been filled with a rebuild of the canopy and the adjacent CLC warehouse along Windmill Street. This is due to relying on two different dated OS maps causing dimensional and angular differences of the site before and after the items were buildings constructed. Not knowing which was the nearest to the more likely correct, I was eventually able to find a direct overhead aerial photograph of the area dated 1947. Comparing the scaled dimensions between the three have now confirmed an acceptable set of dimensions and angular arrangements

The warehouse needed extending at the south east corner, and the angle of eastern end increasing to 46 deg from the previous 38 deg

In a similar way the angle of the eastern ends of the canopies require changing

Another couple of days should see the changes completed. Will then post pictures of the structures in place  

Absolutely agree with Simon. I have enjoyed this thread for a few years now and find your pictures of raw materials and prepared parts, with your accompanying commentary, just as fascinating as completed products. Please don't worry about boring us with photos of acres of materials, Ron!

Cheers

Phil

Have noted your comments and will post as work proceeds

Thanks

Ron

actually, Ron

 

you could post a picture of the metres of pre-prepared L and T sections - I know it wouldn't invoke "craftsmanship / clever" votes, but we would get an even deeper insight into the magnitude of the task you have set yourself

 

btw are you cutting the glazing on the Silhouette too?

 

best

Simon

Have to fabricate the L & T sections for the next two bays, so will attempt a picture

The glazing is cut on the Silhouette from 17.5 thou clear overhead sheets (chinese bazaar special pack 50 sheets for €2.75). The pane size of 7.75mm x 19mm means 418 panes per sheet. Using the cutter ensures every pane is identical in size, and no accidents with the steel rule and craft knife slipping

Changed methodology for fixing the panes. Now fixing them in lines of four i.e. three overlapped joints of 0.75mm each, flat and inline against a steel rule. Then fixing each line of four panes between the glazing bars. All in batches of 10 to reduce tedium