REC Farnborough

Not looking forward to the walk home in the dark!

Putting the rivetting tool away, I've now made a start on the body-work. The wagon is basically an 'Iron Mink' - rounded corners, and ribs down the outside of the body. First step - roll the corners. This was easily achieved as the corners have a series of etched lines on the inside., so the corners were formed by rolling them round a 5mm dia length of 'Evergreen' styrene. Next came the ribs. They are located using the 'tab & slot' technique - and the body sections provide a pretty massive heat-sink in 7mm! I therefore tried a new (to me) technique, using solder-cream and a chefs blowtorch. The basic ingredients (I'll mention the 'bobby-clip in a minute!). The ribs located very easily and the blow-torch made short work of the soldering! Next in the instructions were the draw-plates on the buffer-beam. Same process, no sweat. Well, you know what I mean! Next items were the plates that carry the load-clips, and the clips themselves. Somewhat concerned about holding the plates in place, I resorted to a ladies hairclip - a so-called 'bobby-clip'. These are an intrinsic part of my tool-box and come in various shapes. Very useful - just don't let SWMBO catch you re-locating them! Two hours later - the two 'side-end' units are basically complete - I'm now toying with the problems of the buffers. The kit contains a whitemetal set of buffer-heads and shanks of the correct type. They can be sprung using thin wire which activates the draw-gear. Whitemetal?? Hmmm.... At the weekend at the REC show I did purchase a very nice set of turned brass shanks/steel bufferheads made by 'Markit'. Problem is, the shank bases are the wrong shape. So the issue is - correct but fragile whitemetal, or incorrect but sturdy buffing gear. Currently I'm leaning toward the latter as I always feel that rolling-stock on exhibition layouts should be built for maximum reliability and the rigours of show conditions. What do you think?

This will be an 'occasional' blog - mainly to prove that I can build the 'roundy-roundy stuff' - when pushed, and when the moment takes me! One basis for the blog is the unfortunate habit that club members have of passing to the 'great model-room in the sky' - and this means that sometimes unbuilt kits become available. Without being ghoulish, this can actually be a way of honouring an old friend and at the same time helping to provide direct financial support to their loved ones. Right, that's enough of that save to say that I have a 'Small Prairie and a 'B Set' plus various wagons in the 'Wundy Box'... However, the subject of this build was actually a proprietary purchase. 'Netherley' provides the main line link for 'Lord Loft's Quarry' and his stone wagons ad a 'workmans train' appear at irregular intervals in the sequence. Quarrying stone sometimes needs 'gunpowder' (or it's early 20th-century equivalent). The need at present is served by a converted 'Midland Railway' van, but I felt that a 'pukka' GWR van was needed as a change. Hence the purchase of the WEP Models etched brass kit at Telford. The kit makes up a 'Z1' variant of the standard GWR 'Iron Mink' and many were converted in batches prior to both World Wars. The front page of the instruction sheet gives running number details & livery etc. Whats in the box (or rather, bag)? A single sheet of (I think) 0.015 thou brass, neatly etched, with the rivets half-etched, 5 pages of instructions including separate exploded views of body & chassis, and a small bag containing whitemetal castings for axleboxes and buffers (they'll be replaced...). The chassis allows for compensation via 'inside bearings' and the requisite brass bearings are in the pack. A closer view of the main item! Okay, on with the build. This means RIVETS - hundreds of them... I'm not a 'rivet-counter' by any means, but I thought I'd try. Lost count after the first hundred or so!. It's just a case of flog on until they're done. Being impatient to put heat to metal I was ALMOST tempted to do them piece by piece, but common sense prevailed and I rivetted all the parts in one sitting. Took about two hours with my trusty 'drop-hammer' type rivetter. There's some distortion of the sheet, but I reckon it will come out. Some rivets lie very close to slots and edges - after dropping the first couple I made a point of angling the head away from the edge and this seems to have worked. Right, off to bed to recover my sanity and prepare for day two at the REC Exhibition in Woking. Obviously the GPV will NOT be there! Regards Ian

The exhibition is getting CLOSE! The ridge was then added from 'curly masking tape' from 'Halfords. Designed to follow curves it dealt with the ridgeline quite well, and its 'wrinkled' effect represents canvas/tarpaulin very well when sprayed with a 'sea grey'. The next step was to fit the valancing. Faced with the choice of making my own - thousands of 'v'-shaped cuts, thousands of 1mm holes - or using Brian Lewis's 'Timbertracks' product, I bottled it! The laser-cut valancing comes with sufficient parts to build just about any variant of 'two-hole' valancing that existed - it was just a case of trimming them to length and assembling with a fast-grab PVA. When dry, they were painted with 'Precision' 'Light Stone', with the first coat well-diluted with white spirit to act as a primer. The ends were a little different. They are designed (and are 'handed') to provide the ends of a single-platform valance. So a slight 'mod' was required. Each end used the ends from one pack each - and to match the width, inserts had to be added - When dry, the ends were again painted in 'Light Stone' but the bargeboard was picked out in Dark Stone. On to the glazing - and despite good advice I went with my first choice - 'Copydex' (diluted about 1:1). Each pane was cut to size, dilute adhesive run round the frame with a cocktail stick and the glazing laid in place. The glazing units were then added to the canopy from beneath. One week down - so far - so good. Only 10 years to go.... The roof was then 'dirtied' with multiple applications of oil pastel in various shades to take away the 'newness'. A ladies 'blusher' brush is the ideal tool - just make sure she's out when you do it! Last job was to make the support columns. They are commercially-available and I went for the 'John Piper' variant. Which at 52mm high were too small.... With the deadline on top of me, I had no choice but to 'mod' those as well, cutting them in half and inserting the ends into 'Evergreen' tubing. I'm not happy with the result and after the exhibition I'll make some that will look better both in appearance & fit... However, today was the 'moment of truth' and it was off to the club with the end result... - and Mrs Smith is very grateful as she is now able to reach the Ladies Waiting Room' despite the worst efforts of South-westerly gales! So is it finished? In a word, 'No'. Apart from the columns there are other details to be added - guttering between the two main roof elements & their associated down-pipes on the buildings. The various 'facilities' still have to be signed, and the obligatory Company & commercial adverts are still needed. So I guess after the exhibition, I'll get it back for a while. Better not fill the workshop too much! If you are coming to the Show this weekend (Woking Liesure Centre - 10.30-5.00pm Sat, 10.00-5pm SUn,) drop by the layout & say hello. Im one of the two 'beardy blokes' - and if you choose Laurie he'll soon disabuse you! I'll also be wandering round the show in my other guise as the Club Publicity Officer complete with a name badge to suit - so say 'Hello' as well! Regards Ian

Cheers Gerry, I'll give that some thought, along with Rich's suggestion. Despite the deadline, some trials are in order I think... Hi Rich - As above. PS - Noel has just asked if I can do the windows for Wickwar station building...

Job - The 'Martello Street' sign is the most prototypical of the period. At all costs avoid the bright red 'post code' type. Also avoid 'double yellow lines' or any form of parking restriction - apart from bollards. Even then, be very careful - the 'Southwark bollard' appears very modern to me. Most have the appearance o small cannon buried 'cascabel' first (thats the breech end) in the ground, with the muzzle pointed upward. The 'Ghost signage' is quite protottypical and in fact wall-painted adverts & shop signs were quite common. As a nice (but not often-modelled) touch - how about a 'ghost sign' - with a freshly-painted sign (different name) within it signifying change of ownership? Also bear in mind that in the 'fifties' these areas would still have 'flagstone' paving rather than the later concrete types - and they would be rutted & disrupted by vehicles. Road surfaces would often be of cobblestone or granite setts. Having been brought up in South London during this period - I only wish I'd had access to a camera! One source of images might be the 'Francis Frith' collection which can be browsed online by location. Regs Ian

I decided that the quickest (and prototypically correct) finish for the canopy was to represent 'board & batten' - where the roof (or wall) is covered by timber boards of a fixed width, butt-jointed together. The weather-proofing comes from the 'batten' - again timber of a fixed width - that is fixed over the board joints (sorry if this is 'suck eggs' time, but there MIGHT be modellers out there that don't know!). The hole ('light') in the canopy allows three things - 1, as in the prototype, allows light to fall on the platform. 2, allows the operators to 'see through' the roof to the stock below, and 3, allows the roof detail to be seen! (seems a shame to waste all those hours...) The 'Board & Batten' effect can clearly be seen - merely strips of 20 thou plastic laid at regular intervals. The 'lights' were slightly more detailed. A rectangle of 20 thou plasticard is cut 'oversize' for the aperture, then framed in yet more of 'Evergreens' code 291 'L' angle. The 'light' is then divided into equal sections which are then framed with yet more '291' - this time using two pieces 'back to back' to form a 'tee' cross-section to represent the glazing-bars - The panels are then removed - and subsequent to the unit being painted (black of course), it will be glazed with panes of 10 thou clear resting on the 'tee' sections. Therein lies a problem... Solvent & styrene glazing.... I'm actually tempted to use a form of 'putty' - in this case double-sided cellotape, applied to the frames, trimmed back & then the backing removed. Problems re longetivity come to mind... Copydex (which dries clear and is not solvent-based) is also a contender. Watch this space! Only two weeks to the show... (Woking Lieisure Centre, 14-15 Sep). Better crack on then!

Hi Mikkel - Nice work there - as someone else has commented the neatness is very neat, even in the re-build... Regs Ian

To see the origins and the detailed construction of the various parts of the buildings and their canopy, please refer to this link - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/56603-platform-canopy-services-for-netherley/ This blog entry will cover recent (?) progress which took place around the construction of the subway balustrade. The buildings were in the main complete - just waiting final detailing. The canopy was a different matter. The main transverse trusses were identical - each one consisting of about 40 individual parts - and there are 8 of them. The longditudinal beams were in groups of three - 21 off, and each group was a different length, with between 30 & 40 individual parts dependent on the length. I went through a heck of a lot of 'Evergreen' code 291 angle - around £60 worth over the 14 months that the project has taken so far... And at 10.55pm on 19 August, the final piece of styrene was added! As the pile of parts accumulated, a start was made on their assembly, concentrating on the sections that would cover the buildings, as the rest would cantilever off these :- In gentlemanly fashion, I built the 'Ladies' first... Gradually, over the last couple of weeks the canopy came together... until by 2.30am last Tuesday morning (!) the major canopy assemblies were in place - Bearing in mind that the trussing will be covered, the next step was to airbrush it whilst it was still 'naked' 'Aztech' airbrush and 'Valejo' 'Tan Earth' to the fore, later that morning I undertook the task... The paint was from the model color range and is quite thick. Various experiments regarding dilution were made - most resulting in the brush clogging within about 30 seconds... Finally I arrived at a dilution of about 5:1, which worked well, needing about three passes to achieve an acceptable result - Yesterday & today were spent at the Club, where the layout was getting it's final 'makeover' before the exhibition including a 'dress rehearsal' of the sequence.... I concentrated on the final detailing of the buildings, hopefully bringing them alive - Now having the buildings in position and a template of the location, the final final assembly of the trusses got under way. With the buildings now awaiting their roofing, at 3pm today, they finally got their 'hat', and I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief that it appeared to fit well! Also much to the relief of the station painter who thought that all his hard work might have been in vain! (actually he's a cover for my faux pas - somehow the 'Ladies' widow frames are in 'Light Stone/Dark Stone' whilst the Main Waiting room is in dark stone/white (both valid GW schemes BUT.. He's now in the process of painting the Main Waiting Room to match the 'Ladies'! So the trusses - and the start of the 'board & batten' roof are now in place, and the whole project will be finished by 12 September - just two days before the exhibition. Oh yes - the subway has it's first passenger.... Mrs SMITH (a 'Netherley' Resident for 'more years than she cares to remember) said how pleased she was that the subway was finally open - 'Such a changed from that rickety old footbridge'... So if you are in the area. don't forget to visit the REC's Exhibition at Woking Liesure Centre on Sat 14- Sun 15th September. Drop by the layout & say 'Hello' - and don't forget to visit 'Gresley Beat' and 'Mostyn' as well as the other 25 layouts on show!

Well the balustrade is finally complete & located on the layout. 'Valejo' 'Model Air' Hull Maroon appeared to be the closest match - but to make sure I primed the model with their dark brown primer. I'm very impressed with the ease with which the top coat went on - the paint comes ready-thinned for airbrushing (as the name implies) and it went through my 'Aztec' with no issues at all. I find the other products in the range ('model Color' and the primers in fact need thinning about 4-1 with water before they flow properly - but ev en then the covering is pretty efficient. If only they did a recognisable 'UK Railways' set (saves all that mucking about with colour charts...) The 'concrete' base was then brushpainted with another suitable colour, then lightly weathered with oil pastel dusts in various shdes applied with a 'blusher' brush. SWIMBO hasn't noticed yet! Right - next up IS the canopy...

Thanks to Bob at 'Alton Models' I've now resolved the paint issue. A contact of his says the colour is depenent on location. In a 'works' (non-public) area they were black. In public areas they were maroon - which I hink is similar to the 'Lake' finish but with more brown in it. Going to look for a 'Valejo' airbrush equivalent tomorrow. Meanwhile, the canopy calls!

Hi Rich - Not as far as I'm aware. Both packs have been used before with a variety of solvents. I suspect it is more to do with the thin-section MDF - probably not having enough surfacve area to make the bond. The PVA wins out because it is fairly viscous.

The last entry showed the 'test cut' done by Jonathan. Everything looked good so an order was placed for an 'A4' sheet of 0.5mm MDF - this would give more than enough for the club's needs. A couple of weeks later a package arrived... this shows the requirements for the subway balustrade. The gap between the bottom of the railing was set by using a jig from 30 thou platiskard - and using this the fencing sections were soon emplaced. - On to the corner pillars. A little lateral thinking was required here. The square/rectangular rails would need to be made from plastikard strip. A quick test showed that the relevant sections could be made from 'Evergreen' strip - part no's 8102 & 8202 fitted the bill. This however caused a problem as 'Butanone', 'Mekpack' and superglue wouldn't hack it! Finally I used a 'fast-grab' thick PVA and I am relying on the fact there are no tensional stresses involved.... The corner bars are longer, and set into the base whilst the middle rods only extend between the lower & middle frames. So another plastikard jig was made - One of the frames was also used as a jig to drill holes for the corner rods - Once those had been made, assembly of the corner pillars proceeded slowly but steadily, being a bit of a fiddly process even in 7mm!. Once the pillars were assembled, the caps were made from three rectangles of 10 thou plastikard, and fixed to the top of the pillars, which were then finally assembled to the base. All that's left now is to paint the assembly - and here there is a problem. The common paint-scheme would be 'Light & Dark Stone'... However, 'Chocolate Maroon' and black are also contenders. Any definitive answer would be gratefully received. Finally - I've got some packets left over - anyone who is building Bristol Temple Meads - or wants some decorative balustrading - can contact me by PM for a price!

'Emsford' is the REC's 'EM' layout currently under construction. Based on a rural single-track secondary route, the largest building in the village is the mill. - and I was silly enough to volunteer to build it! The early work was subject of this forum entry - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/11149-a-mill-for-emsford/ and this blog will continue the process. As you can see, this and the station buildings for 'Netherley' - subject of another blog) do take up a fair proportion of my modelling time! Anyway, onwards! Where did I get to? Oh yes... With most of the windows (I've still got twelve on the rear wall to make) completed using my usual 'adhesive paper/layers of card' method,the building slowly came together. The 'Georgian' period dwelling is of course for the miller - who now has a chimney and a slate roof (again printed on adhesive paper) in individual rows, slates cut to 2/3rds their depth and then applied to the plasticard roof - which was covered with plain adhesive paper to ensure the slates stuck! On then to more external detail (now the Miller is comfortably in residence) - Most (all??) mills have 'lucams' which house the winding gear & Emsford required three of 'em. Excuse the slightly out of focus shot... Again, using a single drawing it was easy to print three identical sets on paper, to ensure they were all even, and the sub roofs were fitted in a similar manner - Just in time for the building to be shown in place at the Clubs ' Diamond Jubilee' day last Sunday... Next jobs will be to finish those cursed rear windows(!), tile the main roof (another paint-drying job!) then build the boiler house on the other end! At least this one does not have an exhibition deadline.... TTFN REC-Farnborough

Definite progress on the balustrade for the subway - This is the test cut from the drawing on the earlier blog. A very nice piece of work from Jonathan. I've made a correction to extend the legs slightly to make it easier to fix them into the surround, and of course the balustrading is made of several of these panels. Much midnight oil was burned fitting out the station buildings with the remaining windows (the 'louvres' on the 'Gents Toilet' are actually 'Evergreen' '80 thou clapboard siding cut to fit the frames) and doors being fitted. The roof to the main building was build as a removable panel to allow interior detailing at a later date. With the exhibition deadline looming both buildings have now been set into the platform - during a work period last week, and at the same meet the first of the main canopy bays (over the 'ladies') was ALMOST completed! Now I've only got 2 more main trusses to build (about 3 evenings work) and about 27 more longditudinal trusses (about 14 evenings work!) then put it all together.... However, I'm going to have a couple of days off - and do some of my own modelling! TTFN REC-Farnborough

Last year I was one of the participants in the '2012' RMWeb Challenge, as I was tasked to create the station buildings for the Club's new 7mm layout. The initial phases of the build can be seen here :- http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/56603-platform-canopy-services-for-netherley/ and in the ensuing vote I was privileged to be placed 6th and I would like to express my thanks to all those who voted for me.. For those that did not follow the competition, a short resume is in order. 'Netherley' is a terminus station at the end of a 'red' graded GWR branch 'somewhere in the west country'. With thoughts of greatness, the station was designed as a through station with an island platform - however, the line now terminates in a goods yard just beyond an overbridge. As such, the station buildings were there merely to provide basic services to passengers and staff - access to the platform is via a subway from the (off-stage) ticket office. My brief was to design the platform facilities, with a GWR prototype in mind. The facilities would include a 'Waiting Room' with a separate room for the ladies, 'conveniences' for both sexes, the 'platform end' of the subway and a canopy covering all. I looked at various prototypes for the buildings, but 'Tilehurst' has always been a favourite. It's two buildings in a warm red 'English Bond' brick, on the island platform would provide the requisite passenger facilities. Rather more grand were the canopy and the subway structures, which are based on those on platform 13-15 at Bristol Temple Meads. Both buildings are in much the same state as shown in the thread - renovating the house and making a good start on the canopy has taken most of my time in recent months! Both units are built in the main from plastikard (in the case of the canopy - lots of it!). However, the balustrading round the subway was always at the back of my mind. Mainly my thoughts ran to plastikard, built on a template per the canopy... but what a fiddly job it was going to be! Then, at ExpoEM I met Jon Buckie (who deservedly won the competition with his tamping machine) demonstrating the merits of laser cutting. It was only a couple of days later that the lightbulb went off. Unfortunately by that time I was on holiday in Oz, sans computer! On my return, the relevant e-mails were sent, plastikard put aside and 'TurboCAD' initiated.. Two days later, the drawing (to my untutored eye) - looked okay. The balustrade consists of the lased railings (three per side) and the corner units are built up from plastikard on the square bases (3 per corner unit!). It's now with Jon, awaiting his eagle eye. (coincidentally, the order will fill an 'A4' sheet - more than enough for my needs and I'm quite prepared to sell the rest)! So that's the state of play so far. The canopy now has seven of its trusses built (each consists of 44 individually-cut lengths of plastic) and i still have the longditudinals to build (3 per bay...) All before 15th September - the Clubs 'Diamond Jubilee Exhibition (at Woking Leisure Centre, Surrey). Come along and see it finished ! Regards, REC-Farnborough