David Bigcheeseplant

Having managed Railex from 2005 to 2019 we had a team at the stadium management who was consistent and knew what we wanted and would go out of the way to help us. Covid found many of the long term staff move on and the centre taken over by Serco, so when we returned last year, we were faced with a whole new management team, so we had to go through all the stuff that had been automatic in the planning stage in previous years. We have look at other venues but there is nothing which is local or affordable. The bowels Hall is on the same site, so we were not starting with a black sheet of paper. Hopefully we will be back in the main hall in 2025. Until you have run at least one show in a new location there is no way all issues that may arise on the day can be planned out. Hopefully this year we can learn and overcome things that happened last year. Tim Peacock the exhibition manager and the rest of the Railex team are putting together a superb show for 2024, So feedback and constructive criticism are fine if it helps to make Railex a better show, although many things including the weather are outside our control. The only way RAILEX will continue if we have enough visitors to cover our costs. So, if you can visit this year, we would love to see you. David

I haven't seen one in the flesh only in videos and photos but it did draw my eye and first I thought it might be some kind of protective tape that hadn't been removed or just a one off on the railmotor in the video so then checked other images and they were all the same, hence why I raised the issue. Although I am way too young to remember the livery first hand, photographic evidence and painting specification is pretty conclusive it should be brown and match the rest of the coach.

The black door really bugs me, but I notice its on the RAL code for the decoration supplied by Kernow so why nobody picked this up is a shame as I was tempted with this variation.

I have noticed on all the fully lined chocolate and cream versions that the entrance doors are below waist level are painted black when they should be lined chocolate! David

Crossing keepers cottage dates from opening of the line. Brunel was engineer of the Henley branch and also the Wycombe Railway which opened in 1854 so I would think the plans were just repeated for the Henley branch two years later.

Mill Lane crossing keepers house was the same as those found on the Wycombe Railway, either the crossing keepers house was built as just a house or as a station and crossing keepers house. attached is the original drawing so hopefully it will give you an idea how it was constructed. David

My only concern is that your brickwork looks much more interesting than the real thing, seen on earlier photos in this thread, where the texture is far less pronounced. Getting the brickwork right is tricky I printed a section on my resin printer and the detail is very fine although I cant do the whole building as my printer is too small, I purchased an FDM printer which I could fit the whole building on, although the detail is not so crisp, although maybe I can adjust the settings to get it better.

Hi Mikkel the windows are very pale cream as this model is for the BR period as this matches rolling stock I already have. As for the GWR chocolate painted windows and doors I have not looked into it recently but I think you are right probably around the WW1 period but maybe early 1920s David

I have been adding the windows to my model and getting the paint brush out.

A bit more progress, some paint and windows temporarily fitted.

I have been to Warley at an exhibitor, trader and a paying visitor in 2023 and was exhibition manager of Railex in Aylesbury from 2005-2019. I had heard rumours after the last show it would be the last one so was not surprised to see the announcement. Putting Warley together is a huge undertaking with eye watering costs done by volunteers just organizing Railex for me was a major undertaking and with no shows for a couple of years due to covid made me realise I wanted to step down, as the effort to organize a show became a chore not a pleasure. I expect this what the organizing team at Warley felt too. I had noticed that the number of smaller suppliers at Warley had been getting smaller year on year. I think the cost of taking a stand and the costs just didn’t make it viable for most traders. I think my only purchase in 2023 was a book. What of the future of model railway show? We have lost some major shows since covid, and I sadly think there will be more. Nobody will stage a show if it’s going to make a loss. Just because shows have been a success in the past does not guarantee they will work in the future. Many local shows still have the same look and vibe as they did in the 1970s and 80s. Costs are increasing and staging a show is a major undertaking plus finding the people who want to and are capable of organizing an event is always an issue. I must admit Warley did drain all life out of me, although but I think that was the NEC venue itself and the November dates. David

I can print the shell without the stone heads, cills and feature courses which I might do if I don't get the painting right. The recessed downpipes were normally square 4" sitting in a 4.5" gap, I am surprised to see a round downpipe in the photo. David

I cant un see that now

I draw the vertical mortar course first working out the corners window/door openings with the quarter brick queen closures using array tools. then fill in the other vertical mortar lines using the array tool again. it is only when all the verticals have been done I do the horizontal courses. If I was doing laser cutting then I would just draw one line that the laser will follow on 3D printing I need to specify not only the width of the mortar but the depth too. In Fusion 360 I can set parameters so both the Hight of bricks, width and depth of the mortar can be set and changed if not right, I originally did the mortar at .1mm depth and width but although you could see it on the print it would have been impossible to paint, so changed it to .2mm wide and .3mm depth. Also as I said before the height of the bricks was not 76.2mm (3") high but 84mm high so had to adjust the height of my bricks to match the overall height.

Yes there are rounded corners to the edges of the windows and doors plus the corners but the bullnose bricks only go 3/4 of the way up before it returns to normal bricks. the stone head lintels are plain and don't have embellishments. I have since cleaned the print up and trail fitted the laser cut windows which look amazing.

I have 3D printed my Risborough waiting room it needs to be cleaned up as it is fresh of the printer this morning. David

I managed to 3D the entire building, I need to clean the stringing but I am rather pleased. David

Acrylic for the .2mm and romark or something similar for the .7mm i am now 3d printing the entire building carcass with all the correct brickwork I think it may take same time!

I have just laser cut windows for my station building the glazing bars are 0.2mm thick while the main frames are .7mm

I don't use Blender but Fusion 360, I have printed a test piece of wall which seems to have come out ok. I need get the painting ok as the building has black motar. the test piece has has a blow over with white primer.

Nothing unusual about the bricks between the window they are queen closures (quarter bricks) they are used at all corners door and window openings. David

Princes Risborough does not have so much decretive stonework and the window sills are flush with the brickwork, although it would be ok to creative this if needed. I have printed off a test piece to see how my design looks, but generally I think it passes. I have just blown it over with some white primer and will see how it looks when I try to paint the brickwork. David

I am doing a similar project of Princes Risborough bay platform, I had the original plans and the up building still stands. I had assumed that the bricks were standard 3" x 4" X 9" plus I knew how many rows of bricks there was. when I drew up the building it didn't look right, when I did a site visit and the brick were 82mm between courses so I adjusted my model and it matched the drawing exactly. My model is drawn in Fusion 360 render attached

Having printed off a section of wall things didn't look quite right the height of the doors were a bit too low, the number of courses of bricks were correct, so a site visit followed I had assumed bricks where at 3in pitch between course 76.2mm so 1mm on the model. getting the steel rule out the bricks were actually 82mm between courses. so I adjusted the model so it now is totally correct including the window recesses that are 9 inches (3mm) om the model. Well I an now out of the funny farm but I now have lovely brickwork!

Those people like me who have a resin printer but not a FDM one it might be looking at local companies who can print your files, there is a company less than a mile from me who will do it so I am going to get a quote rather than investing in a machine,