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Charlie_k

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  1. Charlie_k

    Small stuff

    By Charlie_k,

    I’d actually lost the fence ‘wire’, but found it as I cleared the desk at the weekend so finally ticked off another job. The fiddle yard was landscaped as you can see a large part through the bridge arches. Fence needs a coat of paint and the red oxide doesn’t take well to the girders and the coaling station was recommissioned as well.




     
    Thanks for looking.



  2. Charlie_k
    All building work now finished! The office from the goods shed was completed last night and finished this evening. I have some vehicles to weather down, and probably some goods to create and detail along with a few other snags and figures but it’s almost time to clean the track and run something.

    Crane is almost complete with steps added to the platform, and for anybody making the yard crane, look for the truss rods taped to the back of the instructions! I must have picked up other similar (short) wires. The kit probably goes together better and you don’t end up modifying the kit to fit and correct your own stupid mistake!
     
    Thanks for looking.
     
     
  3. Charlie_k

    Glue delivered!

    By Charlie_k,

    Back in action thanks to the postman yesterday. While I was waiting I rearranged and added some kits and bits I had hanging around.
    I wasn’t happy with the goods yard area to the right of the brewery, it was too full and didn’t look natural, and after a late night working out what to do, cracked open a Peco yard crane (has anyone made this as the instructions say? The truss rods are too short and I had to shorten the main beam)(also if you haven’t made it operate, put the thread on the drum before assembling)

    This filled the space and made the area look like it might actually function.
    To negate the length of the retaining wall, the corrugated sheet came out this afternoon and a roof added to cover the side door of the brewery and give some cover in the yard. Flashing added to the pipe and the gantry was finally glued in place.

    The near side also got some treatment. Half the hard standing along the front edge was removed, it wasn’t working anyway and the gantry sat on it which looked odd. This left a longer area to grass over, and I’d been batting the idea of a signal box around in various places. I had the Metcalfe (Goathland) signal box, which is a lovely kit, but after I made it the colour didn’t gel. It was carefully disassembled and I remade the outer walls in a colour nearer to the rest of the layout than it was, it also lost a bit of height while I was at it. It looks a bit more rundown, but it fits this area a bit better now.
    End in site now...


     
    Thanks for looking.
  5. Charlie_k
    Turning the corner at the end after some extensions to the warehouse. Now a single chimney stack in the corner to hide it, corner covers on the brickwork, and a small section of roof to join the others and make it look one building. Then I spent some time looking at the short end and used the second warehouse leftovers to make a 2.5D back scene. It’s the same windows as the rest, just a piece of black card behind to make it look the same, stands about 5mm proud of the backscene. It will have capping stones and a door to bring it in with the rest. The A frame took a beating this week, looks like it got knocked on the floor and then stood on, whatever happened it was in several small pieces. Got it back together but the air was blue. Soon be on to the small stuff!
     
    Thanks for looking.
  6. Charlie_k

    Move along...

    By Charlie_k,

    Saturday always seems to be a day for the backscene. The last sections of retaining wall are in, issues with fit required a sharp knife. The second set of gates has been added and is now drying before greenery grows up this afternoon.

    The chimney was been slightly slanted to rest against the wall, but it looked better without the gap. The weathering looks a bit severe here, but that’s for this afternoon.
    ...
    This afternoon flew by, need to get the weedkiller out, but the brewery buildings now done. Today’s section...

    Nice bit of sun...

    Over the hedge from the allotments...

    Corner warehouse now...not much, some re-gluing, one new tile section and the jury’s  out out on the chimneys.
     
    Thanks for looking.
  7. Charlie_k

    Very close...

    By Charlie_k,

    Except for the additions in the previous post, which will be done once this is fixed, this is almost ready to go into place now. The awful seam down the end is covered, not an ideal but it does add a bit of interest to a blank wall, doors and shutters are now in place, the loading platform was build from several layers of card before gluing scrap textures onto it. All the roofing and tiles are done, along with some leading work.
    Barge boards are on now, some bits of glue and weathering to do, and a couple of seams to hide, but I’m mostly done here. Time to move further on....

     
    Thanks for looking.
     
    Charlie
  8. Charlie_k
    If I had one big job left that I wasn’t looking forward to it was the gantry, last night I bit the bullet and finished it this afternoon.
    Maybe a bit heavy weathering on the gantry, and the bases need to be merged in. I cut some cartridge paper into strips and glued them to the dowel at what seemed suitable spacing before painting it white and applying the rust.

     
    Thanks for looking.
  9. Charlie_k

    Dunwich Ales

    By Charlie_k,

    It’s not quite there yet but it’s close. The sign came out okay, but getting it to look right took a bit. Water tower and canopy were attached today along with the finished roof but there’s still one to do. I repainted the gantry to tone in a bit more. The goods platform will be an L shape going around the left end. I’m aiming for the weekend to finish this, so add another week!
     
    Thanks for looking.
  10. Charlie_k
    If it could go wrong today, it did. Straight edges were easy, corners were another matter, 50% of what I cut were wrong, then the replacements were also reversed, so I had to have a third go. The inclines were just as bad. At least the side door went to plan. On to the greebles now...


    Glad today is over...
    Thanks for looking.
  11. Charlie_k

    On time so far

    By Charlie_k,

    Warehouse coming along, ran out of windows so time for a break. No major calamities today, most parts were reusable though I had to go to the reserve for a couple of parts. One panel is temporarily in the wrong place, it should be at the end and a door panel needs to be put in. New quoins need to be cut, getting straight edges along with a straight fold for such narrow pieces is a morning job.
     

     
    Thanks for looking.
  12. Charlie_k

    Progress today...

    By Charlie_k,

    Well, had a bit of a shift around with the warehouse to add a bit of ‘weight’ further to the left, started to take some of the warehouse apart to rearrange and improve it a bit. Makes you realise how bad some glue is, spray mount is great for getting an even join, but after a while really loses its stick. This section was a spare from earlier and used as a test bed. Windows and frames were removed and the frames sprayed with an off white to tone down, I’d made the replacement frames some time ago, they were sprayed green when that was an idea, but over sprayed with the same white today in an uneven coat to give some texture. Humbrol weathering powder was applied over the printed sills before new sills were glued over to give a deep shadow. I used a suitable shade of coloured pencil on the inside of the wall aperture to hide the card edge, then reassembled after fixing with hairspray.
     
    Next up...disassembly of this block and possible addition of a door, fitting lots of windows, making card floors, then lots of trial and error to get the roof to meet in all the right places. If I choose to add some lights, better do this before final assembly unlike the other buildings.
     
    Thanks for looking.
  13. Charlie_k

    Doors

    By Charlie_k,

    Thanks for the comments and likes, much appreciated.
    I found another office in the pile of scraps, I used the weighbridge last year for a bit of fun with my nephew during the holidays.
    Remembered to touch in the edges, put in new windows.New sills after a touch of powder to indicate shadows. I made a 'kit' of door parts. Will give them a coat of spray and dry brush before fitting.
     




     
    Better not mess up the cornerstones now...
  14. Charlie_k
    It's been a long time since I posted, the layout has progressed, but is still some way from completion. The track was laid, not without issues and the learning curve has been steep at times. Peco solenoids are controlled from a control panel and NCE powercab. I finally understand how electrofrog points work, the back scene was painted a couple of weeks back and have been placing the hard standings for the buildings. The warehouse has been dropped at the moment and the factory became a practice piece, it's not fixed yet as things change as more is added. The last electrics will probably be a bus for tapping off for leds, not much really but if I don't allow for it now I'll probably regret it in a while.
    Tomorrow the paving will be finished, I'll extend the led feed along the back scene, and drop the baseboard back down onto the bench, at the moment it's precariously balanced on 2 boxes to allow access underneath and at long last I can attack the rest of the buildings. I might almost know what I'm doing by the time it's finished...

     
    Thanks for looking.
  15. Charlie_k

    False starts

    By Charlie_k,

    Welcome to my blog.
    Hopefully by the time I'm finished there will be something to show for my efforts. Due to work and being a carer for an ill relation, my time is often short and for a long time, nothing I have started has been finished. I've had several loco's for some years (a pannier, 08 and now an 03), and a baseboard 6 feet x 18 inches. I've wandered around York show for many years seeing some great work and felt I couldn't match the work shown there. Several false starts have been made, and this might be another, but hey ho! Does it matter? This year I bought a NCE powercab at the show with the intent of making a start and decided to go for card modelling. It means I can build wherever I'm required to be without bothering about paint on the lounge carpet!
     
    Last week I converted a wooden tray to a modelling board that can be carried around the house and located all the tools I've been collecting that may be useful.
     
    For good or bad, I began with a a Metcalfe warehouse, and was pleasantly surprised. There are some obvious issues, but work began and progress has continued this week.
     
    Job 1: The print gets progressively out of line compared to the cuts across the parts.

    Made a small jig and remade the sills.



    All sills were completed, windows next.
  16. Charlie_k
    The corner cover pieces worked, far faster and less problematic than I’d managed before. The doors are fitted, just the near end to do now and the new roof was fitted but still to tile. The base for the water tower was textured. I’m going to try and make a sign for the wall above the gantry, and the gantry still needs pipework. I’ve moved the crane from the front of the layout to the area. There’s a join down the centre of the end wall, better think of doing something there, and the loading platform either needs major shortening or a quick rebuild. Apart from bargeboards, downpipes and the canopy that’s finished then!
     
    Thanks for looking.
  17. Charlie_k

    Halfway there

    By Charlie_k,

    The redundant hard standing by the water tower is now overgrown, it was going nowhere and didn’t make any sense, so a careful couple of hours took it back to nature. It also hides the difference in colour of the walls somewhat.
    One of the other unforeseen developments recently was the opening up of the second arch of the bridge. It was a dead end originally and was just a spur for reversing direction toward the warehouse. Only the near two tracks went off scenic originally, and it annoyed me that I hadn’t planned for the far track to do the same. A few weeks back I lifted the bridge and office, luckily it was so badly fixed it gave little resistance, remove the buffer and ballast, made a suitable hole in the end panel, found a suitable sharp curve and hacked up an extra fiddle track. It’s only 12” but at least it’s better than nothing. Add it to the list of stuff I could’ve done better.

    Everything removable was taken off yesterday and the whole thing was vacuumed. Gaps in the concrete were weed-filled and the retaining walls were glued in place finally. Most are now weathered in, one still to go before the brewery, two on the far side with another gate.
    The corners on the brewery are problematic. Normally I use a pencil crayon on the brick folds. I’ve used scalescenes brick to cover most corners on other buildings, but this is the first with offset cornerstones and cutting and folding a long straight corner piece to cover it is not one of my strengths.
    I’ve had an idea to create the template in a DTP package, with the cut lines solid and a centre score line marked top and bottom only. If I copy this several times, then put a printed brick texture into the printer, the lines will be printed directly on top (stay with it). I’ll be able to use a knife to mark the score line from the print side, then flip it over and use the marks through the print to score the back so the line is in the right place but won’t damage the print. Now I should be able to fold accurately along the score line and finally flip it back to the front for running a knife down the cut line, as it’s already folded it will be symmetrical. I know it sounds long winded but if you were as clumsy as I am you’d know why!
    The canopy on the brewery has been converted to corrugated plasticard, hoping for another good run at it tomorrow evening when all retaining walls might get finished.
     
    Thanks for looking, stay safe.
     
  18. Charlie_k

    Gates test fit

    By Charlie_k,

    Thanks for the kind comments, I really appreciate it. A lot of the stuff I’ve tried just didn’t feel right, which is why it’s taken me so long. The same was happening with the retaining walls. I didn’t like the way the buildings just sat in front of it and went nowhere, hence disassembling the earlier bridge and making two arches. At the Doncaster show I saw a nice Metcalfe engine shed with corrugated roof, and talking to the exhibitor he pointed me in the right direction. I’ll be trying it on one of the yard offices but the plasticard has worked fine for the gates. I’ve cut the full gates and then added panels of different sizes for interest. They were painted green, add it to the list of mistakes, then repainted light grey which looked a lot better. A wash of Agrax Earthshade followed, and then I began to scratch some off for variety. By chance, the green started to show through in places. I think the same might now happen to the gantry before the pipe work is added.The panelling over the top is a scalescenes printout. Now just capping stones along the top of the pillars, some weathering powder and regaining down some of the hard standings will see this part through.

    I’m trying the telegraph poles to add a bit of height along the front.
     
    Thanks for looking.
     
    Charlie 
  19. Charlie_k

    Back to it

    By Charlie_k,

    Okay, back to it, the middle section really wasn’t doing it for me, so after bashing a brewery and removing the off-centre bridge, here’s the final run at it. The gantry will run pipes across to the brewery. There’s still (always) stuff to do, but a couple of weeks might see me through. Yesterday I added the entrance arches for the industries taking apart a bridge and adapting it to the same width as the retaining walls, they’ll be weathered in tomorrow. I had a bash at making my own trees, which worked out better than I thought and will be added to the far right and a couple on waste ground left of the brewery. Also replaced some elements of the brewery with plasticard last week. They’re not fixed but you can see the idea.
    I’m considering a signal box just right of the centre gantry support, but it’s not going to hold me up. Any views gratefully received on this.
    Going to make some gate for the entrance arches now.
     
    Thanks for looking, stay safe.
     
    Charlie
     
     
     






  20. Charlie_k

    Back to it

    By Charlie_k,

    Seems like an eternity, but the Christmas break gave me a push to do something. A strip of LEDs is hanging over it at the moment while I decide on how to mount it permanently. Christmas delivered several workers for the allotment and waste ground, so they received a quick wash along with the pigs and took up residence.. I saw the frame for the warehouse crane while browsing and decided that it was the way forward and I’ve just knocked it up after tea. Away for a few days so the painting will have to wait. Managed to finally pick up some plastic for the drainpipes as well, so these will now move forward. Looking at it now, some of the paper is beginning to come away, so an hour with a very fine brush is needed. The factory has gained a chimney, and the area to its left will gain a crane, based on Daisyfield overhead by combining the ratio overhead traversing crane and a converted lamp hut. I picked up the Metcalfe fire station as well, with a bit of modification I’m hoping it will help fill along the back.




     
    Happy new year all, thanks for looking.
  21. Charlie_k
    Well, work got the better of me, but I was determined to get somewhere so 30 minutes on Tuesday to build the crane (what a great kit), sprayed it Wednesday morning before work, finished first swipes at weathering last night. Looks like it could be a derelict, so maybe using some ratio ‘halt’ platforms perhaps as a newer drop off point. Lets me make the ground between crane and bridge waste ground, so maybe some abandoned rails and other rubbish. Letting it settle for a day or two now to see how it looks later. Built up a hoist for the coal yard, just waiting for it to dry before finishing.

    Better get that factory finished...
    Thanks for looking.
  22. Charlie_k

    Minor rearrangements.

    By Charlie_k,

    Thinking about things a couple if days ago to possibly move the crane platform from the right hand end to the left. Finally got around to it today and replaced it with coal staithes, which makes better sense as it had been looking like that area needed a function anyway. The crane platform does the job, now just need to fit a crane. While I was at it, one of the buffer stops was loose, and took the opportunity to move it forward 2”. Adds a bit more of a busy feel somehow. Factory not moved on anymore yet, but I’m pleased with the area now as a whole. Things will slow down a bit now as the holiday is over, but I’m aiming for 30 minutes a day for the sake of sanity!
    Coal staithes

    Crane platform

    Repositioned buffers

    Thanks for looking.
  23. Charlie_k

    Almost there now.

    By Charlie_k,

    I like to make look functional if possible, so I’ve added a door for vehicle access in a suitable place. Some examples show a sliding panel in front of windows, so I’m going for that. Most of the windows are now in place and all but the roof levels are glues in place. End panel tomorrow, sliding door, roof and corners to cover yet followed by down pipes and details.

    Thanks for looking
  24. Charlie_k
    I’m done here, I’ll be finishing the goods crane when I begin work on the overhead at the far end. Seems to make sense so they can be finished at the same time. The veg weren’t the easiest to dress up, but they do the job. I cut a couple of them up so they could be used in different ways.

    These still look a little card like, from a distance their okay, but I might get a paintbrush out to blend them in a bit. Not today though.

     
    Thanks for looking.
  25. Charlie_k
    Got to give this time to settle in now. The greenhouse was touch and go for a while, particularly while looking at it in situ and thinking that the back face ‘glass’ was so clear it looked like I’d missed it out...given that it was all planted, I had a few choice words.



    It’s missing some planting and general detritus, good news though, the pigs got a trough of feed today.
     
    Thanks for looking.
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