Keith Addenbrooke

I just had the roof to do now.  There is a base layer of laser cut balsa wood pieces to glue in place first.  For the flat roof section, this is overlaid with strips of tar paper cut to size and laid in an overlapping fashion:

It pays to read the instructions carefully before adding the outer layer of the main roofing sections:

(I added additional strips of spare tar paper to the joins between the roof sections meet).

Photos showed up two issues: firstly it showed that I’d omitted to paint the underside of the eaves, and secondly, after painting the roof with my usual Matt dark grey and adding a little bit of lighter grey for weathering it was far too shiny (I’m not quite sure what the peel and stick overlays were made of, to be honest):

A conventional plastic church kit for another project had been painted in exactly the same way - but looked quite different:

I address the eaves first - much easier to before a building is placed onto a layout:

I then added a layer of light grey wash over the whole roof (with a few darker brown patches) - it dampened the glossiness, but made the roof much lighter:

As my models have a lot of handling (and will soon be packed up for moving house), I’ve steered away from trying weathering powders, at least for now, so I simply used a graphite pencil to darken the roof again.  This seems to have worked.  Finished:

What have I learned, and how does this compare with the more modern laser cut (mdf) Faller kits I’ve made?  

On the plus side, I’d say the peel and stick sash window frames and pre-scribed glazing panels in this kit were a real plus, and a feature of this particular kit:

On the other hand, working with wood pieces that have been in the box for many years does require more care - with hindsight it would have been wise to open the box to check the key pieces were really flat a couple of weeks before starting the build (time to flatten any pieces needing attention).  They absorb a lot of paint, but there’s no beating wood when modelling a building like this one!  I have assumed the proprietors keep their store well painted - essential for weather-proofing too.

My shop ‘interiors’ are a compromise.  If I wasn’t thinking about moving house and needing to pack everything away soon, would probably have added some awnings - test showed they would hide the interiors well (photos of the prototype show them).

Overall, bearing in mind I paid only a fraction of the price this kit should have cost when new, it’s been well worth it.  The only problem now is the finished building has quite a large footprint: at approximately 8” square it’s the size of a complete cake box diorama on it’s own, but it’s an interesting and slightly different rail-served industry for boxcar deliveries.

Until next time, thank you for reading, Keith. 

Great to see the layout in action at the Macc show today - the custom decal work was the stand out aspect for me (as in, so good it could easily pass as a real RR name and stock).  Apologies for taking up @Chris Gilbert1’s time asking exactly the same question I’d forgotten I asked here eighteen months ago, sorry (but found the explanation really helpful - headshunt for one loco and 50’ car, then two cars to the next switch, three cars and so on, so the switching has a well planned increasing complexity).  Very smooth running of course.  Excellent, Keith.

Agree with the above - very enjoyable and plenty to enjoy throughout the day. Always a well organised show.  Was able to stay into the afternoon and it did get quieter from 3pm onwards.  Thanks to @BigAndy - who I was able to chat with briefly on the way out - and the whole team (incl. exhibitors and caterers).  Came home with just one new layout idea (and loco), which isn’t too bad.

No idea if I bumped into @woodenhead as someone I often ‘see’ on here, but quite a few people it was good to see and catch up with when passing.  For anyone free tomorrow, would happily recommend a visit, Keith.

Thank you @Peachy for sharing this here - in my view the Hornby team came across very well, and I found their candour when explaining the whys and wherefores of releases moving about particularly helpful.

I can see why there is such interest in the HST - I wonder if it almost resonates for those of us now in our mid 50’s with the kind of excitement the prototype launch had in the 1970s?  (exactly the kind of nostalgia for excitement that drew some of us towards the hobby in the first place, so we could relive happy memories in miniature).  Seeing full length sets in motion will really demonstrate the advantages of TT.  Perhaps, because it is double-ended, it will work in a way that a Pacific and a variable number of coaches doesn’t quite (however impressive that may be).

All good stuff.  Thanks, Keith.

Just now, Donw said:

 

 

I look forward to seeing your model of that wagon.

 

Don

Most of the rolling stock I’ve tried building looks quite like that…

Looking forwards to coming on Saturday - as has been noted, an another strong lineup making good use of the available space for the Show.  Would just like to say thank you in advance to everyone involved - a huge amount of effort goes in, all voluntary, and it is appreciated, Keith.

Had a quick look through my subscribers' copy yesterday - looks to be another cracking issue, thanks to all.  @AY Mod seems to be working overtime on the reviews in this issue!  Much to enjoy, Keith.

1 hour ago, F-UnitMad said:

So it wasn't so much of a 'Safety Bicycle' after all..? I suppose compared to a Penny Farthing, though..... 

As I understand it, that distinction was the basis for the ‘safety’ designation - bringing the rider closer to the ground (so they could touch the floor), Penny Farthings also being known as ‘ordinary’ bicycles at the time.

No idea if Penny Farthings were ever carried on trains though?

Keith.

3 hours ago, AndyB said:

I started to write a piece on how I've been attacking the layout's snagging list.

 

Suffice to say whilst running different locos I'm finding track where fishplates have not been fitted (by me) correctly, soldered joints that used too much soldered and cause rough rolling, the occasional short and fine plastic detailing parts snagging on servo wires.

 

But instead here's a pile of wiring that needs a good tidying up!  It's certainly  a target rich environment with plenty of opportunities to shorten cables and fix them together and secure them in place.

 

The servo control boards are particularly busy areas with cables for both switches and motors.

 

 

I know this is the boring bit.

But I think getting it nice and tidy will help with long-term satisfaction with the layout.

 

Cheers. Andy

 

Wow!  I hope you like / understand wiring better than I do - a lot better (after all, this is not an overly complicated layout, at least not on top).  Hope it goes OK, Keith.

Nice to see a photo of the two weathered 08 locos in the new BRM magazine (p35).  Well done all, Keith.

He @Ressaldar

I missed it!  I’ve been meaning to check out the club since discovering you’re so local.  Is it possible to arrange a visit some other time please? (Afraid I can’t do Sundays anyway, sorry).  I’m not a 7mm modeller, just wanted to pop in and say hello.  Would that be possible?  Are opening times still Tuesday and Thursday evenings or Wednesday afternoons? Thanks, Keith.

First time I’ve seen an RDC in Z scale - particularly impressed with that one (I think it’s an AZL model?).  Excellent, Keith.

Having spent most of the last month trying to fight an ongoing On30 temptation, this could finish me off completely - it had never crossed my mind as a possibility, but actually makes a lot of sense in many ways.  Well done Bachmann! I should say.  Will await with interest - too much interest, Keith.

I treated the store front installation as a separate modelling task.  Having previously made some Walthers’ Merchants’ Row kits without any interior detailing, I knew I would need to include something inside the stores in this build (it would be stretching things even for me to have regular boxcar deliveries to perpetually empty rail-served stores!):

First part of this build were the doorway entrances, which came from the same ‘peel and stick’ sheets as the window frames:

The fake shop interiors were from some unused 4mm scale Metcalfe shop interiors that were included as alternatives in their low relief departmental shop kits.  I’d built them some years ago, and kept the spares ‘just in case’:

Noticeable in the photo above is a gap between the centre access door and the ceiling.  This was caused by some springiness in the base I’d not spotted earlier, and was (unsurprisingly) able to resist all attempts at gluing the pieces together.  It would only be much later on, after several failed attempts to line up the store front section with this out-of-position door, that I realised I could solve the problem by detaching the door and glueing it in place in the store front before fitting.  I could have saved a lot of time (and quite a bit of glue) if I’d thought of this sooner!

What would cause my biggest problem was the Metcalfe interiors were designed to be set back inside the shops, not pasted to the windows:

The first bits I’d done were set back in the doorways of the new build and looked OK, but when I proceeded with the picture windows they ended up looking horribly flat

Painting the window frame a darker blue didn’t improve things much at all:

Nor did adding paper coverings to the other windows, cut to size using the surround left after removing pieces of the kit as templates:

Although I toyed with trying to set the interior back a bit inside the shop, the L-shaped end window would have made that more difficult to pull off (again, I only thought later about using diagonal card inserts, which might also have worked).  Completing the front confirmed my suspicions - not the effect I was after with this build at all:

Research prompted by a question on the NGRM Online Forum had revealed that the team track was actually on the other side of the store, and not flush with the loading dock (confirmed by checking the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps for the prototype).  This meant the side picture window would be trackside, so even though the main frontage would be side on in any layout / diorama setting, the flat interiors might still be too readily visible:

A sizing photo taken earlier:

And the store from a similar viewing angle:

Eventually the lightbulb came on and I realised I had another option - build outwards instead.  I painted the frets from which the window and door frames had been cut, then cut sections to fit the windows: perfect (already formed into grid shapes, and with ‘peel and stick’ backings so no glue needed):

I’m happy that breaks up the picture interiors enough, and at an angle the frames are all I now see when looking along the sidewalk.  As I’m not trying to model the original exactly, this modification is no problem (even the oldest photos I’ve found online of the original show the large sheet glass windows).  I breathed several deep sighs of relief at this point!  Job saved!!

I considered turning the building round and building a loading dock out from the car level doorway, but as a left-handler, uncoupling is easier for me when locos are on my right - so this way round is easier.  I can now proceed to the roof, lessons learned.  Have a good weekend, Keith. 

Mirror card is not something I think I’ve seen used before (conventional mirrors are more common in this type of situation, particularly on American Model Railroads).  The photos seem to show something of a ‘shimmering’ effect from the mirror card.  Is this more pronounced on the photos than in real life?  Just wondered, Keith.

On 22/03/2024 at 04:12, saxokid said:

Some of new beginners in our group been learning basic dry brush on weathering of trackside ballast and rusty rails too..

using this range colours..

I’ve been meaning to ask where you get your paint from?  Kit Stop in Birkenhead don’t sell a lot of Model Railway stuff but the guy does seem to know paint whenever I’ve been in for some bits.  Just wondered: my buildings are only lightly weathered, but I could do with a bigger selection of weathering colours to use.  Thanks, Keith.

2 hours ago, innocentman said:

I have knocked up a sketch of the fiddle yard this morning.

 

This may change and I may introduce an extra section (300mm or so) between the traverser and the curved section to allow for locking pin mounting and loco storage roads.

 

The second track on the curved section will be used as a hand shunting neck when releasing locos from the incoming trains.

 

Regards

 

Andy

If I might make a suggestion, I think adding an extra straight section between the traversed and the curve could prove to be essential, so that trains entering or leaving the traverser don’t start to sideswipe anything on the adjacent tracks as they begin to take the curve.  Adding enough straight track for your longest cars or locomotives to approach dead straight might be wise.  Just a thought - enjoyed the video (a smooth running sign of a layout coming together nicely), Keith.

3 hours ago, Northroader said:

RED/GREEN - COLOUR BLINDNESS.

 

A snowy night in 1875, and I’m sorry to say two of the B.P. Singles were involved in a tragedy with the premier trains in Sweden. I thought I’d post this as a look into operating circumstances back then, and it’s not from a link you’d expect on RMweb, but most interesting.

My first move when joining BR  was a trip to the Crewe works, which was the nearest to where I lived, for a medical, including a colour blindness test, and the need for this ties into what happened back then.

 

https://vision.psychol.cam.ac.uk/jdmollon/papers/MollonCavoniusOnLagerlundaCollision.pdf

 

 

A tragedy indeed.

My own red / green colour blindness was confirmed when I was a naval cadet many years ago now: being unable to distinguish between port and starboard lights ruled out a career in the service (as a cadet I was a bandsman, so just had to be able to read music), Keith.

Getting back to the craftsman kit store build, the next job was to tackle the windows:a large job best done in batches, but aided by having the frets backed with a pre-glued peel and stick coating, and with the window panes scribed on the glazing sheet:

The sash windows have a separate lower part.  When both parts are glazed they’re fitted to the outer frame.  Once glued in place (fitted from the outside), shutters are added, so each complete sash window has seven parts in total:

The inner roof panels have just been loosely fitted here for the photos:

The loading dock is perfectly sized for my HOn30 boxcars, although I think the prototype was served by a standard gauge line:

Next job will be the storefront - I’ll have to decide what level of interior detailing I want to show first.  Hopefully the biggest part of this build is now done, Keith.

1 hour ago, John Besley said:

Thank you, was the intro too long, boring, too loud, etc. how did it look on your devices.

Having got to the point where I was watching too many videos on YouTube, sufficient for me to actually give it up for Lent in order to have a break, I’d say there is no one perfect way to present a video - certainly not to satisfy everybody.  Personally, I liked the backstory introduction, especially as this is the first video (so no prior knowledge should be assumed).

The film was not too long, the camera was steady, and there was no repetitive talking over the pictures, so I was able to enjoy the film.  Videos explaining builds can be harder to make, based on what I’ve seen, and may need more practice,but as an appetiser for a new channel I thought this was fine, Keith.

9 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

 I have so many items in bits in the middle of jobs, I really ought to stick to one at a time!!

Dunno - personally I find having several jobs on the go works quite well - at the practical level, there’s something to do while glue / paint dries on one model in progress, and there can be ‘economies of scale’ when bits of different kits all need the same colour paint too.  With less enjoyable parts of a build, they can be left to wait until the motivation strikes without getting stuck.  I currently have four kits in progress, and am enjoying building them as much as ever.  Just a thought, Keith.

Very enjoyable, and well presented too.  On video some of the details really stand out - even found myself thinking, “I hope those chickens don’t stray onto the track when the train is coming!”  Thanks for sharing it here, Keith.

Hi Jez.  Good question.  Perhaps you could print / paint a wall with fake windows as a compromise between a plain solid wall and another round of cutting out the windows?  Just a thought, Keith.

Incroyable!
 

2 hours ago, John Besley said:

With the lettering now done the PW coach had its paintwork faded by washing on a thin coat of light green, ready for the next stage of lettering for its change of identity, this is shown alongside the guard coach to show the difference

 

Interesting - I particularly like the way the lettering on the Departmental coach is in its ‘original’ position to emphasise the change of use (I’d not doubt have centred it without thinking).  Could I ask how you did the fading of the paint - clearly a very effective technique?  Just wondered.  Thanks, Keith.