2ManySpams

Well that was a bit of a comedy rabbit hole...

Furry cake? Somewhere to park naughty sheep?

Hopefully it's on a straight road, no bends...

How the mighty have fallen. I remember when it seemed every other car on the motorway seemed to be a Ford, and many of those were Mondeos.

Experimental and Sheep. Those words are often interchangeable and can be used together.

I'm glad someone knows what's going on. I may be asking questions later!

Hi John, The end with the BoB in will be the far right of my model. Don't forget that although I've kept the middle three houses as per the photo below, I've swapped the two end properties. The lean to is now on the left and the house (with the gable end in the BoB photo) is now on the right. This is my version of the gable end in the BoB photo. The ground floor double doors and fancy arch have been omitted for something simpler as my model doesn't abut a shopping street.

As well as the courtyards, I've been making a start on the roofs. The main profiles have been added - that's another sheet of plasticard gone. I then started thinking about chimneys. I want these to be part of the roof structure and not added afterwards. So a bit of planning involved and thinking about construction sequence. But first a bit of fag packet sketching: Two different heights, four different depths, same width. Plus a reminder to self that my two outside stacks will be different to reality as I've tacked the newer building on the opposite end. A few photos from GoogleEarth of the remains of the real chimneys.... The 4 potter which is at the lean-to end, but which needs to be a 6 potter on my model. The 2 potter which will stay as is. The 5 potter (one missing) with added seagull which will stay as is. The somewhat knocked around and decapitated 6 potter which will be a 4 potter on the model. I've made a start on the 5 potter first, just to sort the method. It's made like a glove and fits snugly over the roof former. The coursing at the joins needs adding after the solvent has set. And on place on the building. Not glued yet though. From left to right in the above photo, the chimney stacks will be: - 4 potter tall - 5 potter tall - 2 potter shorter - 6 potter shorter

And today, after sorting out coursing at corners, I've spent time modelling stuff that probably won't be seen... The first of the three courtyards, including steps and wall and bricked yard.

A few extracts from much larger photos of the real buildings. Always in the background, or hiding behind something, takes a keen eye to spot it sometimes...

Excellent research session Jerry, well done.

Cheers Stu. It's turning out to be a lot more complex and involved than I thought when I first saw the prototype buildings and thought "those are interesting"!

And the next rear extension... With an update from 11th March to show what it looked like all together...

The far right lean-to shell was then fabricated. This central, 3-house module was really starting to take shape and oozing character (and windows). It's also showed the issue I'm going to have with painting and finishing... A lack of access, particularly in these backyard areas. Could have been tricky getting a paint brush in there - hence the approach of using magnets.

It was at this point I realised that the building was becoming quite complex shape-wise and was going to be difficult to paint and and then add windows if all the modules were stuck together. After some discussion the idea of using magnets to hold the modules together was born. Some 10x5x3mm n52 neomydium Magnets were bought from a well known auction site and experiments carried out. I ended up installing them in 6 locations, spaced equally up each vertical interface. To get sufficient grab some of the locations had the magnets doubled up. The result is that you can pick up the building by the extension and there's no fear of it dropping off. To get a positive location I added strips to the main building... ...so that the extension effectively sits in a slot. I did try metal on one side instead of a magnet. In practice though I found the metal to magnet attachment weaker than the magnet to magnet, requiring the magnets to be doubled on the non-metal side. So overall no saving in magnets. A definite downside though is that the building now routinely collects the metal tools I'm working with...

And a few shots of the whole thing back on 6th March 2023... And rear of the extension showing the split floor levels...

And there was more...

I tackled the building cladding and the tricky window openings by doing a bit most mornings before work. Lots of offering up and subtle adjustment cuts and the final section is cut. And then fitted... There were bits of filler and making good required in a few areas but on the whole was pleased. Maximising the embossed plasticard sheet has meant that the end gables have automatically been cut. First rear extension progresses...

Cheers John, Here's an overview of the layout in 1/12th of 1/43rd, complete with stock. The building I'm currently making goes rear right and replaces the Bodmin North cottages.

Obviously (me being me) I found a (not very) quick and easy way of stone cladding the buildings and doing the brick window surrounds...

There's even green stuff in the wagons. Could have fun with that...

Track will look even better buried in bushes and grass. You are doing the BR "can't be arsed to trim stuff" period aren't you?

Got some of these last year at Stafford show, excellent match to photos of the real thing. Highly recommended.

Missed a bit...

In other news, I've finally found a use for the Prairie tank that I own. As well as a paperweight and doorstop it can also be used as a scaling device and yardstick: Seen here adding scale to my latest set of buildings. Build thread available here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/178189-molesworth-street-wadebridge-7mm-backs-of-buildings/#comment-5121744