Mikkel

That's a neat build and an excellent result, thank you for sharing the build with us. It looks like a good kit. There's a menu on the left with the scale options ("refine search"), but maybe your device/browser isn't showing it? I can see the 4mm options on my laptop with Chrome, though the coaling stage doesn't seem to be on there yet. Incidentally, my browser is screaming the usual warning messages about the site, but I expect that's because it's not https secured.

Thank you for the thorough explanation, Annie. I didn't realize the locos had idiosynchrasies like that, I thought it was more standard. Nice!

Very effective. I've noticed some dark skies appearing on layouts recently, I like the effect. The hills are also nicely done, I think sometimes painted hills are made too green, these are very subtle and convincing.

Not a lot of relief there, and thin mortar lines. An argument for brick paper. In fact, it looks like brick paper!

Staying with the thought, will 3D printers do to modelling what mobile phone cameras have done to photography?

But more everyday photographers and photos than ever before.

Argh! Yes that is bad news for overseas customers. And I don't think anyone else (with mail order) stocks their items?

Chocolate box maybe, but I could never resist chocolate. Very nicely composed scene. Annie, being completely ignorant of the sim world, could I ask what "nice runners" implies here?

Yes, I was impressed with how you managed to make the 3mm kraft blade work for modelling purposes. I have tried it a number of times now, but haven't succeeded to make a satisfactory clean cut yet. Your approach is clearly the way to go with the 3mm blade, but as you say it requires quite a lot of preparation and insight into how the smart cuts work.

Interesting. So when it comes to stone sheets SEF have deeper mortar courses than Slaters? On my brick sheets it's the other way round. In other words, no universal rules can be applied. Regarding mortar. I have been wondering whether and how much it darkens over time naturally. I have not noticed it in houses I have lived in or known - but that is also a short timeframe. Newbury station is now 114 years old. And then there is the environmental effect that you mention. And then of course the effect of repair work and modifications. Here is one end of Newbury station. Quite a lot of stuff going on here, brick and mortar-wise:

Agree. It could be argued that it doesn't go well with the "consistency" mantra to mix old and newer stock, but in my view that's more a question of creating an overall unified look. I think your layouts demonstrate better than anyone's how it's possible to create overall consistency with stock of mixed vintage.

I start with depth 5 force 15. Then 3 cuts depth 10 force 30. All at speed 1. I haven't had particularly good success with traditional foamboard, as the outer paper layer tears. But it works nicely on the Foamex from Green Stuff World.

No wonder, it's not listed in the index 🙂

Yes, that's my experience too. The SEF sheets cut well enough on both my old Portrait and the Cameo 3. I find it helps to start with a low blade depth and force, then increase for each cut. Makes the cut a bit neater in my opinion (but not critically important). But as Snooper says, you still have to cut the last bit with a scalpel or similar. This is the cut (scribing really) made by the Silhouette on the right: And cut out with the scalpel:

It looks good, despite the challenges. I still haven't tried a Parkside kit, must have a go some day. The parts looks nice and crisp.

Ah, thanks for clarifying that. I've always been curious to try out the Halford's range as they seem to give very good results. We can't get them here though. So I suppose it will have to go on my shopping list next time I cross (under!) the channel. Chris, I can't remember what sheets you used on Traeth Mawr, but it seems the Polyfilla results partly depend on that. Maybe you have some off-cuts to try it on?

Very impressive results! Thanks for sharing them. Your experiments may also interest @David Bigcheeseplant who is 3D printing Princes Risborough station (although in 4mm scale, which of course is a different kettle of fish in this respect). The 3D printed pieces do look good. I can see why you experimented with texture on the 3D prints, I like the textured look of the lasercut pieces. You mention that the 3D printed piece in the first shot looks better than it is, and that little filler stayed in the gaps. What I find interesting though is that it looks quite similar to the (Edwardian) brickwork at e.g. Newbury. Which makes me wonder whether we sometimes exaggerate the visual impact of mortar courses on models - especially 4mm ones. I may have mentioned it before, but when I look closely at this great model on Jim Smith-Wrights New Street (built from SEF sheets by the the way), I'm not sure he has applied any pointing at all. Yet I think the model works very well. It does, of course, depend on the style of pointing on the prototype. Here's a photo of the (sadly closed) pub just above Newbury station. A very different look compared to the station.

Good points, Al. I recognize the questions that you ask. As a case in point, my old Bachmann 43xx still runs very freely and with a completely silent motor. So like you I'm debating whether to keep and modify it, or splash out on the upcoming Dapol one. I find myself confronted with dilemmas like that in other areas of the hobby too: Should I scratch build this part, or source a hi-fi one from outside? Is this whitemetal part good enough, or should I go for a 3D printed one? Etc. Almost everything is now possible to replicate, but is that reason enough to go for it? I suppose the answer is that we should go for what gives us most joy over time (rather than immediately but briefly). That can include buying new models, either because you enjoy admiring high levels of detail, or like collecting, or want to save time, or want to modify it.

I'm quite taken by these photos. Even though it's still unfinished I have a feeling of witnessing Helston station as it really was. Modelling at its best. I visited last year and enjoyed it. Thanks for putting in all the time and work.

There's an angled shot of an H56 (no. 9670) at "the end of the war" in Russell vol 2 (p240) with the Roundel livery, and an H55 in Harris. Neither are close-ups but you can just make up the position of overall lettering. Is that of any use? If so I can PM them.

Glad if it's of use Matt. I'm sure stone-built structures have their own particular challenges, I haven't worked much with that. Looking forward to what you come up with.

Thanks Martyn, very useful. I really like the textured structures on your Upbech St Mary, so will have a play with those tips. And I have some Wills sheets kicking around, will try the Polyfilla method on them. I find them difficult to work with, but one or two of their pre-cut kits are attractive. The depth of mortar courses does seem to make quite a difference to what works best. Which isn't made easier by the fact that sometimes that depth varies even within the same sheet, as I've found in some cases! Thanks Rob, I didn't know that he used this method. BTW I recently discovered that Allan's website is still in place. Mostly stone built structures on there, but I found a video of some of his brick-built structures. Extraordinary as always. Thank you, also for the insights! I would be happy if I could achieve the mortar courses on your coaling stage, and look forward to seeing your 3D printed walls. It's interesting that the paint is absorbed by the ply/mdf/card, I had not considered that. So we have to consider the nature of the material as well, along with the width and depth of the mortar courses, the "filling" used for the pointing (paint, filler, other), the priming and base coat, the timing of it all, etc. No wonder results vary.

That's a nice build and what a layout it will become. Thanks also for highlighting the kits, new to me. I see there's a website here, and that Train Trax stock them.

Here are some illustrated notes from experiments with brick- and mortar-colouring for my 4mm scale station building. Please note that these are just my own bumbling exercises. There are no silver bullets here. Method 1: Flood & Wait So far, my standard method has been the well-known "flooding" method. I paint the brick sheets dark red (Vallejo 70.814 Burnt Red)… … then when dry flood the sheet with a milky white wash (Vallejo 70.918 Ivory). This is then left to dry. Sometimes I’m happy with the result, as on my stable block above. But at other times it comes out messy, like here. These are SEF brick sheets. I find that the method works best with Slaters sheets which have more sharply defined mortar courses. But my Silhouette cutter doesn’t like them, so I'm stuck with the SEF sheets. Method 2: Wipe & Go Looking for more control of the results, I tried another time-honoured method - i.e. painting a brick sheet, then wiping off the paint with a finger. This leaves paint in the mortar courses. Not a bad result for a quick effort, though it only adds colour, not texture. Another attempt with the same method, using a darker paint for a different look. I know most people use a cloth or sponge to do the wiping, but in my view nothing beats the subtleness of a finger. Lovely mess! I’ve always liked Phil Parker’s credit to “painty hands” in his blog tagline. I agree, it makes you feel alive 🙂 Method 3: Polyfilla Pointing Turning to another method, I looked at @GWR57xx's lovely 7mm coaling stage, where the mortar is done with filler, using the technique described by @47606odin in this useful video: I have only seen the filler method used on 7mm scale laser cut structures, but decided to try them on 4mm embossed plastic sheets. I first tried rubbing lightweight Polyfilla directly onto an unpainted SEF sheet. Decent result, though the Polyfilla fills up the mortar courses almost too efficiently. I then tried it on painted test pieces. Here the Polyfilla absorbed some of the paint, turning pink. The paint had dried for 24 hours, maybe longer is needed. And I see that @GWR57xx used Halfords spray paint, which I think is enamel. I used Vallejo Acrylics, maybe that’s the problem. I also had challenges with the Polyfilla acting as a kind of abrasive when I wiped it on, removing the base colour (right). But these could just be teething problems, I may revisit this method later. Method 4: Paint & Pigment The Polyfilla method gave me an idea for an alternative approach. I painted a piece of SEF brick sheet… …and immediately stippled on MIG modelling pigment (Sinai Dust ref A. MIG-3023) while the paint was still wet. I then quickly brushed most of it off again with a brush. The remaining pigment sticks to the wet paint. Finally I used a damp (not wet) finger to remove the pigment on top of the bricks. I found that a “prodding” motion worked best, along with an occasional diagonal wipe. The things we learn! I like the matt texture and slightly uneven look left by the pigment. The mortar courses are overscale, but that seems to be the case on most brick sheets. Here is the Paint & Pigment method used on Slater's brick sheets. Incidentally, comparing this photo to the previous one highlights the differences between Slater's and SEF sheets (different bonds notwithstanding). The Slater's bricks are more sharply defined. The surplus pigment is not wasted, I worked on a newspaper so most of it was re-used. The method does have issues. The pigment transforms the shade of paint, so I had to experiment carefully with different colours first, as above. The outcome is also affected by the thickness of the paint, the relative mix of paint and pigment, and how quickly the pigment is brushed off! The type of pigment used also matters, e.g. Humbrol powders didn’t work. So I had to go through a good deal of trial and error with this method. On larger surfaces like those above I found that I had to work quickly, or the paint would dry before the pigment came on. I liked the results though, and eventually ended up using it on my station building, as seen here. I’m modelling my station in newly built condition so I assume the bricks and mortar should be fairly clean. Although I’m not quite sure what happens to the colour of mortar as it ages? In any case, a bit of weathering may be in order. I’m currently experimenting with that. I revisited the old trick of rubbing a colouring pencil diagonally across the sheet. A very soft pencil seems to be vital, or it will rub off the paint. I got better results with very careful dry-brushing using a dark brown colour. I think I’ll try a bit of that on my station building. So that’s where I am at currently. The “paint and pigment” approach has worked out OK on my station building, but it involves various variables that can go wrong. I’d like to find a method with fewer risks and more control. Or maybe what I really need is a therapist 😊

That really makes it come alive. There's a nice depth to the window frames. I see that the windows are white, so I assume that you are modelling the post-chocolate period. Did you ever discover approximately when the chocolate was abandoned? I'm thinking around WW1, but haven't examined it systematically.