Braeside Models: The Scratchbuild Commissions of Brian McCulloch

[brylonscamel]

4 hours ago, hayfield said:

Stunning bit of modelling, very much like an east end warehouse in times past, before being converted into flats

Cheers - that's very much what my customer is aiming for - something grubby, cockney and Victorian!

[Michael Crofts]

I love rmweb. Almost anywhere else on the internet the discussion about Scottish brickwork bonds would have descended into insults, and before long it would have morphed into tirades about B****t, or C***d, or the N***s. 

 

Those setts in front of the warehouse are brilliant. Relatively straight lines between courses, courses not exactly the same width, no two setts the same length or colour, the whole surface slightly uneven, and wind-blown dirt lying against any obstruction.

[brylonscamel]

16 hours ago, Michael Crofts said:

I love rmweb. Almost anywhere else on the internet the discussion about Scottish brickwork bonds would have descended into insults, and before long it would have morphed into tirades about B****t, or C***d, or the N***s. 

 

We avoided all the high-stakes *** words - hurrah for RMweb

[brylonscamel]

16 hours ago, Michael Crofts said:

Those setts in front of the warehouse are brilliant. Relatively straight lines between courses, courses not exactly the same width, no two setts the same length or colour, the whole surface slightly uneven, and wind-blown dirt lying against any obstruction.

 

The truth may be that despite all my best efforts to be accurate, exact and consistent, I ended up with a wonky, uneven collection of setts!

 

More evidence is on the harbourside ..

 

[Michael Crofts]

On 27/05/2022 at 14:41, brylonscamel said:

 

The truth may be that despite all my best efforts to be accurate, exact and consistent, I ended up with a wonky, uneven collection of setts!

 

More evidence is on the harbourside ..

 

 

But that's what they are like in reality! I have two albums of photos on Flickr. Not a flat surface anywhere. And setts really quite irregular.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/119194913@N05/sets/72157715569367772/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/119194913@N05/sets/72157715569344267/

 

And there's these photos by others:

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/mrcgy915a.htm 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/51985833333/in/photolist-2mSerKq-JoWCq7-2mLLb1v-2mfXewq-2mAjnuZ-2mShEo2-2ncNZ6g-2mLH4Jw-2mLH4HQ-2ngaF3j-2mKesJk-2k7MwuS-2iamtgb-2iakjVe-2mKius6-2mKn1eH-2iakjTF-2mfUzT2-2kVorqh-2ir2477/

 

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6510499

 

https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/exploring-by-engine-liverpool-docks-july-1971.62743/ 

 

[brylonscamel]

My attempt at 'Pink Granite' sits on the harbourside diorama that I keep for such purposes ...

[brylonscamel]

Taste of Fife

Behind the scenes, I am making buildings that will add a bit of flavour to Dad's 'Braeside' layout and help me develop new ideas for the resin-cast side of things.

 

I want to establish Dad's layout firmly on the north-east coast but have thrown the net a wee bit further to include some buildings typical of the Fife coast.

Because our harbour is small, the type of buildings that crowd the waterfront at places like Anstruther and Cellardyke seem ideal candidates.

 

Here is where I am at with our assortment of Fife properties ..

Materials: Foamex | Artboard | Modelling Clay | Embossed Styrene | Styrene

 

[brylonscamel]

I have the small matter of a side doorway to truly finish David's 'North British Hotel'.  Fortunately it's a piece that can be retro-fitted to an aperture in the west wall. I say fortunately as the model has been with David for a couple of months and he is a few hundred miles away!

 

Here's one of the photos I took before delivery, to give a nice sense of how big the model is and yet the south facade is less than half the length of the original!

 

 

 

[mallaig1983]

Im so tempted to ask if you could build Mallaig station building for me but I fear that it would make everything I’ve built so far look inferior.

A beautiful piece of work Sir and I’m really looking forward to seeing it on David’s layout.

[David Bell]

5 hours ago, brylonscamel said:

I have the small matter of a side doorway to truly finish David's 'North British Hotel'.  Fortunately it's a piece that can be retro-fitted to an aperture in the west wall. I say fortunately as the model has been with David for a couple of months and he is a few hundred miles away!

 

Here's one of the photos I took before delivery, to give a nice sense of how big the model is and yet the south facade is less than half the length of the original!

 

 

 

That is a great picture Brian. The model is exactly where you left it - on our dining room table!

Cheers

David

[David Bell]

3 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

Im so tempted to ask if you could build Mallaig station building for me but I fear that it would make everything I’ve built so far look inferior.

A beautiful piece of work Sir and I’m really looking forward to seeing it on David’s layout.

If you are looking for something a bit special. A signature building for your layout, Brian is your man.

[mallaig1983]

26 minutes ago, David Bell said:

If you are looking for something a bit special. A signature building for your layout, Brian is your man.

Very tempting David 

[brylonscamel]

16 hours ago, David Bell said:

 A signature building for your layout, Brian is your man.

That's very kind of you David. People keep giving me these iconic originals, which helps!

[brylonscamel]

18 hours ago, David Bell said:

The model is exactly where you left it - on our dining room table!

 

If nothing else you now have a very unusual place setting for a dinner party!

[brylonscamel]

On 20/06/2022 at 17:55, mallaig1983 said:

I'm so tempted to ask if you could build Mallaig station building for me

 

However it gets made, it's a striking building and something to get your teeth into. Look at those heavy eaves, deeply recessed sashes and patterns in the stonework.

 

PS Is it granite construction? With the pinnings and large block sizes it has the look of it.

 

 

[mallaig1983]

12 hours ago, brylonscamel said:

 

However it gets made, it's a striking building and something to get your teeth into. Look at those heavy eaves, deeply recessed sashes and patterns in the stonework.

 

PS Is it granite construction? With the pinnings and large block sizes it has the look of it.

 

 

Sadly when placed on the layout none of this side of the building will be visable. I’m sure it’s granite. I’m no geologist though.

[brylonscamel]

8 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

I’m sure it’s granite. I’m no geologist though.

Nor me! I got a C in O level Geology but apart from the odd phrase like 'subduction zone' and 'sedimentary deposits' nothing useful survives. My memories of field trips are reserved for primitive Gloucestershire youth hostels and an unreliable school mini-bus that we had to bump start in the mornings.

[Michael Crofts]

On 21/06/2022 at 21:39, brylonscamel said:

PS Is it granite construction? With the pinnings and large block sizes it has the look of it.

It's a listed building and I hoped the listing would say what the stone is, but it doesn't. It just says "snecked rubble". I'd never heard of that before so I did a search. My guess is they wouldn't have brought the stone very far, so it will be whatever was quarried and dressed locally.

https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200390111-mallaig-station-glenelg#.YrVdIY5uckI

https://www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/glossary/?gid=glos-sneckd&xml=des

https://her.highland.gov.uk/monument/MHG22394

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

36 minutes ago, Michael Crofts said:

My guess is they wouldn't have brought the stone very far

 

Not necessarily, that didn't stop the Druids at Stonehenge!

 

Mike.

[Simond]

Labour was cheaper in those days…

[brylonscamel]

Testing some ideas ..

Helping me refine the masters for future resin-cast buildings are these small domestic buildings.

I'm trying to 'kill two birds', using buildings for Dad as test-pieces for my resin casting venture.

The first of these is a common domestic style, with dormers set into the stonework of the wall and the other is a single-storey cottage with a broad roof.

This has been scribed with 'Aberdeen bond' on the façade to add some local vernacular glamour!

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by brylonscamel

[DGO]

Must admit I've never seen Aberdeen Bond before, it's very distinctive and you have capture the look very nicely

[Dave John]

Very nicely done. 

 

The idea is that you use fewer large cut stones and can infill with offcuts making the build a tad cheaper. 

 

[brylonscamel]

31 minutes ago, Dave John said:

Very nicely done. 

 

The idea is that you use fewer large cut stones and can infill with offcuts making the build a tad cheaper. 

 

Cheers Dave,

Thrift and ingenuity - two staples for a Scottish stonemason!  I heard the technique was especially common in Aberdeenshire to help with block spacing and a preference for broad, flush mortar joints where the pins gave extra stability to the mortar. 

 

I remain amazed at the things you end up finding out whilst model-making.

[brylonscamel]

A Taste of Fife (with a bit of Aberdeenshire thrown in!)

Various scratch-built buildings - featuring my 'signature' clay scribing are plonked here behind the little coastal diorama to create a sense of the Fife coast.