the buildings for Bestwood EM

[sean hpw]

OK people, lets get some modeling done, my layout is based on the Bestwood colliery, in the 30's now to my eye alot of the ready to plonk stuff just doesnt fit in with the Nottinghamshire Colliery scene I am trying to set, so most buildings will be Scratch built. so I will start with a water tower, as the colliery had 7 boilers, with 6 of those in use at any one time, so water would be a huge need for such jobs.

 

sooo, I had a rumage through my bits box, and found a Triang 35 ton tanker, some I beam girders, Micro-strip, and the remains of a Ratio signal kit... plus the usual pile of tools and goodies.

 

 

I started with the tank, chopping the retaining lugs off and using some plastiweld to glue the two halves together.

 

 

then two lenghts of I beam were cut the length of the tank

 

 

then cross members, measure twice cut once, and check all is square at this point, as these will hold the legs in place later.

 

 

with the two end pieces in place, three roughly equally spaced cross beams were fitted, and another two which will eventually secure the legs

 

 

also the holes for the pipe work were drilled at this point.

 

then the legs, the keen eyed will note one set is slightly shorter than the other

 

 

then the strut to strenghten was measured and installed, care must be taken to make sure the ends are dead square

 

then the bottom feed pipe

 

 

 

second cross member, this is where you can really see the odd leg now.

 

 

 

now its looking like a tank, now to add some detail, as it looks a little bland for my taste, out comes the pin vice, and at regular intervals a 1MM hole was drilled, with matching holes on the cross member

 

 

 

 

then thread two pieces of micro strip through the bottom holes.

 

 

 

then this is roughly the effect you get, before tension is applied to them

 

 

 

and the end

 

 

for the main out put, I used the base collar for a signal pole, some spare plastic rube and some guess work

 

 

cut off at a 45 degree angle

 

 

and the next piece at 50 degrees

 

So, a little later on in the day, I came back, and decided to put a stop valve on the thing, just to add some more interest, so, a pile of odds and sods were dug out of the signal kit remains,

 

 

first up, the platform for it

 

 

this should give an idea just how tiny the platform is

 

 

then the linkage between handle and valve, I might have over complicated this a bit, but it looks good from veiwing distance.

 

 

also, the top pipe feed has been added in, and some ladders from the signal kit, are added to the end for access

 

 

 

a coat of Primer and Humberol Tank grey later

 

 

weather to taste, and its near on ready, I have removed a couple of bits of the cross members, but that is to create a little cameo around later

 

 

 

Thoughts please guys, both good and bad, and please excuse the mix of N and OO stock there, eventually it will have a layout to call home!

 

Sean

 

 

 

 

 

[sean hpw]

OK, after a few hours tinkering on Sketch up, and a little thought, it seemed a sensible idea to draw up several of the key buildings to scale, and make sure there is room for everything, so i started with the most important building in relation to both the pit and the railway, the loading screen, now I want it to acutally load wagons, so the complicates things lightly, but not terminally, its going to be just 3 roads, owing to space constrictions, and has room to service up to 4 wagons per road, so thats 12 wagons at a time can be loaded... or privided that the wagons are in there rightful place, other wise the language could become very interesting!

 

the skeleton is simple enough made of evergreen platic I beam, with rivet strip placed to give the impression of them being plate built girder work

 

 

 

the hopper network will be mounted on top of this, which should make the structure rigid.

 

 

 

the plate girders at each end will need to be scratch built, as they are fairly deep at there thickest section...

 

 

and the hoppers from underneath.

 

 

 

Any thoughts so far guys?

 

Sean

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Any thoughts so far guys?

 

Sean

 

You are better at 3D drawing than I am, (come to that, 2D as well)

 

Mike.

[sean hpw]

Thanks Mike,

 

it comes from over 1200 hours practice, and training at college my friend.

 

Sean

[Enterprisingwestern]

Obviously well spent.

 

Mike.

 

PS. The modelling's not too shabby either.

[sean hpw]

Why thank you Mike, I am still something of a novice in terms of scratch building, but the only way to learn is to do in my books

 

Sean