Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part nine

The windows came from a HO-OO plastic building kit that I purchased second-hand some time ago (see below). I had six large windows that were first cut from the kit walls then trimmed with plastic card and glued in place with superglue.

I still have the smaller, end wall windows and green coloured doors for future projects.

The final image this post shows the nearly completed low relief warehouse on the Cold Comfort Lane layout but still to be glued in place and bedded-in.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part eight

More detail painting following the original plan and Kidderminster building inspiration. The doors have now been finished with metal bars and the main sign painted green, both doors and sign have been 'aged'. I have also added damp stains to the lower walls this was done with washes.

The roof has been painted as asbestos sheeting with earth coloured ageing and even some bird droppings on the very apex.

The next stage will be to add the windows and I would expect this to be done soon.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part seven

I have started the detail painting. The concrete plinths above the doors and windows have been painted in a muted grey/cream colour. I have tried to add some variation in the colour as seen on the original inspiration. The doors and large wooden support above them has been painted in a utilitarian green colour which was highlighted to show some worn woodwork.

For larger images, please click on the image.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part six

I have used a couple of techniques to paint the brickwork, first I 'sponged on' a pale orange to the whole surface, then drybrushed certain areas with a deeper orange/brown colour and then picked out individual bricks in a wide range of brick coloured acrylic paints. I have used orange, yellow, brown, black and white acrylic colours to add variety to the brickwork.

I have used  a number of different brushes to achieve this effect and a mucky grey wash (dirty water) helped to bring everything together.

The brickwork took most of the day to complete but far from being boring I found it therapeutic.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part five

The building was basecoated with a dark grey acrylic paint to which I have added some ModPodge matt medium.

 

I find that this helps with both sealing the foam and bringing all the various material together ready for painting.

The first real colour was a dull putty colour or dirty cream which will be the basis of the mortar, the gaps between the bricks as well as acting as a base for the orange/red brick colours.

The next step will be the painting the bricks. Please check back for further updates very soon.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part four

With the construction of the walls finished it was on to the roof. I had some railway wagon siding or contoured plastic card profiles in my collection and cut this to length before gluing the panels in place with superglue. Once in place I trimmed the panels to size and later added more 3mm thick plastic card to the apex. The large sign was also constructed from plastic card.

Any gaps or missing detail on the roof/sign joins were either filled with DAS modelling clay or the joins were trimmed with lengths of tape which was sealed with superglue. I cut small squares of plastic card to act as fasteners for the roof panels and these were glued in place with liquid cement.

The final image for this post shows the low relief warehouse in place on the layout (Note - not glued in place). My next posts will give details of how I painted the building, but for now you can start to see how the building will fit in or on to the layout.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part three

With the brickwork done (see earlier post) it was on to adding detail. I have used a number of different materials to decorate the warehouse such as plastic card and balsawood then watered-down ready mixed filler and acrylic paste to add additional texture and cover up any gaps particularly to the left where the insulation foam on the side meets the front.

Ideally I would have liked to have set the doors back a bit more but as this is a low relief building I can live with it.

As you can see I have tried to copy the design seen in earlier posts as closely as possible.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building part two

The cardboard 'core' has been clad with insulating foam, the sort used as underlay for laminate flooring. The foam has been glued in place with a mix of PVA and superglue. Once fully set, I have trimmed the foam to fit the core and then lightly sanded the edges to make them flush.

The next job was to cut out the windows and door (see previous post) and then start the laborious task of adding the brick texture.

Each scale brick was 8mm x 2,5mm and first had the horizontal cuts made with a scalpel guided with a steel ruler the individual bricks were cut with a scalpel and then later opened up with a sharp pencil. This process took most of the day, but as I was watching/listening to the tennis the time went quickly.

The roof was clad with thinner card and glued in place with the PVA and superglue mix.

The next post will show how I have started to add detail to this low profile building.

Tony

Cold Comfort Lane - Low Relief Building

It's been a while since I have posted any progress on this layout. In truth 'other projects' have taken priority but all that changed this week.

If you check back on earlier Blog posts you will see that the area to the rear, right has not been detailed. This is because my plan from the start was to include a low relief building, a factory or workshop. The image above was inspired by a derelict building seen in Kidderminster. The drawing is my scale plan and the cardboard 'core' below is the start of this series of Blog posts..

I have used materials that I had on-hand - a real mismatch of scraps I had in my shed, corrugated cardboard, foamboard with 4mm and 6mm thick plastic card (ex- advertising signs picked up for free). I have used both superglue and my hot glue gun to hold everything together.

The core is 290mm long x 70mm deep x 215mm tall.

The final image shows the building 'core' with one of the scratch built wagons (that have featured in earlier posts) shown for scale.

Expect updated soon.

Tony

Narrow Gauge Railway book finds

This last week I have been lucky enough to pick up some Wild Swan Publication guides from charity shops in the local area. The first was this pair of books by Gordon Gravett; 7mm Modelling part one - an introduction and 7mm Modelling part two - building the layout. Both were picked up in Droitwich Spa for just £3.00 each. I look forward to reading both.

The next purchase is Plastic Structure Kits by Iain Rice. A real bargain at just £1.99 and this time found in Worcester from another charity shop. It looks like there might have been a railway modelling enthusiast who was clearing out some of his older books. Whatever the case I now have three Wild Swan Publications for my collection.

You can never underestimate the value of browsing charity shops. You never know what you might find.

Tony

New narrow gauge layout - NG11 - Not working over the lead up to Christmas

Work on the new narrow gauge layout - the pizza layout has stalled. I am only just recovering from a viral infection and the thought of being down the shed in the cold has meant that I have not done any work on the layout for over three weeks. It will just have to wait until the new Year.

Merry Christmas to all.

Tony

New narrow gauge layout - NG11 - working over a cold weekend

Both grandsons are very keen on me getting on with this project but (very) cold weather this weekend meant that I didn't get that much done. The road crossing area has been built from some balsawood and coloured with washes.

I have also played around with some paper profiles in an attempt to get a workable building. The engines will enter in to the engine shed (right) and exit around the back. Getting the correct positioning has been challenging as I did not want to have the three part building dominate the layout but at the same time I wanted the engines to enter the engine shed, disappear and then re-emerge around the back of the extension.

Here is a better mock-up built from foamboard and balsa with wooden scraps used for internal support.

If the weather is better this week maybe I will get around to adding some detail!

Tony

New narrow gauge layout - NG11 - ballasting the track

Progress on the new Pizza layout has been slow. Mainly down to the weather and me not being willing to spend time in the un-heated garage. But I have now ballasted the track. Just a quick up date - I am using PECO O-16.5 'crazy track', with one in three sleepers removed and the spacing stretched to fit. I am running 11mm = 1 foot scale engines and modified wagons or 1:27.7 scale models. which equates to a track gauge of 18 inches. A gauge that was used by a number of industrial narrow gauge lines. Because of this unusual scale/gauge combination there is a lot of scratch building on HO-OO mechanisms and wagons.

The ballast is a mix of shop bought ballast intended for HO-OO models, sieved sand and small stones collected from the beach and various odd samples of plaster, cement and soil found in the garden. The ballast has been laid on Mod Podge matt and then sealed with a diluted mix of Mod Podge and alcohol. Unfortunately (with the cold damp weather) it has taken ages to fully set or dry.

The final image shows one of the scratch built engines and a single wagon from the Yellow Pelican narrow gauge layout I built some time ago.

Hopefully I can get some additional work done on the layout soon. Although there is another cold snap due very soon. The December or Christmas dead line might be looking a little tight!

Tony

New narrow gauge layout - NG11 - more groundwork painting and a retaining wall

A number of steps this weekend. Firstly re-painting the groundwork in my dark brown/red basecolour then painting the area under the rails in a very dark brown/black colour and finally adding the retaining wall. You should also be able to see that I have painted odd sleepers in different colours to mimic their age and decay. Finley helped which meant that they were truly random!

The retaining wall was scratch built from some spare blue insulation foam, textured with a scalpel and then a pencil before being 'aged' by sanding and impressing a stone in to the foam. Painting was done over a neutral grey base with odd stones picked out in various colours before being drybrushed.

The wall was then bedded in to the existing groundwork with more home-made paper mache. Later the groundwork was painted.

Progress has been slow, but the Christmas 2025 deadline is still possible.

Tony

New narrow gauge layout - NG11 - modifications to the track bed

With the track glued in place I felt that the shoulder (the area to either side of the sleepers) was too narrow for my 1:27.7 scale engines ( I used the three engines from my Yellow Pelican layout as a test). So I mixed up another batch of home-made paper mache/Scuptamould (shredded toilet roll, Plaster of Paris and a touch of PVA glue with a drop of brown paint) and extended the shoulders outwards.

The paper mache takes some time to fully dry and I'm not sure that I added enough paint, but I am pleased with  the new wider rail bed.

I think the new rail bed looks better than the earlier narrow one and I'll be painting it up very soon.

The Peco O-16.5 track was laid to a radius of 300mm - 600mm from side to side. I will running 1:27.7 scale models which on the 16.5mm gauge track represents an 18inch gauge narrow gauge railway. Or NG11.

Tony

New narrow gauge layout - NG11 - laying the track

I have now laid the narrow gauge track. It is modified PECO O-16.5 Crazy Track (SL500) with one in ever three sleepers removed and the spacing extended. I have both glued (PVA glue) and nailed (PECO track pins) to the track as the tight curves needed reinforcing to stop them springing apart.

I have used two and a half lengths of SL500 track with metal connectors soldered in place.

I have used this scrap piece of softwood to ensure that the circle of track is uniform. The underside of the track end of this guide has a piece of 3mm thick plastic card glued in place which fits perfectly between the two 16.5mm or HO-OO spaced rails.

Obviously once laid I ran a couple of HO-OO wagons along the track to make sure that there were no pinch points. Any modifications were made with a sharp tap of a pin hammer and a hole punch with any irregularities smoothed out with a metal file and some fine sanding pads.

The next step will be to get the power leads fitted and run some trains.

Tony

New narrow gauge layout - NG11 - first paint

Finley and Charlie helped to paint the groundwork ready to add the narrow gauge track. I have used tester pots from B&Q for the colours and tried to have a darker colour where the Peco O-16.5 'Crazy Track' will be laid.

You can also see (very faintly) a white chalk line for the centre line of the 16.5mm track which will act as a guide when I come to glue and pin the track down.

Tony

New narrow gauge layout - NG11 - We now have a name for the layout

I have continued to add home-made paper mache over foam or toilet roll card to the base. In addition we now have a name for the latest narrow gauge project.

RED LION

LUMBER

Co.

I have also been experimenting with the building mock-ups and placement although I have now been told by my grandson's that these are two big and I will need to be cut down.

Tony

New narrow gauge layout - NG11 - starting the groundwork

I have used a mixture of polystyrene foam and card lattice to in-fill the corners and then covered this with home-made paper mache made from shredded toilet paper and plaster of Paris to which I have added a drop of PVA glue

In the final image you can see Finley and Charlie helping with the work. The only problem I have encountered with the home-made paper mache is the variation in drying times. Some mixes can be fully set in 48 hours others take longer. This maybe down to the fact that I have not been methodical with the quantities of plaster of Paris vs. toilet roll paper. The good news is that it does eventually dry to a solid crust.

Tony with help from Finley and Charlie

New narrow gauge railway layout - NG11 - Pizza layout update

I have used second-hand battens to frame the layout base. These battens were glued in place and then nailed with small wooden blocks in the corners. I later glued the central circle back in place but slightly higher up than the track base. Two sections were cut and glued lower than the track base to give some variety and undulations to the groundwork. 

I didn't like the fact that the track was so close to the edges of the frames and decided to add another layer of MDF to give a wider layout footprint and make more room between the planned track loop and the edge of the layout. This MDF frame was glued and nailed in to position with 10mm spacers to the bottom edge which raises the whole layout so that wiring can be fitted underneath. It also makes the layout larger.

The right front edge was 'hacked' apart to model an even lower front edge drop off. The slot opening to the front is for the built-in controls which will be added later.

I should also admit to one very silly mistake.....

The plan was for the new narrow gauge railway layout to be easily transportable in the back of the car. With these new additions the layout does NOT fit in the boot and to transport the model back and forth to Leamington Spa so that the two grandsons can help build the layout, I now have to fold down both seats in the back of the car. Oops!

Tony