Great Chesterford Junction Part Two

Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
At this point in time, I expected to be working underneath Bamford and setting it up with manual point control, however due to my wife`s accident (see Gormo`s Absence) I have to focus on her recovery first and foremost, and I will do little bits of railway modelling when I have time.
Over the last few days I have taken the odd moment to start working on a Metcalfe engine shed which will replace the current old and damaged engine shed in Great Chesterford yard.



First task was to separate the main parts.



The interesting thing about this kit is that the walls finish up as five layers of card thick, plus the glazing. It will be solid as a rock when it`s finished.
I have decided to cloak it in some Scalescenes brick paper to better suit my railway, plus I intend to change the roof over to corrugated iron.
I may have made a rod for my back with the roof, but I think it will look rather good.
I am using my corrugated roofing sheet jig to create the sheets from the bases of aluminium foil baking trays.


I am still thinking through the assembly process for the roof, as it will have to be different to the kit instructions.....I think..??...



Anyway, that`s all for now, so I`ll update the build as I go along
Gormo

 

That`s interesting Echidna.........thank you...I`ll look into that....
Gormo

 

Another interesting detail Echidna,
I should be able to factor that into the build
Thanks again
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Moving along slowly, but still moving.
I have taken onboard Echidna`s suggestion to place the window glazing above the roof for a more prototypical look to the engine shed.
The idea being to prevent water build up and penetration of the building on the real thing, so why not try to look like the real thing.
The way I will go about is to firstly create a base layer around the window openings with some cereal box card 3mm wide. I found some time to cut the strips today.




The base layer strips have to be put down first so that the corrugated roofing can then be butted up to their edges. Once the roofing has been applied, the roof can be airbrushed. I am probably going to go for a fairly rusty roof with appropriate amounts of soot and grime etc.





Once the roof has been painted, the glazing layer will sit over the base layer and then a further strip of card will be applied over the top of the glazing layer.




I also think it would be a good idea to lay some thin glazing bars over the top of the printed bars........might as well finish it properly....
Anyhow this slow pace build is a bit different to the way I normally tackle these projects, however it does give you time to think and plan a better approach to the task.
More as it happens
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Life is extremely busy at the moment, so no further progress to report.
I feel a bit of Mojo-itis is setting in as I find it difficult to move any of my focus towards my railway. This happens from time to time to all of us, so past experience consoles me in the knowledge that it is only a temporary thing.
For today and tomorrow we are looking after our two little Grandsons during school vacation. We share the responsibility with the boys other Grandparents, so our turn came today.
Of course the first question that comes from their mouths is " Hey Pop, can we go out to Gormo`s shed ?" and of course I will always comply and try not to disappoint. I have not run my trains, I think ?, for a week and a half now.....not sure exactly.....however we went out there for a session this afternoon and everything came to life and ran very well.
You`ve probably seen many videos and read many articles about track cleaning over the years, but honestly, all you have to do is run your trains on a regular basis and the track will be fine. A good wheel clean from time to time, or as necessary, will help too, but forget all the whacky spray on solutions and fine grade papers etc.etc.etc......you will be doing more damage than you would want and the liquid solutions will have side effects to some extent and cause more problems than they solve
If you must clean your track........a simple, suitably sized small block of wood will suffice and will do no harm at all to the rails.........or just keep running your trains....or both.
I definitely need more railway lighting and coach lighting because the boys like night time operations, whereas I seem to prefer to be able to see what I`m doing......getting old I guess.?..........anyway they also like to scroll through the various colours of my LED night lights....so we moved from sunset to sunrise in the blink of an eye. The little people on GCJ station platform must have been wondering whether the end of the World was upon us as the light was changing rapidly and the trains were whizzing past never finding time to stop and set down or pick up passengers.
The boys have become quite adept at transferring trains from GCJ through to Little Bardfield and then onto Bamford and back again using bell codes on the block instruments.......very pleasing to watch this and they get a buzz out of doing it successfully and also from communicating with codes.
No doubt we will be out there again tomorrow for another session and fingers crossed, the trains will run without a hitch again.
These moments with the boys are precious, so one must always make the most of them and show some tolerance towards their tender years and inexperience. Encouragement via a "well done" every now and then fosters confidence and gives them a sense of achievement and hopefully some happy memories.
Gormo

 

Thanks Paul,
You would pick it up in 5 minutes......the codes are all printed on a card for the operators and the system is easier than it used to be.
We have them again for two days this coming week ......so some more operating sessions coming up which gives Julie some quiet time too.
Gormo

 

Absolutely Toto
It`s better than listening to the gloom and doom on the idiot box.
Gormo

 

I`ve managed to get some time to apply some corrugated roofing to the engine shed.
Like anything, you develop a method or process as you go along.....little ways of keeping it square or making sure you don`t mess it up with glue.....the little details that go with modelling.
Not being 100% sure as to where to start after the window frames were applied, I elected to set my sheet length at 8 feet (32mm) and not be too concerned about sheet width as some overlapping joints would be almost invisible, and some that work loose would show. So varying sheet width will show the odd overlap.

Off and running here with sheets applied with Superglue.





I`ve since gone over these joints with a scoring tool to flatten them out a bit.





Then worked out how to go around the window openings.





And managed to get half way along one side. You might be able to see that the window frame rises just above the corrugations, so when the glazing is applied on top and then another layer of card to frame it, it should look right I think ?





I intend to give this roof a fairly well worn rusty look, so the odd protrusions here and there among the sheets should not look out of character




Anyway that`s all for now.......back to my domestic duties.
Gormo

 

Progress is progress they say ?
Well more progress last night and a bit today time permitting.
I thought I might show part of the technique I use to fit the corrugated sheets. The centre sections between the top of the windows and the roof ridge would be the most tricky to get right apart from the little cut outs around the corners of the window frames.
Instead of agonizing about measuring and cutting the correct length for each of the sheets, I first glue a sheet in place against the window frame, assuming the end of the sheet is cut square.





I then take a steel rule and line it up accurately with the fold line on the roof ridge ( middle of the roof )





Then adjust the position of the straight edge by placing the knife blade in the fold line, and then do a number of light strokes through the corrugation until it separates whilst all the time holding firm downward pressure on the straight edge. This makes a difficult job easy.





A similar method works for the bottom edge of the roof, however all that needs to be done is to flip the roof onto it`s back and run a blade along the edge of the roof to cut off protruding corrugations. We are on the home stretch here folks.





Main roof re-cladding finished





Next is the small centre roof for the roof vents.





I have managed to clad the centre roof this far with off cuts, so should have plenty of corrugated foil left to finish the job.




Well folks....a couple of busy days coming up so I shall return to the build when possible and update accordingly.
Gormo

 

Just a quick update.
The centre roof is complete now and time to move onto other things concerned with the build.








Gormo

 

Ah yes Toto,
They will be added to the ridge on the roof. Simply cut a length of Aluminium foil from the baking tray, to the appropriate width and length, to sit astride the ridge on the roof. Before fitting, score down the centre along the length of it to get a nice bend in it. I have been down this road before when I modified my footbridge kit.



I have been studying lots of images of sheds, more so to get colour ideas for the roof, however noting details along the way, so more flashing may find it`s way onto the model.?

Gormo

 

Thanks Paul,
That is very helpful.......the method to create the illusion of panels is very effective.
I will be watching this video seriously a number of times to absorb the techniques and learn from them.
Gormo