My random workbench thread

Hi all,

Hope you had a good Xmas?

Some Lowmac progress - I decided to just get on and fabricate the spring arrangements rather than ponder for too long.

Nothing fancy at all, and can only be described as representative at best.

Some rather cruel photos!







Some chopped up cast springs, some bits of plastic rod and some offcuts - don't look too closely!

Matt

 

I think Jim McGeown makes an etched Lowmac kit, but I agree - something plastic would be very popular.

Matt

 

This is a random workbench remember...

I've made no secret that my main railway interests, location wise at least, are North Wales, China Clay and Scottish Highlands.

Over the years I've made many a failed attempt to build a Scottish Highlands signal cabin - failed mainly because of a lack of effort on my part it has to be said - so it was with much interest that I noticed Peco had launched a kit based on the cabin at Helmsdale.

A kit was duly purchased and promptly put aside. I like to mix up my projects and I have been pretty solidly focussed on wagons recently so decided to dust it off this past few days.

Personally, I really don't like building laser-cut kits. I'm much more comfortable with scratchbuilding in plastic. The Peco kit has wonderfully subtle surface texture and some of the finest window frames I've seen in a wooden kit. Given the average signal box has multiple windows, this is a definite advantage!

The kit is designed as an inner shell, clad in exterior walls for strength. I found the tolerances of the inner walls to be extremely tight, so much so I couldn't get it all to fit as intended. So I deviated from the instructions and constructed the exterior first, then trimmed the internal parts and fitted them afterwards - completely opposite to how Peco intended!

I've also separated the windows so I can pose some of them open and as good as the surface texture is, I really don't like laser-cut bricks so have used embossed plastic - neither are necessary, personal choice only.

Some photos:







I've also filled some of the gaps visible at the corners and have removed the steps - I know I won't be able to assemble them as intended so will make them separately and then fit to the cabin later.

Haven't seen too many of these being built (or at least I haven't noticed) so thought I'd share my progress.

Matt

 

Last day off today, so have grabbed any chance I can to carry on!

Doesn't look much, but rebuilding the steps and railings has taken the best part of a few hours.

Blue paint is just so I can check my sanding, not a start on the paint job!



Next are the step handrails.

Matt

 

Talking about laser-cut buildings...



I only include this photo to illustrate the compact nature of the building.

Construction is now pretty much complete. I've rebuilt the roof from embossed corrugated plastic and replaced all of the bargeboards with scratchbuilt items, including the cut down finials as per the prototype.

Please note that the original cabin has decorative bargeboards, something represented well in the kit but not attempted at all by me. I just could not get the kit items to fit well enough with my new roof so decided to cut my losses. Given I'm not building this as a faithful replica of Helmsdale, I'm happy with the compromise.





Painting will hopefully commence in the next few days.

Matt

 

I've decided that one of my (loose) resolutions for 2024 is to build fewer wagons, but build those that I do to a higher standard.

Been going through my wagon stash tonight and these have all been stripped of useful parts and sent for recycling!



Why? They just don't meet my expectations in terms of standard now and I lack the time and inclination to rebuild and repaint them.

I'm in the very early stages of planning a new layout and want to be a bit more discerning with stock going forward and want to clear the decks somewhat.

I'm sure I'll still get dragged into building things that take my fancy though!

Matt