Garden Railway Forum

Peter Butler wrote: Tue Sep 19, 2017 3:33 pm When I used the moulded brick pattern plastic sheet I first sprayed everything with grey plastic primer then, when dry, used a dry-brush method of painting across the bricks diagonally with two or three red/brown colours to give variation. The dry brush has enough paint to leave a mark but not enough paint to flood into the mortar joins, also the diagonal strokes avoid the same problem.

Thanks Peter. That's another idea to try out.
Just tiling (or slating) the roof at the moment. Even using the strip approach (which probably owes its origins to John Ahern), it's quite laborious but, like the brickwork, rewarding.

Rik

A little while since I posted about progress with the mill building. This is partly because I ran out of 1.5mm plasticard for the slates but mainly because I started the build while we were on holiday in France (you mean, you don't you take a modelling project away on holiday with you!?) and I had to wait until we got back before I could assemble the prefabricated pieces. I somehow felt that the completed building would not fit into my hand luggage.

Anyway, have managed a crack on a bit further with it ........... -
Yes, the outbuilding is deliberately skewed, to fit into the available space
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And there's no need for brickwork on the lower section as it abuts to the raised siding
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As you can see, I still have a fair bit to do. I'm working on the windows at present. -
I was wondering how to make the frames for those small panes when I came across this in my local pound shop.
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Rik

Good old Pound Shop to the rescue again! I love the idea of making something so obscure into something really useful.... top marks for ingenuity.
The building looks amazing, even the skewed outbuilding helps with the overall effect of realism.
Just brilliant!

Thanks Peter. These things always seem to take longer than I envisage when I start them, but I do like finding a solution to a build problem by repurposing something.

Rik

Well done Rik, you are a man of patience.

Echoing what Peter said. Nine out of ten people would only see a plastic raquet. More lateral thinking.
And great work on the mill by the way.
Grant.

What adhesive will you be using on these pound shop "windows"? In my experience these soft plastics which I suspect they are made from, don't take too kindly to the type of adhesive that us modellers are likely to use.
As usual great modeĺling by the way.

Great build of your Mill and what a brilliant use of a £, the poundshop is going to hit soon lol.

Thanks folks.
The water mills in this area seem to have been built on a similar design. Some have plain windows but a couple have small-paned windows. - -
I've assumed that the small-paned windows are more likely to be original so set myself the challenge of finding a cheap way of representing them. Bit of a fiddle slicing the mesh in half, but hopefully will be worth it (especially as I get two windows for the price of one, if I'm careful enough). -
Rik

I love the tennis racquets, the net result will be great and give your model the real advantage over others. I deduce it will be a good thing to do for one of my models I'm building!

ge_rik wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:07 am
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Bit of a fiddle slicing the mesh in half, but hopefully will be worth it (especially as I get two windows for the price of one, if I'm careful enough).
IMG_6554.JPG
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Rik

In half !!!!!!!! What made you give up brain surgery?

markoteal wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2017 5:28 pm I love the tennis racquets, the net result will be great and give your model the real advantage over others. I deduce it will be a good thing to do for one of my models I'm building!

Haha! 'Love' that volley of tennis puns.

Peter said

In half !!!!!!!! What made you give up brain surgery?

Yes I would like to know how you did that Rik, and that you have all your fingers still!!!
Grant.

Peter Butler wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:33 pm

ge_rik wrote: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:07 am
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Bit of a fiddle slicing the mesh in half, but hopefully will be worth it (especially as I get two windows for the price of one, if I'm careful enough).
IMG_6554.JPG
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Rik

In half !!!!!!!! What made you give up brain surgery?

Do i suspect you used a Hot Wire Cutter Rik.

FWLR wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:24 am Do i suspect you used a Hot Wire Cutter Rik.

It is an idea, but no. I used a slitting disk and a razor saw. - - -
I suspect this sort of plastic would weld itself back together once the hot wire has passed through.

Rik

LNR wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2017 3:14 am Peter said

In half !!!!!!!! What made you give up brain surgery?

Yes I would like to know how you did that Rik, and that you have all your fingers still!!!
Grant.

Trial and improvement ....... The first one went perfectly, the next went askew and another one caught fire when I thought that using a flame would be a be better way of removing the swarf than using a file and a knife blade.

I could do with one of those surgical robots.

Rik

It would if you didn’t hold it apart for the 1st inch or so, i have used one for i job i did on my N Gauge layout, i cut a plastic tube in half with a slight curve for a chute i was building for a coal mine i was doing. It worked out ok, but yes i still had to get rid of a few strings though.

FWLR wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:57 am It would if you didn’t hold it apart for the 1st inch or so, i have used one for i job i did on my N Gauge layout, i cut a plastic tube in half with a slight curve for a chute i was building for a coal mine i was doing. It worked out ok, but yes i still had to get rid of a few strings though.

Might be worth a try ..... Thanks

Rik

Might be worth testing it's "paintability" as well. Some of the more nylon plastics are a sod to paint in my experience. Assuming you're not going for royal blue windows.

A little while since I updated this thread. Amazing how life intervenes when garden railway projects need to be completed. The mill is now nearing completion. The building is more or less complete, the site has been landscaped and some Jigstones blocks have been placed in the stream to support the wheel and direct the water flow on to the wheel. The building needs to be properly bedded-in and the concreting needs to be tidied up and some detailing is needed - eg sluice gates, railings, gutters and downspouts etc. But I wanted to check the wheel would function in the stream before I tidied everything up.
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Rear view of the mill showing the raised siding and lucam for loading grain sacks. .
A view from the main line across the stream. The Jigstones walling has just been fixed in place. It needs in-filling with concrete (did that this evening) .
I was pleased that even before sluice gates have been fitted the wheel rotates at a respectably slow speed. I assume my wheel is very inefficient at translating the water flow into rotary motion - but that suits me well! Here's a short film of the wheel in action.

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Rik