(WH)WHR Buildings

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Lonsdaler
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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Lonsdaler » Wed Jan 22, 2020 1:07 pm

philipy wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:55 pm
Andrew wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:26 pm I think it would be an ideal job for laser-cutting in acrylic...
...or 3D printing.
DSC_0010 small.jpg

Nice signal box, BTW. looking forward to progress.
:thumbup:
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Andrew
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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Andrew » Sun Jan 26, 2020 6:23 pm

Hello again,

I got a little more done on the signal box today and - as promised - here's a little more on making windows.It's fairly self-explanatory really, which is just as well because the pictures didn't come out very clearly...

Here's stage one, using a drawing blown up to scale size, then taped onto a cutting mat. I make more copies of the drawing than I need, then I can cut directly onto them.

The plastic strip is 2mm x 1mm and 3mm x 1mm, which seemed about right. It's £4.90 a packet from the model shop, or £6+ "postage free" online. Hmmm... You do get through quite a lot of it, so I think ready-made windows from Jacksons or wherever will still be my preferred option where they suit the prototype.

Anyway, the first stage is to stick the horizontal strips to the drawing with double-sided tape. I don't worry about trimming the strips to exactly the right length at this stage, that can be dome later:

Signalbox windows1.jpg
Signalbox windows1.jpg (260.76 KiB) Viewed 4160 times

The rest is the built-up from there, starting with the upright strips. You can see that I've made the window slightly less wide than the drawing, partly because it suited the strip, but also because I want to add a door frame so need a little more space:

Signalbox windows2.jpg
Signalbox windows2.jpg (93.57 KiB) Viewed 4160 times

And then the "missing" bits to build the horizontals up to the same thickness, and some additional strips that go around the edge and between each individual frame. That adds some relief (even if it doesn't fully replicate how some frames would sit - and slide - behind the others) and rigidity:

Signalbox windows3.jpg
Signalbox windows3.jpg (90.13 KiB) Viewed 4160 times

After that the whole window's peeled off the drawing, turned over and the missing bits on the horizontal strips filled in too, making to whole thing 2mm thick and bits of it 3mm - it's pretty strong by that stage.

I think I'll probably add another two strips on the back around the edge of each window. That will make them 5mm thick, so they should sit nicely in the 5mm foamboard shell, as well as providing a recess for the glazing to sit in. We shall see...

All the best,

Andrew.

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Peter Butler » Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:03 pm

That looks good Andrew, and quite sturdy too! A far cheaper way would be to cut strips yourself, but probably less accurate.
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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Andrew » Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:14 pm

Peter Butler wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:03 pm That looks good Andrew, and quite sturdy too! A far cheaper way would be to cut strips yourself, but probably less accurate.
Yes, it is surprisingly sturdy...

Accuracy isn't really my strong point, and I think I've found in the past that plastic sheet curls when I cut it into strips, so this is an area where I've decided that spending a little money's the way to go. I did the same with my slate wagons, although they didn't use so much strip as these windows are...

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Andrew » Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:23 am

Hello all,

I've made some more progress on the signalbox, having glued it all together, finished and added the windows, and started with the detailing. I had thought I'd paint the windows first and then install them towards the end of the build, but it turned out that filler would be required so I decided to do it now, while a bit of mess doesn't matter.

Here's how it looks at the moment:

Signalbox 4.jpg
Signalbox 4.jpg (126.45 KiB) Viewed 4027 times

I'm quite pleased with how the steps are looking so far:

Signalbox 5.jpg
Signalbox 5.jpg (52.51 KiB) Viewed 4027 times

They don't go anywhere at the moment - my next job is to add the door! Once that's done I'll be able to start work on the cladding - my stocks of that (weatherboard upper, stone base) are running a little low, but I should receive a delivery from Jackson Miniatures in the next day or two...

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by tom_tom_go » Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:32 am

Those steps need a cat sitting happily in the sun watching the world go by...

The building is coming along Andrew, the windows look the business as if they were made from a preformed kit.

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Andrew » Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:35 am

tom_tom_go wrote: Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:32 am Those steps need a cat sitting happily in the sun watching the world go by...
I thought that too!

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by LNR » Wed Feb 12, 2020 9:00 am

I'll second what Tom said about the windows Andrew, the whole building looks very square and solid.
Certainly will have a presence on the railway when finished.
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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Peter Butler » Wed Feb 12, 2020 10:42 am

Excellent work, all looks nice and square and well thought out. There's something about making your own structures which kit building just can't match.
'Bambi' looks impressed too!
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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by philipy » Wed Feb 12, 2020 10:56 am

Everybody has already said it all Andrew. Well done, it's going to be very impressive when its finished.
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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by tom_tom_go » Wed Feb 12, 2020 10:59 am

I agree with Peter here, kit built stuff looks too perfect (laser cut wood planks for example).

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Andrew » Wed Feb 12, 2020 11:47 am

Thanks for the kind comments.

It is indeed surprisingly strong given that so much of it is window, and I'm glad it gives the impression of being square! It is in most respects, but there are places where my windows are wonky in one direction and the walls are wonky in another, hence the liberal use of filler! Some of the wonkier bits may become more apparent when I add the weatherboarding, the parallel lines of which may have the effect of holding a ruler up to the thing and so reveal its shortcomings in the accuracy department, but I'm optimistic that I can fudge it one way or another!

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Andrew » Wed Feb 12, 2020 11:52 am

Peter Butler wrote: Wed Feb 12, 2020 10:42 am 'Bambi' looks impressed too!
I wondered whether anyone would notice that! There are actually some quite impressive antlers out-of-shot... He's made of fibreglass or similar, and was left on a garden wall on a nearby street - there's a tradition round here that neighbours donate unwanted items to each other in this way, and we were lucky enough to come across this. We think it was possibly once attached to a full body, perhaps as part of a shopping centre Christmas display, but it stays up all year round now, which seems to really irritate my Mother when she comes to visit...

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by tom_tom_go » Wed Feb 12, 2020 11:53 am

So what you are saying Andrew is it will represent a real building!

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by ge_rik » Wed Feb 12, 2020 12:56 pm

Looking really good, Andrew. Glazing bars are a bit of a nightmare for me. I like the idea of using double sided tape.

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by FWLR » Thu Feb 13, 2020 8:06 am

Looking really impressive Andrew.

I think a bit of wonky adds to the character mate...Most of my builds are all wonky... :roll: :roll:

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Andrew » Fri Feb 14, 2020 9:57 am

Morning all,

I couldn't resist making a start on the cladding yesterday evening, starting with the stone base and moving on to the weatherboarding:

Signalbox 6.jpg
Signalbox 6.jpg (110.5 KiB) Viewed 6777 times



At the other end I've still not made the door - I'll need to do that before I can complete the cladding.

Inspired by Tom's suggestion that a cat would look good on the steps I had a trawl through my collection of charity shop finds to look for one, without success. I did find five dogs and a duck though:

Signalbox 7.jpg
Signalbox 7.jpg (105.24 KiB) Viewed 6777 times

Not quite the look I'm going for, so I've ordered some resin dolls house cats. They're 1/12 scale but look like they should be OK...

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by tom_tom_go » Fri Feb 14, 2020 10:24 am

A well fed sleeping cat in 1/12 scale :mrgreen:

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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Soar Valley Light » Fri Feb 14, 2020 7:46 pm

Hi Andrew,

It's looking very nice. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished.

I've known several Signalmen who took dogs to work with them, although never more than two at once. On the other hand I've known boxes that had cats, but rarely in single numbers!

Keep up the good work,

Andrew
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Re: (WH)WHR Buildings

Post by Andrew » Sat Feb 15, 2020 11:44 am

Ah yes, I forgot we had a real signalman on the Forum! Unfortunately, it's the mid twenties in my back garden, so on the WHR the signals have been chopped down and the box is disused... I think I'll model the levers, a stove and some furniture under dust sheets, but assume that the other kit has been removed... An abandoned box makes a cat more likely than a dog, I reckon...

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