Garden Railway Forum

Hopefully I can now show a sequence of pictures describing how I built a church which stands up to the weather and the animals, birds, squirrels, cats and a fox. First picture shows the first mould. The base is a piece of white melamine board with wooden edge battens screwed on for easy removal later. Matchsticks were cut and glued to the board to form the stone joints. Blanks were cut from MDF to form window openings, and screwed into place. The windows were plastic mouldings from Modeltown to fitted later. The small one at the top is handmade from Plasticard. I then cut a reinforcing piece of wire mesh, seen on the left which will form a sandwich with concrete. Where the wall is very narrow it is a good idea to cut a piece of thicker wire ( coat hangers ) and weave it into the mesh. Put the mesh aside and give the inside of the mould a liberal spray of furniture polish. The next step is to cut an oversize piece of cling film to fit the inside of the mould, otherwise most of the matches will stick to the concrete instead of the board. Then prepare the first mix with just Portland cement and water to a fairly runny consistency. Slowly pour it into the mould pulling any wrinkles out of the cling film as you go. When the face is covered lay the wire mesh in place and prepare a new mix of equal measures of cement and sharp sand, which is coarser than building sand, but no gravel and mix with water to a stiffer consistency. Build up the thickness in the mould to about 5 - 10mm, thicker at the edges. The next day all the screws are removed and the wall carefully lifted. The wall is finished with a rotary diamond burr, and the windows and glazing fitted.The four walls of the main shell were assembled on a board with Gripfill and clamped. The tower was assembled separately with a concrete middle floor and a moulded concrete roof. The clock face is a computer printout covered with clear plastic and sealed. The main roof is thin plywood covered with strips of roofing felt slit to represent slates. I appreciate that this is not super detailed but it will stand up to the weather and the animals.

It looks good to me. A useful and interesting article Robert.

That's a great looking church

IanC wrote: Fri Dec 28, 2018 3:16 pm It looks good to me. A useful and interesting article Robert.

Exactly what went through my head. It looks good and you've described the build in a clear and helpful way. Thanks Bob.

Rik

Great looking building.

That has turned out to be a great success and very substantial construction. It sits well in your landscape as part of the village.