Garden Railway Forum

It'll be several years at current rate, before I can start on the next garden line. So I won't let that time be wasted, it's an opportunity to get a head-start on smaller, time-consuming projects like buildings and detailing. Things I can put away once complete, then, more-or-less plonk into the new tramway when the time finally comes..

This foamboard and styrene traffic office, modelled on the long-since demolished example at South Johnstone sugar mill, has been sporadically-progressing for the last year.
The peeling paint effect was unintentional - the low-tack masking tape removed quite a bit of green topcoat. In spite of the grey primer showing underneath, it made for a reasonably realistic peeled paint effect; so I just stuck and ripped more tape from all over the building until I was satisfied. The exposed "wood" and "fibro" was then picked out with a wash of Tamiya enamels. The "hazy" effect on the green is because I sprayed during a storm. I tried gently buffing it with a kitchen scourer, which worked, but couldn't get into the corners without fully removing the paint. This turned out to be another happy accident, and has given the green another layer of age. An enamel "dirt" wash and flat clearcoat once the roof is done should see the weathering complete.

Jackson's Miniatures doors and windows are just loosely fitted, awaiting glazing with real glass. More effort, but more durable. Couldn't find any interior photos of period narrow gauge traffic offices, so this was knocked up from foamboard scraps, and will be illuminated before fitting a corrugated iron roof.
More to come on this and future buildings, in dribs and drabs, as and when.. I'm always keeping an eye out for characterful Australian buildings to add to the ideas folder.

Cheers,

Accidental or not, the weathering looks fabulous. I just hope I last long enough to see all this in situ!

I agree with Philip, the peeling and weathered paint effect is just perfect; it suits the style and period of the structure well.

Great effects by happy accidents! I wish mine worked out so fortuitously ...

Rik

That is such an atmospheric little building Aaron. And a fortuitous way to add weathering effects - good job you didn't want it pristine!

As soon as I saw that paint peeling from the fibro, I was taken back to the old garage in the family home. Must have been the post war paint or fibro composition. Great work by you.
But the interior. Surely no railway office was without its Seth-Thomas pendulum clock. I expect to see a working model real soon.

Old Man Aaron wrote: ↑Sun Mar 20, 2022 10:55 am Couldn't find any interior photos of period narrow gauge traffic offices, so this was knocked up from foamboard scraps, and will be illuminated before fitting a corrugated iron roof.
IMG_9587.JPG

I'm guessing this picture of Tal-y-Llyn manager Haydn Jones (taken in 1949, when he was 86) depicts him in Towyn station building, the TR's version of a traffic office? It would be quite a challenge to model...


I love your model, so full of character... The corrugated roof will finish it off a treat...

Strewth, no wonder they went bust!

And I thought my filing system was unique!

gregh wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:09 pm As soon as I saw that paint peeling from the fibro, I was taken back to the old garage in the family home. Must have been the post war paint or fibro composition. Great work by you.
But the interior. Surely no railway office was without its Seth-Thomas pendulum clock. I expect to see a working model real soon.

Never seen peeling paint on fibro, so quite pleased to hear that. I considered a clock, but had to keep myself on a short leash for detailing this interior, lest I spend too much time on it, like the Imperial Hotel..

My local heritage line has made a very faithful 1:1 scale model of the TR's traffic office erm, "system" in the volunteers' cottage on-site..

Lights are now wired in, yet to finish the foamboard roof panels. When I make the corrugated sheets, I'll also clad the corflute sub-structure for this shed at right. This Moreton Mill photo was taken from the CaneSIG website; I reckon the shed itself was for the drying and storage of sand for locos. Note the sleeper walls and 1920s/30s gravity fuel pump. I've already bought a 1:18 model pump, it's on the list for a repaint and weathering sometime this year.. Cheers gents,

16/04/22

After the corflute shell sat for a year, the sand shed was finally knocked out over four nights. Real happy to finally have a model of this.

Like the sag in the propped open window. Hope you enjoy painting all that rusty and otherwise corrugated iron.
Grant.

I love to see models of corrugated iron structures. Good old wriggly tin.

I did indeed enjoy painting! Lots more tin to come..

After grey etch primer, the building was sprayed all over with silver zinc, grey, a couple of browns and black, to get a galvanised effect. Short bursts and misting the paint seems to give good results, building up the effect in layers. It pays to leave the thing to sit afterwards and come back to it - you'll likely find you want to tweak some spot or other with a little more black, silver etc. Then the building was forgotten for a couple of months to work work on other projects.

On a Sunday whim, I decided to mask off and spray the randomly coloured sheets, approximating the prototype. Yesterday, I drybrushed some black and brown for age, and gave the timber around the roof's edge, what I think the prototype had. That's another one ready to go in the cupboard until it's needed.

Still needs an enamel wash all over for some more depth, but I want to complete a few more buildings first, and spend a day washing everything in one session.
Next up, a small shop and finishing the traffic office - it's roof was fitted and painted as I did the shed, but it still needs a couple of details before it can be shown..

That does look good!

Rik

The style is unfamiliar to UK structures but the material is not. You make it look so 'right' and will fit in well with your other buildings.

That's really nice of you guys to say, thank you! Getting the feel just right is paramount. I've noticed the sunlight and sky will vary quite a bit depending on where you go, so living in the same part of the world as the prototypes is a big help.

I've spent the past 10 months overhauling my car, and haven't had any energy for the real hobby - 16mm that is.
Having hit a roadblock building the new engine a couple weeks back, and three days now bashing my head against the wall in wiring up the indicators, I decided to ask for help on the pertinent car forum. But being that the car and it's forum is American, and everyone over there is asleep right now, I had myself an afternoon to take a much needed break to work on the things I really care about.

As mentioned eight months ago, the traffic office roof was painted to look like new-ish galvanised iron. (Camera doesn't really show the colour variation, but it's there) I wired in a pair of 12V "grain-of-wheat" incandescent bulbs when I did the roof. A pair of wires hangs out from under the building, and will one day be connected to a buried grid system. That's the plan, anyway..
This was the first time I'd actually powered the thing beyond testing the bulbs before assembly. Really pleased.
There's a tiny fibro-clad jewel shop in Woodford, Queensland, around the corner from the Woodford Railway where I sometimes volunteer in the workshop.
It's too damn cute not to model.
With a picture from Google and one from Street View, I got this far some months ago. Today I glued in the basic interior, and gave it a coat of grey primer after the photo. Tomorrow I'll topcoat it white. Cheers,
Aaron

Nice to see the Aussie outline buildings. Love the awning over the window. Very Queensland.

They certainly look the part. The lighting and interiors add another dimension.

Rik

Those incandescent bulbs give a "real" atmospheric feel that you don't get with LED's. Lovely.