A Little Destruction

With only two weeks until the Newbury exhibition, taking a chisel to the layout might seem a bit foolhardy. However, I had a few jobs I wanted to complete before showing the layout again, so I have booked a few days holiday to get them done.

The first job is to extend the station concourse. Having acquired more photos and information, it was apparent that I had underestimated its size, as the W.H.Smiths bookshop and newsagents was sited between the station building and the signal box. I have moved the buffer stops almost two inches closer to Newport. I positioned some plastic card and foamboard as foundations for the buildings and concourse surface. The headshunt is still long enough for a Class 33 to run round. The prototype was only just long enough for an O2 to run round, but that would be a bit restrictive for my layout. The ground surface can now be remade.

A little more destruction along the rear of the platform was caused by the removal of the over-height etched fencing which will be replaced by 3D printed Southern Railway cast concrete palings that I have created.

Some more buildings for Freshwater

Not much has been happening on Freshwater for a few months as all my modelling time seems to have been spent making up Merg electronic modules for other peoples' layouts. But this is about to change as I have an invite to the exhibition in Newbury on February 11th. I had set myself a deadline to get the station building and surrounding area sorted, and some more trees planted before this. So, over the Christmas period, I spent some time on the laptop fiddling with Blender to get the signal box and W. H. Smiths bookshop ready for 3D printing. I had also received an old photo showing the side view of the corrugated iron goods shed. My previous 3D printed model of this had been made using just a distant, end view, and I had imagined double doors would have been fitted on the sides. This new photo showed just a single door, and a brick built plinth. I therefore editted my Blender file, and got a new 3D print. The images below show the 3D prints, as received from Shapeways, having just cleaned them with acetone-free nail polish remover, and given them a light spray with Tamiya fine grey primer. I hope my painting skills will be up to the task of finishing these off. I have to find some suitable window frame etches to modify to fit, as nothing off-the-shelf was appropriate.

Corrugated Iron Shed, version 2.0

 and the newly acquired photo of the original

 W. H. Smiths

 and the original

 Signal Box (kit of parts)

 and the real thing (also showing W. H. Smiths bookstall and station building beyond)

The station concourse is larger than I imagines, so I will have to move the buffer stops and rebuild the concourse/platform a little to fit the bookstall where it belongs. I have also 3D printed some SR standard concrete paling fencing to finish off this area, as the etched brass fencing I fitted originally is much too tall.

My first attempt at the iron shed included the pointy finials, similar to those on the signal box, but they broke off in transit. I, therefore, re-created them as a separate set of 6 (with a sprue) printed in FXD which will be added to the shed and signal box later.