7mm Ressaldar's workbench - Hadlow Road SP

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
A very long time since my last meaningful post - please put it down to frustration at not having the mojo to do any modelling during a very tiresome winter!

Anyway, today the sun is shining again - 5th day of cloudless skies here on the Wirral Peninsula, the weeding is done and to get me back into a modelling mindset I have started the Intentio coaling stage based on the Slough prototype. I drew up a set of plans for this over ten years ago and when I read that Phil was going to produce a kit, I had to have one for 'Hadlow Road' (those of you with long memories will recall that I built the Timber Tracks 'typical Churchward' GWR kit a couple of years ago, well that is now residing on the Club's Moss End MPD layout) so my order was placed and I duly received the goodies in the post.

The kit comes with a set of exploded diagrams rather than a set of instructions and the only thing to sort out is sequence of construction - it is very easy to build yourself into a blind alley if you do not have as near a full dry run first and that should solve any sequencing problems.

I decided to put one of the inner ends on to the suspended floor, followed by the other end and then use the baseplate for support while the glue (I have used Deluxe @Glue 'n Glaze} went off, followed by the back wall and then the front. This module was put to one side and the water tank constructed on its own base, which when dry was test fitted on top of the main structure and all lined up without any problems. The whole model was laid aside over lunch and then the side and front wall detailing was added, once the roof had been removed to make handling easier. The outstanding part of this kit (and others in the range I believe) is that the splayed bricks really are splayed and that just finishes the brickwork off a treat.

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I will be priming the model 'as is' and paint the window frames, doors etc before fixing them in position. The tank top, stairs etc will be added once the model is painted.

All in all, a very pleasing days work, no tools were used at all, which in itself must be something of a record and a testament to Phil's work on the design and production of the kit. No connection with Intentio, just a very satisfied customer.

regards

Mike
 
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Dan Randall

Western Thunderer
Excellent stuff Mike! I was born in Slough and vaguely remember my older brother taking me train spotting one day. We actually entered the site of Slough MPD (by this time closed), via the locomen's access gate adjacent to Stoke Road bridge and I recall looking through one of the broken windows of the coal stage, just as a maroon "Western" burst out from under the bridge, with westbound express passenger train.

Around 1987, I was a mature student at the adjacent Slough College (now also closed and no doubt due for demolition) and one day, noticed the site of the MPD was being bulldozed and turned into a carpark. That night, after college had finished at around 22:00, I noticed there was a caravan on site. There were lights on inside, so I assumed a workman or watchman was shacked up within. Adjacent to the caravan was a rubbish skip and inside the skip, bathed in a pool of light from one of the caravan's windows, I noticed two BR enamel lamps, which had formerly illuminated the steps leading from Stoke Road bridge to the MPD. I doubt they'd been used (if indeed, they still worked!), in the past twenty plus years since the MPD had closed, so they'd been replaced by some characterless modern counterparts. I decided if BR didn't want them any more, I'd save them from oblivion, so I rapped smartly on the door of said caravan, most likely, scaring the cr*p out of the bloke inside! Anyway, he cautiously opened the door and I asked if I could take the lamps from the skip, to which he quickly agreed and just as quickly, shut the door! :))

I took both lamps home, got one working again and installed it above my french windows, which opened onto the patio and it cast its cosy glow every night for many years, until I moved house. Of course, I took it with me when I moved and it still lurks in my garage, cold and lifeless, awaiting its next call of duty, but with my current wife not sharing my enthusiasm for its functional beauty, it may have a long wait....

I've moved about four times between that house and my current one and somewhere along the way, the other lamp went missing unfortunately. :(

(Apologies for the hijack Mike, but your build has stirred a few memories).


Regards

Dan
 

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
Hi Dan,

no worries about hijacking.

I first went to Slough in 1961, making weekly visits whilst working for Sir Richard Costain who had a contract at the Cement & Concrete Association complex at Stoke Poges, to carry out admin duties. This was followed the following year by a two year posting on the Slough by Pass (the M4 as it became) contract. Many visits were made to Stoke Road - especially to a certain model shop on the other side of the bridge. My wife went to the Technical College which was on the site of what became Slough College in the late 50's. I then returned to the area in 1964 still with Sir Richard Costain, this time on the Slough to Windsor relief road - having had a very pleasant first year year of marriage working on Stornoway Airfield - no in-law interference to worry about! Our son was born in Windsor later that year, so Slough has memories for me and my wife - who was actually born in Slough.

regards

Mike
 

BrushType4

Western Thunderer
Thank you for your kind comments Mike, and the coal stage is looking good so far!

There a few other Slough Kits floating around but you are trailblazing the way on the internet as far as I'm aware :)

I take onboard at the lack of instructions, this a deliberate choice as I never read instructions myself! Using the exploded drawings, the Intentio Kits should fit together without need for glue to enable a dry run. The builder can then choose what is painted before assembly etc.

All out kits are test built and usually tweaked a few times until we are happy with them. I'm usually available by email if anyone does get stuck and will happily provide pictures of our test builds of any area that is not clear.

The interlaced brick corners should fit perfectly, but sometimes due to the variable thickness of the MDF, it may be necessary to clamp the building together to get a tight fit until the glue dries. Light use of fine wet and dry on the corners will smooth off any remaining irregular profile. I've been thinking about getting a planer to machine my own MDF as commercial grades do vary considerably though I have now found a supplier that provides a very hard and consistent MDF.

Looking forward to seeing the the next update.
 

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
The model is now fully assembled with the exception of the guttering to the rear canopy and the chute canopy, the positioning of the stairs and lastly, the central column in the main aperture at the back that held the tank up! and painting is underway,

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just needing some significant weathering. The semi-engineering blue brick has come out very blue - don't know why as it looks correct 'in the flesh'. A mixture of enamels and acrylics have been used, as well as good old Halford's red oxide primer for the main brick colour. The roof colour is Railmatch acrylic 'Worn tarmac' which seems to be just right for the pre-weathering stage. The tank is JLTRT Coach Cream, which again looks much brighter than it is.

The tank is still 'fitted' over the main walls, which in turn are 'fitted' to the base plate.

More to come soon.

regards

Mike
 

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
I bought a packet of Woodland Scenic's 'Burnt Grass' flock whilst shopping yesterday with a view to using to represent clumps of moss on the roof areas. I had plenty of time before the Aviva rugby final kick off at Twickenham, so I set to - diluted down Glue 'n Glaze, a flat 8mm wide artists brush, the flock in an old 'take away' carton for easy access and a 25mm wide x 75mm strip of brass shim to dispense the flock and the nodel sitting on three thicknesses of tissue paper large enough to give me a 100mm margin all round to catch the overspill. The glue was dabbed on the roof in a freestyle manner such that there would be small clumps of moss all over the area, The flock was sprinkled on and the whole roof was covered so enabling the glue to creep through by capillary action, and the glue could dry while I enjoyed the rugby and dinner.

I returned to the model after about four hours, ample time for the glue to go off, especially in the summer heat that we have been enjoying. I lifted the model to the front of the tissue paper and carefully tipped it up to allow the excess flock to collect on the paper below. So far so good. The tissue paper was carefully rolled into a ball and placed in the waste paper basket and I then saw the 'damage' that I had done - the so called moss clumps would have been more in scale in G3 - I had put too much glue down and the capilliary action had spread in all directions and I was faced with a roof covered in green measles!

My remedial plan was to rub off all of the clumps, care had to be taken as the roof material is a thin corrugated cardboard and the last thing I wanted to do was to have to replace the whole thing! Fortunately, the Mk 1 thumbnail proved to be the tool of the moment and after much thumb rubbing followed by brushing with a very stiff flat artists brush, I was happy with the result. A couple of coats of a very thinned down 'Frame dirt' wash followed and this is the result:

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whilst studying various GWR coal stage photos on Flickr, I noticed that on some tanks there were numerous signs of rust, this gave me the answer to the problem of the airbrush splatter that had occurred on the final pass with the 'Roof Dirt', so a very careful application of Railmatch acrylic 'Light Rust' was carried out and hopefully another problem solved.

All that remains now is the staircase which will be attached when the model is placed on the layout - which may be some time in the future as I want to get on with a couple of Inspection Saloons - what else!, that have been shelf queens for far too long .

regards

Mike
 
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Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
just to round things off, here are a couple of shots (taken on the phone) of the coaling stage in place on the layout

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that is a GWR 7 plank wagon in front of the Pecket. The turntable will eventually be sited where the Sidelines box is currently located

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The lower track is the second line off of the turntable, with the right hand branch off the point going to the Engineer's siding and just off picture is another point where the right hand branch goes off to the shed. A great deal still to do!

regards

Mike
 

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
My remedial plan was to rub off all of the clumps, care had to be taken as the roof material is a thin corrugated cardboard and the last thing I wanted to do was to have to replace the whole thing! Fortunately, the Mk 1 thumbnail proved to be the tool of the moment and after much thumb rubbing followed by brushing with a very stiff flat artists brush, I was happy with the result. A couple of coats of a very thinned down 'Frame dirt' wash followed and this is the result:

A good recovery. Sometimes the best results come from apparent disasters.
 

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
It is nearly three years since I started the original thread and much water has passed through the boilers since then, so much that the layout is morphing into an embryonic Stabling Point cum servicing facility as mentioned elsewhere, so I thought that it was time to show all......

so here is the revised track plan

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most obvious is the clearing away of the engine shed - this was a Timber Tracks standard two road shed which was unfortunately delaminating and beyond saving, hence the change of era. Also gone is the coaling stage which is fine (and will be appearing in the 'Small Ads' shortly) and is being replaced with a fuel storage and dispensing facility. The turntable will be retained (a la OOC) and the three tracks leading off will be re-aligned and like the tracks around the servicing depot (an Intentio building) be surrounded with a concrete slab. An arched retaining wall is going down the left hand side and there is a low relief warehouse/factory along the bottom return for some variation.

The period is mid/late sixties and green diesels rule the roost, but some maroon might appear, with and without yellow warning panels and stripes, here is the latest recruit, a DC San Cheng Class 04 bought last week

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which is now slowly transforming into a DCC version

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weathering started, but a long way to go.

More updates to follow.

regards

Mike
 

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
The coaling stage and ramps have now been removed and the building is now deep in GWR territory awaiting installation into its new layout which has enabled a slight rethink to the new layout.
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The stub road from the turntable has now been extended to join the holding siding which enables both sides usage of the fuel pumps. The whole of the area will be concreted in the same manner as the other two areas.

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General view of where the coaling stage used to be located and the link track in position and temporarily wired up for testing purposes. The tank wagons are on what was the ramp to the coaling stage but I was able to remove the ramp and lower the track onto level ground. The buildings are placed in trial positions and there may well be an additional storage tank (especially as the loco fleet is growing all the time)
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Looking towards the turntable, The arched retaining walls are now glued in position and awaiting weathering.
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The site of the old loco shed and the portacabins are already in position but not yet fixed down as this whole area will be concreted prior to their finalfixing. The low relief building is still in need of gutters, windows and final painting and needless to say it is just placed in position.

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The overall scene which also shows the 'concrete' lower left, ready to be cut up and fixed.

More to come soon.

regards

Mike
 

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
One thing that I have never been really happy with is the rotation of the turntable, in as much as it was noisy and at times jerky, so I thought that while the coffers were in a healthy state I would change the motor to a stepper version and also go the whole hog and went for the programmable version that Greenwood Model Railway Products do. So the order was placed and as I thought, both the motor and control panel were in stock, but it turns out that the motor was not a stock item but is in fact being built to order. In the meantime, I have dismantled the baseboard with the turntable on and removed the motor in readiness for the new one arriving. This means that the rest of the layout is currently covered in locos and pieces of turntable baseboard.

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the least crowded section
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the end section on edge waiting for the new motor. The observant among you will notice that the 04 has had some weathering added, but there is more to come.
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the end board is 'nose down' at present as this piggy backs onto the turntable board. Also tell tale signs of external decorating - the porch is having a refreshing coat of Dulux Weathershield hence the house name board indoors for safe keeping.

Hopefully, not too long a wait for the stepper motor etc as believe it or not, the household 'to do' list is virtually empty!!!!

regards

Mike
 

Ressaldar

Western Thunderer
Things are now more or less back to normal, following grandparent duties in Cumbria and executor duties for my late Aunt. So I have been encouraged me to install the stepper motor unit and controlling PCB from Greenwood and after a minor blip (on my part) it is now working as per the instructions


apologies about the focus, it looked fine on the tilt screen on the camera, but I was obviously too close for the focal length, hopefully it will improve with further tries.

I have also been trying out surfacing and colours for the large 'concrete' slab areas and this is the first test

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the base is 5mm foamboard from Hobbycraft, covered with a mesh screen which is a weed suppressant sheet attached to the board with PVA and then coated with Railmatch acrylic concrete which has then had various 'worn tarmac' washes which when dried were lined with various width marker pens to represent the mastic filler in the construction joints of the finished slabs. The jury is still out regarding the finished colour but there is plenty to do before with laying the foamboard before I need to worry about finishes!

regards

Mike
 
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