An Occasional Series: By Jonte

jonte

Western Thunderer
Some considerable time has been spent since my last post considering the appearance of the turntable well and attempting to bring it to fruition. Thankfully, the initial stages are almost complete which I hope to publish in the next couple of days or so.

In the meantime, the deck stanchions have been given a couple or so coats of rust before coating in a warm shade of black as per the sides:

CF3AFDFF-8FA7-4E3A-81F8-135E715E90FE.jpegDBB85FFA-4734-4121-BE51-DD124EBAC3CE.jpeg87641AC7-4558-4B0D-BE5F-FCE69E2CC4F8.jpeg

The handrails have also been ‘aged’ but won’t be fitted until the rest of the detail on the deck is completed.

Meanwhile, sometime has also been given to the eventual forms the sheds themselves will take.

I’ve decided that the two-road long, lengthier sheds on the plan will be of the Aintree aintree engine shed - Google Search and Rose Grove rose grove shed - Google Search
type, and to that end, have purchased a Dublo roof to save some time:

9D8FA07E-A78A-4773-A194-835221B001EB.jpeg

The shorter two road shed will be an amalgam of many sheds to be found nationwide, and to that end, I’ll be using an old friend in the Dapol engine shed, but ‘bashed’ to give it a twist.

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
When attention turned to the turntable well, this example at Leeds Central caught my eye (fourth and fifth photos down):


I then set about trying to replicate that ‘islands of concrete in a variety of states of disrepair separated by earth or whatnot’ look:

CCA2D94B-B769-4BA4-83A8-48ED51318F11.jpeg

51BFABAB-08D7-4C8A-8FF9-64E92DCD52A6.jpeg

This took a little longer than anticipated, with one or two areas replaced as I went.

It’s begun to take favourable shape, although one or two areas will require a little more dressing. I’ve primed it so that the single colour will help to determine whether it blends to my liking.

I’d have preferred to have increased the height of the central pivot to resemble more that of the prototype, but there’s deck clearance to consider, so here I’ve erred on the side of caution.

At the moment I’m still a little under the weather, so will revisit in due course.

It’s intended that the walls will be whitewashed; something like this:

C41FAE16-C838-45AD-ACC8-38C9CDB7C8C5.jpeg

Incidentally, I now know why many modellers choose to replicate the brick face with printed brick paper; it would appear that there isn’t much clearance between deck and well-wall. To reduce any problems with free motion as I’m using embossed plasticard, I sanded the walls of the kit just after assembly (perhaps it’s just me but the circle isn’t true) and reduced the thickness of the embossed brick prior to cutting from sheet. I’ve still to test; any issues, I’ll revert to what was plan A and sand it back, to represent a weather worn concrete(?) appearance.

Thanks for looking and also to those of you who’ve been kind enough to leave the odd like or two :)

Jonte

Edit: one or two photos disappeared from text.
 

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jonte

Western Thunderer
I’m liking what I see here, Jonte. Modelling by observation. :thumbs:
Thank you, Heather :)

I’ve tried to introduce a flavour of the original but within the boundaries of the kit. I did consider cutting away at the base to create extra relief, but abandoned this idea in case there were repercussions in terms of free-running of the deck. I also considered adding a ‘tunnel’ (?) to one side which seems a regular feature on many turntables, but without knowing precisely where the rails to the shed will fan out from, decided to leave well be.

There’s a spot of licence involved too, to stop the result getting too ‘same-y’, by introducing other characteristics typical of concrete surfaces, but tempered somewhat lest it descended into visual chaos. The safety net here was that the deck would obstruct the view, such that it wouldn’t all be on display at the same time, but from the kind and favourable comments thus far, it looks like I might have got away with it :cool:

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
In addendum to yesterday’s update, a brief test - had to be brief due to my current malaise (the perspiration coupled with severe headache and sore throat/chesty cough doesn’t make for the best conditions for testing) - shows my worst fears have been realised: the edge of the deck catches around the points were the sections are married (it’s not a true circle at these points, unfortunately) and which I thought I’d rectified by sanding both the face of the well and the embossed brick:

08EFE481-60EE-405B-A74A-96C880B48AC8.jpeg

Posing in this shot is a loco gifted me by my friend, Mr. Roger Pound; thank you, Roger (I’ve managed to mislay the dome :rolleyes:).

The good news is that the concrete features added to the base of the well don’t obstruct the bridge, thankfully (they’re formed from plaster mixed with different media; these would also have required sanding to remove, so thankful for small mercies).

So, it’s a case of reverting to my original plan for the wall, which will look something like this:

F532D560-332B-419B-B29E-07ABA79D6ADF.jpeg

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Good job there’s a plan B, hope you feel better soon, look after yourself….

john
Indeed, John.

We need to be pretty thick skinned at times, we modellers, to endure the occasional frustration.

Never mind; all part of the fun, I believe :confused:

Many thanks for your kind concern and continued interest.

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Apologies for harping on, but despite the ‘sweats’ and other ailments, curiosity forced me from my sick bed; I wanted/needed to check the motion of the bridge one more time, this time with the wheels and chassis (pre-prepared) fitted, to see what, if any, difference it made to the binding.

Strangely, with loco aboard once again, I discovered that it barely touched the wall at all at the offending point (it seems it’s just one single point and one end(?) of the bridge only), when turned from as near as possible to the pivot point, and from where the motor will be turning it. Conversely, the binding was more acute when turned from one end (the binding end) only.

In conclusion, I’m sure the (powerful) motor in the kit would easily overcome the ‘bind’, especially as it would be ‘turning’ it from the central pivot point, however, as this is intended for sale, I’m not leaving it to chance and shall proceed with remedial action as described earlier.

Incidentally, I applied a dash of synthetic oil to the steel axles of each wheel prior to fixing the ‘hubs’ in place, to ensure that the plastic wheels would run as freely as possible, and I’m pleased to report that they do indeed move without dragging at any point, whilst following continuously along the path of the rail top, which I’m rather pleased about.

I’ll leave you with a couple of photos for your perusal, and which show that further sceniking will be required around the pivot.

891A9DDF-65DE-44D8-87B1-14C4D36A01EF.jpeg77438B03-9D22-416A-80DC-F3F88DC29EFF.jpegDF24B808-14B0-4615-B6B6-A21B416CF035.jpeg

I think it’s still quite a nice kit for its age.

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Still out of sorts but with the fever safely behind due to the intervention of antibiotics, I decided to make a little progress by undertaking some light work i.e. no dust (the sanding of the well sides will have to wait until the decent weather returns and I can take it outside and downwind of the lungs!).

Thus I turned my attention to the pre-primed surface of the deck of the bridge, in an attempt to turn styrene section into wood.

I’ve decided that I prefer an effect that’s somewhere between the first and second shots below, although more towards the second to show wear and tear (although the picture is a little out of focus):

657C80FD-31C5-4C69-B1B5-73DE83B7B2BF.jpeg0C34C461-5099-4B8B-BE6C-320D4A928361.jpeg

Both are gleaned from the internet and are for reference purposes only.

An afternoon or so’s work, plus an additional morning of enamel washes produced this:

4AF1871D-39F2-4516-9AAC-F6C216103B1A.jpeg

Getting there but looking a little anaemic, I washed on a slightly more concentrated wash of Dark Earth (29?), the nearest to ‘Brown’ I dare go to warm things up a little:

2AF1E4B5-C4E2-4D77-8D2C-EAC40AB9C15D.jpeg

I tried taking the shot again, this time with the lamp extinguished as in reality, it’s much darker than it appears:

76F6E03D-60FF-4682-A2B1-BD48562F9DD5.jpeg


Hmm…it’s still a little darker in reality.

Incidentally, the raised timbers in one or two areas will return to the horizontal once the thinner has evaporated. I’d have preferred to use thicker section, but this would have brought it nearer rail height, hindering cleaning of the rails in the process, so I opted for the thinner section.

I’ll continue with the thin washes until it’s safe enough to dust on a final coat of powder which I’ll fix with a brief burst of acrylic varnish from a spray can.

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Despite enjoying the free running of all four wheels, I couldn’t help thinking that some extra ‘mass’ wouldn’t harm especially when running without a loco aboard.

I remembered a rectangle of flashing I’d stored in the garage after retrieving it from the debris when my roof was replaced last year, and thought it might be the ideal opportunity to put it to good use. Surprisingly, coming in at only 350g or so, it wasn’t even as heavy as my lightest loco, but still, it was near enough.

Discovering that lead can be quite easily cut with a Stanley blade rather like plasticard, I’d soon reduced it to strips of appropriate length and widths to fit onto handily placed ‘ribs’ fixed to the underneath of the open deck. Cleaned and layered with two-part epoxy, they were affixed to a similar sized plasticard backing and weighted down to dry overnight.

It was then a simple task of using plastic solvent to fix the styrene backings to the underside of the deck:

4D9A5763-F29B-4791-8875-5E8795F43B9B.jpeg

Btw: I must remember to dispose of paint stained tissue more appropriately rather than leaving it lying around the bench where parts can unintentionally come into contact with them (hence the partially stained wheelrim and undercarriage…).

Staining of the deck continues (slowly) the next two shots showing how the shades can differ under slightly different lighting conditions:

8E5A2F35-941C-407C-BF44-D688523044E9.jpeg911DEB7D-9F38-4BC2-A5B1-84440A936DC7.jpeg

The ‘crud’ in the centre of the deck (whatever it might be in those previous photos of a real turntable) is handy for using up leftover paint when cleaning the palette.

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
The sun shone briefly so I took the opportunity of photographing the wooden deck in better light:

EE7E84F6-0F81-4C6E-8009-3BD12918455C.jpeg

Apart from the odd addition here and there - and further detailing of the steel central deck - I’m quite pleased that the timber has achieved the desired effect I wanted, compared to the two previous photos of the real thing(s), so I’ll pretty much leave it there.

With the heavier deck in place, I was able to clearly identify the points at which the bridge binds, and again taking advantage of the finer afternoon weather, I addressed them with a piece of emery cloth.

Despite the quite marked attention that has been given the embossed brickwork in an attempt to ensure free running, I think I might yet be able to salvage the whitewashed brickwork effect shown in the photos a couple of posts or so back. Perhaps a further pass with a finer (650/1200) grade of wet and dry might just be the order of the day.

Fingers crossed.

Jonte
 

John Ross

Western Thunderer
Still out of sorts but with the fever safely behind due to the intervention of antibiotics, I decided to make a little progress by undertaking some light work i.e. no dust (the sanding of the well sides will have to wait until the decent weather returns and I can take it outside and downwind of the lungs!).

Thus I turned my attention to the pre-primed surface of the deck of the bridge, in an attempt to turn styrene section into wood.

I’ve decided that I prefer an effect that’s somewhere between the first and second shots below, although more towards the second to show wear and tear (although the picture is a little out of focus):

View attachment 164653View attachment 164654

Both are gleaned from the internet and are for reference purposes only.

An afternoon or so’s work, plus an additional morning of enamel washes produced this:

View attachment 164650

Getting there but looking a little anaemic, I washed on a slightly more concentrated wash of Dark Earth (29?), the nearest to ‘Brown’ I dare go to warm things up a little:

View attachment 164651

I tried taking the shot again, this time with the lamp extinguished as in reality, it’s much darker than it appears:

View attachment 164652


Hmm…it’s still a little darker in reality.

Incidentally, the raised timbers in one or two areas will return to the horizontal once the thinner has evaporated. I’d have preferred to use thicker section, but this would have brought it nearer rail height, hindering cleaning of the rails in the process, so I opted for the thinner section.

I’ll continue with the thin washes until it’s safe enough to dust on a final coat of powder which I’ll fix with a brief burst of acrylic varnish from a spray can.

Jonte
Attached shows Ferryhill Aberdeen turntable (shown in A4 shot) before the deck mechanism was returned to the pit. The other shows the main bearing that the deck poivoits on.

All the best

JohnDSCF4970.JPGDSCF4959.JPG
 

Lyndhurstman

Western Thunderer
The sun shone briefly so I took the opportunity of photographing the wooden deck in better light:

View attachment 164727

Apart from the odd addition here and there - and further detailing of the steel central deck - I’m quite pleased that the timber has achieved the desired effect I wanted, compared to the two previous photos of the real thing(s), so I’ll pretty much leave it there.

With the heavier deck in place, I was able to clearly identify the points at which the bridge binds, and again taking advantage of the finer afternoon weather, I addressed them with a piece of emery cloth.

Despite the quite marked attention that has been given the embossed brickwork in an attempt to ensure free running, I think I might yet be able to salvage the whitewashed brickwork effect shown in the photos a couple of posts or so back. Perhaps a further pass with a finer (650/1200) grade of wet and dry might just be the order of the day.

Fingers crossed.

Jonte
Lovely stuff, @jonte. And your resolve in searching for an optimal working representation - and at the same time achieving a high level of artistry - is to be applauded.

Cheers

Jan
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Lovely stuff, @jonte. And your resolve in searching for an optimal working representation - and at the same time achieving a high level of artistry - is to be applauded.

Cheers

Jan
Bless you, Jan.

Your generous words and wealth of experience are deeply appreciated and help keep me on track, despite the odd set back….or three :)

Jon
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
The well fascia has taken a bit of a hammering since my last update:

D49A3ED2-2E31-49A5-8174-3D26C929A241.jpeg12B70970-1A40-48EA-A0AD-688057C78BC1.jpeg8C1FC878-6628-432B-9468-C5B43F138507.jpeg

Despite my best efforts to save the whitewashed brick look, bit by bit, more of the embossed brick had to be removed to ensure free running of the bridge, until eventually there was very little brick face left to work with.

Some of the embossed sheet was easy to remove with the aid of a scalpel, but in areas where it had bonded a little too well, there was nothing for it but take the Dremel to it, slowly doing it to stop the plastic wall melting. Hence, I ended up with what you see above.

In some ways, this was fortuitous: I found the prospect of producing my favourite’look’:

1F7A9B3E-6388-4117-84EE-9AF7F99258EC.jpeg

a little too daunting (this image was found on the internet some time ago and ferreted away - along with many others - as a source of reference and inspiration for future projects. In my haste, I forgot to establish whether the photographer’s details were attached, to whom I could give credit. Consequently, I’ve ensured that any future details are collated and endorsed in the ‘info’ facility which accompanies my iPad album so that credit can be afforded the respective contributor).

With nothing to lose, I’ll now go the whole hog.

To avoid any further binding caused by the required relief of the well wall, I’ve decided to sand the wall back as far as possible. In order to ensure that any errors that might ensue (rubbing right through and compromising the integrity of the model in the process), I’ve decided to glue a band of styrene right around the exterior of the rim, which will also provide essential support. A thinner fascia will then be glued to the front to hide the gouges upon which relief can then be attached.

Prior to leaving for a weekend break with family, I ordered several sheets of styrene of various thicknesses which - according to the online advert - would be there to meet me when I arrived home on the Monday. To date, I await their arrival…….

As I didn’t want to risk the removal of further amounts of material without the styrene reinforcement in place, I decided to construct a ‘tunnel’, as per that seen in the above photo; further distressing will be required for it to bear a resemblance to the real thing:

518496C4-383A-41AB-B342-BDB360A665A3.jpeg

Further use has been made of embossed brick over a plain styrene shell. It won’t be for cosmetic reasons: with it’s contoured finish, I find it’s ideal for bonding the plaster render to.

Following a sharp intake of breath, a razor saw and piercing saw were used to remove the material of the wall, where the tunnel will be located. Thankfully, the plastic material which forms the base of the well is quite stout, thus no lasting damage has been done (slight blemishes to the running rail were caused in one or two places whilst cleaning up with a file, however, I discovered that the placement of a section of removed material over the rail provided a suitable shield).

Finally, here it is placed in the gap to give an idea:

E583AA90-B7C6-4E29-B85F-B3070B3F2475.jpeg

Jonte

Edit: omitted to say that some further detailing was applied to the deck of the bridge, to represent the movement of crews whilst alighting/disembarking/manoeuvring around the engine, and a feature I’ve noticed of many turntables:

97E449B4-A39E-4612-B66B-E3DE0C1DCF63.jpeg

The loose board will be permanently attached, along with one or two others, when the side beading is fitted.
 
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