Bagshot station build

[oldravendale]

Ah, but modern building regs guarantee that you won't suffer from subsidence/settlement - not!

Steph will remember when we bought a brand new house in, probably, the late'80s or early 90s built to the current standards and on a concrete raft and three years later had subsidence. NHBC were not interested as we were insured - take my advice - the NHBC "guarantee" is not worth the paper it's written on. We then bought an 1830/40 build which was on tiny foundations and part of which had a dirt floor under the floor tiling. It moved about a bit but we had no problems. We're now in an 1820s house which has also suffered subsidence before we owned it - in the modern extension!

I suspect some of this has to do with the fact that the early houses were built with lime mortar which allows some movement, being soft. Using a cement mortar just locks the thing solid and any movement results in a crack.

Rant over - for the time being.

Nice modelling, though, Pete.

Brian

 

[Peter Insole]

It's OK to rant! I dare not even get started on cavity wall insulation though!

Anyway, here are some more pics as a quick post before another biggie: The roof. (Model, that is!).

Pete.

 

[Peter Insole]

Here goes with the roof...

When making models it is all too easy to rely on the conventions of whatever discipline we are working on. Roofs are always decidedly problematic, whether carriage or lineside, and getting a consistent shape or perfect fit can be an elusive and often frustrating exercise.

Bagshot has a twin gabled, hipped roof that was going to tax my number blindness to the limit. There was the additional problem of my preferred adhesive to contend with as well! Despite hearing some complaints that garden railway rolling stock came apart in the rain, I feel if it is applied properly that should not be the case. Indeed, I have had some wagons filled with water during a summer cloudburst with absolutely no ill effect whatsoever! However, the reason why I like it is that it does not sit between the joints, thus creating a slight stand off, but soaks into the wood and as it sets appears to shrink a little, thus pulling the parts firmly together. All very well, provided you have cut the angles absolutely perfect. Failure to do so could result in the whole thing mercilessly pulling itself out of shape!

All that said, I went for the old method of constructing the roof in the time honoured sheet plywood in boxed up fashion. Huge mistake!

Hours and hours worth of measuring, taping, tacking, trimming, tweaking and generally faffing about it, the thing could not be persuaded to fit properly. It doubtless didn't help that the building was not exactly level and square as previously mentioned anyway! The more time I spent on this, the less inclined I felt to abandon it and start again. Inevitably, breaking point came and I well and truly chucked my dummy out of the pram. I had a jolly good sulk.

After calming down, I decided that there was only one practical alternative to build it, albeit as a simplified version, in the way that a roofer would on the real thing! Thus I set out a "wall plate" atop the brickwork, though made wide enough to accommodate a locating strip on the inside, and started fitting joists in situ.



Next, I made a jig to set the first two frames of rafters in order to determine the shape. The rest were fitted up after the ridge was installed, again in situ, thus ensuring that the whole structure would follow any irregularities of the building.




What surprised me was that it didn't take as long as expected to do this. I wish I'd thought of it first time around and not ended up with all that fluff on my soother either!



The gable ends effectively form the internal walls, and were cut and trimmed to a snug fit to make the whole thing integral and removable.



So far relatively straightforward. Tricky bits to come!

 

[Peter Insole]

And now, after a naughty nautical interlude, a roofing resolution - well nearly?

First the hips, and a pair of ladder joists:



and then the valley and jack rafters:



Some fun photography:



and finally, fettling the rafters and ridges for fitting the sheeting!



All this reminds me of an upside down version of those naval architect ship models in the National Maritime Museum, where the hull walls and decks are complete with exquisite detail but the keel and frames are exposed, unsheathed below the waterline!

Oh dear, I must try not to mention boats again for a while!!

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Beautiful work Peter!

 

[Peter Insole]

Thanks Simon, it does now seem a pity to have it all hidden?
With so many parts to distribute the load, I have wondered sometimes whether it could take being sat upon? Don't think I'd be too keen to try it though!

Anyway, the whole purpose of the framework was to achieve this next part:



I could now cut the roof sheets slightly over size, and once the glue was set, trim and file the edges flush with the frames thus ensuring a nice clean and reasonably even angled joint long the hips and ridges



Someone suggested that it was a pity that I haven't lavished such effort on my own home. I ruefully agreed, but pointed out that I doubted much could be achieved with only a scalpel, needle file, bottle of Resin-W and a bundle of cheap little plastic clamps!

Yes, I am impossible to live with!

 

[BrushType4]

You've got a lovely cottage Peter

 

[Peter Insole]

Thanks Phil, you are quite right, and yes I did repair and re slate my roof, but that was quite a few years ago now. It least it doesn't leak from the top anyway. When part of the chimney blew down recently I was more than happy to let someone else to do it. Mind you, being as mean as ever I did save some money by providing the chap with the left over bricks and slates that I had carefully saved, from a heap in a corner of the back garden!

Pete.

 

[Peter Insole]

Now on the subject of chimneys: For single storey buildings, Bagshot, Camberley and Frimley sported rather insignificant, squat projections, sans traditional pots in what appears to be a favoured LSWR style. Now, anyone who has lived with coal fires should be familiar with "blow-back" when some soul opens a door into a cosy, but enclosed room. The answer to this phenomenon was to build stacks as tall as possible, but where this was impractical, to add some form of elongated pot, fluted cowl or other patent contraption to increase the up-draught! Incidentally, when working on the S7 Love Lane layout I discovered that the Great Eastern Railway's architect, W. N. Ashbee, favoured a twin flue arrangement, thus explaining why photographs of the prototype showed four pots while the plans revealed only two fireplaces below! Mind you, ours at home is a bit too efficient and we have to be extremely careful what we put on the mantelpiece, lest it gets sucked up the chimney. You think I'm joking? I feel a degree of empathy for the firemen of Stratford's notorious "Gobblers"!

Anyway, back to the model:



Having reached the top, there is a problem. The aforementioned station chimneys had distinct appendages, presumably to create turbulence. I suspect this purpose, as a much later generation of aeronautical engineers applied similar, though very much smaller versions of these to the upper surface of wings to improve lift.

In the photographs below (I hope they don't infringe copyright by being only part of a postcard and detail from a book plate) they appear to be constructed from lead or zinc sheet, but over what formers or indeed how on earth were they fitted?



Looks like it proved ineffective at Frimley, leading to this mildly disconcerting solution!

I have made these up, but expect some exact details will become available just after the model is finally dispatched to it's owner!

 

[Peter Insole]

Just a last few bits to do to the main exterior before painting.

First, the stone gable vents:



A nice new hollow core countersink bit cut beautifully, but despite clamping firmly to waste wood still left a slightly ragged rear face. No problem, as I was working with material that was too deep anyway.



The great thing about ply is that it can be quite easily delaminated. Now I have a pair of nice crisply bevelled outers of the required depth!



A bit fluffy I know, but will clean up better after it has been hardened with primer



Installed, along with wall plates and purlins. The rafters are attached to the removable roof while the projections are fitted to the walls, so the slightly sloppy joints will be hidden behind the valence! The little rectangles delaminated on the wall are for airbricks to ventilate the ladies lavatory.

 

[Steph Dale]

Having reached the top, there is a problem. The aforementioned station chimneys had distinct appendages, presumably to create turbulence. I suspect this purpose, as a much later generation of aeronautical engineers applied similar, though very much smaller versions of these to the upper surface of wings to improve lift.

Watching this build with great interest, Peter, the LSWR is very much my 'thing'.
I suggest, however, that the vanes on the chimneys are to prevent smoke from one chimney being sucked down an adjacent one in the event of a cross wind. And yes it's a 'mixing'/turbulence thing. On an aircraft wing they're designed to do the opposite and reduce turbulence/slip of the air across the wing; their purpose is then not to improve lift, but to reduce drag...

Steph

 

[Peter Insole]

Thanks Steph, you are of course quite right. I hang my head in shame! To think that I used to work in an aircraft design office and got rather mixed up on such an essential point. That's a bit scary isn't it? I like to think that I still have a way to go before claiming senility as an excuse too!

Pete.

Edit: I was just looking back through some reference material and noted a single flue chimney with those peculiar vanes!

Sorry Steph, I really don't want to embarrass you, but that one could have had little to do with smoke being drawn down adjacent flues!

I then read up about "Boundary layer" airflow, and discovered that the vortex generators create drag, but that is an unwanted payoff against reducing wing and control surface stall at "high angles of attack" or slow air-speed!

It is true that by creating vortices they prevent "Early" turbulence occurring in the above conditions, and don't do anything for lift in normal flight, but they certainly do maintain lift and control at the critical limits of the envelope!

For anyone who might refer to one of my Technical Illustrations from the mid '70's; I know I am a daft old ha'p'th, but I think the drawings were all OK!!

Pete.

 

[Peter Insole]

After doing a bit of running around, here is the rest of todays post:

As I mentioned early in this thread, I had this silly idea of doing the whole thing without recourse to modern technology. Well, I didn't quite get away from it!

My friend and customer quite rightly insisted that I consider laser cutting for the tediously repetitive canopy and bargeboard valences. We also required nine identical and ornate spandrels as well. At the time, I did not know of anyone who could help, so he turned to a commercial company which may have proved rather costly! I couldn't assist by doing the CAD either and could only provide conventional drawings for them to work from. I must say that I was incredibly impressed with the accuracy of the result, but with only one reservation: I had particularly requested that the valences be cut in ply, primarily for the sake of appearance, but also because I personally prefer not to mix materials in order to avoid adhesive issues where it is unnecessary. What we got was Rowmark, with the excuse that "You can't cut ply with lasers"! (Though I suspect that it was more a case of tacking a small order onto a more profitable one). I did have a bit of "fun" with this slightly peculiar stuff, but think it all came out OK in the end?



The Rowmark was much too smooth and the joints far too precise, so I attempted to scratch some imitation woodgrain. As a novice with this medium, I was really surprised at how resistant it was. Even a brand new scalpel blade barely made an impression!



Where the material really scored was where it didn't need any! These splendid spandrels would have been a nightmare to hand craft.



They have only been placed in position for this shot. In the previous photo it might be noted that there are no discernible bolt fittings, presumably countersunk flush and well hidden with many layers of paint. I was still a bit concerned about vulnerability, especially as we have no spares, so ended up carefully pinning them for added security. The only way that these can come adrift and be lost now is if they get smashed, and I can't do anything about that!

 

[Peter Insole]

With the exterior work structurally complete, it was time to for paint!

In retrospect it might have been better to have primed overall and left it like that for a while as there would be an awful lot of handling to come. The temptation to feel that a milestone had been passed was too much!



I generally use Humbrol enamels, and feel that they are particularly suited for this model. The finish is not only durable, but as this model is intended for out of doors "plug'n'play" use, has a proven waterproofing effect. I started out slapping on a thoroughly penetrating, blotchy, slightly variegated coat of dark, yellowish grey colour. This was replicate the so called "Black" mortar pointing that was commonly found on architecture of this period and can be seen in my previous post, albeit darkened in appearance by the recent application of anti-graffiti varnish.

The areas of red were lightly dry-brushed with a mixed, middle coat first, then individual bricks picked out with an almost pure matt orange and a red-brown shade.

All colours, both brick and mortar were purposely darkened beneath the eaves and awning areas in order to enhance the shadows and sense of depth on the model.



Then it was down to the unavoidably tedious embellishments! There was no alterative to painting the "White" quoins and string courses individually! It might have been a bit easier if I was modelling the contemporary, post renovated station, but the chosen period required it in a more familiar, slightly grubby condition!



A suitably, slightly sooty stack...



And finally, out in the sunshine to compare our own extremely similar Suffolk with Surrey red and white brickwork. I should perhaps add that in the last image the wall at right angles to the front door is a not so well matched neighbour's modern, metric extension!

 

[mickoo]

Bloody 'ell

I amazed at the construction, even more so the speed at which it has gone together, topped off by superb painting, and I know this is only the first pass having seen your previous work.

Kudos!

Mick D

 

[Dan Randall]

Magnificent!


Regards

Dan

 

[john lewsey]

Stunning

 

[Heather Kay]

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Beautiful work Peter .

 

[Peter Insole]

Thank you Mick, Dan, John, Heather and Dave, but I feel as if I have led you all astray now! If only it was true that I could do it this quick!!

I am posting almost daily from my archives in order to catch up with current progress! I originally intended to just bung on a few shots of previous work, but then realised the whole raison deter of Thunder with it's invaluable "That's a good idea" or "Blimey, I wouldn't do it like that" value prompted me to give it the whole nine yards!

There was a lovely story about when the "Tilbury" tank was displayed at an exhibition. A company loco inspector who, when tasked with showing visitors around the footplate, uttered not one word. His excuse was that he had "spent a lifetime obtaining his knowledge, so why should anyone get it for free"!

The most important thing for me is that everyone might not just find my efforts merely entertaining, but hopefully inspire a little too!

Pete.