4mm Monks: perhaps NOT a Classic Minories - for a grandchild.

[jonte]

yep, that works.

I tend to agree, even the grubbier bits of the Mersey side of the Wirral were not that green...

 

[jonte]

That looks terrific!

I’m chuffed

Thanks, Simon.

Jonte

 

[Pencarrow]

I’m chuffed

Jonte

And rightly so, looks the part. Smashing stuff.

 

[jonte]

And rightly so, looks the part. Smashing stuff.

And of course, suitably chuffed

Thanks, Chris.

Jonte

 

[jonte]

The two sections of roof constructed separately, fellow Westerners, have been successfully joined after a couple of days’ allowance for the glue to dry. I wanted to try them in their conjoined form for fit, and am pleased to discover that it does so quite well. Consequently, I’ll be able to remove as and when for track cleaning purposes. I’ve taken a couple of quick shots, although please forgive the unintentional gloom; I should have taken them earlier but was short of time:



I’ve not done any modelling for a couple of days, but last session saw me making a start on the frontispiece:



It’s a construction of three laminated spare beams, the inner having its down-hangers removed such that it will allow me to slot the glazing between the two outer sections (frames) for gluing. The other pairs of ‘frames’ were cut to size last time so will be attached to the main piece next time. That’s the idea anyway.

Cheers for now.

Jonte

 

[Ressaldar]

Nothing like a cunning plan Jonte!

best wishes

Mike

 

[jonte]

Nothing like a cunning plan Jonte!

best wishes

Mike

Thanks, Mike, but I wouldn’t bank on it

Jonte

 

[John57sharp]

Wow, I looked away for a few days dealing with other life issues, and you’ve done so much. Looking great and gloom is, I think appropriate for this station?

John

 

[jonte]

Wow, I looked away for a few days dealing with other life issues, and you’ve done so much. Looking great and gloom is, I think appropriate for this station?

John

Hi John, and thank you for your morale boosting support as usual

To be honest, most of the real work was making the jigs as accurately as possible with my limited knowledge and resources. Since then, all I’ve really done is cut out umpteen lengths of styrene section with my tiny razor saw, and glued them to the multitude of ‘A’ frames to form the bones of my roof. As I mentioned in a recent post, this could have been done far more quickly and accurately with a guillotine, but things were never going to get that serious . That said, I do try me damndest!

You’re spot on about the gloom, John, as I rather suspect a station of this vintage, by the early to mid sixties anyway, would have been well past its sell by date, and without a penny having been spent post war - unless necessary due to bomb damage etc. which I’m not ruling out - so basically down at heel, which is what I’m aiming for and why the picture of Banbury shed is so appropriate as a basis for the model:



It’s my intention to capture the look as it appears in that borrowed photo, although I’m tempted to continue the roof a little further towards the apex than shown just to create a little more of that sought after ‘gloom’; but the jury’s still out

I also need to keep my foot on the gas as it were in terms of pace of build, as the baby seems to grow so quickly. My biggest fear is that she’ll have grown up and gone to Uni or wherever before it’s anyway near finished, and what a disappointment that would be. Means I might just have to ‘play’ with it myself

Many thanks once again for your kind interest, John.

Jonte

 

[Roger Pound]

Jon,
The overall effect is stunning. One small point though - bomb damage and general neglect notwithstanding - there was always one place where pennies, of neccessity, were spent on these old fashioned buildings we all love and cherish in our memories - the old platform ticket machine of course . What's that ? --You thought I was referring to some where else on the premises......no, not me,Guv .

By the way, you are quite right about grandchildren - they become young adults at an amazingly fast rate these days.

Cheers,

Roger.

 

[Allen M]

By the way, you are quite right about grandchildren - they become young adults at an amazingly fast rate these days.

Cheers,

Roger.

And when it's Great grandchildren it's even more scary.

Regards
Allen

 

[jonte]

Jon,
The overall effect is stunning. One small point though - bomb damage and general neglect notwithstanding - there was always one place where pennies, of neccessity, were spent on these old fashioned buildings we all love and cherish in our memories - the old platform ticket machine of course . What's that ? --You thought I was referring to some where else on the premises......no, not me,Guv .

By the way, you are quite right about grandchildren - they become young adults at an amazingly fast rate these days.



Cheers,

Roger.

Most kind of you to say so, Roger. Thank you.

Of course, the litmus test will be whether or not it rekindles fond memories of your RAF days passing through Banbury; my get out clause, as always, will be Rule #1

My tiny patrons need not worry about the ‘facilities’ (out of sight in the main building; further along the open platform(s)) which haven’t been neglected by B.R.. Rumour has it, however, that the far corner of platform 1 was a handy, ahum, spot for relieving oneself prior to boarding the last train home on a Saturday evening

And yes, Roger, the years for all of us seem to fly by

Many thanks dropping by

Jon

 

[jonte]

Looks like my ‘gapped frames’ idea for accommodating the glazing actually worked, fellow Westerners. Wonders never cease:



Hopefully you can just make out the reflection of the lamp in the glazing to the left of the frontispiece.

I’ve plenty of clear plasticard for the purpose, but just thought I’d try a cassette case for a change. Once you get the many perpendicular edges out of the way, you’re left with a clean flat surface which can be scored and snapped like thick plastic card. Then it was just a case of slotting between the frames and fixing with poly cement.

I had intended to fit the glazing bars before attaching to make painting easier. However, I think it’s better to get the bars straight and located relative to the frame, and worry about the paining later.

So I’ll carry on and fit the right hand glazing.

I’ve also decided to epoxy the ceiling - after scoring to represent planking - to the roof beams, as the structure thus far is extremely light and flimsy, and I really don’t want to have to contend with the prospect of warping Super glue would do the same job, but the instant ‘grab’ puts me off.

Thanks for reading and for all your kind ‘likes’.

Jonte

 

[Roger Pound]

Most kind of you to say so, Roger. Thank you.

Of course, the litmus test will be whether or not it rekindles fond memories of your RAF days passing through Banbury; my get out clause, as always, will be Rule #1

Jon

To be brutally honest, Jon, I didn't take much notice of the station buildings at Banbury in the nineteen-fifties when changing trains there. On most occasions the time was very limited. Usually one had endured the most tortoise like progress on the local from Oxford, when the loco, usually a 'Hall', would have benefited from a rocket in the firebox - quite right, I was not endeared to the BR(W) . I was thus anticipating the pleasure of a brisk run over the branch to the Great Central Main line and onward to my destination in the East Midlands. This would be courtesy of a the crew of a B1 or occasionally a V2 which would be driven with the typical aplomb one associated with that line . I realise my views of the BR(W) will not be shared by some, but then we like a bit of variety - it makes the world go round after all .

Finally, of course you are right and my views on the subject are well known - Rule One always applies !

Carry on glazing, my old friend,

Roger .

 

[jonte]

To be brutally honest, Jon, I didn't take much notice of the station buildings at Banbury in the nineteen-fifties when changing trains there. On most occasions the time was very limited. Usually one had endured the most tortoise like progress on the local from Oxford, when the loco, usually a 'Hall', would have benefited from a rocket in the firebox - quite right, I was not endeared to the BR(W) . I was thus anticipating the pleasure of a brisk run over the branch to the Great Central Main line and onward to my destination in the East Midlands. This would be courtesy of a the crew of a B1 or occasionally a V2 which would be driven with the typical aplomb one associated with that line . I realise my views of the BR(W) will not be shared by some, but then we like a bit of variety - it makes the world go round after all .

Finally, of course you are right and my views on the subject are well known - Rule One always applies !

Carry on glazing, my old friend,

Roger .

I admire your honesty, Roger, and I’m certain your experiences on both routes will prove valuable to those of us who can’t quite remember travelling by kettle, although I was assured I did

And of course, we’ve got the picture of Banbury with which to make comparisons, so nothing lost

Btw, it wasn’t this old boiler that was responsible for your somewhat pedestrian journey, was it Roger? :



Somebody’s even committed a final indignity of nicking the poor old things plates - and probably while it was moving by all accounts

Cheers, my friend.

Jon

 

[Roger Pound]

Looks about right !

Roger .

 

[jonte]

Well, am I glad that’s over, fellow Westerners.

I refer of course to the job of glazing; glazing the front panel of the train shed roof, to be more precise.

Actually, the fitting of the glass panels (tape cassette cartridges) went okay as per my last post, and the fitting of the exterior frames wasn’t too bad, but the glazing bars……. What an ‘orrible , ‘orrible job that was, made worse by being too impatient to send off for MEK and using some canopy glue I’ve had for some time. Tried cleaning up, but I erroneously thought I could clean up the excess hours after applying the glue. Wrong. The lumps can be disguised under the gunge intended for the glass, but talk about making difficult jobs harder.
Wouldn’t mind, but am intending to apply a thin coat of matt varnish to mist the glass before painting, but when I thought about it (later!), I could have killed two birds by using ordinary poly cement: it would have glued the bars first time every time (I had to revisit several as initially I’d been too cautious applying the glue sparingly which led to them coming loose, and in doing so, created a greater mess!), and the poly would have caused the ‘glass’ to mist evenly. Hey Ho!


I’ve exterior framed the glass panels within the A frame, front and rear, of the panel shown in the pix below, but I’ve only applied glazing bars to the front - it really strains your eyes as well as your patience.

Front:



Rear:



Not sure if you can see the glue marks, Westerners, but let me assure you they’re there


I say it’s done, but there’s still the rear panel to do, however, I’ve a cheat in mind as I’m not going through all that again - should have cheated in the first place and asked my nephew to print out the frames and the bars on his three dee printer - but it shouldn’t be necessary with what I have in mind.


To spare you the angst of listening to me drone on, I shaln’t post up the resulting rear panel - which I’m hoping will turn out pretty much the same - but I’ll send some pictures of the architraving which will ‘adorn’ the front next time.


Apologies for the whinge.


Jonte

 

[jonte]

Yet another post in quick succession, fellow Westerners, but probably the last for a while - which many might be relieved to read - as, apart from the rear panel mentioned in my last, I’ve more or less reached the painting stage, which will probably take some time.

Talking of which, I’ve decided to employ my airbrush on this occasion, so was delighted to discover a growing concern not too distant in nearby Ormskirk, which stocks a full compliment of Vallejo air paints. Yes, they can be ordered on line, but I needed to see them in the flesh so to speak to try and match them to the colour of the beams and pillars already in situ. As it transpired, there wasn’t a colour match per se, but my wife who has an eye for these things picked a Humbrol acrylic, which I think when mixed with a cream Vallejo I picked up at the time, might just do the trick. Fingers crossed.

Returning to the build, I spent a little time earlier knocking up some ‘architraving’ from bits of styrene and more of my ‘machine crafted’ coving, with which to dress to the front fascia. Like the original, there will be only fragments reproduced, and again like the rest of the model thus far, it will be much dumbed-down .

So some pix to finish:

A reminder of the original fascia:



The bits not cut to size or mitred and just placed for illustrative purposes:



The paints:



And a couple to see what it looks like against the existing bit:



Many thanks once again to all who have been kind enough to support me by way of likes and/or kind words.
I hope to return in the near future with something that hopefully resembles Banbury.

Kind regards,

Jonte

 

[simond]

Like that lots.

I trust you are not going to introduce a prototypical sag…. I fear that would be challenging to replicate!

 

[simond]

Probably not handy for you if you’re near Ormskirk, but there’s a stockist of paints, and goblins, orcs, etc, at Brimstage on the Wirral. They keep (kept, haven’t visited in a while) a very good range.