Belgian Project - Proto 87 standards

[Dirky]

Hi again,
been doing something else for the last few months but finally picked up where I left and did some scenery tests:





roof tiles are just a preliminary test (copying a flemish type of tile) but they look fine from a normal viewing distance. As a result of this test I start to believe that I can actually make a tool to speed up roof tiling!

[Dirky]

some P87 trackwork:




thanks for watching

[Dirky]

LOST THIS PICTURE - WILL POST NEW ONE LATER

the "type 11" loc is getting better too:

the chassis is ready to accept the wheels. These are transformed from Romford tender wheels.

[Dirky]

Jumped to another item on the layout. A working steamcrane should be loading open wagons. The crane works OK in manual mode - pulling the strings - and later RC servo's should do the job.




painted and partially rusted/weathered the main structure before assembly.

[Ray Dunakin]

Holy guacamole! That steam shovel is looking good! Amazing work for such a small scale.

[finescalerr]

What he said. -- Russ

[Malachi Constant]

Wow!  Nice as a static model, but getting it to work is impressive ... looking forward to more ... nice work!

Cheers,
Dallas

[Dirky]

Due to some changes in my personal life, this project has been set aside for a while.

I'm in the process of placing back the pictures and will later add some new updates...


sorry for this inconvenience!

[Dirky]

Did a restart on the project by building the house on the right hand side (this picture is anno 2010):

on the right the facade is made using PVC sheeting. Made a plaster copy but that showed to many airbubbles. Instead of throwing it away I used it as a basis to practice some new (to me) techniques.




and did some cobblestone tests...


thanks for watching (again)

[BKLN]

Awesome!
Unfortunately, most of your other pictures have been removed.

[Dirky]

A short recap of the story:

The "Nederbrakel Anno 1920" model railroad project will show a H0 scaled copy of the railway station environment of the town where I live, as it could have been some 90 years ago. It will be a traveling display. At least that's what I hope it will be!
Primary historical sources for this are a bunch of old postcards and the plan from the railway company anno 1905. Wherever I can, I measure things that still are present today.

Building this 100% to scale would ask for a 30 meter table and that is something I do not have room for. Compressing reality is the only solution. This starts already when building the houses. All the buildings will be correct regarding height but some will be made 5 to 10 % less wide.

Practically it should result in an L-shape display that uses 8m x 1m for the historical "correct" environment, the other leg of the L will be 4m x 1m and will display a fake industrial area that will feature buildings that are lookalikes of real stuff from other postcards. That area should be the fun part later as it will have at least the working steam bagger and probably more machinery that can be operated by the visitors themselves.

I also aim to keep it cheap and as you will see that results in some strange techniques and dedicated tooling. But "strange" is something this forum is used to, isn't it?

Hope you all will enjoy this new start!

in the meantime, the picture links have been repaired where possible. Unfortunately I had to delete some links...

[jacq01]

 Hallo Dirk,

geweldig weer eens wat van je werk te zien.......

Good to see some progres / news from your project.  The walls look great, nice texture. I have one comment, the boarded up window planks are in my opinion too large and the grain too coarse. It is in dissonance with your other finescale work.

Jacq

[Dirky]

Nice to hear you too again Jacq (and of course all the others) and glad to be back... I missed some of the stuff that is being shown on this brilliant forum!

fortunately, this ruined facade is not meant to be on the display.
Believe it or not, the planks have their own story: Seven months ago I had to have my dogs put to sleep with an injection. They were both too old and too sick. We decided not to have anymore dogs in the future and while tearing down their dogs house I noticed on the wood some fantastic beautiful colored moss. The planks had a worn color one can not copy...
On the picture of the base of the crane (see former messages) you can see the planks have a nice greenish/grey color. For the boarded window I used the same planks but somehow the grain is showing the coarse structure more than on the crane's base. Perhaps the natural drying process causes this...

To make smaller planks I will need other tooling. The little disk saw I have is OK for cutting small things but reducing the thickness has to be done by hand with a sharp blade for the time being.

Not sure I will work further on this ruined house but if it will be on the display I'll make sure to correct the boarded window planks...

[Dirky]

Want to talk a little about making cobble stone streets and market squares...

In my search for cobble stone information I came across many different pictures. Some street look as if all stones have been carefully selected, others look quite different!
The worse I came across:



I had to find some kind of "average" that I can use for many situations. The sheet of PVC foam that is in preparation now features cobble stone that could have been 20cm long, ranging from 10 to 20cm wide. This is the tool I use:



Later I will make a silicone mold and copy the pattern in plaster. Those copies can be altered individually and playing with the amount of joint fillers might result in many different views.

Pressing the meccano wheel in the foam is a tough job. The whole process is time-consuming too...


Any hints on different approaches regarding the cobble stone subject?

thanks

[DaKra]

Hi Dirky

Beautiful work so far!   I have not seen this thread before, I'm sorry I did not see the now missing photos.

On cobblestones, we had an interesting discussion here about using high tech to make them.   

http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=1039.45

HOWEVER there is a really interesting low tech way to make these, and you will find it well illustrated in a Japanese TV show!   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjgw_QD15QE&feature=related

This excellent model maker starts showing this around the 4:30 point.  Later he shows how he makes his 1/48 structures, and balcony railings and hanging laundry etc.  By the way, this is a GREAT series of videos and there are dozens of them on Youtube! 


Dave