viaEstrecha
Spanish metre gauge in G scale (on the cheap)
I have been chipping away slowly, creating a little bit of the small fictitious town of Montsiá (Catalunya) and have previously shown some bits of the low-relief street { https://www.gscalecentral.net/buildings-bridges-lineside/calle-la-estacion-%28station-street%29/} and station area {https://www.gscalecentral.net/buildings-bridges-lineside/getting-there-slowly-a-new-station-emerges-%28well-in-part%29/}. This winter, I have been adding to the buildings and Ernesto the Spokesdonkey and I thought we would share some more piccies. A couple of folk asked for more info on the construction, and so there are a few 'work in progress' shots too. I've tried to keep the file sizes small and host my photos on a third party site so that I am not dragging the forum or your browser to a standstill!
Inspiration for the first new model shows how my fuddled brain struggles with reality:
My first home as a child was a holiday camp, managed by my parents - we lived in the bungalow in the foreground - and the Art Deco influence has stuck with me. A broken network mini-hub and my favourite Henry Mancini tune came together to suggest a splendid little cinema, which would look OK in an early 1960s Spanish provincial high street. So, here's 'Cine Victoria'. Ernesto has recently decided that photobombing is amusing, though I keep telling him he looks a total ass.
As the building is plain, I wanted to make it more dramatic by using light. The mini-hub which forms the canopy had the guts replaced by bits of clear PVC to make a diffuser.
And the original LED prism was put back externally with holes cut through the top, to make a bank of 'floodlights' for the front of the building. The open ventilation holes were filled with very old clear varnish and so 'glow' yellow in contrast to the bright white of the LEDs. Now you can see where The Pink Panther comes into the equation. Authentic period Spanish posters for the movie 'La Pantera Rosa' are displayed on the side walls.
Construction used my usual methods. Once the basic walls have been made and window/door apertures cut out, additional bracing and edging is added to increase the depth and provide more surface for butted joints. I use a combination of 3mm and 5mm board, which gives a good range of thicknesses, though this building features distinctive curved edges utilising DIY 6mm tile edging and so I had to pack some parts with 1mm plasticard so that it lined up. A good supply of clampy things is helpful to keep up the pressure until the Uhu goes off. Forex board cuts reasonably easy with a Stanley knife and can be drilled, sanded, sawed and even screwed, as well as glued.
The 'tower' is an offcut of extractor fan ducting. I waste very little, saving all offcuts to be used where they won't show and as there is no interior being modelled this time, the results inside look somewhat chaotic! There are 9 LEDs, hence a lot of wires. As is my norm, they are rated 12V DC but will be given about 9V once planted outside.
To represent those nasty steel-framed windows from the mid 20th century, I added extra glazing bars to some Pola spares, using T-section profile. 1mm clear PVC sheet is used as glazing - I have learned my lesson the hard way with the useless cellophane stuff that comes with commercial building kits.
The vertical 'neon' lighting up the face of the tower is strips of 1mm glazing set into the walls then lit from behind by 3 bright white LEDs and the edge-lighting effect makes the visible surfaces glow. The exterior is not as grubby as I tend to do normally, as I think that a summer season outside in real conditions will provide its own weathering, despite 3 coats of various shades of masonry paint. For the first time, I'm trying homemade inkjet decals for the lettering (varnished) and so how well they will last is completely unknown. The Cine Victoria sign is backlit by 2 yellow LEDs and a red one mounted over the doorway contributes to a warm, welcoming glow. The Art Deco doors feature some copper pipe for handles and a pair of copper-painted washers for the characteristic 'porthole' windows. Unfortunately my poor photography becomes even worse in the dark.
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The second new building is a bit of a cliché but I wanted an excuse to do some silly detailing. By making my buildings live outside (in the summer at least), I can't always indulge in the fiddly stuff or fanatical detailing that lucky folk with indoor layouts can enjoy but I did it anyway and time will tell if I was asking for trouble. My attempt to mitigate the weather is explained at the end. This time it is a rural garage, which would look at home almost anywhere in the world.
The odd shape of both this building and the cinema is due to the tight position available - a narrow slot against a retaining garden wall, and so the roofs wrap themselves over the top of this wall to give a bit more depth. This is the early assembly of the garage being trialled in situ, to show how constrained is the location.
Sometimes, it is possible to use slotted joints for walls, to give extra strength - the half-height slots overlap when assembled, like the inserts in bottle cartons.
I never make a plan - usually a thumbnail sketch on a small post-it note is as far as I plan ahead. I tend to keep mocking up as I go along and then the building evolves. I had gathered a lot of potential detailing material over time and it was hard to edit it down to a reasonable level. A lot of the rest will find its way into the loco shed some day. Here I was trying to see how much I would be able to cram inside! Note the use of thermoplastic cladding to the left of the building - though I often scribe the board to give brick, stone or wood effects, I also cheat sometimes when I can't be bothered to give myself blisters from the bradawl.
I have to cheat when it comes to tiled roofs, though I have not yet found a decent Spanish tile sheet in 1:24. When I have saved some more pocket money, I shall try the styrene sheet sold by EMA Model Supplies, though it still looks Roman rather than Spanish! This flimsy material is a so-and-so to use and has to be glued to foamboard to be sturdy enough, and then it needs plenty of Milliput to fill the gaps as mortar. This is the kiosk roof.
For the main roof, I was even more naughty, as slate is not exactly typical for Catalunya, except perhaps right up in the top of the Pyrenees. And it is overscale again, but I happened to have a sheet lurking in stock and so it got used! I was pleased with the paint effect, using masonry paint mixed with dashes of acrylic greys so that each slate is unique. Here the barge boards are going on.
Vac-formed brick sheet has also been used a little to clad the side walls and I paint it in mortar-coloured masonry paint first, then terracotta/brick is lightly dabbed on to the brick faces with little bits of old washing-up sponge, and then finally I get as artistic as I will ever be and mix shades up with acrylics to spot-colour random bricks with a small brush. Project management needs to be applied as it helps to paint as much as you can, especially inside, before assembly, though this is rarely possible with everything and with subsequent touch-ups to edges and to cover over where 1:1 fat thumbs have made a mess, painting can take ages.
This model uses 5 LEDs and to neaten up the wiring inside because the interiors would be visible (in contrast to the cinema), I used PVC conduit sold for dollshouses, which keeps wires enclosed with just the head of the LED poking out. One of the LEDs is in screw bulb format, inside the Pola lamp attached to a Bachmann telephone pole, which illuminates the outside. Both inside and outside include examples of the Spanish use of enamel tiles as advertising, gleaned from old photos on the Web, shopped, printed and laminated. The displays inside the petrol pumps are done the same way, scaled down shopped and laminated photos which are sandwiched between the layers of foam board and plasticard to form the pumps. Mains wire and copper tube form the hoses and nozzles. Here an intrepid British motorist has ventured far into darkest Spain in his fancy new Mini Cooper and needs topping up with 'Super'! I would imagine that in the early 1960s, before tourism to Spain was commonplace, and Gen Franco was busy dictating over a relatively backward and undeveloped land, it would have been quite some adventure.
I like mucking about with graphics. For example, I found a pleasing rusty enamel sign advertising ice cream and pinched the background and colours to form the basis of the Workshop sign. I use an ancient Microsoft photo-editing program called Image Composer, which is so much simpler than modern fancy stuff like Photoshop - this old dog has an aversion to new tricks.
To one side, I needed to disguise the wires supplying the building and made a section of concrete panel fence from 3mm board. The horizontal slats are cut only 3/4 through then snapped to produce a rougher edge and they are butted but not glued. The posts are narrower strips and are glued back and front to hold it all together, and the finish is pale stone masonry paint with streaks of dry-brushed Humbrol 87 (my "gunge of choice") and some cheap aquarium plastic plants provide a contrast in texture.
As for all the little details - the 'Campsa' petrol station sign is an authentic model, made from scraps; the workshop interior stuff is a mix of bits from Revell and Tamiya kits (including the figures) and other junk of my own, such as a bit of PVC trunking for the toolboard, sprue for downpipes and tiny offcuts for boxes on the shelves.
And there is plenty going on today in the workshop. Well, the art of "looking busy" anyway. Ah-ha, the doors are now open! Is it magic?
Finally, this is how I have tried to accommodate the weather issue: interchangeable fronts that slide into the big door aperture. When I have visitors and want to show off (and it is neither wet nor windy), I can replace the default 'closed doors' front with the version that has the doors 'folded back', and I just drag out the set dressing stored inside so that it spills out into the street. That's the theory, at least.
Inspiration for the first new model shows how my fuddled brain struggles with reality:
My first home as a child was a holiday camp, managed by my parents - we lived in the bungalow in the foreground - and the Art Deco influence has stuck with me. A broken network mini-hub and my favourite Henry Mancini tune came together to suggest a splendid little cinema, which would look OK in an early 1960s Spanish provincial high street. So, here's 'Cine Victoria'. Ernesto has recently decided that photobombing is amusing, though I keep telling him he looks a total ass.
As the building is plain, I wanted to make it more dramatic by using light. The mini-hub which forms the canopy had the guts replaced by bits of clear PVC to make a diffuser.
And the original LED prism was put back externally with holes cut through the top, to make a bank of 'floodlights' for the front of the building. The open ventilation holes were filled with very old clear varnish and so 'glow' yellow in contrast to the bright white of the LEDs. Now you can see where The Pink Panther comes into the equation. Authentic period Spanish posters for the movie 'La Pantera Rosa' are displayed on the side walls.
Construction used my usual methods. Once the basic walls have been made and window/door apertures cut out, additional bracing and edging is added to increase the depth and provide more surface for butted joints. I use a combination of 3mm and 5mm board, which gives a good range of thicknesses, though this building features distinctive curved edges utilising DIY 6mm tile edging and so I had to pack some parts with 1mm plasticard so that it lined up. A good supply of clampy things is helpful to keep up the pressure until the Uhu goes off. Forex board cuts reasonably easy with a Stanley knife and can be drilled, sanded, sawed and even screwed, as well as glued.
The 'tower' is an offcut of extractor fan ducting. I waste very little, saving all offcuts to be used where they won't show and as there is no interior being modelled this time, the results inside look somewhat chaotic! There are 9 LEDs, hence a lot of wires. As is my norm, they are rated 12V DC but will be given about 9V once planted outside.
To represent those nasty steel-framed windows from the mid 20th century, I added extra glazing bars to some Pola spares, using T-section profile. 1mm clear PVC sheet is used as glazing - I have learned my lesson the hard way with the useless cellophane stuff that comes with commercial building kits.
The vertical 'neon' lighting up the face of the tower is strips of 1mm glazing set into the walls then lit from behind by 3 bright white LEDs and the edge-lighting effect makes the visible surfaces glow. The exterior is not as grubby as I tend to do normally, as I think that a summer season outside in real conditions will provide its own weathering, despite 3 coats of various shades of masonry paint. For the first time, I'm trying homemade inkjet decals for the lettering (varnished) and so how well they will last is completely unknown. The Cine Victoria sign is backlit by 2 yellow LEDs and a red one mounted over the doorway contributes to a warm, welcoming glow. The Art Deco doors feature some copper pipe for handles and a pair of copper-painted washers for the characteristic 'porthole' windows. Unfortunately my poor photography becomes even worse in the dark.
--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--:--
The second new building is a bit of a cliché but I wanted an excuse to do some silly detailing. By making my buildings live outside (in the summer at least), I can't always indulge in the fiddly stuff or fanatical detailing that lucky folk with indoor layouts can enjoy but I did it anyway and time will tell if I was asking for trouble. My attempt to mitigate the weather is explained at the end. This time it is a rural garage, which would look at home almost anywhere in the world.
The odd shape of both this building and the cinema is due to the tight position available - a narrow slot against a retaining garden wall, and so the roofs wrap themselves over the top of this wall to give a bit more depth. This is the early assembly of the garage being trialled in situ, to show how constrained is the location.
Sometimes, it is possible to use slotted joints for walls, to give extra strength - the half-height slots overlap when assembled, like the inserts in bottle cartons.
I never make a plan - usually a thumbnail sketch on a small post-it note is as far as I plan ahead. I tend to keep mocking up as I go along and then the building evolves. I had gathered a lot of potential detailing material over time and it was hard to edit it down to a reasonable level. A lot of the rest will find its way into the loco shed some day. Here I was trying to see how much I would be able to cram inside! Note the use of thermoplastic cladding to the left of the building - though I often scribe the board to give brick, stone or wood effects, I also cheat sometimes when I can't be bothered to give myself blisters from the bradawl.
I have to cheat when it comes to tiled roofs, though I have not yet found a decent Spanish tile sheet in 1:24. When I have saved some more pocket money, I shall try the styrene sheet sold by EMA Model Supplies, though it still looks Roman rather than Spanish! This flimsy material is a so-and-so to use and has to be glued to foamboard to be sturdy enough, and then it needs plenty of Milliput to fill the gaps as mortar. This is the kiosk roof.
For the main roof, I was even more naughty, as slate is not exactly typical for Catalunya, except perhaps right up in the top of the Pyrenees. And it is overscale again, but I happened to have a sheet lurking in stock and so it got used! I was pleased with the paint effect, using masonry paint mixed with dashes of acrylic greys so that each slate is unique. Here the barge boards are going on.
Vac-formed brick sheet has also been used a little to clad the side walls and I paint it in mortar-coloured masonry paint first, then terracotta/brick is lightly dabbed on to the brick faces with little bits of old washing-up sponge, and then finally I get as artistic as I will ever be and mix shades up with acrylics to spot-colour random bricks with a small brush. Project management needs to be applied as it helps to paint as much as you can, especially inside, before assembly, though this is rarely possible with everything and with subsequent touch-ups to edges and to cover over where 1:1 fat thumbs have made a mess, painting can take ages.
This model uses 5 LEDs and to neaten up the wiring inside because the interiors would be visible (in contrast to the cinema), I used PVC conduit sold for dollshouses, which keeps wires enclosed with just the head of the LED poking out. One of the LEDs is in screw bulb format, inside the Pola lamp attached to a Bachmann telephone pole, which illuminates the outside. Both inside and outside include examples of the Spanish use of enamel tiles as advertising, gleaned from old photos on the Web, shopped, printed and laminated. The displays inside the petrol pumps are done the same way, scaled down shopped and laminated photos which are sandwiched between the layers of foam board and plasticard to form the pumps. Mains wire and copper tube form the hoses and nozzles. Here an intrepid British motorist has ventured far into darkest Spain in his fancy new Mini Cooper and needs topping up with 'Super'! I would imagine that in the early 1960s, before tourism to Spain was commonplace, and Gen Franco was busy dictating over a relatively backward and undeveloped land, it would have been quite some adventure.
I like mucking about with graphics. For example, I found a pleasing rusty enamel sign advertising ice cream and pinched the background and colours to form the basis of the Workshop sign. I use an ancient Microsoft photo-editing program called Image Composer, which is so much simpler than modern fancy stuff like Photoshop - this old dog has an aversion to new tricks.
To one side, I needed to disguise the wires supplying the building and made a section of concrete panel fence from 3mm board. The horizontal slats are cut only 3/4 through then snapped to produce a rougher edge and they are butted but not glued. The posts are narrower strips and are glued back and front to hold it all together, and the finish is pale stone masonry paint with streaks of dry-brushed Humbrol 87 (my "gunge of choice") and some cheap aquarium plastic plants provide a contrast in texture.
As for all the little details - the 'Campsa' petrol station sign is an authentic model, made from scraps; the workshop interior stuff is a mix of bits from Revell and Tamiya kits (including the figures) and other junk of my own, such as a bit of PVC trunking for the toolboard, sprue for downpipes and tiny offcuts for boxes on the shelves.
And there is plenty going on today in the workshop. Well, the art of "looking busy" anyway. Ah-ha, the doors are now open! Is it magic?
Finally, this is how I have tried to accommodate the weather issue: interchangeable fronts that slide into the big door aperture. When I have visitors and want to show off (and it is neither wet nor windy), I can replace the default 'closed doors' front with the version that has the doors 'folded back', and I just drag out the set dressing stored inside so that it spills out into the street. That's the theory, at least.
I love the cinema especially though, and I hope you will post pictures of your railway with tem in situ. (hope you don't object to me replicating the Apex Ice cream sign ?)
