viaEstrecha
Spanish metre gauge in G scale (on the cheap)
This year, my priority is to add more infrastructure to my line and to that end I have been busy making a new station for the main line: Montsià. Construction followed my usual methods, using Forex foamboard and hundreds of little bits of plasticard embellishments to give depth to the stonework, with other oddments along the way, such as rubber bathmat to represent roof tiles. As usual, masonry paints in various hues have been employed. And so finally, after perhaps 150-200 hours of labour, it was placed outdoors yesterday. To celebrate, here are a few photos, including some taken as the evening came, as I was especially keen to use lighting and interior detail in this model.
I based the architectural style on a line in Huesca - this is a typical station from it:
The site in my garden is narrow and so I had to make a slightly more complex shape to fit, whilst retaining the generic style.
General view, showing the separate WC block, usually placed downwind of the main building. PVC tablemat was handy to provide the grilles around the upper part of the walls.
I cheated by using Pola windowframes but had to manufacture the arched doors from scratch, using styrene profile.
Most of my other buildings are low-relief but here I have had to model it to be seen from all sides. This is the 'back door' A separate shape representing pavement slides up against the base of the building, to hide any gaps.
And here I was able to indulge myself with some street furniture of 1960s Spain.
Amazingly, I do very occasionally manage to run a train as well!
Just a few more shots as the evening drew in. My cheap digital camera gets a bit grainy now, so apologies for that!
Certain rooms have interior decoration to provide something to spot when you peer through the windows. Laminated photos of shutters have been fixed behind unlit windows. The Pola real-time clock is actually displaying UK rather than Catalan time! Whitemetal bell, distance marker and altitude plate are other typically Spanish features.
Peeping Tom time! The "trompe d'oeuil" detail inside the ticket office, just visible through the waiting room, is a collage of material from a photo of the office at Beamish museum.
Mixing bright and warm LEDs creates a nice contrast of lighting effects.
This was the last one, looking up the street from the roof of the garage opposite the station, before my camera finally surrendered to the darkness!
I based the architectural style on a line in Huesca - this is a typical station from it:
The site in my garden is narrow and so I had to make a slightly more complex shape to fit, whilst retaining the generic style.
General view, showing the separate WC block, usually placed downwind of the main building. PVC tablemat was handy to provide the grilles around the upper part of the walls.
I cheated by using Pola windowframes but had to manufacture the arched doors from scratch, using styrene profile.
Most of my other buildings are low-relief but here I have had to model it to be seen from all sides. This is the 'back door' A separate shape representing pavement slides up against the base of the building, to hide any gaps.
And here I was able to indulge myself with some street furniture of 1960s Spain.
Amazingly, I do very occasionally manage to run a train as well!
Just a few more shots as the evening drew in. My cheap digital camera gets a bit grainy now, so apologies for that!
Certain rooms have interior decoration to provide something to spot when you peer through the windows. Laminated photos of shutters have been fixed behind unlit windows. The Pola real-time clock is actually displaying UK rather than Catalan time! Whitemetal bell, distance marker and altitude plate are other typically Spanish features.
Peeping Tom time! The "trompe d'oeuil" detail inside the ticket office, just visible through the waiting room, is a collage of material from a photo of the office at Beamish museum.
Mixing bright and warm LEDs creates a nice contrast of lighting effects.
This was the last one, looking up the street from the roof of the garage opposite the station, before my camera finally surrendered to the darkness!
