Garden Railway Forum

Well Rodwell's store is looking rather spic and span after an almost complete repaint (Including sign writing which I hate).



I had to do a small repair because of rot due to a design fault, I hadn't directed rainwater (yes we get that here too) clear of the building. Luckily I had a piece of weatherboard material left over to match the repair.
What was interesting when it came to the signage on the front, checking through other pics. I found that the previous sign writer (some old forgetful git) had variously painted the Est. date as 1910 and 1919 and no one had noticed. Now if I can remember where I put my memory I'll get back to work!!
Grant.

That is an impressive building with much interior detail, I thought your buildings were put to bed at the end of the day?
Window displays concern me as the glazing inevitably 'fogs' and the contents disintegrate, perhaps that's a Welsh thing?

They've stayed out for several years now Peter, still cursing that I made such a mistake being a boat builder and all. Re the glazing I used thin picture frame glass, which I'm sure you must be familiar with, so no fogging and difficult to scratch when I use a soft paint brush to remove sand and dirt after rain. The windows contents came mostly from an old transistor radio. Tiny capacitors looked like jars to me, so stacked appropriately. Variable resistors, square tins of biscuits perhaps, all metal so no deterioration.
I've aimed to keep my town small in order to not have so much to maintain, I'd just hate having to set everything up to run. As I have mentioned earlier on, even when not running trains, I often open the Garage and place a few cars to make the town look lived in.
Grant.

Peter Butler:121214 wrote:That is an impressive building with much interior detail, I thought your buildings were put to bed at the end of the day?
Window displays concern me as the glazing inevitably 'fogs' and the contents disintegrate, perhaps that's a Welsh thing?

Peter,
I think the answer to fogging is to ensure that the window is completely sealed with whatever is behind it.
When I built my Post Office back in Feb/March 2014, you asked a similar question ( http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/abou ... in+casting).
Well, it has been outside ever since that post and this is the state of play as of half an hour ago:


It is obviously rain splashed but that's external, if you compare it to the similar shot in the link above, there is hardly any difference.
The window display itself, and the bedroom contents are pictures stuck to a piece of plasticard with plasticard top, bottom and sides and all glued to the back of the glazing. All joints then liberally covered with silicone sealer for belt and braces.

Thank you for the reminder Philip, I'm so glad one of us has a memory which is still in full working order. Your building method and finish impressed me so much and I'm glad to hear it has survived in such good order.
The window display method sounds good too and I will certainly use that if you don't have copyright?

Knew I had a close up somewhere of window contents.



There's toothpicks and HO milk cans in there too. An early pic. taken at night.
Grant.

Superb Grant, that is what I would like to achieve if possible.
I need to decide the stock of my shops first and find some suitable items to display.
Certainly I feel more confident about the idea now that Philip has described his method of encapsulating the contents.

I'm in absolute awe of all three of you!

Grant, this is just superb. One of the most convincing things I've noticed about your buildings is that they 'grow out of the ground' and don't appear (like so many others we see) to be plonked on the surface with gaps beneath them.

At least not having the space for a village means I shan't have to beat myself up for not being able to come up to such high standards.

Andrew

Love the capacitors in the shop window Grant, they look like beer cans!

Thanks Peter, Andrew, and Tom.
 Andrew your hate is also a pet hate of mine. The building sits on a timber foundation well soaked in diesel oil with the ground built up suitably. I find I often don't notice this problem till I see a photo I've taken.
Grant.

Love the window display Grant. I must remember the electronic bits idea for the future.

We are spoiled on this forum, that is a gem of a building. I don't think I would have the patience to clean the glass windows every time we had rain in the uk! Damp again today.
I also loved the previous pictures, you could imagine yourself as part of the scene on a warm Saturday morning.

philipy:121240 wrote:Love the window display Grant. I must remember the electronic bits idea for the future.

Ditto. Until I saw the close-up, I hadn't recognised the origins of the window display.

Do you fix the glass in place with silicon BTW, Grant?

Rik

Hi Rik,
For windows I generally use "Selleys All Clear" which according to the label is a "universal Co- Polymer". It looks similar to silicone but is a much thicker consistency, allowing me to apply tiny blobs using a match and not having it squeeze everywhere. In the case of the store glass windows there was plenty of overlap, (as I don't trust my glass cutting ability), so it was easy to apply a long line of the stuff.
Grant.

LNR:119037 wrote:Three departments of the LNR have been quite busy this last week. S&T of course have been getting on with the installation of the signal operating equipment.
WARNING! Signal purists should not read on.

Bit late to this party, as ever these days.

Excellent - I like the McK&H touch of the extra reverse notches in the lever frame.

Now, despite being in the UK, I do have a very complete set of information and operating documents for the VR and NSWGR, and I think you're to be congratulated for getting it to look 'right' signalling-wise. Signalling is often regarded as the ephemeral side of modelling, and often disregarded.

With the dwarf signals and the McK&H there is a lot of common ground with NZGR installations, though of course you'd have No 7 tablets in the signal bay, rather than SLA boxes.

I think his Grace may be interested in Carlsruhe - Daylesford, especially Daylesford (LINK) and Dookie on the Katamatite branch (Dookie Link) as well as Merbein on the Mildura - Yelta line (LINK).

Lest it be forgotten there was also the experiment to do without staffs on the Whitfield branch, and run it with section orders - I have the 1928 GA and it is a phenomenal overcomplication.

Anyhow, well done Grant - nice to see some thought going into signalling modelling.

Thanks for your kind comments.
Grant.

Gave the Lumberjack a run today, took some empty opens up to Nayook.

Rounding the curve over Warringine creek


Arriving Nayook


Grant.

Wonderfully atmospheric pictures as usual Grant. Lovely scenes.

Thanks for sharing Grant, lovely railway...

Tom and Peter are spot on Grant, you've got a lovely line. I'm really impressed with the way that the vegetation supports the overall setting. I really hope I can come even halfway up to your standards (when the time comes).

Thanks for the further inspiration Grant, it's a great source of encouragement.