Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Jim S-W · Post by **Jim S-W** » Thu Aug 25, 2022 1:08 pm

Construction has started on the latest building for Brettell Road. I've tried to incorporate some lessons learned from the previous efforts.

The main lesson being to do something more robust with the corners as these have been slightly problematic in the past. I decided to laser cut the main carcass and overlay it with plasticard. It may have been easier in the long run to laser cut everything but I like working with plasticard and scalpels and i didn't fancy a huge session on my computer drawing bricks. As usual Tim kindly did the cutting for me. As you can see from the picture I've cut recesses in the corners and mounted some evergreen strip to give something solid for the overlays to stick too. It's early days but it seems very solid so far.

Turning the part around and moving on a bit, this is the front. Ive built this in a kind of modular way. I drew up the windows and arches and had them etched. There are 3 of these sections required for the building.

This is another section. Ive used the admin building from Round Oak as my inspiration but moved things around and adjusted them to suit. It's an 'inspired by' model rather than an exact replica. This section was on a different face to the one I am modelling as it overlooked Dudley Road.

To join these bits together are some flat wall sections. These are the smaller ones. Ive missed some bits off at this stage as I figured it would be easier to add them once its all together.

And the larger one.

I didn't manage to find a huge number of images of the real building. Theres one in Ned Williams book on Brierley hill and this one that my friend Frank collins sent me. Sadly Frank passed away very recently and I missed showing him how I was getting on by only a month or so. I sincerely hope he would approve of my efforts. The model will be dedicated to him.

Progress so far roughly plonked in position.

And from the other end. Much still to do!

Mountain · Post by **Mountain** » Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:39 pm

That really looks nice.

RailwayRobbo · Post by **RailwayRobbo** » Sun Aug 28, 2022 10:48 am

That looks AMAZING!!!!!!!

Post by **Bufferstop** » Sun Aug 28, 2022 1:22 pm

RailwayRobbo wrote:That looks AMAZING!!!!!!!

As we have all come to expect. Keep on amazing us Jim.

Jim S-W · Post by **Jim S-W** » Wed Aug 31, 2022 6:56 pm

Thanks chaps

Jim S-W · Post by **Jim S-W** » Tue Sep 06, 2022 7:29 pm

Breaking away from the current building works for a moment a little wagon based diversion. As per normal mundane stuff with a few little bits of tweaking that most people will likely never notice.

Conflat A from the Parkside kit. As per the last time I built some of these I beefed up the links a bit as I thought they were far too subtle. I fancied an empty one for a change and also added a missing (yeah sounds a bit weird that doesn't it?) axlebox cover.

Next up an LMS diagram 1838 container flat. Built from the parkside fitted LMS chassis kit with extra bits and bobs.

Finally an eastern region plate. When i did my fish van a few posts ago someone on the clearing house facebook group (highly recommended if you are on facebook and like wagon building) pondered if the chassis could be used to do an eastern region plate. Personally i thought it easier to go with the supplied chassis and replace the brake gear. Another Parkside kit.

Jim S-W · Post by **Jim S-W** » Fri Sep 09, 2022 10:26 pm

Work continues on my latest building. Gutters are from Modelu. When I last used Modelu guttering I found getting it stuck on was quite problematic however this time I tried Ultraglue from MIG (which I've mentioned here before) and I am pleased to report it works very well.

Fire escape from Langley Models. A few people noticed the upper door in my last post.

I've started to work on the base for the building to sit. The fence is Knightwing security fencing modified to resemble that seen in pictures of the real Round Oak. The sign was part of the etch I drew up for the building windows. I decided not to call it Round Oak as its not a model of the real place but Acorn Steel works had a nice ring to it as its smaller. Acorn was the name of the company magazine issued at Round Oak.

Moving along the fence we find an area where someone has made a hole! Perhaps it was kids trying to get in or perhaps it was a worker looking for a short cut to the station?

The other end. I decided some remnants of an internal line into the works would be an Idea. For the surface behind i have tried out some AK interactive concrete. Theres areas of the building that will need to be concrete or stone however the texture is too heavy for 4mm scale. It would work as very, very rough concrete or as a base for rough ground perhaps. In this case I sanded it pretty much flat.

Finally I couldn't resist a little test run of the buildings lighting.

Post by **Dad-1** » Sat Sep 10, 2022 2:06 pm

Inspirational work, so difficult to say it, but just what we've come to expect
from a master scene builder. Always so special, that fencing never looks as convincing
on any of my layouts !!

Geoff T.

End2end · Post by **End2end** » Sat Sep 10, 2022 4:56 pm

Wow, just wow.

What a magnificent structure.
Thanks
End2end

Jim S-W · Post by **Jim S-W** » Sun Sep 11, 2022 10:09 am

Dad-1 wrote:Inspirational work, so difficult to say it, but just what we've come to expect
from a master scene builder. Always so special, that fencing never looks as convincing
on any of my layouts !!

Geoff T.

Thanks. I've used quite a bit of it now but never without modification in some way. One tip is to make new posts from scrap bullhead rail and mount it into holes in the baseboard. After that it's just sprayed with Halfords grey primer, Stippled with burnt umber gouache then a wash of sludgy brown enamels. All simple stuff really

Post by **Dad-1** » Tue Sep 13, 2022 11:00 am

Hi Jim,

Simple it may be, but it's brought to life using an artist's eye,
something not all of us are endowed with.

Geoff T.

Jim S-W · Post by **Jim S-W** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 10:05 pm

In an attempt to keep some momentum going I've been doing more building work. This time for the right hand end of the new bit.

This building is based roughly on the office building from Birmingham central goods. Same method as before but this time using Brassmasters etched windows.

Originally the area in question was the end backscene of the original layout and this drawing was based very loosely on the Harris and Pearson building on the real Brettell Lane (see https://wmhbt.org.uk/blog/the-harris-pe ... -building/ for more info). The original basic drawing was modified and sent to Tim to be turned into an MDF carcass.

And here is the result so far. Windows are a combination of my own and Brassmasters etches.

This is the much less ornate but somehow at least as interesting rear view.

A rough idea of where it all goes.

Jim S-W · Post by **Jim S-W** » Fri Sep 30, 2022 5:06 pm

Ive been busy painting. Not a huge amount to say really so I will let the images do the talking. Next will be roofs and tiling. Lots and lots of tiling!

Jim S-W · Post by **Jim S-W** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:13 pm

After working my way through a lot of laser cut strips of tiles I can call my building(s) project effectively done.

There are several schools of thought when it comes to what to do with low relief buildings. The easiest is to keep them parallel to the backscene however if you don't (as I haven't) then the roof can actually become a little bit of a problem area. Theres 2 main ways to address this, Keep the pitch of the roof the same and cut the top at an angle. Or keep the top parallel to the rest of the building and adjust the pitch. My personal opinion is that the latter is the better option. The pitch on my acorn building is significantly different from the left end to the right end. One advantage of using tile strips over embossed plasticard is you can adjust the rows to compensate for this and hopefully no one will notice what trickery you've been up to!

The same applies to this building although it's not quite as dramatic.

The thing with lighting buildings is they look a bit weird if they are just empty boxes. I don't feel you need to model everything inside though, just enough clutter to give a hint of something inside. The shelving and cardboard boxes are from scale model scenery. I have found its something people at shows to look for and I think is nice to have some little 'treasures' that people can discover for themselves.

The Higgs and Co. building also has some 'officey' clutter. In the late 50s offices seemed to be laid out more like a school classroom than the more ergonomic arrangement we see now.

The roof of the rear of the Higgs building has some weird shapes that were a bit of a faff to work out if I'm honest.

I do feel that the middle of the layout has a suitable black country-ish feel to it now.

One little building I bunged together is this little weighbridge that will sit behind the main station building. Its based on the one at Wombourne (see
http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/S ... omborn.php) and I was initially attracted to its over the top chimney and the way it's just stuck in a corner. I did have to reel my enthusiasm in a little as the chimney at Wombourne matches the station so to model it exactly as it was when the ones on my station don't look anything like, would have been a little weird.

Below a few pictures, I feel the last one really captures the feel I want for the layout.

Jim S-W · Post by **Jim S-W** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:13 pm