Brookhall Mill - A GNR(I) Micro Layout

[Galteemore]

Very nice detailed corner, full of visual interest already. Good place to put a cameo scene, such as couple of mill workers on a fag break! 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Galteemore

[2996 Victor]

3 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Very nice detailed corner, full of visual interest already. Good place to put a cameo scene, such as couple of mill workers on a fag break! 

Sitting on an old crate, perhaps!  

[Patrick Davey]

GNR(I) red brick buildings completed. Final block will be in an older architectural style.

Although there may be a ‘bonus’ GNR building later……
 

[Noel]

Really Excellent

[Patrick Davey]

Been working this week on the final building (or maybe not....) for Brookhall Mill - an 'original' ie pre-GNR(I) stone building.  It will have a low relief depth of around 1.5in but will have opening doors giving access inside for covered vans, I will be adding a short extension to the baseboard to facilitate this.

 

Making quoins and window/door surrounds from Scale Model Scenery coping stones:

 

Front of building:

 

With doors:

 

The quoins etc. were painted yellow then masked off, then a layer of DAS clay was added over a spread of PVA glue:

 

Painting of the stonework begins with a base coat of black:

[Galteemore]

Great stuff, Patrick. Will add a nice variety of tone to the composition.

[Patrick Davey]

Due to bit of impatience on my part.....I have had to abandon the above and start again.......

[2996 Victor]

1 minute ago, Patrick Davey said:

Due to bit of impatience on my part.....I have had to abandon the above and start again.......

Sorry to hear that, seems a real shame. Can it not be salvaged?

Cheers,

Mark

[Patrick Davey]

2 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said:

Sorry to hear that, seems a real shame. Can it not be salvaged?

Cheers,

Mark

Thanks Mark - afraid not but it won't take long to get a replacement knocked up 

[popeye]

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

The next one will be even better. 

[Patrick Davey]

When normal people go on a work trip.....they use the time in the hotel to relax.  It would only be an abnormal person who would bring his model railway stuff with him to catch up on a build.....

......

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[David Holman]

Sounds very sensible to me!

[Patrick Davey]

A question for those who model in card! I’ve always been a plasticard kind of person but for various reasons I have been using card on this build.  The quoins are finished in card and will need painted and then masked.  Last time I tried this I was too heavy with the paint and didn’t thin it down as I was worried that too much water would soak into the card and disfigure it. But the ‘too thick’ paint looked awful. So the question is: does card take primer, or would a seal of PVA glue do the trick?

TIA!

[Galteemore]

Interesting one. How thick is the card ? I would try dry brushing something like Vallejo stucco, or gesso, which will also give a very fine textured surface. I used it on Florencecourt and then painted over it. You could also just paint it up slowly in layers of dry brush acrylic of your chosen  shade.That will dry very fast and shouldn’t warp or distort the card. A quick waft of primer shouldn’t hurt - one or two quick passes with the can should be ok.

Edited June 2, 2022 by Galteemore

[J-Mo Arts]

When Rod Stewart books a hotel, he books a whole second room for his model railway. I don't see why you can't bring some of your stuff! 

[Patrick Davey]

2 hours ago, Galteemore said:

Interesting one. How thick is the card ? I would try dry brushing something like Vallejo stucco, or gesso, which will also give a very fine textured surface. I used it on Florencecourt and then painted over it. You could also just paint it up slowly in layers of dry brush acrylic of your chosen  shade.That will dry very fast and shouldn’t warp or distort the card. A quick waft of primer shouldn’t hurt - one or two quick passes with the can should be ok.

Cheers GM - it's about 1mm thick so I think I'll try the primer when I get home.

[jhb171achill]

Years ago I made a few buildings out of card and just painted them with matt paint. There was slight warping on the first one I did, so I ensured that the next had more rigid framing (wooden bars), and that turned out ok. The card was even thinner than what you’re using, so your own should be more than satisfactory with paint.

Edited June 2, 2022 by jhb171achill

[Billycan]

Only every painted card once and it warped.  Won't do that again.

Windows on Westland Row are gold coloured and I found some gold coloured pens and used the one illustrated.    Colour was applied in full length straight lines for an even finish.  The windows look good finished.  The attached photo of a trial piece I did might help.  Be careful that you use a pen that won't bleed into the card.

Edited June 2, 2022 by Billycan

[2996 Victor]

How about giving the whole thing a coat of shellac before painting? It seals and stiffens the card. Lots of bracing helps, too, of course.

What about using oil-based paints?

Cheers,

Mark

[David Holman]

Been making buildings from mounting board for over 30 years and never had any problems from paint of any kind. Humbrol enamel tarmac was great for slates before it was discontinued, so use Precision enamel now for that. For brick and stonework I use cheap artist's acrylic - usually two or three thin coasts, but have used water colours and enamel too.

 Any problems with warping probably come from how many layers the model is made from. When I first started, John Ahern's book on Model Buildings was my reference and still is. He used postcards as his main material (the book was first written in the late 1940s) and stressed the importance of using an odd number of layers - three normally like plywood - to avoid warping.

 In 7mm scale, tend to use foamboard these days, which has three layers and holds its shape well, even with another layer of DAS. However, painting the inside with watered down PVA does the equivalent of adding another layer.

 So, not the paint, but how many layers. Overall, think I prefer card for buildings as plasticard can also warp, especially if you use too much solvent. It becomes brittle with age too, while card seems to age much better and if it does warp, it is more subtle and protypical.

[Patrick Davey]

My attempts at creating precision quoins using card didn’t quite end successfully…..I have admitted defeat and I’m currently covering the structure with DAS clay and will then scribe the stonework, including the quoins, once dry.  It will take a second layer of the clay tomorrow to cover the structure completely then I will leave it for a day or two to dry thoroughly.  A combination of impatience plus inexperience combined against me here but at least I should be ok with the clay

 

[popeye]

Could you use 2mm card and add the quoins cut from paper then cover it all in PVA to seal it.

I have lots of A4  2mm card if you need some, let me know.

[David Holman]

Looking at the photos, would think thin card would work for the quoins, especially if you sand the DAS back a bit.

[Patrick Davey]

Thanks Popeye and David - I have added a second layer of DAS clay today and will sand it tomorrow so I should be OK from here on.  The only issue with DAS is that it is much heavier than card which isn't great for a portable layout so some time invested in becoming more familiar with card modelling would be beneficial to me.  Thanks everyone for your comments!

 

[Galteemore]

I did a bit of trial and error here. I made the main structure from card, used quoins from plasticard and then gave the quoins a little skim over with a thin layer of DAS to give texture.  But there’s a number of ways to skin this particular cat….as you’re finding out. Looking good though. 

[David Holman]

The trials of portable layouts! The main advantage of DAS is that it means you can scribe round corners, to avoid ugly joints when using embossed materials. However, quoins (why does my spellchecker offer Wilkins????) cover that up if you use thin card and fold it round the corner.

 Weight is a real issue on portable layouts though, you build a nice set of lightweight boards and then make them heavy with wiring, scenery and buildings! One way out is to use lightweight filler for scenics. Strange stuff as compared to the ordinary mix, it feels like the box/tub is empty. Much merit in filler anyway as you can mix in pva to stop it chipping and pre colour with water colour paint too. Doesn't scribe as well as DAS, which is why foamboard a good base for buildings.

[Patrick Davey]

The low relief mill building progresses: two layers of clay have now hardened and sanding has commenced.  Once I am happy with that, the scribing of the quoins and stonework will begin. 
 

 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[Patrick Davey]

So here is my latest attempt to get the quoins looking as neat as I need them to be.  I have knocked up a small jig from plasticard and this will act as a guide for scribing into the clay/filler surface.  This process will start tomorrow afternoon and hopefully it will work, as I do enjoy scribing, I find it very relaxing! 
 

 

The nearest wall will not be seen on the layout so I haven’t bothered to smooth it off with filler.  Lazy!

Edited June 12, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[Patrick Davey]

Progress at last!

[Patrick Davey]

Base coat of black going on. The building will be finished in a basalt-effect random stone with sandstone quoins & lintels etc, a common architectural style in Co. Antrim. 
 

 

Edited June 13, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[2996 Victor]

Beautiful outcome, Patrick, well worth the false start to achieve this standard.

Cheers,

Mark

[popeye]

A great result 

[David Holman]

Yep, piece of cake next time!

Perseverance and patience the watch words in our hobby. Well worth all the effort.

[Patrick Davey]

Now I’m getting close…..

A bit of dry brushing of grey and white followed by picking out the quoins and lintels etc in a ‘sandstone’ mix of cream & brown:

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by Patrick Davey

[Patrick Davey]

This is where I am at close of business tonight.  Painting largely complete, just some touching up to be done then pointing with filler then an overall wash of dilute black to weather it. Then I have to fill in the two upper storey window openings - been researching and have decided on a corrugated iron louvre effect. Also need to find a way to make the doors openable……