Third time's a charm (N part 45)...

They say third time's a charm, I'm not quite certain I'd go that far, but it certainly shows tenacity and progression of both material choice and finesse...

However, before we compare I should probably share what this is! You're looking at a structure just 20mm wide, 15mm tall, 15mm deep destined for use on the Bae Ceredigion N scale project. Based upon platform shelters at the smaller halts, similar in style to Tygwyn and Llandanwg, but not entirely either. Scaled from photos and some guestimations what you are looking at is a caricature, an impression of reality intended to put you in the scene as you remember sheltering from wintry weather waiting for a train, or even a bus, in one of these old style shelters (and now mostly long gone on the coast, although Llandanwg's has been refurbished).

After the pencil sketch (shown briefly in a photo at the weekend) I had determined that for the 'flush glazed' effect I wanted I would use a clear styrene core, paint on the window frames (as I did on the farm house) and build up around that, and what you see here is the result. I painted around the window openings in the overlays before I glued them in place, as I thought this would be easier, but after getting the textured embossed sheets cut and fitted, and a little paint on things didn't feel right.

What do I mean? Well you know when you've got something in mind, and then what you produce doesn't quite hit the mark. Yes it was structurally sound, and the gaps and embossed detail would have been good in 4mm (1:76), as would the material thickness around the window openings - but in N, it just felt to chunky, clunky... clumsy even.

I'd need to re-think.

When I built Paxton Road I used paper overlays on the background structures to good effect and I wondered if I could find something suitable on Scalescenes to download? Alas, no coloured or painted corrugated iron textures, but I had already downloaded the rusty corrugated sheeting so printed a new sheet off and set about a second attempt, with the thinking that it would at least test the theory even if the colours weren't quite what I wanted. The structure was built again from 40 thou clear styrene, the glazing drawn on with a bow pen in off white (28) (this time I managed to get even finer and more consistent lines with the bow pen, which looked lovely). As I didn't expect this to be a success I was a little quicker in my execution, not rushing but not being as neat and tidy as you need to be with N, and paper actually. 

Left, first with styrene overlays. Right, second with paper.

Compared to the plastic, the paper felt much neater, finer - easier to work with even. The window bars were exceptionally fine, the end ones in particular being even better than the third attempt that followed, however the roof wasn't on properly as one of the walls was a little taller than it should be, and one of the corners in the paper was a little creased. Proof of concept yes, but not good enough for the layout.

Left, second. Right third, trying to be neater!

So, third time. By now I was getting a little fed up with the process if I'm honest but I took it really really steady, determined not to need a fourth model! The glazing bars are consistent, certainly the most consistent so far, and the paper is much much neater. The roof is perhaps a touch too thin, and I may need to add barge boards to each end and rear, but that can wait for now. The building has slightly twisted during assembly leading to that small gap on the left (of the photo) front, but this closes up with negligible pressure applied to the building so I'm confident this will work once glued to the platform. 

A cruel cruel close up - small amounts of the Prit-stik used to glue the paper on can be seen at the edges of the window and door frames - I will sort these out.

What has this experience taught me about my own modelling and structure modelling in N? Patience is a virtue, it's important to be as fine as you can be and neat. Neat is more important than detail, you can use paper (which is obviously smooth) and that works better than physical texture, it feels right until you get insanely close up to it. I'm sure there is more to come, and I'm enjoying the whole process. I hope you've enjoyed the rambling too! If you'd like me to build you some structures for your project do get in touch for a personal no-obligation proposal - contact form, Facebook or the forums. However, until next time, more soon...

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