An office for Kohlenbachbrücke…

Whilst I have enjoyed operating the layout with ‘Paddington’-esque cardboard cut outs in place it’s my ambition to translate these all to styrene before moving forwards with other scenic work…

For some reason I had decided the office was ‘hard’ and the warehouse ‘easy’ so had started there, but whilst that languishes half complete the office was translated from card sketch to 95% complete in a just a few evenings last week, and with it, a key detail has been ‘coloured in’.

 

Inspired by one oblique photo and no dimensions, its cardboard predecessor was a caricature, a sketch, an illustration in 3D. It’s form felt right so a direct translation to styrene (above right) followed but at this stage left me cold and worried…

…but with some rudimentary detail, a masking tape roof and a coat of primer things improved. Further, a coat of Humbrol 64 on the walls and a good dosing of talcum powder it positively burst into life. 

 

Glazing was created with a bow pen, green paint and some clear material from a packaging box. This austere shade really works as a foyle for the red locomotive. A further tweak was adding some yellow to the strange box on the left of the building, these little touches of colour working well on a cameo, as evidenced by both Paxton Road and Lochdubh. Final detail included a gutter and down pipe, picked out in the same green - leaving just some faux interior to complete.

Sat on the layout, in its ‘dropped’ position - a curious copy from the prototype - but this reminds me of my late teens when I spent a year working at a chemical factory. The place was different levels, various ages from 60s to present day, yellow railings, aging concrete, pipe bridges and bags of inspiration for this young impressionable mind. Perhaps it is this previously un-mentioned experience that also contributed to the ‘industrial’ interest within me? I’d not considered that before but do feel it being channelled here, nostalgia yes, but blended with the slight decline and decay of the Eastern Europe setting, this small cameo is a wonderful tonic to my usual modelling. Until next time, more soon…

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