First of all i would like to thank all the people for the mini flood of emails responding to the timber water tank stand posts...Apart from the local gang...I have had EOIs from as far away as Israel, Brazil & Old Mother England!!!
It must be obvious by now that this kit will be the next release & if time permits during the week, the final details, instructions & box labels will be printed & all going well ( the real job stays un panicked ) by mid November they will be available....Here's hoping !!!
To those who have followed the posts on the other projects planned...they will be all done in one incarnation or another...The period over christmas & new year should allow a fair bit of progress on that front. BTW none of these kits either planned or available now are "limited run" kits. Once released they will be available for the long term. One thing i have learnt...even with the meagre range we have is that dreaming up a project & working it up for release is one thing...but replenishing the range once released & exhausted is another thing altogether. There may be times where a kit is out of stock but this should be only for short periods It is an ever increasing spiral & one i must admit i enjoy...If it wasn't for the need to generate an income from the "real business".
Now to the reason behind this post.... My long suffering wife suggested that i have a weekend off...just sit on the lounge & catch up on some reading.. she offered...So i did... ???!!!
I decided to retrace my steps in regards to the Cream Shed project & pulled another pile of publications from the ever increasing library with the view of looking for more examples. Well one thing led to another & i got sidetracked onto signal boxes. Not the elevated main line variety but the much forgotten branchline examples that were in vast numbers & decorated many country branch platforms many years ago.
With the basic skillion roof design of the cream shed completed, it should not take that long to work up some drawings & samples for a timber version Standard Platform Level Signal Box. And so it was that part of the weekend was spent perusing the Greg Edwards files & then researching the differing examples that existed in prototype form.
One thing was evident from the start that just like most things railway...It it pointless just relying on departmental drawings & more important to find examples that belong to a certain family of structures.
So armed with drawings & photos of Wauchope, Barellan, Ganmain & Mittagong Junction etc etc & documenting the minor differences...It was time to produce a version of a 18' 8" x 12' 2" Platform Signal Box. This initial choice will be followed by the tiny 10' 2" x 10' 2" & the marginally larger 21' 8" x 12' 2"...mind you if these never see the light of day as kits...they will find a home on the layout anyway.
The other attraction of this basic design is that it will come in handy for finalising out of sheds, waiting rooms etc etc
As can be seen from the photographs, this kit is our first foray into a composite type kit & incorporates Tichy brand windows & doors. Yes it is possible to laser cut windows successfully but the scale size components are very fragile indeed... & assembly would be a nightmare. The front window assembly is not exactly to prototype...8 panes instead of 6...but i have seen examples of an 8 pane unit...so i am unfazed by this anomally
The need to incorporate other manufacturers components into kits has been coming for a while & i must say that the Tichy brand is up there quality wise on top of that... Don Tichy is a very easy person to deal with... so utilising his stuff in future would be a delight.
For this project the only other components required will be corrugated card, chimney pipe detail for the larger versions, guttering & downpipes & a water tank for some versions All but the guttering is a relatively easy task to procure & it is amazing that someone has not come up with an easily sourced scale quad guttering detail item...I must do some research on domestic guttering O/S & see what they use...
Anyway that's enough banter for this post...Take a look at the shots....keeping in mind that the sample is a first up trial & the roofing material, guttering & downpipes are yet to be fitted..
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| General View.. |
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| The rear showing the vents which i have "cheated" and tried to replicate with the laser rather than a separate detail item... |
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| Opposite end view... I have tried a different technique on this kit & tried to get a better appearance of rusticated weatherboards |
Hi rod
ReplyDeleteThe signal box looks really good I was just thinking is north goulburn box still there it might be useful for measurements.
Cheers jon
Jon,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment...Yes the North Goulburn box is still there albeit boarded up because of the lunatics out & about these days. I think the diagram that once adorned the back wall has been pilfered. It is around 100 metres from home & has been measured & photographed in detail. It is the irony of research that we seem to have more fun looking at far flung infrastructure rather than what is under our nose.
Regards,
Rod
Yet another fine piece of work Rod. Good to see that there is "internationl" interest in your products. Must be encouraging in itself.
ReplyDeleteGary
Gary,
ReplyDeleteYes when the emails arrived they did not ask for my VISA card numbers...so must be genuine. It will be nice to get something completed & out there...I find my head exploding with ideas...but "work" always gets in the way & a week turns into a month turns into...you get the drift.
Don't worry Santa will be bringing you some bits & pieces...
Things normally get a bit quiet from Early December until mid/end January so i should be able to catch up with things.
Now while i have your undivided attention....what's happening with the "Shed"... I have no postings to offer inane comments about & you are vewy vewy quiet.???!!!...Hunting Wabbits are we...
Rod
Not qwite hunting wabbits Wod, but did go on a 4 week woad twip along the Murray and up through Mungo NP, Menindee lakes, Wellington and Coolah Tops NP over Sept/Oct.
ReplyDeleteSo the cave has suffered a bit, along with blog posts, but fear not, I have been doing a bit on the bench, and in the cave, so hopefully I will get my act together soon and post something of worth !
"Work" is a constant source of frustration !
GL
Rod
ReplyDeleteWhile not totally accurate for guttering, I use U type Plastruc channel for gutters on all my buildings.
Although the buildings are plastic kits or styrene scratch built, the channel readilly glues onto roof bearers or supports, if needed I put a flat styrene facier panel on first & glue the channel onto it, & under the roof.
Works for me, & I would think that using Sellery acrylic glue would affix the channel to the timber facia.