Towards the end of last year I actually completed the cottage that stands beside the signal box.
It was one of those projects that I started two years ago during the early planning stages of the layout and at the time I didn't know whether it would be completed and pressed into use or scrapped. However as the layout developed and the shell of the signal box took shape, I came to the conclusion that the grouping of the two buildings beside the single road crossing was going to work, so I put things on hold and concentrated on other parts of the layout, as I wanted to make sure my other ideas would fit in the space available and that I would be able to create the sort of scene and atmosphere that I had in my minds eye.
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| Rather than create a cottage garden I have decided to stick with my original idea of modelling some allotments on the other side of the track and directly opposite the cottage and signal box. So the cottage has ended up with a yard covered in stone sets and a shed. Rather than scribe the sets in DAS or plaster I decided to experiment and scribed them into foamboard, a supply of which had been sent to me by my good friend and master model maker Iain Robinson. I found the material to be a joy to work with and only wish I had come across it earlier. For in no time at all I had scribed the yard and a path around the property, a driveway quickly followed and then the building was lowered in place. After several washes of concrete and various shades of grey acrylic paint the yard started to come to life, a mix of sap green and burnt sienna acrylics was washed across a few areas in an attempt to represent moss, then some weeds and tufts of grass were planted to give a slightly unkempt look in keeping with the cottage itself. The garden shed was cobbled together from a little plain styrene sheet and Evergreen clapboard, a window and door from some long forgotten project were pressed into use and the roof covered in tissue paper, which once painted and dusted with talc gave the effect of roofing felt. Building the shed turned out to be an interesting little project in itself and far more satisfying than opening a box or assembling a kit. |
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| The porch has received a different style door and a rather hefty brass lock, a gate has been placed at the top of the stone steps leading down into the yard and needs a little more greenery around the post so it blends in better. For glazing I once again turned to my stocks of laserglaze offcuts which were kindly supplied by Brian of Shawplan, I like this material as its really glass like in appearance and very easy to cut by simply scribing a line and then snapping the material along it, curtains are made from paper, painted with cheap artist acrylics to give a slightly faded look. |
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| A track side view, the allotments will be in the left foreground. |
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| Its my intention to model the allotments on the narrow stretch of grass near the track with perhaps a couple of ramshackle old sheds on the rough ground in front of them. But before I do that I need to complete and install the crossing gates, the first pair of which are currently on my workbench. The telegraph pole is the first of many and started life as a plain Ratio moulding, a couple of arms were removed along with some moulding lines and then the complete pole was gently filed into a more convincing round shape which tapers slightly towards the top. Real post are capped to prevent water ingress and so is my model, 5 thou styrene sheet being used in this case. Painting was carried out with matt black, grey and chocolate Humbrol enamels which were then dusted down with talc to give a silvery grey appearance. |
There is still plenty of modelling to be done around the cottage such as a small hedgerow, not to mention another gate and a little more fencing. I really need to get a move on with that because the signal box is almost complete and ready to be installed. Yes, you've read that correctly and I'll explain why its taken so long in the next update.
