Dirty girders!

With the station building and steps done it is time to move back to the bridge section that the building will sit on and the steps lead from to the station platform. I had already built the girder underside of the bridge some time ago and whilst priming the station building and steps I  aslo primed this structure.

With that dry it was time to top coat it with the same blue as the steps.

Like the steps it looks very nice but not dirty enough! So out came the earth brown paint and a thin coating gives a good base of weathered and rusty steel!

Next stage, once the paint dries, is to mount it to the underside of the bridge itself.

BBC - Brakedowns, Brakes and Couplings!

 Sunday was a Quarry day at the Rocks by Rail Museum which meant I was shunting assisted by Dan and with John driving Mr. D. Unfortunately Mr. D decided that it was time to breakdown with a lack of air to release the brakes being the problem. There was an additional problem in that the other quarry train was now trapped behind Mr. D!

Despite John's best endeavours at sorting the issue eventually we had to call in assistance in the form of Betty! 

Betty, being the Sentinel loco, driven up by Andy who released Mr. D's brakes and used Betty to shunt both Mr. D and eight wagons out of the way of the quarry train and allow that to escape before hauling Mr. D off to be repaired!

So that was the brakedown and before that we were actually shunting so it was brakes on and off the wagons - this is the brake off....

and this is it off!

To release or put on the brakes this wooden bat is used to lever the brake handle.

And finally, the couplings!

So that was the BBC day at the Museum and I did enjot it!

Stairway to dirt!

With the Dapol Booking Hall kit now finished it is time to move on with associated station area projects such as the steps that I built to take passengers from the bridge above the platform down onto the platform itself. I did airbrush them blue at the same time as the windows and doors for the Dapol kit. Much as the steps looked OK in the pristine blue....

 ...they did look as though they were part of a modern industrial unit in some hi tech industry rather than a uncared for item open to the elements in an urban and industrial area. Given that an airbrushing of earth brown followed by rust weathering powders and it turned the steps into a stairway to dirt, certainly not heaven!

Getting in close the digital camera shows the mysterious hair in the paint that I have never noticed!

Strange how you see things in photos but not in real life!

The WMD Film Crew have been busy during the build of the Dapol Booking Hall kit and their results are here for your visual entertainment and pleasure!

Its finished!

Yes, it is finished! Not Mrs. Woody's list of jobs for me to do but the Dapol kit is now done. Final bits were adding the roof and canopy along with the privacy fence for the gents toilet as well as the front doors. Also added were some posters, a clock face and a gentleman inside at the ticket hatch. I think he may have a long wait until he can get his ticket! Anyway, some pictures illustrate the final product far better than my words can but I can say I am pleased with it!

Its nearly there! The windows and doors are now attached to the Dapol Booking Office and things are looking good!

A few more details to add, then the roof and chimneys and it will be done!

Hush, hush!

I had to be hush, hush at the Rocks b Rail Museum so no noisy mowers or strimmers! The reason? A film crew. Cant say what the programme is but it will be on main stream TV probably the back end of next year or in 2027! However it was great to watch it being made.

Mr. D in his brand new paint job is a major part of the programme and John and Thomas have made a fantastic job in less than a week.

John  ain the cab awaiting his time to drive.

Meanwhile things did carry on away from the filming with work on steam loco Barrington involving taking off the non-original coal bunker and replacing it with a normal cab back.

A view into the cab that you would not normally get!

Outside work on 1931 carries on with the boiler being washed out ready for inspection.

Richard was under the loco with a hose pipe.

Whilst Hazel was at the side pulling the debris that had washed out through the drain hole.

A great job to do on a hot day!

Chimney pots.

Just a small amount of work on the Dapol Booking Hall kit but it does make a difference. The Chimney pots are moulded as a solid part. By drilling through the chimney pot part and opening it up it does make it look a lot more realistic - it will be enhanced once painted and fitted to the roof!

I do enjoy these small jobs - if only the jobs on Mrs. Woody's list for me to do where this small!

What a pain to do the panes!

 What a pain to do the panes! Well actually it was not too bad a job to glaze the windows for the Dapol building. I could have used the clear plastic sheet provided but choose to use DeLuxe Materials Glue n Glaze to give a better finish and to fill in the all to deep window bars in the window frames.

Basically all I had to do was get the Glue n Glaze into the apertures and let it set.

It looks a bit of a mess but you need to have patience!

After a few hours it all turns good and clear!

And closer in you can see the end result.

Just need to add them to the main building now! Hopefully that won't be too much of a pain!

A night on the tiles!

Well I did spend some of the night painting the tiles on the Dapol kit and very soothing it was! As with the brickwork blogged about a few days ago, I picked out random tiles in a slightly lighted colour to the main colour used. I also used the same Rust colour trhat IU had for the brickwork on the ridge tiles and it contrasts nicely.

Of course it all looked too clean so a wash of dilute black paint was applied. You can see the effect in the half and half photo below.

With the entire roof 'washed', it was set to one side to dry.

With the roof temporarily on the building it all begins to take shape!