With the undercoated parts dry it was time to add some colour to the Dapol kit. The inside walls were painted with Sand, the ticket area woodwork was blue, the floor Leather Brown and the brickwork, rather oddly, Rust from the Panzer Aces range. I just found it a great match for brick colour.
Whilst most of the colour was brush applied I did airbrush the steps which would have been a nightmare to paint by hand!
Painting the Dapol station building did not turn out to be the simple job that I hoped for! I think a mix of hot weather, and some dodgy paint made the undercoating of the building and the preciously built steps a lengthy and frustrating process involving cleaning the airbrush on several occassions. However, forget about the frustration and admire the undercoated and primed models!
Next job - add some colour!
Lots of things going on at the Rocks By Rail Museum for an important but, at the moment, hush hush event!
The Sundew cab is looking superb and once inside it really is a room with a view! A credit to Pete, Pam and Rob who have done so much work on it as well as the surrounding area which is of course enhanced by my mowing skills!
Before I can actually get round to painting the Dapol station building I needed to make a ceiling for the interior. Not a particularly difficult job which is nice in the hot weather we have here in the UK at the moment!
On with the Dapol station building. Having got the four walls constructed I noted that the long walls had a bit of a bow inwards. I also noted that it all looked a bit empty inside and anyone looking through the windows would just see a large empty space.
To deal with both matters I decided to add a floor and some room partitions.
As I am intending to leave the central doors open where passengers would walk through I also added a ticket hatch to one wall together with a dado rail and some scribed planking on the lower section.
I needed a small station building to go on top of the bridge section that I built a few days ago for my Last Great Project layout. I could scratch build one but there are several kits available in both card and plastic. I decided the oldest running one fitted the bill - The Dapol (ex Airfix) Station Building kit was my choice.
It dates from the early 1960s when you could buy it for the equivalent of 7.5 pence compared to the near £10 today. Given its ancestry it is still a nice kit, not many parts but reasonably detailed.
Despite what the instructions said and with the advantage of having built several of these before, the four walls were glued together. That way I could test how it looked on the bridge section.
I think once all the bridge is finished that building will fit in well especially with the steps. So it is on with the build!
I concluded yesterdays post by highlighting I was not too happy about the very top of the steps that I have been building in 4mm scale. Looking at the picture below, the two uprights on the top of second flight of steps are too close together and it just looks odd to me.
I could have left it but I would always be drawn to that part of the model so I took the plunge and altered it!
I think that looks better! I just need to fill a few joints with some acrylic putty and then its time for paint. However, before that there is another structure to build so that will mean yet more plastic to glue!
The second flight of steps has been added to what is becoming a long project! However, it is nearly there!
This is what it finally looks like complete with a 4mm test user who is going up the steps to nowhere - at present!
Overall it looks as I hoped apart from the very top. I may alter that.
With progress being made on making the steps to the platform for my 00 gauge layout, it has come to the point of adding handrails. Nothing too challenging - just take a bit of time and it should all work out! Well, that is the theory!
First off, add some support uprights from plastic strip to the first flight of steps.
Next add the handrail from the same plastic strip.
With that nearly finished and once the glue dries I can add the second flight of steps. However, even at this early point it is looking as I hoped!
With the second flight of steps constructed as part of the bridge to platform access, it was time to see if it fitted its intended location or were my calculations incorrect?
Well my calculations were slightly out but at least in a good way!
