Chuffnell Regis

[Gopher]

12 hours ago, Graham T said:

I can't do the brake rodding on 2732 until I receive some bits and pieces from the UK, so have been working on the guttering and assorted pipework for the cottages instead.  Painfully slow work, but it's getting there...

 

Great scratch built model Graham -  very impressive.  

 

Clive 

[Graham T]

Thanks Clive.  It's been something of a labour of love; my grandparents lived in the left hand cottage.

[Graham T]

Here's the latest, with all the guttering and so on now more or less completed.  A little more work to do, and then I can see about getting this bedded in on the layout.  The view you see is pretty much how I think it will be from the usual viewing angle.  As it's going to be at the back of the layout, and I can see a lot of work being needed on the gardens, I may make a separate piece of groundwork for the cottages to sit on.  That way I can work on it away from the layout, and then plonk it in place when it's (eventually!) finished.

 

[Graham T]

I'd like to hear any thoughts people might have on how I should position the cottages.  Please excuse my somewhat rudimentary graphic art, but I hope it will give you the idea!

 

Here's the first option.  A road or track runs from the station forecourt, along the rear edge of the layout parallel to the bay platform, and then disappears behind the cottages.  The other red lines denote the gardens and boundaries of the cottage property.  I'll probably edge a hedge-line along the boundary at the front of the cottages, separating them from the meadow leading down to the river.  Not sure whether to have hedges or fences around the gardens, and forming the boundary with the railway property.

 

 

Or there is this option.  Broadly similar, but allowing better sight of the front of the cottages from some viewing angles.

 

 

Really not sure which I prefer, although I think the first option edges it for me at the moment.  I'd love to hear other opinions please!

 

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by Graham T

[BroadLeaves]

For me, for both images, having the road/track running parallel to the rear edge of the baseboard for its whole length conflicts with where the house is. You've said previously that you want to be able to see the back gardens, and I can understand that you also want the front to be visible too, after all the work you've put into it. However, I don't think the house would have been built so that the front elevation was not parallel to the road, especially for a semi-detached. 

However, since you can't move the house, can you move the road? Coming from the station side, can the track curve right as it passes that big tree and then go parallel to the front of the house as you have it now in the first image? That gives you the problem of "where does the track go next?", but I think you could plausibly make it a dead-end running up to the boundary of the meadow. 

Maybe a narrow footpath could then run from the end of the wider track to the back of the signal box and stores. 

[John Besley]

,The first view looks more balanced as then this would allow for a better access for the service road, as you need a turning bay somewhere even if it's only big enough for a Austin 7.

 

The dairyman wil have to find a way to turn his horse drawn milk cart somehow.... This would also be a consideration.

 

The developer would take these into consideration first before plotting the houses, the main constraints on the plot will be the boundary of the meadow down to the river and the railway boundary fence line.

 

Ok I know you won't see the front of the house, but back gardens that border railway lines make for fascinating viewing from a train ... If modelled well hint at the wider world outside the railway as modelled

 

Hope this helps

[Graham T]

Thanks for those suggestions chaps, some good food for thought.  How about this angle?

 

 

The track would run behind this building (i.e. to the front of the houses) and then ostensibly disappear somewhere into the backscene.  I'm not too worried about not being able to see the front of the cottages, as it's quite plain anyway.  And this way the gardens can be of similar size to each other and a more regular shape.  If I go with this option I'll probably add a small brick building to the back of the right-hand cottage, to match that on the left.

 

Does that sound feasible?

[Andy Keane]

I agree the houses need to be parallel to the road at their front but I would slightly angle the road / houses, as being straight on to the boards looks a bit too square.

How about the road starts to curve away into the backscene allowing the houses to rotate slightly?

[Graham T]

25 minutes ago, Andy Keane said:

I agree the houses need to be parallel to the road at their front but I would slightly angle the road / houses, as being straight on to the boards looks a bit too square.

How about the road starts to curve away into the backscene allowing the houses to rotate slightly?

 

Yes I think that's what I'm going to do.  It will help to camouflage the disappearing end of the road too.

 

Am playing about with some cardboard and the hot glue gun at the moment, building up a base for the cottages.

[Graham T]

Here's the results of messing about with hot glue and cardboard.  Only one burn was sustained!  The idea is that the road from the station forecourt continues along in front of the backscene, then goes behind the tree before going off-scene behind the cottages...

 

 

And here's the view looking back towards the station.  Does this seem as if it might work, or have I lost the plot?

 

[BroadLeaves]

Looks fine to me. Speaking of plots, is the idea that the houses' gardens will go down to the edge of the lower cardboard sheet?

 

[Graham T]

Yes BL, that's the plan.

[chuffinghell]

Very impressive cardboard structure as always

 

I’ve been cutting up cardboard for templates for Warren but there’s nothing to see yet….if at all

[Graham T]

Thanks Chris.  Making the landscape formers is the easy part though!

[MrWolf]

Looks good to me too. I can visualize the gardens dropping away down to the railway fence. I do like the idea of the houses being higher than the railway.

[MrWolf]

2 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

Very impressive cardboard structure as always

 

I’ve been cutting up cardboard for templates for Warren but there’s nothing to see yet….if at all

 

Use the Number 23 strategy, big reveal when you are happy with it!

[aardvark]

I'm going to dissent a little.

 

I prefer the first option in your first post. If anything, I would have squared the building up a little so that it roughly parallel with the track, bit not so much as to make it parallel with the backscene. Roughly, so that the back yards are roughly rectangular and roughly similar, but not exactly.  I think it makes it more interesting if it's imperfect.

 

The road/lane should have a hedge along the far side, which will hide the discontinuity into the backscene. I wouldn't worry overly about the turn-around, as this could be hidden by the house.

 

I do like the house being elevated from the track.

 

You're welcome to ignore me. There's about 8 billion people that do, and for good reason.

 

[Graham T]

Thanks, there will certainly be some hedge-age around the lane.  There won't be a turn round though, as the idea is that the route continues into the backscene.  I'm giving some more thought to the stretch of scenery from the cottages to the station forecourt, as it obviously needs to blend together.

 

I'm also considering just what to put in the gardens.  There will (of course) be some wriggly tin involved, as per the prototype, and various bits and pieces such as a tin bath and so on.  I'm thinking that most of the usable ground would be given over to growing vegetables, rather than frivolities such as a lawn; any thoughts on that please?

[aardvark]

Don't forget clothes lines.

 

[Graham T]

Good point.  There will also be a coal store for the right hand cottage, and lots of other details will need to go in...

[BroadLeaves]

You need some protein to go with all the vegetables - some chickens scratching about?

 

[Graham T]

Nice idea, but then I'd need to make a coop as well 🙂

[BroadLeaves]

Of course, traditionally chicken wire is used to make the landscape for model railways. There's a nice balance in having a landscape that includes a model of some chicken wire!

[Graham T]

4mm scale chicken wire?

 

Sorry I'm going to chicken out from that challenge 🥸

[BroadLeaves]

That's just ducking the issue, but I'm not going to grouse about it.