Buildings for 'Bacup'

[BernardTPM]

Shouldn't you have half-net curtains for 50 years ago?

[Jason T]

More progress. Curtains and nets added, interior walls and ceilings put in, structure glued together and the base for the roof added; mounting card - paper slates to be added, after a very helpful chat with a chap at Warley.

 

Additionally, I have used Milliput to fill any gaps, especially between the bays and the main structure, where it was slightly noticeable.

 

So, now to get the slates on, paint it, add the chimney pots and then think about front and rear gardens / yards.

 

A front-on view:

 

Closer view of the front:

Rear view:

 

And a blurry 3/4 view:

[Jason T]

More progress. Roofs now on and painted, although they do need tidying up and toning down / weathering. I'm quite chuffed how they came out, using 150 gram card for the first time; seemed easier than using the Slaters ones I've usually used, the end result is more pleasing to the eye and the best thing of all, no warping. With the slates on, I added lead flashing where it should be.

 

Still to do are painting the stonework, adding gutters, downpipes and waste pipes, and chimney pots.

 

Blurry photo of the front:

 

The rear:

 

I am such a bad photographer.

[Jason T]

Progression, of sorts. I have applied the first coat of paint, the mortar courses basically. Not sure if it is a tad too light and needs a touch more yellow / orange in there but it does seem to compare well to photos I have seen (albeit of houses nowadays and not 50 years ago when everything was caked with soot). This is the first time I have tackled stone built buildings, previously going for the much easier brick built structures (easier to paint, anyway).

 

 

Also, I have started on the next set of terraced houses, to be built on a slope. I am afraid I have chickened out of a constantly sloping roofline and instead opted for a stepped one (maybe next time....). Additionally, after being impressed with using mounting card for the roofs on the above, I am having a go at building the superstructure from card this time rather than 40 thou; it may work, it may not.

 

A lot of measuring and cutting for these ones which once again, are supposed to be simple structures (boxes with pitched roofs basically) but surprisingly hard to get correct in a terrace rather than building each individually.

 

[Jason T]

It's all in the detail, or so they say. And here is a very blurry photo showing not only progress of the next set of terraced houses, but also an attempt to add just a little more detail that will most likely go unnoticed by everyone except for me, and that will mainly be because I have been cutting bits of plastikard up into tiny strips and getting fingers covered with glue.

 

 

We all have those little things that somehow take away from the realism; for me, it's people forgetting to put the lintels above windows and doors. I've seen some beautifully constructed buildings on layouts but then when you look closer, the omission of something so essential to the strength of the structure has been left out and for me, the building is therefore not realistic.

Of course, an easy way to represent them is to stick a strip of plastikard on the outside of the stone / brickwork but whilst this might look okay for windowsills, which do sit proud of the wall, the lintel above the window is usually flush with the wall it sits in.

 

So, although it does add to the build time somewhat and is a tedious task that is sometimes frought with frustration (a slip of the knife, a wonky cut, etc), I choose to cut away the stone / brickwork above and below the windows and fit the lintels and sills flush (well, the sills protruding but still inlaid rather than on top of the main wall).

 

An example of this can be seen on my old station building, shown in the below blurry photo. It took a loooooong time to cut the brickwork and window surrounds to size, especially to match the brass window sizes, but I think it added to the structure and was worth the hundreds of bits of plastikard that got binned along the way because they weren't quite right

 

 

Anyway, back to the houses in progress. As can be seen on the below photo of some real terraced houses in good old Bacup, the windows have almost flush lintels and sills, and the doors are surrounded by dressed stonework. So this is what I am hoping to achieve.

 

 

Sorry for waffling on. I'm sure that anyone who is still bothering to look at this thread must be getting bored by now.

[Jason T]

I've now started the painting of the first set of terraced houses and hopefully, this is the correct colour (pre-weathered). I also managed to get some half decent photos for once, in the garden. Still quite a bit of detailing work to do, including: the front steps which need inlaying, chimney pots, guttering, downpipes, etc.

 

I have reached this colour by first applying an overall coat of Cement Rendering and then a wash with a mixture of Cement Rendering, Middle Stone and Sleeper Grime. The Cement Rendering basecoat was to provide a key and has worked quite well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other row of houses are moving forward, having the lintels, sills and window surrounds inlaid. Waiting for the glue to set hard before I can trim them back on the inside to start to fit the glazing.

[Jason T]

The build of the second row of houses continues. I seem to have spent the last two days fitting the windows and have started on the doors now. Windows are from Microstrip and the doors done so far from 10 thou plastikard cut out and laid over clear plastikard; time consuming but looks okay, in my opinion.

 

Really bad photo (again); didn't focus properly and loads of reflection from the flash.

 

Edited to add that although the area under the doors seems huge, the reason for this is that the terrace will be built on a slope and as such, all will make sense and look better (hopefully) when they are finished and landscaped in. Until then, they are just going to look a bit odd really.

[Andy C]

Like them Sandside, very indicative of the area - are you going to give them a coat of good old Bacup soot though?

[Red Devil]

Like them Sandside, very indicative of the area - are you going to give them a coat of good old Bacup soot though?

 

 

Agree 100%, but I didn't reliase this until I was talking to a 'blaster' it's not just the soot and airborne polution, but sandstone reacts with the air to darken anyway.

[Andy C]

 

 

Agree 100%, but I didn't reliase this until I was talking to a 'blaster' it's not just the soot and airborne polution, but sandstone reacts with the air to darken anyway.

 

That actually figures, as a lot of houses sandblasted around here in Norden have slowly reverted to that dirty colour - despite there beeing less pollution about these days.

[iL Dottore]

Very nice work indeed, the flashing looks particularly good, but I'm wondering [Devil's Advocate Mode ON] - are the curtains correct? [/Devil's Advocate Mode OFF]

 

I had an interesting debate with a fellow RMWebber at Warley about this; the point being we modellers almost universally place the curtain pattern facing outwards, (yes, and I do this as well), yet in reality the pattern would most likel face inwards into the room... On the other hand, if the curtains aren't lined then the pattern seen from the outside would just be the mirror image of that seen by the occupants.

 

I wonder how many householders in Bacup have lined curtains.... (and on a slightly more serious note, shouldn't the curtain colours be slightly more muted - having been to a greater or lesser extent faded by the sun?).

 

Having just thrown this particular spanner in the works , I must say I'm looking forward to seeing the finished articles (with watergoods, chimneys, etc in situ)

 

F

[Jason T]

Hi folks, thanks for the comments.

 

They will be receiving a healthy dose of soot and grime; I'll be trying the finger dipped in paint method that you so kindly told me about at Warley, Andy (on a test piece first, mind).

 

Flavio, it was me that you were having that discussion with at Warley :-)

For most of the windows, I did try to add cream coloured curtains to represent lining but the one at the front with the orange ones, well their linings are in the wash and the orange curtains are much brighter on the inside. The house with the blue curtains in the upstairs window at the back? Well, that window in my house has blue curtains. The matching blue curtains in next door neighbour's converted bathroom? Being friendly Northerners, when the people next door had finished making their curtains they had some material left over so kindly donated it.

 

Oh dear. I seem to be creating a life for the occupants of the houses now; this is erring towards dolls house territory

[Jason T]

p.s. Sun, in Bacup? You haven't ventured to the North West much I take it? ;-)

[iL Dottore]

... Flavio, it was me that you were having that discussion with at Warley :-)...

Oops, memory like a sieve, me (at least for names) My apologies.

 

Still, will be interesting to see if anyone else picks up on this topic (with all the debate going on about models not being "right" because of a 2mm error and with so many striving for as much accuracy as possible, I'm surprised no one [AFAIK] has spent any time on curtains - they ARE a pretty noticeable part of most dwellings..)

 

F

 

p.s. I have been to the North West in the past AND I saw the sun!

[Jason T]

You are truly a lucky chap then. Of the 30 or so times that I have taken my girlfriend up to my Mum's house in Cumbria over the past five years (we live in Oxford), it has been sunny twice, deep snow twice and grey / raining on every other occasion. With Sofia being Spanish (from a town called Elche, near Alicante), she believes that the UK is the most miserable, wettest country on the planet and constantly moans about how grim our weather is. She also believes that it rains 364 days of the year in Cumbria and the day it doesn't rain is because everything is frozen solid, which is why we still live in Oxford and not back up home in Cumbria.

 

When I mentioned that when we were at school, we were informed that Long Sleddale (valley between Kentmere and the Shap Fells, above Kendal) had the highest rainfall in England, it sort of sealed the deal and there is no way we're moving back up now.

 

A completely off topic true story for you about my fellow Cumbrians. A mate of mine who is lucky enough to still live up there went on a chainsaw operating course a number of years ago. Over lunch, the instructor mentioned that he had needed to pop into Kendal the week before, for the first time in years. Apparently he was awestruck by the escalators, to the point where he stood there for five minutes watching them. I can just imagine him thinking "Moving stairs! What will they think of next?"

[Jason T]

As always, here is an update of progress with the second row of terraced houses. Windows in, doors added and first coat of paint on them. The next coat of paint on the doors and curtains next, and then I'll be able to get the main structure assembled (the dividing walls are already prepared, got interior walls, ceilings and floor to complete but that is an easy task of cut and glue).

The 'missing' door on the rear is because a small extension will be added to this house, maybe in brick to look like a cheap Cowboy Builder addition.

 

 

and whilst I was waiting for paint to dry, I looked at the pile of plastikard offcuts I had, photos of the station frontage (then and now) and the gap between the station and a rather annoying wall at the top of the stairs, and started to construct the below buildings which, quite handily, are still there.

 

They really do seem like two very quirky little cottages, longer than they are wide and backing onto the yard of a hotel that you really wouldn't want to stay in. Now I must add here that I am not going for dimensional accuracy and even if I was to drive the 200 miles to Bacup to measure them up, I don't know if I would dare ask the owners if they would let me get a tape measure out and start to take notes, but I hope I have captured the character of the front of the houses at least.

 

So, without any further ado, I present the Google Streetview of the houses and my rendition of the (front of) same. And yes, I back-dated the windows to something more fitting for the early 1960's:

 

 

[Jason T]

Terrace no. 2 has moved on a fair bit. Curtains and doors have been added so I could finally stick the structure together (and yes, in the past, I have stuck teh structure together and then realised I hadn't added the doors. D'oh!). Still a lot to do (rooves, stonework on chimney breasts, actually create the terra firma around it so that the front doors aren't 7' above the ground, etc) but they at least are beginning to look like a row of houses now.

 

As you may notice, the dividing walls between each house have two layers of mounting card, each corresponding with the roof line of it's neighbouring wall so that the rooves have a ledge to sit on (simplifying construction of this rather important step).

 

So, without any further ado, here are some photos (taken in a windy garden so they may - hopefully - come out better).

 

First, the front, showing the houses gradually climbing a hill that is months in the future:

 

 

 

The backs of the houses. Quite similar looking to the front but, as seen on Google Streetview, smaller windows and one additional one above the back door. I felt like I was snooping around when using Streetview, peering into people's back gardens from the safety of my office!

 

 

And as an added 'bonus', an idea of what I am trying to achieve. There are a few placeholders in this street (the Skaledale terraces and the quite obvious half-relief house) but the idea is that the street will gently curve and climb away from the operator's view (this is a home layout) and the railway will run on a raised embankment behind (the station building will be on the level with the hill falling away from it in the direction of the platforms, with an under-bridge at the end of the platforms).

 

 

[Removed a/c]

Buildings look brilliant !!!

[Jason T]

Some further updates. The formers for the roofs are now on and today's unenviable task is to cut thousands of tiny vertical lines into strips of 150 gram weight paper, to be added as slates.

 

 

I also progressed quite far with the pair of houses that are located next to where the station was. Try as I may, I could not get a look see what was round the back of them so modellers licence kicked in and as can be seen, both houses are built so that the backs of the houses are lower than the front (basically, equivalent to the drop of the neighbouring station's platform height, e.g. from street level at the front to trackbed level at the rear). This pair of houses will be pretty much out of sight, obstructed by the aforementioned wall at the top of the stairs, the frontage will be rarely looked at, and there will probably be a (low relief) mill to the rear of them but for completeness, I have included as much detail as I can.

 

So firstly, two views of the front, in their position next to the station (and they were that close in reality). The first thing you will think is that the windows on the station look too big. I confess that when I was looking at various photos, etc. and then measured up the station itself (not very scientifically I may add), I too thought that they are massive and that one pane of glass would be about 9' tall but they are about right (at least on the platform side). I must also confess that the window closest to the camera (to the left of the station frontage) IS too big, but hey ho, too late now.

 

Hopefully though, the impression of the station frontage is captured (and I can always add more bars to that window at a later date, even though nobody will ever see it). Oh, and you may also just glimpse that I did add a bit of interior detail to the station - I had to with those stupid bloody massive windows !!!!!

 

 

 

And now the rear, also looking up the platforms towards the station building.

 

 

Finally, an aerial shot

 

[Jason T]

Rather than complete one building before starting the next, I have got a bit of a production line going, which eases on the monotony of doing one task all day long. As such, the original terraces with the bay windows haven't progressed, the second terrace on the hill now have the roofs slated (for want of a better word), lead flashing and rendering added (between roof heights) but require painting, the pair of houses next to the station are next in line for roofs and I also started to build a corner shop.

 

For the shop, I have used Brassmasters windows for the shop windows and shop door; it felt like cheating. Progress can be seen below but basically, I have got to the point where the main structure is completed (including windows, doors, etc) and still to do are the roof, the shop frontage (which will be detailed before being added) and various tidying up jobs. I have added a shop window display now to save me having to try and squeeze one in later when everything is attached. Not sure if it is the logical thing to do but it makes sense to me.

 

Terraced houses with very white roofs:

 

Back of shops (poor photo, sorry). These will be completely and utterly out of view

 

Front of shops and adjoining houses, minus the windows - hopefully give an idea of how it is constructed

 

Front of shops with shop frontage (!!) leaned up against it. A lot more detailing to be added to these before they are attached

[Jason T]

Yet further progress. The shop now has the roof almost done; slates are on and only the ridge tiles and lead flashing remain to be completed. The angular section at the front is slightly out (it was a sod to get this lined up, get the angles correct, etc) but hopefully that won't show up as much when the lead goes on. Following on from the roof, the shop fronts will be completed, any gaps filled with Milliput and then I can start to paint it (and the other semi-finished houses). I may have a break from buildings for a bit as my new supply of PCB has arrived so I can tackle the pointwork.

 

Shop front

 

Back

 

A mock-up of the houses, etc., to date, including some Skaledale ones which (in my opinion) look out of place now. This will not be the format of how the houses will be located, I just wanted to take a photo showing them all together (if that makes sense)

[muddys-blues]

Hey Andy C, "Sheep worried" ? Close relatives more like, I am from Bury originally, and I know T' Valley very well, there is a small story about a local couple getting married in Bacup, all the congregation sat on the same side of the Church !!!!

 

Superb modelling there Mr Sandside, just get an original Met Cam lightweight with the destinations for Bury Bolton Street and you are there aah 1959 nostalgia.

 

Up The Shakers.

[Jason T]

DMU's will feature quite heavily when finished; I already have a 108 and 105, although the latter is an East Coast one and so will be supplemented (or replaced) with the correct power twin variety when it is released. Not sure about the lightweight; did they run to Bacup? Did 108's for that matter?

 

I may well have a clearout of stock I no longer need. After all, would class 26, Clayton, Austerity 0-6-0, class 08, etc., ever have ventured to Bacup? Unlikely, so the plan is to sell (or store) them and start to kit build. London Road (???) do a L&Y 2-4-2T that would be much more fitting and I really want to build more kits that allow me to back-date to the early 50'sas well as running early to mid 60's stock. It's the coaching stock that will present the biggest problem. Which reminds me, does anyone want to buy some lightly weathered maroon Mk 1's? ;-)

[Removed a/c]

Very nice and I think if you gave the Skaledales a make over they would fit right in.

[Andy C]

. London Road (???) do a L&Y 2-4-2T that would be much more fitting and I really want to build more kits that allow me to back-date to the early 50'sas well as running early to mid 60's stock. It's the coaching stock that will present the biggest problem. Which reminds me, does anyone want to buy some lightly weathered maroon Mk 1's? ;-)

 

The London road 2-4-2 (an ex George Norton kit) is quite long in the tooth now and its an absolute pig to build. I do have one which is part built and abandoned - I lost the will to live just attempting to sweat the smokebox wrapper on and get it right down on the Smokebox saddle- it was never going to happen. Not only that but most of the parts were incorrect for the variant i'd bought - ended up doing a swap with another MMRS member who was building one to get the right parts for each others model, which we did. - and he similarly gave up.

 

I had even bought the Phoenix LMS push pull set to go with it when for when i was considering building Waterfoot - if you want those you can have them, Ive no use for them now.