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Black Country Blues


Indomitable026
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Meanwhile.....

 

 

I've built the wall for the rear of the yard, which backs on to the canal towpath. To add interest, I've included a doorway ( sans door at the moment) to allow access to said towpath.

 

I could leave the door off, with a piece of wire mesh / fencing fixed over the gap, so a glimpse of the canal can be seen.

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If it helps, my first vehicle was a ford escort MK1 VAN. L reg.... 50miles per hour max. The back doors didn't lock so I had to reverse into walls for security reasons when parking. I had one mirror only on the off side wing. does that help

 

Andy

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On a local point down here in Devon it was normall to see the secondhand vans with a bright and shiny red or blue exterior with the interior still in yellow as the largest supply of used vehicles was ex B R or Post Office Telephone fleet which had undergone a quick repaint.

 

Wally

 

My Dad had a T reg ex BT Dodge Commer that was still yellow but with the branding painted over in black, in a similar way to Trevor Chaplin's van linked to in post 103, no vinyls back then!

 

Looking through the photos in the link Paul posted earlier in the thread there seems to have been a change (to black plastic grilles) around '76/'77. The kit did have some instructions, once, but I couldn't find them to pass on with the kit. IIRC these mentioned the date of the change and I think both patterns of grille are provided.

 

I will be an early one then, it's the grille with the smaller badge (fantastic etches) so CNP468N it is then.

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Using the dimensions from the ground plan for the modified Tennants building (see http://www.rmweb.co....ilds-buildings/), and Google Earth Street view I made a few sketches of the building, which do look about right. The following is the building opened out a la Pendon (i.e. all walls in one plane

 

post-123-0-10015600-1355993455.jpg

 

This morning, having to get up a early as Mrs iD left at 05:30 for work, I put together the card mock-up. But no time to take pictures - those are to come this evening. The black figure is my "6ft Bloke" (24mm) which I use to gauge whether or not the overall structure looks more-or-less right and is, more-or-less, in proportion.

 

Very useful approach, I noted one or two things to correct on the plans before I start cutting plastic. For sake of robustness, I'll probably build an interior framework of 2.3mm x 2.3mm rod, as I did for the Oldbury Road structure. From the mockup, it seems that the Tennants building will be faster and easier to construct than Oldbury Road.

 

Busy Christmas!

 

iD

 

p.s. Need brick bond identification ASAP, thanks guys.

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Queing in traffic this morning between Heath Town and Fallings wood I sat behind a flat backed lorry with about six steel stillages on it... painted Blue with the company's name stensilled on it. some things don't change

 

Andy

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Ta!!

Bits are English bond, but it's more complex than that. If you look at the wall to the left of the bay you see 3 rows of stretchers separated by a row of alternating stretcher and header. If that 4 row was just headers it would be English Garden Wall bond, but with the alternates I don't know what it's called!

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The Tennants building looks like it will be a very quick build, indeed (finishing is quite another matter). Here are some photos of the initial cardboard mock-up:

 

First off some overviews:

 

post-123-0-50130700-1356023654.jpg post-123-0-57192400-1356023667.jpg post-123-0-37530500-1356023696.jpg

 

Note the "6ft Bloke" for showing the proportions.... The grey areas represent the "foundations" which will be unfinished and will be sunk into the scenery when the BCB landscapers embed the building.

 

Now as this will be a truncated model to fit the footprint provided (and I have designed down to the last mm to meet that footprint) there are some "blank" areas and here is a picture from "behind the scenes"

 

post-123-0-58160400-1356023788.jpg

 

It remains to be seen whether or not the lads will want me to do anything with that blank area (plain brick sheet? plain sheet? either but finished, either but just with a coat of grey primer?)

 

Now the Eagle eyed amongst you will note that the mockup has some gaps and distortions in it. Two reasons: first the cardboard was slightly warped and recalcitrant; and second, there were some design errors (such as the entrance being far too wide) - these have now been corrected.

 

Finally, here is a comparison of the Oldbury Road mockup and the Tennants mockup:

 

post-123-0-72416100-1356024114.jpg

 

I still need to cogitate of construction, I'm still thinking plastic strut frames, 60thou carcass and SEF cladding - which given the robustness of the Oldbury Road structure is what I'll probably end up doing (99/95% certain).

 

Comments, suggestions etc. requested.

 

iD

p.s. I may even, if I'm in the right mood over Christmas, do a STUBSPORTABOGtm to stick outside the building...

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Havng zoomed in as much as possible, it does look the same to me. The only difference might be the bricks are stretcher / 3/4 / stretcher, rather than headers.

I don't have the photo in front of me, but that sounds quite normal. In both english and flemish bonds (and many others) you need either quarter of three-quarter bricks in alternate rows at corners and window/door openings. They are necessary to get the alternating rows to line up correctly.

 

Nick

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Looking at it closely there is a whole mixture of bonds at different places!

 

Looks like it's been built in many phases.

 

Going from the left, the first 3 bays, and possible the next 3 as well have recessed panels between the buttresses,

 

The next five windows are all at different heights,

 

The first floor window to the left of the bay is square, no arched brick support, but a flat lintel.

 

The courses to the left of the Bay window section where it joins the rest don't align, guess a different build time.

 

The remaining sections to the right appear to be the same age, but hard to see really.

 

 

Anyway, from the distance that it will be seen, I think that Flavio could use the same bond through out!

 

Makes it a bit easier!

 

Dave

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Bits are English bond, but it's more complex than that. If you look at the wall to the left of the bay you see 3 rows of stretchers separated by a row of alternating stretcher and header. If that 4 row was just headers it would be English Garden Wall bond, but with the alternates I don't know what it's called!

Flemish stretcher bond.

 

Nick

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... but with the alternates I don't know what it's called!
"Just bung something together to meet the price/deadline bond"? It would seem that construction was piecemeal and I think I'll have to split the building into two section (1) offices and (2) factory. Whether or not the unusual bond really stands out at exhibition "watching the layout" distances, I don't know. However, I'm happy to be "close enough for government work" and use English bond on the appropriate bits (any chance, Anotheran, of a sketch showing the terminally brick ignorant [me] which bits are which bond?)

Looking at it closely there is a whole mixture of bonds at different places!... Looks like it's been built in many phases... I think that Flavio could use the same bond through out!... Dave

I would like to get the various bonds as closely matched as possible, but although technically feasible to hand build the very odd bonds, I think that it would be misplaced effort. Effort that would be better spent getting the overall quirkiness of the building right (e.g. the mixture of bays, window types, corbelling, etc.).

 

Once Oldbury Road is painted and Tennants is constructed, I'll be badgering the BCB fact-finders and set designer as to the best way to build the Rowland Priest Works.

 

Pity that it's no longer there to be photographed, I'll have to rely on a mixture of guesswork and trigonometry to get the dimensions right...

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The viaduct was not fitted without a fight...

 

Geoff has been wrestling with the structure for a couple of days. The main pillars are failrly substancial with a core of softwood but the one nearest the board joint is just 6mm of MDF some plastic cladding, filler and a 2 -3 mm void. The idea is that the viaduct sits within the wingwalls just overlapping the edge of the board. Geoffs solution involved recessing some angle brakets into the base board and the using 2mm hardwood packers running the full height up to the track bed araldited the lot to within an inch of its life..... More mods were required to the next boards approach to maintan the correct gradiaents. Its there now

 

post-8894-0-92517500-1356036612.jpg

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Hi Stu,

 

I thought it was (see the second post), but I am not convinced the recessed brickwork framing the windows is indeed Flemish Bond

 

Cheers

 

F

 

I also feel it is flemish bond and what you are seeing is the quarter and three quarter bricks required to finish the uprights level..

 

Andy

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