HOW TO DO IT: CREATE THE BUILDINGS

The top and bottom buildings are constructed with the carriage placed on the track. This ensures adequate clearance between the building sides and the carriage. The shapes of the buildings are first sketched onto thin card, which is used as a template with the car in situ and the template used as a guide for cutting out the building sides from 1mm (0.40in) styrene sheet. I used blue-tinted acetate sheet for the windows, although clear acetate works just as well. The windows are glued to the inside of the buildings prior to the roofs being glued on. Roof guttering is made from black styrene rod on which the upper side has been ground flat using coarse glass paper. These are then glued along the lower edges of the roofs. The down pipes are cut and bent to shape from black styrene rod and are glued to one corner of each of the buildings. Construct both buildings by transferring a card template onto 1mm styrene sheet. Build both stations with the car in situ to ensure that it will fit properly. The building sides are glued to the sides of the track bed, which may require strips of styrene glued in between to prevent the building sides from obstructing the car. Balsawood is used to strengthen the underside of the track bed and to construct the support pillar. Metcalfe stone effect printed card is glued to the pillar sides, and around parts of the buildings.