PIT HEAD BUILDINGS

18 hours

The basis of the pit head winding tower is Bachmann Scenecraft’s Hampton Heath Colliery pit head (ref. 44-025). It’s a solid, albeit basic construction, but it provides an ideal starting point. Sadly, the model isn’t in the current range, but you might be able to source one on ebay and via second-hand model dealers. Generally, ready-made buildings such as this tend to be manufactured in quite short runs, so always snap up any buildings you think could be useful in future.

While my model is purely a freelance affair, I did use Google’s image search tool and various mining books to gain inspiration, focusing on smaller collieries. Research showed that the pit head structure would sit inside a larger building, its size being based on what space I had. Again, foamboard was employed to form the basic inner shell, being glued together with UHU and clamped with masking tape while the adhesive set.

The pit head and winding house are above the railway sidings, and a piece of insulation foam was just the right height – just a little taller than the biggest locomotive. Note the locomotive box used as a mock-up for the loading screen!

The structure’s inner shell was then clad in embossed plastic sheet: stone effect for the main building and corrugated panels for the roof – again, UHU is ideal. The small windows are spares from a kit.

As with the engine house, the painting stage began with aerosol paints. In this instance, a blend of Halfords matt black, red oxide and grey primers provided a suitably mucky base for further paints.

Dry-brushing followed, using various browns, creams, greys and matt black, following the same process as the derelict Cornish Engine house, using interior matt emulsion paints, plus a few matt enamel paints.

A neat trick to give the impression of layered corrugated iron sheets is to make use of a piece of card as a stencil mask. This allows a discernible edge to be created. These techniques take a little practice, but you can soon perfect them.

A winding house, as the name suggests, houses the winding engine to lift and lower miners up and down the pit shaft, plus lifting freshly hewn coal to the surface.

Using books and the internet for inspiration, I started with a foamboard box. I had some spare windows from a Scale Model Scenery kit, which turned out to be perfect (www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk).

Checking the position of the winding house in relation to the pit head. A paint brush stands in for a winding cable to help place the opening for it in the side of the building. As ever, Bertie the hound is helping!

To create the steps, strips of mounting card were cut to a uniform width and laminated together. I aligned the depth of the stair treads by eye as, on such an old building, they’re unlikely to be perfectly uniform.

A little DAS clay helps to fill any gaps in the walls and steps and tidy things up. Excess clay can be cleaned up with a damp brush and the mortar courses reinstated with the edge of a cocktail stick. Allow the clay to dry fully.

After adding the laser-cut roof tile strips, priming and dry-brushed painting followed, using the same techniques as already described.

A railing was soldered together from some brass wire. Note the occasional stones picked out in contrasting shades to add a little variation. No need to be too tidy – we don’t want that painting-by-numbers look.

Few scenes are complete without a pub and the excellent and inexpensive ‘Parsnip Cottage’, from Petite Properties, was used for The Bell Inn. Several of the cottages from this range make great pubs.

Web: www.petite-properties.com The Petite Properties kit provides everything you need to form the main structure, apart from glue, paint… and time! The walls and chimney stacks are rendered as laser-cut MDF components which fit together neatly.

Following the instructions, the building is easy to assemble, using cyanoacrylate adhesive. PVA works just as well, but it takes a lot longer to dry, so you’ll need masking tape to hold things together while the glue sets.

Smaller detail parts are also laser-cut, this time from fibre board. I used cyano glue for the whole assembly, allowing the build to progress rapidly. Ensure adequate ventilation, as things can get rather smelly! It took just a couple of hours to reach this stage, with the main fabric of the building assembled. Check the angles of the walls with a setsquare as assembly progresses to ensure everything is aligned correctly.

Scale Model Scenery’s laser-cut roof slate strips were fixed to the roof panels, applied in overlapping layers, working from the gutter line upwards. Petite Properties can also supply slate and roof tile strips.

As a change from textured plastic card overlays, I used plaster as a basis for the stone effect. After mixing the dry plaster with a little water, it was spread over the MDF shell with an old knife, as if buttering toast.

When fully dry, the plaster was given a quick coat of primer. Priming isn’t essential, but it does allow the scribing process to be seen more clearly, especially when a vibrant shade is applied, such as red.

A small nail in a mini-drill chuck made a good scribing tool. You don’t need to be too tidy, and if the odd bit of plaster breaks away from the MDF, that might even enhance the rustic look.

With scribing complete, give the surface a light brush with an old toothbrush to remove all debris. Dry-brushed painting can then progress, which brings the building to life.

I found ‘The Bell Inn’ signs after a quick Google image search and, after resizing on the computer, they were was printed out and installed, using Pritt Stick as an adhesive.