As Steve Nall demonstrates, modelling a modern depot, such as that you’d find on a preserved railway, is all about careful observation of the finer details.
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Most preservation societies, unless they’ve been very lucky and inherited an ex-br shed, have had to create their own engineering facilities from scratch. Some have extended and transformed existing structures – the Severn Valley Railway’s extensive workshops feature the old Bridgnorth goods shed at its core – or they’ve had to build their own. The Great Central Railway’s Loughborough shed, for example, is an old aircraft hangar.
My layout, ‘Trevean Sidings’, depicts a small preserved railway in Cornwall that requires a shed for its engineering business.
I imagined an ultra-modern building, packed with modern utilities like air-con, water, gas, electricity, broadband and compressed air. I wanted an open, skeletal structure set within a building site atmosphere, with all the accessories that normally accompany such a scene, such as packing crates, and all the while the building would have to fit within the limited space available.
With a small layout such as this, you really need to focus on the tiny details to maintain the viewer’s interest. I really wanted to achieve crisp, sharp, finescale edges and open, detailed girder work – and that would need careful planning. Having researched the steel-framed buildings on the internet and armed with personal observations from building sites, I was ready to begin.
Having built many plastic kits and scratchbuilt items over the years, I know that certain solvents can damage and even warp plastics. I needed to work out how I would keep the fragility and straight alignments of the girders, yet produce a model that was strong enough to handle but without using strong solvents that could affect the plastic girders. I used what I call the ‘tack and secure’ approach. I used just enough plastic solvent to join the girders together and then applied PVA glue from behind to strengthen the joint.
I used Microsoft Powerpoint to draw a rough plan, estimating the size of girders and key dimensions. Total height was 8cm and the square wall panels would be 5cm by 6cm. Total length would be 40cm.
Using the mock-up was an important part of the construction process and following a few minor tweaks, the mock-up was placed on the layout to check scale and looks. Happy with the initial outcome, I could now start the build.
Having built a second wall as a copy of the first one, it was now time to focus on the front end. Having prepared a paper mock-up, the front was cut from more Evergreen 4530. This was also an opportunity to define the roof profile.
I used Evergreen 283 for the base girth and then cut the slightly thinner cross members from Evergreen 282. Tolerances are tight and it took me a few attempts. I fixed them in place with solvent adhesive.
I painted the insulation pale yellow. Struts of grey-painted Evergreen H column were glued on. Once dry, the balsa pieces were glued in. A thin section of rod was glued across them, and a sheet of inner wall was secured in place.
I turned the structure over and applied PVA adhesive over the joints with a fine paintbrush to strengthen it. I cut the wall sections from Evergreen ribbed sheet 4530 and fixed the sections in place with PVA.
On the panel nearest the door, I formed the utilities hub. Gas, water, electricity etc all start here. I used a thin piece of plastic card, a few offcuts of pipe and some odds bits of etched brass from my scrap box.
I cut the columns and eave struts from Evergreen H-section plastic strip. Using my drawing, I cut a template out of foamboard from which I could cut the girders. I tacked the pieces in place with EMA Plastic Weld.
I placed what I had built so far on the layout to check that rolling stock would fit inside. The door was made, complete with a small electronic access keypad, and holes so I could fit some exterior lights at some point.
I wanted to suggest that the walls are insulated. Deception is permissible and dimensions do not have to be accurate for both walls. I cut rough panels from a block of balsa to represent insulation material and ‘roughed them up’.