traingeekboy Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 As you know I purchased some structures second hand. Now I am trying to spruce them up a bit. Two of them seem to be in OO. My signal tower seems smaller than them by quite a bit. I assume I am seeing the difference between scales. My water tower almost seems off scale in size, it's just a huge brick box of a thing with gigantic windows. The station and water tower also came with printed brick on flat plastic. it looks ok, but I think It may need some more work to look less than painted plastic like. Right now I am spraying the wood sections and brushing paint on doors and sills and other details. So... Do I get kicked off the forum for mixing OO and HO on the layout? i promise not to set them side by side. Has anyone done anything on Hornby printed stonework to make it look more reasonable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grockle Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 traingeekboy said: Has anyone done anything on Hornby printed stonework to make it look more reasonable? Put a hammer to it and turn it into a pile of brick rubble.......... Ian I am shutting the door behind me as I exit the forum............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Ok smart guy. I think I get your point. As I was saying... I seem to have this set. So it seems they are in the same scale but the size of windows and doors is dramatic between the two. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thomas-Tank-Signal-Box-Water-Tower-Hornby-/190641012160?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2c6316fdc0#ht_625wt_1039 The tower is missing the roof and stair so I'll be scratch building those pieces after the painting is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Grockle - Harsh Griff - I dont think there is any mix of scales here, just a little bit of scale creep and the feeling that these were not based on any specific examples of these buildings, just being generic look-a-likes - they have been in Hornby's range for about 30 years or so. I dont think there is a lot you can do about the stonework, other than cover as much of it up with creeping foliage, as you feel comfortable. Adding other details, possibly to the inside, will do a fair bit to distract the eye from the stonework Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 i've been thinking about it a bit and perhaps what it needs is layering of chalk for a weathered look. If not chalks then maybe some matte dust paint. And even some bounce weathering to tone down the current colors. The main thing is to get rid of the uniformity of only having the base plastic color, and two paint colors. I'll practice on the water tower first. Speaking of the water I considered covering the bottom part with brick sheet, but then it wouldn't match the style of the rest of the buildings. The vines are a good idea too, but that won't work on the front of a station. So far I have painted a coat of my light blue for doors and sills along with white for all other wood parts. Even with the brick in the original colors the signal tower is looking much better. I'll keep working at it in small gradual layers and see how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grockle Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Opening door quietly, looks around, all clear at present, enters forum warily.. I don't have any luck with scratch building so will just sit this one out and look on with wonder, but I will keep my hammer handy, just in case its required, by me or other forum members Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Well, actually scratch building is just an issue of building the same as one would in real scale only smaller. You get better the more you do it. But for the record, although I am fairly good at it I find it tedious. About the first hour is fun and then it's just a chore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hat tipped toward thee. Ive never been that motivated to even try the scratchbuilding thing - I used to bodge up so many kits, I've never had the confidence. I am good at keeping lots of bits and pieces in my modelling box, just in case I ever got the urge though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Well this is nowhere near scratch building. It's just painting. -I do plan to add a balcony along the front of my signal tower so it doesn't look exactly like everyone else's. It also needs a new roof. -The station awning is painted but not fitted yet, but it will have a solid roof instead of the clear panels it's supposed to have. -The little waiting room is going to get a very rusty finish to the roof. -My water tower will probably end up with some strip wood on it's roof instead of the badly simulated planking it has now. I plan to put lights in or on all of the structures for night running fun. ( BTW this it my first attempt at linking a pic from our albums and it was easier than I thought. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grockle Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Looking better than mine Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 I found a guy on the Hornby railway forum who has added birck paper on the outside of his and they look fantastic. I am opting for the simple fix for now. I had thought about lining the outside with plastic brick sheet on my signal tower, but I feel the paint has given enough of a new look to it that it'll be fine outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Coincidentally, I spent yesterday improving some Hornby platforms from this range that I bought around 30 years ago. A bit of filler and some paint and they are looking far better than I expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I have three of these Hornby signal boxes. This one, at 'Sheddleton', has been covered in planked wood effect plastic sheet and Wills slate effect roof. The signal boxes at 'Kirkfield East' are have their lower halves covered in brick effect plastic sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 i looked at your video to see yours last week. Your layout is always an inspiration. The wood sheeting is a nice effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba14eagle Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Griff I never understood why Hornby put a roof on the water tower Surely it would look better with the roof off the tank part and then, you can really go to work scratchbuilding the inside of the tank, tank filler gauges, ladders, walkways etc etc - not forgetting the water itself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 Well I don't know what a prototype British tank should look like. I assumed they were covered. Think ill start with something basic for now. Then we'll see as the station actually develops on the layout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 Just a couple shots to show how it's coming along. I was using a fairly beat up brush and was not too pleased with the window sashes, but oh well I'll just keep painting and do my best with this brush for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 Last night I had a moment of inspiration and came up with a new trick for painting structures. I was doing the edges on the water tower where the sill meets the brick and i wasn't having much luck cutting a line free hand. It looked good, but part of why I gave up on treu model railroading is because I am just to OCD about these things. i want things to be perfect and they never are so I end up spending too much time on models and they never get finished. So I had a fairly nice line cut but it had a slight waver.. that was when it dawned on me to us my trusty #11 exacto blade to scrape the edge of the lines. It's actually very easy to do so long as you do it when the paint has dried to the point of having a skin on the surface but is wet underneath. Also you want to go at it gently so you don't scrape up the layer of paint that are underneath the new one. Now the lines are very neat and straight. I don't know why no one else has ever mentioned this to me. Maybe I'll post this in the tutorial section and add pics later. Everything is looking very nice. i need to get the gumption up to make my platform next. Still pondering that. Do i use the poorly cut wood I have and fill the edges with plaster or putty to even them out, or do I make a wall all the way around with balsa and then pour water putty in there and use the wall as a guide for scraping it level before it dries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 Went to the hardware store and bought some Durhams water putty. It dries very hard and is not water permeable once dry like plaster is. Went to caboose hobbies and bought strips of balsa to make the barriers for my platform pour. Should be like pouring a concrete driveway. waiting on weather to give me a window of joyous opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanerg6e Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 If you wish to mix OO with HO then why not Griff. Too many so called purists go on a lot about having everything in scale. But on an outdoor railway mother nature does not recognise scale or gauge. If you have a 71/4 inch live steam set up or OO/HO set up mother nature will treat both the same. I also admire people who can scratch build models as I think that is a wonderful skill to have as you can build anything like. I've read articles on how people criticise other peoples efforts on how something is not to scale but they will never put forward an article on something that they've done. It often amuses me how modeling magazines go on about loco details but seem to omit the fact that a steam loco has an electric motor in it in OO scale. I've got a video on my you tube channel which shows a OO gauge 2-8-0 hauling a loaded coal train of 51 four wheel wagons in one direction and a HO gauge 4-8-4+4-8-4 Garrett hauling a load of 23 empty bogie coal hopper wagons in the other direction. It's most definitely not prototypical as the 2-8-0 is English and the 4-8-4+4-8-4 is Australian. In real life the Garretts were built in England by Beyer Peacock in Manchester but only steamed around the Beyer Peacock works on test. They were transported by road to Liverpool Docks (as they were too large to fit within the tight British loading gauge) for transport to Australia by sea. If it's what you enjoy Griff THEN GO FOR IT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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