Modular Buildings

Here's the fish co-op ready to be painted. I have added an awning from the Walthers Cornerstone Modular Kits. They were in the roof packs but the awning angles were with the windows. The awning roof is flat. They were meant to be sloping but they stick out over the wagons. Past experience has taught me that they need to be more than one floor up or your vans won't fit underneath but this is a single storey building as the operator needs to reach over it to access some points - a slight design flaw. The bottom part of the angle is meant to be the top which attaches to the roofing. The part that sticks out at right angles from the building has another bracket underneath it. Cut that off and turn it upside down and you have a bracket that will stick out of the wall to hold the roof flat.

However, the roof sheets are designed to fit in between the columns, the columns that I have replaced with a near enough plastic strip. They have a couple of cut away bits to accomodate the brick columns. The bit that stuck out between the columns had to be removed before they were attached to the building. I originally planned on using six angles to support the roof but after a bit of fiddling around, I realised I would need the ten planned by Walthers.

The wall behind is part of a large station building for the club on the coast. I'm still building it lads. It is made from DPM modular bits. The wall columns come with the walls, something that Walthers could learn from. The Walthers kits fit together really well but component and convenience wise the DPM kits are better, although more expensive. The building in the background came from a couple of kits with a few extra components purchased.

I've just given the fish co-op a coat of primmer so the next post will hopefully have it painted.

Until next time.

Things that slow down progress.

My fifteen minutes a day working on Billabong Marina has taken a right hammering over the last six months. The layout is over twelve months old and it's not yet finished. I have had a few distractions.

I'd like to say that the main one is work. Generally from the end of April to the end of June, I'm pretty busy with work stuff. Yet to be fair, I was a lot busier last year. That was when I introduced the 15 minute modelling workout. Perhaps I haven't been busy enough to feel the need to schedule in some hobby time.

I'm also working on a large building for the club that I attend in the coast. This thing is bigger than I thought it would be. It's being constructed from DPM modular bits and a Peco overall roof. Progress is slow on this too.

My workspace needs cleaning. There are tools and bits and bobs everywhere. Sadly, I am not a tidy worker. I have challenged myself this month to keep my desk tidy everyday at work. The group that I work with reckon that it can't be done. The train room is a bit messy too. I have spent many valuable 15 minutes or more tidying that up. Tonight was a couple of hours work while I moved a shelf and put things away. It's looking better now.

I've also had a couple of breaks. One was to Kangaroo Island and return via Victor Harbor (spelt correctly). Here's a picture.

However, the main distraction is the main layout. It goes around the room two and a half times and then comes back again. From memory, I've posted a video on this before. There is still a lot of construction to finish but I thought that I would stop. I can run an operating night or two with what I have.

But what's been happening down at the Marina?

I put up a backscene behind the bakery and stuck a continuation of the photo on the main backscene.

I'm thinking that a well placed chimney will be able to hide the bracket.

They other time consuming project is the fish co-op.

It's made out of brick. Most of these building that I have seen around are either timber or corrugated iron. I was thinking of a wooden building but I came across a couple of packs of Walthers Cornerstone Modular bits. I love these kits. They are easy to work with. My main station building on the last layout is to be constructed from these kits and the sections have been put away ready for the new layout.

The problem with these kits is that you needed four separate kits for one building. The parts that everybody runs out of are the wall columns and caps. I once rang every hobby shop in Australia trying to find some for a small exhibition layout and ended up having to order from Canada. I have some for this job but not enough for a couple of other projects. There just were never enough parts in the pack for a decent building. It was probably the downfall and the kits are no longer made.

I figured that I could substitute some Evergreen strip for the columns and caps. Part 360 which is .060 x .312" or 1.5 x 7.9mm, I found to be the best substitute.

Five sections cover most of two MRC or TRC vans but it is a tight fit. The width is narrower than it should be and I had to trim the lip off the platforms. If it is positioned correctly then a VLX makes it safely past the building but it is a tight fit.

I reckon this will be the next project to focus on for a while as there is a bit to do before it is finished.

Until next time.