Challenge 2015 - Peter Bowen - HO Roundhouse

[PeterBowen]

I have continued on with the assembly of the roundhouse front wall openings which are supplied as brick arched doorways which have been painted as described before to resemble brick with mortar lines.



I have also started attaching the front and rear upper ventilation grills which are supplied as brick red and black plastic parts which were given a coat of Halfords Grey primer.



This overhead photo shows how the structure is looking.



One of the things that I have noticed is that a lot of the parts don’t seem to fit properly.





With some persuasion and heavy weights it is possible to get parts to line up to a certain degree…





This photo shows that no matter how hard I have tried getting some parts to line-up is impossible:



But by the time I have applied some roof repairs, weathering chalks, etc. the imperfections will be disguised…

[PeterBowen]

Rear Roof

I have continued on with adding the rear roofing as a removable section to show the interior detail. I applied the ROCKET HOT ACC for added strength as the entire rear roof assemble would have no other supporting structure.



One of the problems with the fit of parts on this model is that there are gaps here and there. The rear roof had a final gap at one end of .125” which is quite noticeable.





To plug the gap I cemented a thin strip of styrene:



And then applied Vallejo No.70836 London Grey full strength



To weather the roofing I am using Liberon Earth Pigments available from Axminster Tools http://www.axminster.co.uk/ normally used to dye and colour wood. These fine powders are ideal for brushing on dry.



But be careful these dry powders are very potent and will stain clothing and fingers very quickly!

Using a broad brush with stiff bristles is best.



Apply in small piles:



And brush downwards:



Apply other colours on top of the base coating of Raw Umber:





If the overall effect looks too light, you can repeat the process with additional layers:



No matter how hard I tried adding additional layers I could not conceal the ACC glue marks:



So to represent patched areas of bitumen tar on the roofing joints I used Vallejo No.70836 London Grey full strength and painted over the joints and other areas of the roofing.



Applying with a brush quite roughly:



And applying Liberon over the joints:





Using Tamiya Weathering chalks to add small details and highlights:



Applying light colours to ribbed roofing sections and smudging adds dimension



Before:



After:

[PeterBowen]

Very nice weathering


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[PeterBowen]

Roof Repairs...

This is the gap in the front roofing panels that needs to be repaired:



I needed a thin shim of styrene but did not have any so I thought of using a plastic page protector from an old report.



I cut a scale 24" wide length to bridge the gap in the roof.



I painted the strip with a mix of Vallejo No. 302 Dark Rust and No. 70836 London Grey so that the colour is slightly different than the bitumen that is painted on roughly in other areas.



Overall view showing the front roofing area with repairs in place ready for weathering.



The repairs after some weathering has been applied:



Overall view after the weathering process has been applied:



A view from the front:



BUT

Although this kit is nearing completion I am not happy with the way it is looking from the front...!!!

The original Nothumberland Roundhouse did not have arched brick front doors as this 1960 view shows:



I need to do some more research...

[PeterBowen]

Looking at current roundhouse locations and continuing my research on the STL&H St. Lawrence & Hudson I found this picture of STL&H No. 5593 SD40-2 class DRF-30h just off of the turntable at Nahant Roundhouse, at Davenport, Iowa.



And these Iowa, Chicago & Eastern (ICE) units at Nahant







CP4521 on the turntable at Nahant:



This video shows the CSX Roundhouse at Paris Kentucky:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z67IjvF1ICQ

Nahant Roundhouse door detail:



Overall view of the front of the Nahant Roundhouse:



All of this research leads me to the idea of modelling more prototypical doors and frontage for the roundhouse.

[PeterBowen]

I have sourced some plastic pattern sheets made by JTT Architectural Model Parts and available on eBay.



The No. 97407 Ribbed Roof is close to the profile of the Aluminum (yes that's aluminum not aluminium...!!!) siding material which is used widely in north America as a building material and often placed directly over the top of existing framework, bricked walls and wood planked siding.



Closeup view shows:



This should work for the cladding material over the plastic bricks!





I was hoping that this corrugated siding would work for the shuttered doors but it is just too large, I will have to find something with finer detail.



I have used this fine scale corrugated material before but cannot remember where it came from. I used it on the O scale Pro Patria Mine that I built several years ago:



I have found some in the modeller's junk drawer - I never throw anything away!!!

[PeterBowen]

Further research on locomotive service facility buildings - these taken at Cadrail shops in Montreal:

The front end of CP 8646 was damaged in the derailment in Caron, Saskatchewan, and shows the subsequent fire damage. Two locos derailed and many empty tank cars. The GE has arrived at Cadrail for repairs December 2014.





And this shot of Pavonia Yard in Camden New Jersey:



CP 8646 repainted and back in service on 25 September 2015 at Tiffin, Ohio

[mikehughes]

Brilliant work Peter - and a great bit of 'sharing know-how'

[PeterBowen]

Mike

Many thanks for your kind comments.

I hope that this series of posts has inspired others to rise to the challenge.

Peter

[PeterBowen]

Nearly finished this model. Looking forward to the next challenge.


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[PeterBowen]

UPDATE

The Heljan Roundhouse has been incorporated into an HO Freemo module that has the Walthers 130 ft turntable. The turntable is in and calibrated and has made two visits - one to Bearwood in Bournemouth and one to Western Union in Plymouth and both times it has performed very well.



The roundhouse takes up a large amount of space with 5 stalls it is almost 30 inches wide and hangs over the 24 inch width of the freemo module on each side.



The solution is to cut off the overhang and modify the structure:

[PeterBowen]

Marking the wall sections for cutting. Note the amount which overhangs below:





The back wall section is removed from the model and shows the location of the first cut.



Using a razor saw and straight edge the first cut is made.



The side wall is next to be cut.



And after the cut is made.



Next the existing floor needs to be cut away.





Attaching the cut wall sections back on the model.



The flooring needs to be reinforced with Plastruct Angle.



Plastruct Channel is used to edge the cut wall sections.



Styrene is used to form the foundation, this will be painted later.



The photo below shows the wall, floor and roof cutting on both sides.

[deanobeano]

Hi Peter,

As the module appears to be an end of the line I might have been tempted to add a bit to each side of the module rather than cut up a nice model!!

I see you also decided to stick with the brick fronts rather than a more modern cladding approach - a better choice I think as the completed model looks very good.

Regards

Dean

[PeterBowen]

Modules have to comply to certain dimensions. This module is already very large at 24" x 48" and adding an extra 3" to each side was not an option.

Cutting the corners off allows the inside to be seen and keeps everything within the 24" maximum width for a FREEMO module.

...Stay tuned for the next instalment where I change the brick (dated) frontage and make it more modern looking.

[PeterBowen]

Updating the front of the Roundhouse

I had always intended on modernising the front of the roundhouse - so here goes.



The intention is to use HO scale corrugated roofing as a vertical siding material



This material comes in white and I use Halfords Grey Primer to quickly and evenly provide an overall finish.



The primer paint dries quickly but for best results let it dry overnight for a really hard finish.



The material cuts easily and can be applied directly over the top of the existing brick frontage.



It goes together quite quickly and as long as it is clamped it sticks very well.



I think the end result looks good.



Just need to touch up the white cut lines with some further weathering.



Overall I like what it looks like once the other Canadians take up their places...!!!



The motive power is all Intermountain SD40-2 and the background is a photo.