Scalefour Forum

Advance ticket sales now closed. Just off to help get everything set up ready for tomorrow. I will be on the demo stand 102 if anyone wants to say hello.

Ralph

Thanks for the ideas gentlemen. Now that Howard has explained what all the doors are for I am sure I can sort out the levels a bit different, I have to confess to knowing nothing about engine houses and the different doors and what lay behind them. The boiler house can not be changed and it was done...

Thanks Howard and Dave. The problem I have is that with having to change the position of the boiler house because of the position of the mill and engine house on the layout I don't really have much alternative given the positions of the doors bearing in mind that I have copied the architect's drawin...

Seeing a photo of the mill in S4News 215 - thanks Will - I thought I should post an update to advise where things are right now. Work has been taking place on the groundwork around the mill getting all the doors level with the ground. A card structure was made to get all the heights right and then a...

Hi Richard,

Glad it all worked out for you, looks very good I must say and it is nice to see something unusual - love the crane.

Ralph

Just to let you all know that the annual Manchester Model Railway Exhibition will be on at the Barnes Wallis Building which is in the North Campus of the University of Manchester, Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA just a very short walk from Manchester Piccadilly station. It is open on Saturday f...

I forgot to mention that if you do this using an extrusion you need to file off the lip that protrudes over the side of the coach. Also it might work with 15thou plastic but I haven't tried it.

Ralph

PeteT is quite right, I did demonstrate a method once at Scaleforum about 3 years ago. I cannot claim any originality to this - I was taught how to do it by Dick Petter who has been using it for years on his extensive fleet of LMS coaches. The prime reason for me using this method was because of the...

I very much enjoyed our extended chat, yesterday. I must say I hadn't really appreciated just how much work had been required to replicate the relief brick work and other decorative features which George Stott included in his Edwardian era mills. Thanks Dave, without the input from Howard and yours...

Thanks to all those who came to chat with me at Scaleforum - I hope you learnt something from my journey with a laser cutter. I met lots of interesting people from all over the world and I look forward to seeing lots of buildings being made! Somebody left a short ruler on my stand at the show on Sun...

Just packed the car for the journey and I have prepared some sort of handout for those interested. Not knowing how many to prepare a copy of the paper is attached here so if I run out you can download your own copy.

Ralph

Well done Jeremy. Like the station building!

Ralph

I have never seen that before Howard and it is certainly very inspirational.Excellent stuff. The mill is the focal point of the community and despite this being at the back of the layout we are planning to put some terraces adjacent to it if we can fit it in.

Ralph

Ralph. Congratulations. The representation of the engine looks very nice and, glimpsed through the engine house windows, creates just the right effect. Looking forward to seeing the whole thing in the flesh at Scaleforum. Dave. Thanks Dave, I couldn't have done it without Howard's ideas and drawing...

Hi Nick, Thanks for your kind comments. There were over 300 mills in Oldham alone and there were many more in the surrounding areas. The MMRS exhibitions were at the Corn Exchange in Manchester in those days and we often got over 10,000 visitors in those days. Glad you are planning to come this year...

More useful stuff thanks Howard. Will have to change the title of George to something else then. I can't change the floor colour any more - I can't get to some spots inside the engine house any longer so it will have to stay as it is, sorry. I have repainted the engines now to a very dark blue, bord...

Thanks Howard, that would have been useful earlier this week but never mind, it is easy to remove this all from the building, just 4 screws. Will get the paint pots out again tomorrow and get it right.

Ralph

Work has been continuing on making up some sort of representation of the engines which are quite visible inside the engine house. Howard provided some 3D drawings which are what he used for his animation which he uploaded much earlier on this thread and the one for the low pressure engine could be u...

I should add that the louvres on the skylight are P4 sleeper strip, just happened to be the right size.

Ralph

Thanks Howard, that information is most useful.

Ralph

Not posted for a couple of months, a big decorating job and holidays slowed things down but work has been slowly plodding on with the mill. I have been making the lantern (the architect's drawing terminology but to me skylight sounds better). Had 3 attempts at getting something presentable before I ...

The solution is to make your own. A few years ago I bought some form tools from USA via Ebay but can't find the link right now. They are CNC machined form tools on which you lay thick foil and press forming a miniature corrugated sheet in aluminium. There is a similar tool made in Australia by Brune...

Applied the toning down paint today and it it looking much more in balance with the remainder of the building now. Got a bit more tweaking of the colour to do to get a reasonable match but that won't take long. The interior of the engine house is another issue altogether. One member in our group thi...

Not posted here for a while but work has been proceeding on the engine and boiler house parts of the mill. The photo shows the engine house as it is now immediately prior to toning down the brickwork, it will end up exactly the same as the main part of the mill - it all looks a bit dark here as the ...

There you go Tony, you just need to make a P4 version of that!

Ralph