Unfortunately,
resting my foot this evening and not working on the track - however earlier today I managed to get one or two track jigs assembled for work tomorrow. I hope I will be back on my feet within a day or two. So it will allow me to pass on one or two techniques that I have used in the building of the blacksmith's shop.
So over the next hour I will try to show some of the techniques used. Unfortunately I cannot find any photographs of the first stages of the building.
The building is made from thin MDF, the type used for backing picture frames. It is 3mm thick, the building is marked out and the windows and doors marked then cut out using a Stanley knife and a cutting mat. A second layer of this time 1mm ply is glued to the MDF and again the windows are cut from the ply this time. Fairly soon after this I apply a coating of white glue to seal the surfaces front and back. Lindsay had decided that we should all use Pollyfilla for the next stage which uses the material as a coating which can be scored to represent stone.
Normally I would have used Das as it is much easier to work, however it has worked OK although I found that it must have a higher water content as the ply took on a bit of a curve and the MDF followed- not something you want in a long building! However clamping and leaving overnight to fully dry did overcome the problem.
My normal technique would have been to cut sides from the plastic and then use the MDF on the inside with the windows cut and possibly polyboard on the outside and scribing that using a pencil or the ply with Das on it /scribe and varnish before painting. The technique means that the glazing is already done, it just requires glazing bars.
In this case the windows had ecclesiastical style frames with multiple glass panels and the use of filler mesh (the type used on car repairs and made from aluminium was dictated.) I had to make two sets in the end the first set I was unhappy with as I cut them all to size and after painting, I filled them all with "clear glaze" and set them up at a slight angle to dry.
Unfortunately two things happened.The first was that the "Clear Glaze" retreated to sit only in sections completely surrounded by the aluminium so that the edges looked ragged. The second was that although the angle was slight the "clear glaze" collected at the bottom edge of each window and when looked through it distorted the light. The distortion was obvious only after the windows had been fitted.
I made a second set by filling a large piece of the mesh with Marven Medium (a type of PVA used by artists) which dried clear and with the mesh held horizontally this time all was even when dried and when dried it could be cut and and of course was glazed up to the edges. All this was much of a time waster as there are I think 22 windows in the building!
Lindsay had kindly cut all the window frames using a scan and cut machine using thin plasticard. These were painted first and then the cut sections removed ready for fitting in the window areas. The ones for the roof lights were painted and laid aside for adding to the roof. I must say they have made a very nice job although one or two of the horizontal astricals have expanded after fitting, so not perfect I am afraid.
The sides and ends were completed and scored in this way to represent stone. By this time I had decided I would return to my normal methods and cut out pieces of clear glazing for the roof. - I do have photographs of the rest of the construction.
My sore foot now making itself felt
and I am going to have to give up and go to bed after taking a few pills........to be continued.
Much of this work is done on the bench rather than with the layout up on its tall legs. 
It is much easier to work on it at bench top level and takes up less space in the workroom. I did a test on the first board to see what was required for a board to sit level. The level by the way was a very cheap one bought from B&M if I remember correctly. I discovered that all I needed to get the baseboard level was to put a small length of aluminium angle toward one end for things to sit properly. 
