Station Platform Furniture

 Diamond Pattern Fencing

The fencing was cut from mesh in the bat of an electric fly swat that was left over after its conversion to a static grass applicator! Remarkably the mesh closely matched the prototype in shape and size. The posts were cut from square 1mm rod.

LSWR Lamps

P&D Marsh B42 with the missing plinths fabricated from wire insulation.

Station Name board

Computer generated label on card with square rod posts. On the prototype the name board  leans back against the fence, as mimicked in the lower photo.

LSWR Notice Board

"L. & S.W.R. Beware Of The Trains". Computer generated label on paper with square rod post. A length or bullhead rail was probably used for real.

LSWR Bench

Frame formed from copper wire with card slats.

Telegraph Pole

Ratio product. Cliddesden was the only station on the line that had a telegraph facility for sending telegrams.

David

DIY 2mm Scale People

Having surveyed the market for off the shelf people, nothing found was ideal to reflect the costume of the period and the pose we wanted.

With some trepidation I decided to take my success in modelling people in 4mm scale to 2mm scale. My concern was whether or not this was at all possible for a figure 12mm or less in height. I surprised myself in discovering how simple it is to create an authentic model.

It did take two attempts to develop a method that works and we are helped by the fact that at 2mm scale it is not necessary, or even worthwhile, to apply fine details such as facial contours because at normal viewing distances they would not be discernable. This is not the case in 4mm scale.

The first figure I wished to model is the operator for the reaper binder, posed climbing onto his seat, just as I have seen in a YouTube video. Having looked at old photographs for the early 1900s I decided he needed rolled up white shirt sleeves, a leather waistcoat and cloth cap. This photo shows the construction method:

1. Body Frame, shoulders and Legs

0.7mm single insulated wire, bent to shape and its plastic sleeving cut to form the trouser legs. The feet are virtually hidden in the scene on the model railway so are simply the ends of the wire bent at 90 degrees.

2. Arms & Hands

0.5mm single insulated wire, bent to shape and its plastic sleeving cut to form the rolled up shirt sleeves. This part is soldered to the front of the shoulders using a heat shunt to stop the sleeving melting. Hands are the wire ends looped and a blog of solder fills the loop.

3. Torso & Head

FIMO clay applied to the frame and sculpted to shape. The head is FIMO rolled into an egg shape with a flat piece placed on top for the cloth cap (or hair). The lot is then cooked at 110 centigrade for about 15 minutes to harden the clay. Thankfully the plastic sleeving did not melt.

The model is then painted using a very fine paintbrush and cocktail stick and when dry Superglued into position on the reaper binder.

David

Magnetic Buildings

The layout is portable and many of the structures are delicate. To minimise potential damage in transit we wanted the buildings to be removable for safe storage elsewhere when not in use.

There are many methods we could dream up to temporarily fix structures to the baseboard but perhaps one of the simplest is miniature magnets.

Here I am using First For Magnets F340 glued with epoxy resin into opposite corners of the building. They mate with metal washers embedded into the baseboard. This arrangement locates and fixes the building with just the right amount of adhesion.

Two magnets are used only where there is sufficient distance between them such they don't attract each other! On very small structures only one magnet is used because of this and care is needed in storage since magnetic buildings attract each other!

David

Mr. McCormick's Reaper Binder - Part 5

Here is the reaper in the wheat field with the sun low on the horizon. The operator is making an adjustment to the machine as the horses wait patiently to complete their task before night falls.

Horses are by Langley Models and finely painted by Ed. The man is by Graham Farish, temporarily placed until a more fitting figure is found.

In the lower picture the operator is about to climb onto his seat. Note a bundle in the carrier and bunches previously dispatched from the binder. Women from the Women's National Land Services Corps (this is 1916 and the men folk are at war on the continent) are following to upend the bundles to form stooks to help dry the grain.

To Part 1

David

Cliddesden Station Master's House

All three main stations on the line had similar styled station master houses. The most useful pictures I could find, old and new, on which to base this model were that of Bentworth & Lasham. Today, Cliddesden and Heriard houses have had substantial extensions added top to bottom, which obliterates much detail of the original design. Bentworth & Lasham appears only to have grown a ground floor extension at the rear. Therefore, this was the only area that required guess work on the original door and window arrangement.

The roof was the most complex part of all the model buildings to design and build. It is made in three parts; the pitched roof section, the middle section front & back and the triangular piece at the hip end. Template mock ups were made for each part and dimensions taken from them for the parts to be drawn up and coloured on the computer.

This is a substantial property for 'the management' compared to the two bedroom terrace cottage for staff. The boss even had the luxury of a flushing toilet (albeit in an outbuilding) whilst the staff made do with earth closets.

David

Mr. McCormick's Reaper Binder - Part 4

Reel fixing, 3 Levers, Seat, Banner/Guard and Towing Shaft

All but the towing shaft are supported by a single piece of wire formed into an ellipse and positioned between the platform and elevator.

Six individual parts are soldered to the support bar. The only way to apply heat for soldering a part without previously fixed parts falling off is to use a heat shunt between the part being soldered and the others. A crocodile clip with a pointy end can be used for this but I used a purpose built tool that is used in electronics product manufacture.

On the full size machine the operator's seat is sculpted and has perforations. On the model it is a flat washer! Can you spot the difference, or even see which part it is?

The banner guard proclaims the manufacturer. Both this part and the bundle carrier were sometimes removed in practice.

The towing shaft is for two horses. It is made from flat brass and is fixed to the machine by wrapping it around one of the big wheel supports and left free to rotate.

To Part 5

To Part 1

David

Mr. McCormick's Reaper Binder - Part 3

Elevator, Binder & Bundle Carrier

Now it is looking like photo's of the real thing, a mishmash of mechanics with little clue as to what does what!

The Elevator lifts the wheat into the binder attachment which ties and pushes the bundle into the carrier.

It is made from card except the yellow binder spindle is wire, as is the cradle.

How to make the tiny cradle? It is only 7mm x 5mm. The answer was to splay the inner cores of a 7/0.2 wire and whilst still attached solder a single wire across the cores. (This piece forms the outer guard and strut) Then, cut the cores from the wire alongside the strut.

To Part 4.

To Part 1

David