Grahame's N/2mm bashes

Excellent Grahame. Interested and impressed!

John

 

A bit of progress on the gasholder station. These two buildings are unfinished and need details, like gutters, downpipes, vents and flues, made and added.



In addition I've made the security/gate house (although also not quite finished) that is at the entrance to the site on the Old Kent Road:



I've also made a start on the gas showroom that was on the Old Kent Road but on other side of the entrance road from the security/gate house. And the next building project will be the booster/pump house that should complete all the structures needed for the gasholder station scene.

 

Slowly chipping away at my 1970s/80s gasholder station entrance scene. I say entrance as the site it is roughly based on went back behind the backscene a long way and included three further holders, a school (the regional training centre), van and lorry petrol/diesel station, vehicle work shops, central laboratories, test houses, DED stores, appliance warehouses, works canteen and a large staff car park built on the former retort houses and other works production buildings. However, much of all that has also now subsequently gone with just the large holder left (being grade II listed) and the district offices and former medical centre near the entrance.



There's still a lot to do including structure details and ground cover scenics like asphalt roads, paving, gravelled areas, boundary fencing and just a smidge of grass. Making the gas appliances (cookers, fires, refrigerators, unit heaters, etc) to go in the display windows of the gas showroom is likely to prove tricky, or at least fiddly. They'll be tiny.

 

It's a nice collection of buildings.

It is the attention to the details which makes the difference such as the odd shaped buildings, mixture of building periods and materials, transformer, sub-station shed and portakabin which set the scene.

 

Thanks for the feedback and compliments.

I've now made some gas appliances; three fires (one in a surround, a LFE and and radiant type) and five free-standing cookers (three with eye-level grills and two 'slide-ins'). Also a display backscene inside the showroom with boxes on to represent more fires and surrounds and SWHs, multipoints and unit heaters. I do also need some window display posters ('fire sale', etc.,) produced and added. They appliances are now fixed inside but the showroom itself is not yet fixed down. They'll probably be difficult to see on the layout but I know they are there.

 

You need some advertising stuff to go with appliances, Grahame. Quirky flat cut outs of ladies pointing out the delights of a hob, or maybe I’m getting carried away a bit... I have some etched flat figures that might suit.

Tim

 

I thought about having a figure outside gazing in through the windows. They never had many customers inside and consequently were one of the worst sales performing showrooms in the region. Most people went in to complain about broken appointments and non-working equipment, no gas because their prepayment meter was full and so on . . .

 

Here's my Christmas period N/2mm modelling effort - a small row of shops. Obviously not finished - I need make and add appropriate window displays and signage to the yellow one (as a newsagents) and the brown end one as an old radio and radio spares shop. I recall it was once stocked with old large dusty brown box radios. And Blue Flame is a nod to a project name for a product I was developing and working on many years ago:

 

And from the other end it looks like this. Unfortunately I've not been able to get my old printer working so I've not been able to produce the appropriate signage. Looks like I need to get another printer and that'll probably have to wait until we're out of T4 lockdown.

 

They look excellent Grahame. I have some HOVIS sign etches which might be appropriate for an appropriate shop, if you’re interested.

If you PM me your contact details I’ll send you a set.

Tim

 

Many thanks for the offer. They look great.
Although maybe not for the recent row of shops model, I have plenty of other shops, that need detailing, that would benefit from a Hovis Sign.

I've sent a separate message with address details.

G

 

Here's a gratuitous pic of the shops and how they fit with the gasholder station. I'm quite pleased with the grouping.

 

Spot-on Grahame! I like the road going behind the shops, leads the eye nicely.

Tim
PS currently looking for the HOVIS sign...

 

Superb work Grahame!

 

Lovely models Grahame, may I ask if you could post some "old" views of your first layout I think you called it Hedge Lane, the compact south London diorama based layout please? A strange request but I only saw it once at a very busy exhibition but can remember it was very impressive. Helps us in lockdown!!
Thanks
Julian

 

My previous layout was 'Stoney Lane Depot' and before that 'Hedges Hill Cutting' - both urban and N gauge. I do have some pics of both I can post and will make the effort once back on the laptop where they are stored.

 

It was definitely Hedges Hill Cutting Grahame. I will surf the net for exhibitions there maybe some there too. Did it appear in any mags?
Thanks

 

HHC did appear in a couple of mags (although I can't remember which and when). I sold the layout and it still exists with the club who bought it still taking it to shows (before the pandemic). It was built in the late 80s/early 90s so is quite old and a little crude and rough. Hopefully my model making has improved since then. Nonetheless, here's some of my pics, I hope you enjoy them: