Getting ready for Ally Pally - buildings progress
The brewery
The building has three parts - the main block, the annex at the back of the building and the extension between the main building and the railway.
The main building and the annex are joined together and a rudimentary interior has been installed in the main building. All windows and doors have been installed and some pretty basic colouring and weathering has been attempted.
On the street side of the main building is the pub part of the building. This has been modelled using a real pub as a guide and protrudes from the brick frontage. Working out how to make it was the sort of challenge I enjoy and the end result is a success. It's a combination of 0.3mm Laserboard, 0.6mm Laserboard, 0.9mm Laserboard, 1mm MDF and 1mm acrylic, all laser cut/etched, with card trim at the ends and the top. I needed a very dark brown and ended up using Vallejo German black/brown camouflage and satin varnish.
The pub name was the subject of a lot of experimentation. The best result was obtained by laser etching the name almost all the way through 0.6mm Laserboard, then painting it gold. The surface was wiped to remove as much of the gold from the board as possible then, when dry, carefully applying the dark brown.
The roof base has been constructed of card with 3mm mdf formers. It's shown upside down to show its construction. It's also shown in place on the main building. The pitched roof of the annex is separate and is also shown placed in position. Neither roof section has yet been permanently attached.
Also not yet attached is the extension, but this has reached the same stage of construction as the rest of the building. Under the building is an access passageway between the street and the brewery yard. These are protected by wooden doors with massive hinges. This part of the building will have a flat roof with a parapet.
Everything made so far is shown placed together. The lower part of the extension (the unpainted part) butts up to the railway, so a lot of the building will be partially hidden.
The replacement for the original pepper warehouse is also coming along nicely. Although of the same dimensions as the original, the replacement has several additional features, as well as being made of more robust materials; mdf instead of white card and greyboard, which do not stand up well to being handled too much.
Several of the doors are now depicted as open, either fully or partially, with little boxes inside to hide the view through the doors. Some of the original construction has been re-used, including the internal false ceiling (3mm greyboard). However, whereas this false ceiling was removeable on the original, it's fixed on the new version.
The original of the pepper warehouse (and, indeed, many other warehouses) had lifting devices fixed to the walls of the building to raise goods from the dockside into the upper stories. We'll need two of these to service both of the open upper level doorways that are open. Again, the colouring and weathering is very basic, and not all the trim has yet been applied.
On both buildings, the interiors have been painted to kill light. The colour I've used is Farrow & Ball Paean Black. This isn't black but, I thought, a very dark grey. I found out when I washed the brush (the paint is water-based) that it's actually very dark purple/grey. Whatever the colour, it's proved a perfect choice.
The next building to be worked on will be the corner building of the row paralleling the railway. This will have 4 versions, all slightly different to reflect the different periods we want to represent.
Of course, with the emphasis very much on electrics and buildings, rolling stock has taken a back seat, so Ally Pally will see something of a variety as we press into service anything that will run.
Come along and have a look - you might find it something you want to get involved with.
