Simple structures for "The bay"



In keeping with my happy-go-lucky approach, the buildings and structures for "The bay" were kit-bashed, scratch-built or otherwise put together using whatever materials, kits and parts I came across (you realize of course that this so-called "approach" is really just an excuse for my limited modelling skills!).

The parcels & cloak room seen above is loosely based on the wonderful wooden building style so typical of Didcot station. This was done by scoring the cut-to-shape plasticard sides and ends of the building to emulate the plankings, and then adding strips of further plasticard to give the panel effect. The roof is made from card strips. These simple techniques were copied from a similar old second-hand building I picked up a while back, from which some of the parts have been recycled.





The canopy uses heavily modified parts from a number of Ratio Platform Canopy kits, purchased cheaply on E-bay. The valances are etched brass examples from Muswell Models, replacing the rather crude versions that come with the Ratio kits. By the way, the loco is my Armstrong Goods built from the old Nu-Cast kit. It has that revealing white-metal thickness, but it's a good old friend!





The kit-bashed canopy included cutting up the Ratio roof parts to form one long continuous skylight as seen on many GWR canopys (illustrated above with original parts on top and modified below), and adding extra layers to the roof to widen the canopy and making the roof level with the skylights.





The Ratio canopy supports are a fair representation of a widespread design that was also used at Newbury, so these were built as supplied, but with a rod-in-tube system built into the base which allows the canopy to be removed from the platform if necessary.





The rough-and-ready water tower, less final details (laddder etc). It is based on a rough and simple design that was widespread on the GWR, including in the early years at Newbury (although that was a six-legged variant). The model was put together in an evening from bits and pieces from my scrap-box, including Ratio parts for the tank itself. I rather like these simple little projects, which contribute nicely to my objective of using as many existing or leftover parts as possible, while still drawing on prototypical features.





The main platform was built using adapted Peco platform sides and edging, faced with brick-pattern Plastikard from Slaters. The surfacing is Wills Victorian stone paving, cut to shape and mounted between the Peco sides. I have always rather liked this kind of paving, which was used on the Newbury platforms and, of course, many other locations.





As for the brick embankment walling, I thought I'd experiment with some new options and used the vacuum formed plastic walling available from Langley. This is preformed and comes with four bays in each section. It is very lightweight and can be mounted with quick results. However the brickwork lacks the sharp crisp edges of plastic kits, which can be dissatisfying when viewed close up. On this particular layout I think it works out OK, but it may not be the best choice for embankments that are more visible at the front of a layout.