Thursday, May 30, 2013

The Little Details

So far the construction of Jerusalem has mostly involved thinking about the larger items; buildings, scenery, etc. While these are clearly important I'm fairly certain that it will be the little details that make the model come alive -- and I'm not just talking about people.

Since I settled on a track plan I've known that there will be a point leading to the factory siding right at the front of the baseboard. As I'm modelling a sleepy little single track branchline I've decided that this will be modelled as being manually operated, and so I'll need a point lever.

I did think about trying to model a point lever myself (I was thinking some matches for the sleepers and a bit of stiff wire for the handle) but in the end I've opted for a nice, accurate, whitemetal part from Knightwing International. I used a photo I took at Model Rail Live showing one of the levers at the entrance to Barrow Hill Roundhouse for reference when painting. I've removed the modelled connecting rod as I'm intending to make that move when the point operates for a little more realism.

5 comments:

  1. It's all in the detail...it's where the interest lies.

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  2. I remember when the fireman used to jump down and change the points. I saw the same thing happening a few months ago in New Zealand.

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    1. A couple of years ago when we had a lot of snow, there was one occasion when the guard had to leave the train just outside Barnsley with a shovel to clear the point before we could continue!

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  3. Oh. I'm up to date. I'm almost disappointed!

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    1. Yes, work has intervened a bit this week, and as I'm not at the scenery stage it's becoming more difficult to do little bits at my desk -- using plaster bandage in my study would probably get me into way too much trouble!

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