Sunday, March 17, 2013

The Chapel Part 9

What a relief to get back from a week working in London to get on with the chapel.  I wish I'd taken the chapel with me.  I could've stayed in it and still had space left over compared with the typical central London hotel room.

Anyway, I have made progress on the windows.  Some good, some not so good.  I wanted a muted stained glass effect so scanned the York Modelmaking window frames, coloured the panes on an old image composer programme and printed the result on tracing paper.  I thought that clear styrene or acetate would be a bit too shiny (and in any case I can't print on it) and tracing paper produced a decent enough effect on the church I built earlier.


However, once the windows were fitted, the effect was more like a fun fair.  Listen, the Carousel Waltz.


After applying a little Modelmates Mud dye (left over from track weathering) to the frames and panes, the colours are better - more muted. However, the half round window over the door looks wrong.  It's O scale because there wasn't an OO scale window big enough. I was hoping it wouldn't matter but unfortunately it looks overscale.  So, I may try to make something more suitable ..... or I might just leave it.  Who cares?  Only me.  But it will annoy me to my grave.


Oh, and the roof is started.  I still haven't decided how to slate it.



5 comments:

  1. It's looking really fine. I agree with you about that window above the door, it looks out of keeping with the finesse and delicacy of the rest of the modelling on this project. I don't know what I would do...perhaps lay fine string, soaked in PVA over the frame to provide an extra layer of detail...not sure.
    If you left the window, perhaps gently dry-brushing with a neutral grey might reduce the over-scale effect. It still looks good, it wouldn't be a disaster to leave it- but the rest of the building is outstanding.

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  2. Hope you will forgive me criticising in my last comment. Just thought now that the York Model Co. do very good slates...the Wills would be too small, as they are more like "small ladies"...most of the chapels round here in Ffestiniog are slated with larger slates like "Countesses" (20" x 10")so the York slates would be more in keeping. Geoff T cuts his own, I think. Must have a look at his book...

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  3. Thanks Iain. Criticism? Useful tips more like for which I am very grateful. In any case I don't mind helpful criticism one bit. I'll follow up on your ideas this afternoon. (Wait with baited breath). The string and PVA sounds a brilliant idea for fine detailing. I'll certainly use that somewhere if it doesn't do the trick here. As to slates, I think I'll go to York Modelmaking. I won't have the patience to cut them by hand.

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  4. Hi Chas, followed your profile and found your blog here. I really like your buildings, and the principle that they should be scratchbuilt. They have a nice texture and feel to them, and I like the way you study prototypes carefully.

    If that window will annoy you to your grave, it's probably best to change it :-)

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  5. Thanks Mikkel and you're absolutely right. That window is going to have to go!!!!

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