Buxton

Tring and District Model Railway Club

Buxton

My project started with a site visit to Buxton station during which, with permission from the ticket office, extensive measurements were taken, and some photographs.

End Elevation	Station End	Station Front	Semi circular window
The above photographs are amongst those downloaded into Microsoft Windows XP from my digital camera, and these provide good reference points and detail. The station was seen to comprise of three sub groups consisting of the Main Building, Forecourt & Car Park, and Platform Area with its distinctive rear windows. I divided the main Building into three box sections. The actual overall length of 150 feet @ 2mm:1 foot gave a model length of 300mm. The building in three sections comprised of Toilet Block with skylight, main building and left hand end. From the measurements taken I determined to make up 3 boxes in 1mm card of 70mm, 180mm and 50mm lengths, with a common width of 45mm for each. The left hand end building being quite distinctive, I used pictures of the end elevation and station end to create the artwork. By double clicking the image ‘Windows Pictures & Fax Viewer’ opened up and from the tool bar in the bottom of the window is an option to open the picture for editing the picture in ‘Paint’. Go to the ‘Image’ on the toolbar and select Stretch/Skew and enter say 50% in Horizontal and Vertical areas. The picture then was complete in the window and having measured an actual width of 22 feet required, I was able to adjust the picture to give me a print of 44mm after making a test print to determine the scaling %’s needed. The same principle was applied to the station end picture. At the time of my visit a car was in the way, but fortunately, I was able to use a ‘Mirror Image’ print to be able to make up the image from two pieces minus the car. These prints could now be fixed to the two sides of their section of the building. For the station front I used Scalescenes TX16 Grey Stone Wall, but printed this in ‘Greyscale’ an option from Printing Preferences which better matched the colours of the wall printed from the station end picture. This was further enhanced by an over wash of matt varnish with a little Carrs Black Weathering powder stirred in. The Valance for the station was produced from station front picture. Firstly using in the ‘Paint’ option area selection of just the Valance area and then using the Stretch/Skew facility. The Canopy Pillars were made from cocktail sticks with eyelets for the top and bottom plinths. The Toilet block again was made with Scalescenes TX16 Grey Stone Walling. Its skylight was scratch built. For the roof tiles I used Scalescenes TX18.

Class 158 awaits departure from Platform 2		Aerial view of Station
The platform side of the station was seen to be of a much darker coloration. I witnessed a pressure washer being used to clean the grime and concluded the front had been previously cleaned to account for this. Looking at my downloads from Scalescenes, I found TX44 Dark Random Stone Texture. Buxton Station has a distinctive Semi Circular window at its far end and this was constructed by printing the semi-circular window picture with adjustments once more in the Stretch/Skew programme to obtain the required print size. An overlay of Scalescenes TX44 enabled me to remove the offending car for the interior view. The buildings are lit with both white LED’s and Grain of Wheat bulbs, which always to me give an impression of ‘Life within’. The U shaped platform was constructed using Scalescenes Kit ref R008 in TX25 texture. These kits are very adaptable to accommodate various configurations. John Wiffen the Graphics Designer of Scalescenes has put most realistic surfaces to his work as are illustrated in my pictures. Platforms are rarely ‘Squeaky Clean’ and Buxton is no exception. Clear instructions are given on forming the desired shapes and contours, and patches to mask any joins help as well. The Platform edges are particularly effective. My platforms are lit with Brawa lamps, and appended are ‘Buxton’ name plates, again printed from a photograph scaled to size, as are some station ‘Exit/ Car Park‘ signs. Options of the platform surfaces are either Tarmac or Paved, or you can combine both. For large areas I print on A4 size adhesive labels available from Staples stores and stick this to card. Small sections e.g. Coping stones are best however Glued to ensure permanent adhesion. The front area of the car park utilises TX22, which has a selection of marked bays on a Tarmac base to choose from. Coupled with TO34 Roads & Pavements, enables a convincing scene to be produced.
And here is the finished station!
Downloads of Station signs are also available in Midland and BR formats. These allow you to produce Nameboards effectively. Some Posters are included. Scalescenes materials really help scratch building and I am surprised they get only random mention in articles I have read. Add to this a site visit, and photographs, I felt a convincing result has been achieved. A comprehensive range of related kits are available, and for the uninitiated Free Downloads allow modellers to try out Scalescenes for themselves.
Don Pearson