It's a Wrap!

The last few months have been busy with little in the way of modelling. I have been preparing to pack up and get ready to relocate to the US. Due to the size and the possibility of the layout not surviving the shipping I have decided to put the layout into hiatus. 

It is unclear how long we will be in the US but will take my rolling stock, locos, unfinished kits and my modelling tools. Unfortunately, I will not be able to take my paints and any other hazardous materials so I will need to start from scratch with supplies when I get to the US. 

I decided to cover it in order to protect it from dust.  I plan to continue updating this layout in some form in the US but that is day for another post. 

Adios for now!

Pre Photos

Post Photos

Anzac Day 2023

Today is the 25 April 2023 which marks a day of remembrance for those who fought and died for Australia’s during the wars. I woke up prior to dawn to attend the local ANZAC dawn service with  hundreds of others in the community. It was great to be part of this service and remember history.

My passion for history including modern history of the Two World Wars dates back to when I was a teenager when I had a great history teacher. As a result, I incorporated this interest with the interest in modelling and during my teens I modelled many a Airfix and Matchbox 1/72 scale model tanks and armoured vehicles. 

Bringing the military modelling into the layout 

Fast forward to today, since building my layout,  I sought to incorporate military modelling in my layout. I included my first military modelling back in April 2020,  https://innerwesthoscale.blogspot.com/2020/04/from-hiatus-to-isolation-work.html. and still wanted to do more. 

Apart from the SDS NSW TE Flat wagons with Centurion Tank loads, there is very little of  military rolling stock commercially available. This means I needed to research and find what were the prototype miliary loads that would show some variety and were used by the Australian armed forces that  I could use as a load. 

I already had a Wiking Land Rover and more recently acquired a Roco Saladin Mark 1 armoured vehicle  both which were part of the Australian army vehicles. I also really liked Half-tracks and had a Matchbox Battle Kings M3 A1 but after some research I didn’t find that these were used by the Australian army during WWII.

White Scout  M3 Car

Above: Completed, painted and tarped White Scout  M3 Car on a NSW KF flat wagon on military train.

After some research on the internet and searching Australian military vehicle museum collections, I found various armoured vehicles in which to model (Army Museum Bandiana, Wodonga) https://armymuseumbandiana.com.au/. With the advancement of 3D printing, I found on Ebay various armoured vehicles that could be modelled, in lieu of a Half-track, I found a suitable alternative, a White Scout M3 Car. One built up version readily available is the Artitec M3A1 White Scout Car. However, the cost is quite prohibitive over $60 AUD and it is already decaled up in US army livery. 

Painting and Detailing

Rather than painting it in army green I decided to paint it in desert camouflage, including a tarp. The painting of desert camouflage was achieved by painting the whole vehicle in a dark green colour and then upon drying covering the whole model in masking tape and then cutting the camouflage shapes in which to paint the light desert tan colour. 

The tarp roof was made using foam and then topped with tissue paper with diluted white glue to give it a tight look. It was then painted a earth brown colour. 

Above: 3D print of the model prior to priming and painting. 

I found a photo on the internet that used as a reference for the load. 

Above: White Scout truck on a KF flat wagon.*

Reference

* https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/image/17420_a014_a014001313

The Forward Look

 

Above: Finished model of the Chrysler Dealership on "King Street" on the Wardell layout. 

Modelling our Obsessions 

Apart from trains, my other obsessions are classic cars, buses and trams. My favourite era of cars are the 1950s and 1960s as a result beside my collection of HO Scale locomotives and rolling stock, I also have a large collection of 260 HO Scale vehicles. I am also fulfilled a life long dream of owning a classic 1950s car, despite the fact that is is original and requires a lot of TLC and time. 

Any chance to model a diorama or building that can display my vehicles is a bonus. 

Background and Research

I wanted to model a dealership in the 1950s and me being a Chrysler fan I wanted to model a Chrysler Dealership. Dealerships in the early to mid century were positioned in the cities and inner city suburbs, where they were a lot smaller in land size before the highways and open sprawl of suburbia My model of the dealership had to represent that. 

The other notable observations of dealerships in the 1950s is that they sold a number of different brands. Dealers that sold Holdens also sold Chevrolet and  Vauxhall. Chrysler  dealerships also sold the French Brand cars, Simca, Plymouth, Desoto and Dodge,

Below are examples of photos of Chrysler Dealerships, I have found on the internet. 

https://www.facebook.com/lostwarrnambool/photos/a.162330021138879/1126092941429244/

http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=14389&start=11101

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1445251256283256&set=gm.6007512982674359&idorvanity=842236972535345

Modelling the Dealership

I was looking for model building that represented a early to mid century car showroom. After searching the internet, I found a card kit made a supplier in the United Kingdom, Kingsway Models

https://www.kingswaymodels.com/. This is a OO 1/76 scale kit and I requested the supplier if they could shrink the kit to 1/87 scale. 

Above: Opened kit before construction

The kit is a low relief kit that comes with various signs. However, the signs represent British names and had to be replaced with white card and new signage made. 

Above: the original built kit before customising

Signage

In order to Australianise the building and also represent a Chrysler Dealership, I needed to have the correct signage. I had some left over model letters from a Heljan shopping centre kit and and cut out the letters and painted each of the Chrysler brands in alternative red and blue colours. 

I also wanted 1950s neon signage and found a sign that would of hung outside the dealerships in the 1950s and made the sign using a couple of layers of 0.75mm styrene sheets. 

https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/Magnificent-1940s-50s-Chrysler-Plymouth-single-sided-porcelain-dealership-sign-220451

In the mid 1950s, Chrysler Australia was finding it tough to compete against Holden and Ford. In an endeavour to make the cars more model looking, the Forward Look program was released in the USA but also across the globe. The cars were more sleeker and sharper styling such as tailfins and more appointments in interior and accessories. Australia reduced the number of models and released the South Australian built Chrysler Royal AP1 in 1957 which differed to the Dodge Royal. 

Although the Chrysler Royal was well appointed and had plenty of power with the V8 option in didn't sell as well as expected. It wasn't until the introduction of the Valiant that Chrysler Australia sold well. 

For my dealership, I used the following models:

Inside the Showroom:

Manufacturer            Brand                    Model                            Year

Norev                         Simca                   Aronde  P60                 1958

SAI                            Simca                   Vedette Beaulieu           1959

EKO                          Desoto                   Diplomat                      1957

MadaboutCars           Dodge                   Royal                            1957

Outside the Showroom:

Manufacturer                    Brand                    Model                            Year

Classic Metal Works          Dodge                  Meadowbrook              1950

Oxford Diecast                  Chrysler                 300  Convertible         1961

Classic Metal Works          Desoto                   Sedan                          1950

Oxford Diecast                  Desoto                   Suburban                      1946

No HO scale vehicle is available for my vehicle so I will need to get someone to do a 3D print in lieu of that I have made a billboard on top of the dealership to spruce the "latest" Australian Chrysler model. 

Run of the Mill

The main building feature for the Newtown section of the layout is the large flour mill and the accompanying silos of Crago Flour Mills. The modelling of the silos has already been detailed in July 2019 Blog Post so after over 3 years this section of building is way overdue. 

Above: Frontal view of the completed kitbashed Crago Flour Mills

Background and Prototype

The Crago Flour Mills siding and buildings has been part of Newtown since 1896. It was a working flour mill until 19881 so it would be appropriate that this would fit my period of 1950s as an operating flour mill and siding with hopper.  Various fields trips were made over the years to view the flour mill from across the road and whilst on the local suburban train to get an idea of the area and building size and features. 

Above: Photo taken from a moving suburban train taken in September 2015. The mill has been repurposed as art studios and the silos as apartments. 

Above: Siding Diagram of Crago Flour Mills sourced from ARHS.

 Modelling the Siding and Flour Mills

In the prototype there a quite a number of sidings that were part of the mill. However, due to space and the fact I did not find a source for the sidings diagram until after I laid the track I only have 2 sidings. Modelling of the Crago Flour Mills was the most difficult challenge as there was no ready made model of the building so scratchbuilding or kit bashing was necessary. My modelling skills are not as professional to tackle a scratch build and I would require detailed architectual drawings to do a thorough job. Instead I opted to do a kitbash and search for various buildings kits that have curved window buildings and large rectangle windows to give the look of the Crago Flour Mill 

The Models & More Bradbury building laser cut kit fit (no longer available) the bill whilst the DPM rectangular window design bulk pack was able to give the look of the 3 storey building. The Bradbury building facade required alot of plaster/polyfiller to raise the level of the walls I also need to fabricate the curved brick sections that are raised around the windows. Brick plasticcard was used to layer over the plaster to represent brick rather than the wood look of the kit. 

Above: Plaster was used to raise the level of the Bradbury building wall facade in order to sit proud  rather than indented as the kit.

Above: Brick plastercard glued on after the plaster.

Above: Open kit of the DPM Designer Bulk pack 

Roofing was made from model corrugated iron sheets and the loading dock was made from a spare peco station platform facade. 

Detail and scenery

Even though there is a siding area there is still a large amount of work to detail and do scenery to bring the models to life. One feature that is timing consuming and tedious is building the chain link/factory fencing. I used a combination of LJ Factory Fence and Gates Kit (no longer available) and Walthers chain link fence to create the fencing around the siding area which at the time of writing was still in progress. The use of metal or plastic posts gluing wiring framing onto the posts with super glue and then cutting the fabric mesh "grill" was a test of my patience. 

Other details I have added include 5 Ton Crane, woodland Scenics ground cover using a mixture of colours and a signal box and working yard lights.  I hope to post more photos in the near future but I am glad this build is now or less complete.

1.  P 176, John Oakes, Sydney's Forgotten Sidings, Redfern, NSW; Australian Railway Historical Society, NSW Division; 2017.