ROOFLINES

Mention was made last year of my intention of adding extra storeys and a set of northlights to the row of workshop buildings on Maudetown Colliery. Well, the northlights have been fitted, but I have abandoned the 2 storey expansion in favour of a different array of taller buildings on the second baseboard. Visually it will, hopefully, create a better balance overall. Like the low relief buildings, the northlights are produced in cast stone by Ten Commandments and have been painted and weathered before fixing in place with PVA glue.

I've also made a start with painting the similar buildings before fitting them to the second baseboard. I'm using some of Ten Commandment's newer low relief structures, designed to match those seen above, with extra panels with large doors, windows or plain brickwork. There's also goods loading platforms and timber lean-to sheds. They're great fun to work with and, with a decent paint job, they look great. Making use of the same brand/type of buildings throughout the layout will help everything blend together.

After painting, I just had to flatten the bottom edge before fixing to the warehouse building roofs. The Ten Commandments northlights are reversible, with embossed detail on both faces - just point the shorter side northwards!

Painting and weathering the various building sections before planting on the layout makes life a lot easier.