Although superglue feels like a does-all-jobs kind of solution (it's called 'super' for a reason!) It's actually the last glue I'd use for most modelling jobs. It's such a brittle bond and you have to be so careful when handling it. When bonding plastikard to plastikard, I'd recommend the kind of glue that comes in airfix kits. I use Revell Contacta. It'll bond better and gives you some time to reposition. Plus it won't glue your fingers together! Rockit card glue from Deluxe Materials actually bonds a wide variety of materials and is very strong too. That's what I'd use for plastic to wood. Also, scoring plastikard lightly with a blade and 'snapping' it from the main sheet can result in a cleaner and straighter edge. Great video as ever. Good luck with your next one 😊
I've mentioned it before, but the way you include the "failures" is a massive reassurance to those of us who like to get a bit over dramatic when something doesn't work. Keep up the good work Charlie.
Thank you Charlie. Thank you most of all for not being perfect. As someone once told me. 'Try very hard to learn from the mistakes of others. You haven't got time to make them all yourself'. Bless you Steve.
I have been so inspired by watching your videos that after 50 years of dreaming of building a model railway I have finally taken the first steps. I did dabble in a garden line in the early 1990s but that was short lived. I'm 60 now and semi retired, so no excuses to getting it started.
You lured me in there. I was thinking that your new platform was looking so much better than my Peco stuff and perhaps I should start again? Then, I thought those ceramic tile were a bit pricey but if Everard and Chadwick have got them…… ….and then reality struck! Thanks as ever for your honest thoughts, some new ideas but also some reassurance that mine aren’t too bad.
I think the tiles are interesting and the fact they are easy broken lends itself to interesting weathering potentials especially if your making disused and abandoned tracks, you could always glue the tiles to a strip of plasticard for additional support underneath when used for platform edging and that way everything would be neat an straight.
This is exactly why I love your channel Charlie, not only do you show your successes but you are not shy to show the failures as well, so we can all learn ... thank you, cheers, Garry from DownUnder
After a vacation day filled with bricklaying - wich I hate and am really not good at, but I am too cheap to hire a bricklayer - a new video from Chadwick is just what the doctor prescribed to relax 😊👍.
It sure is. And entertaining. Don’t be sad because the tiles didn’t work for You. Richard does car bodywork repair for a living (so do I). We are used to fiddle in the 10th of a millimeter range and are a bunch of strange freaks. That’s why we a capable of laying these things straight. Tbh, I would go the plasticard route either.
Thank you very much for these videos. I’m 47 and just got back into trains after about a third of a century (now N gauge). They are extremely informative. Unlike some of the more melodramatic ones there is no superfluous flummery. I really enjoy these extremely well enunciated and clear tutorials
I made my platforms with 3mm MDF cut in 18mm strips to build a frame then topped with 1mm grey card & used brick paper on the MDF. However, on my sea wall edge, I needed big stone block edging curving around the sea wall and for this I 3D printed edging strips with lines cut into the model for the joints between the blocks. This also allowed me to radius the front edge.
Full respect for showing things that didn't work (for whatever reason). I am sure that helps modellers everywhere. Good to see the station being developed.
I watch alot of model railway channels I just find them fascinating. As of yesterday Everard junction was my favourite until I stumbled across your channel now I'm binge watching your series..
If you have a Silhouette or Cricut cutting machine, you can get it to scribe a piece of A4 1mm plasticard with your slabs. Paint them with an airbrush, snap them all up into individual bits and you can lay them like these ceramic tiles but without the brittleness. The colour variation from the airbrush also gives a very nice subtle variation from slab to slab. I just paved three whole platform tops this way and yes, it took ages, but it looks really good and basically only cost the price of 2 or 3 sheets of plastic. You can glue them down with PVA or copydex and fill any small gaps with grout.
Absolutely brilliant video, and this is why I'm a patreon. I LOVE people who 1. credit and shout out to those who influence and inspire them. It shows class and respect. 2. show their mistakes. This is something that encourages and supports everyone to just keep on keeping on. Thanks Charlie, as always :)
So many comments and suggestions all go to demonstrate the interest and appreciation for what you do. Not in any way a disaster, just a slightly steeper learning curve ..... an inspiration to a lot, if not most, of us. Thank you.
For my platform top I used gray Elmer's Foam Board, 3/16in (4.8 mm) thick. Smooth gray surface, white foam core. I left the surface smooth but painted the edge a matching shade of gray. It looks like concrete. The base is foam insulation board cut to 9/16 in (14 mm) thick, also painted gray. The top overhangs the base on the platform side by 1/8in (3 mm).
Charlie for my latest platform rebuild I used the peco walls/edging which have built in copers. Please note the hornby platform gauge provides too larger gap to the platform edge which results in an over large gap between the following stock and the platform edge I 3D printed my own spacers with the correct edge distance
Hi Charlie that brick work you are displaying is called English bond that is alternative courses of headers and stretchers, when i was an apprentice brick layer many years ago. Well Charlie your video couldn't have come at a better time as i am at the same stage as you so to speak. I said a while ago to you that you show all, warts an all when you make your videos { that is mistakes } and don't shy away from showing them, and how to put them right great stuff . That was a great tip regarding the distance between the platform wall and the edge of the sleeper ,LOVELY as you say. Thank you Charlie once again for showing me/us how to do it and not to do it. cant wait for the the next video.
That’s a great money saving video! Thanks for the tips there Charlie. I’ve plenty of platform length to build myself, so a lot of useful pointers to take note of. My only problem is that one of the platforms is going to be on a curve, so am going to have to take edge clearances into account. I suppose the same if you’re approaching from a curve, also making allowances for clearance when using an end of platform head shunt. Very much food for thought! Looking forward to part two to this one. Excellent presentation again, much appreciated. dB.
Thanks Charlie, Hopefully Woodland Seanics will have a product you can use. I still enjoy your videos. For smoothing Smoothing plaster in the dental laboratory are used a Scotch-Brite sponge. The local Dental laboratory is a good place to get tools and ideas for modelling. Thank you, Charlie
Dear Charlie Interesting video and well done for the warts and all approach. For my platforms, I am using Peco platform edge sections, screwing them down at the correct distances apart (after decorating and weathering them) and the using card to infill, cutting out wiring routes for platform lighting and then finishing off with modelling clay. The clay finish has the advantage in that it can be smoothed without it looking too smooth. I then paint it complete with a white platform edging. I also add strips of emery paper to simulate bitmac where repairs have taken place. Images available, if you are interested Rob Biggs
Fantastic content there Charlie! Another ‘live and learn’ lesson for us. Thanks for trialing the tiles for us all…….looking forward to seeing the next video with your preferred solution for the platforms.
Hi Charlie it's a bind when after taking hours marking out platform edges and gluing down loads of tiles and it goes all to pot.. I had the same experience and in the end opted for metcalfe paving slabs.. they are great. Self adhesive no messy superglue etc.
Been a long time since I made any platforms for British outline. Like 45-50 years, I think. So we didn't have all the stuff available today. But the method wasn't entirely dissimilar. Block of ply or planed timber for the core, grubby brick papers up the side (Bilteezi rings a bell), Test with widest locos and stock, especially if there are any curves. Hardboard top cut to overhang. Superquick pavement paper on the edges (and across the whole platform in places), inset with rectangles of fine black sandpaper for tarmac. Test with widest locos again. Paint on Board of Trade white line on the edge. Then shave off the bits which are being caught by locos and stock which have inexplicably grown in width since the last test, and retouch the white line. You've now got very thin MDF sheets that you could use for the top, maybe in a couple of layers overlapping to give a corbelled edge (if that's the word). I think there are paving slabs from Slaters Plasticard that you could use for the edges.
Many thanks for such an interesting comment, Andrew. Yes, things have now moved on considerably, with laser cut MDF throughly available. Stay tuned for part two, regards Charlie.
"This week, how to make platform edges, using an every day ruler!" Lovely video Charlie, nice to see some older rolling stock still in use at Chadwick! Take care!
I use 2mm MDF for the platform tops, scribe the flagstone edges, then mask and spray accordingly and weather similarly. Costs peanuts, is very durable and looks great. (plus if you want to put any cracks in the surface, very easy to cut them in with a scalpel before spraying) ( I model in O gauge though, so might need something thinner in OO ?)
Aww deer! I'll stick to my strange mix of Hornby Scaledale station buildings and platform, + the Superquick stuff ! Still good information, re the platform height and distance from the edge of the sleepers and the platforms...
Well after a disappointing trip to Wells today this has certainly cheered me up. Perhaps you should have looked at resin platform edging but as you said, scribed plasticard is probably the best way forward.
My recipe for platforms, curved or straight is to create an imprint of the track using a sheet of paper. I then measure 7mm from the rails and cut out the paper as a template to be cut into ply. I use 12mm + 6mm on top. I then check the ply against a Hornby 06 for width and a Lima Mark 3 coach for overhang. This allows me to trim the ply for particular curves. Note a Hornby 800 would probably be more demanding so could check it for that instead. The 12mm ply gets brick paper and the 6mm ply on top is painted grey with a white edge. (These days yellow better).
@@ChadwickModelRailway Total platform height is 18mm made of two layers of 12 and 6mm ply. 12mm has brick paper on the sides, Top 6mm is just painted but people could add paper or plasticard on top, so another 1mm. The advantage of this method is its cheap and flexible geometry. There are prebuilt straight platform kits that look better.
Very interesting. Curious as to why you put some of the superglue onto the plastic and then ignored it and simply dispensed from the bottle as you needed. So pleased to see the disused track suggestion making into the layout.
More tips I've gotten from this video, now need a circular saw or after how I use my jigsaw. Cutting plasticard, I've noticed a metal ruler in The Range that has a handle attached to it. Think it was only a fiver but will double check at the weekend as I'm planning to cut very similar plasticard for my box file layout platform, but I'm doing n-gauge and I'm clumsly, and the first I'll realise I've cut myself, is when I'm stood in a pool of my own blood. Great video as always Charlie.
Your videos are extremely useful and refreshingly honest Charlie. It’s good to have someone show things that don’t work, and why, as much as it is to see when things do work. It’s also reassuring that those of us that do struggle aren’t completely useless after all! Everyone has problems with their layout. Looking forward to round 2!
Oh dear Charlie! Personally, I would try chiseling the slabs off and then sand off the superglue. The rest of the timber and the edging should be fine. One of the (many) things I like about your channel is the 'warts and all' approach. To many channels show a perfect process that we all know isn't a true reflection of reality! Yet another great video and I look forward to seeing your next attempt!
Love your videos Charlie. Have you ever considered dust collection when cutting? I simply use a cheap wet and dry vacuum cleaner (literally worth £25). I connect the hose to whatever power tool I'm using and it does the job great. A cost effective method for those who don't require a true 'shop vac' as these can be very expensive. With no dust collection at all, even outdoors on a still day, as soon as you take your mask off, you will be inhaling wood dust. Even worse when you start considering MDF. Love your modelling, look after those lungs 🙂👍🏻
Yes, I do have one Gateshead north. However, I chose not to use it during that sequence to show the amount of dust that will come off of those tiles. Regards, Charlie.
@@ChadwickModelRailwayHi Charlie, thank you for the speedy reply. Just to be clear, I was referring to the circular saw dust, the filing of the tiles was of no concern. Anyway, just some constructive feedback, been watching your videos from day one. Keep up the good work 😎👍🏻
Wow Charlie what a fiddly job gluing the brick plastic card you must have the patience of a saint. You can tell me how you worked out the angle to cut the ramp.
Thanks Charlie for saving a great deal of my life. I too had seen Richard's video on this and was contemplating copying him...... I will have five 10 foot platforms to do in my new layout! Plasticard it is! I wonder if you are thinking of copying his tile grout idea.
Charlie, you mentioned that the platform height should be 19 millimetres. This correct as you are using code 100 with thick sleepers. However, if you are modelling with fine scale track with thin sleepers (such as SMP) this height needs to be decreased or you would go dangerously close to the carriage doors not opening. . I have always used 17mm as the best height in fine scale. Enjoyed the video. Great and informative as always.
And I thought the ceramic tiles were looking good! Personally I went for a laser etched platform edge by Scale Model Scenery. Basically a strip of edging in thin card. It works but doesn’t like alcohol spilt on it… Another first class video Charlie.
It's always perversely reassuring to see that other modellers encounter such disasters. You are never alone. One of the many reasons that I have for basing my model railway on the old Highland Railway is that I didn't have to worry about overhanging platform edges.😀
A very salutary lesson, thank you! The set of platforms I’m about to build has to have a rounded end to match the track geometry. I’ll be keen to see what techniques other commentators might use for constructing such unique platform shapes.
Once again and as usual, merci beaucoup, Charlie, for taking the time to make those videos where we can learn a lof of you and eventually with you! 😀 Cheers.
Hi Charlie. Great video warts and all. It's a shame that the platform edging didn't work out, but at least you gave it a try. Hopefully you can find another way of doing it that will work for you. Kind regards. Mark.
Brilliant video Charlie. I could feel your frustration at the end. I also love that you include mistakes and problems in your videos. The one where you mention that you tubers spend ages getting their running sessions perfect and that in reality they get derailments and stalling etc saved me from giving up on my model railway. Many thanks again
Well, then I'm not going to try this at least 😅 I would have thought being so small with such a low overhang that they would have been better. Thanks for showing us when things don't go as planned Charlie :) Thomas, GWR Norway division Tromsø
Thank you Charlie for another informative and enjoyable video. I must admit fiddling with all those tiny tiles would drive me mad. I used a process shown in Hornby Magazine using plywood and hardboard to provide the overhang. I sprayed the top surface with grey paint and added plasticard to the edging and painted. I used a Humbrol filler to then sort out any lines where I joined the sections of card together. I think it turned out quite well in the end. Good luck with round 2 for your platforms.
I would have thought you can flash over the timber with some medium grade sand paper to get the platform back to being ready for round 2? This is so relevant to me as I was looking for inspiration on platforms - I was cursing myself for not designing the position of my track so as to use off the shelf ones!
I admire your patience and honesty about when it’s time to call it a day and think of another idea. Unfortunately I’m one of those Metcalf platform kit persons with some modern platform edge stickers which have the tactile edge and yellow lines which are available on a well known model site. Thanks for making these videos, every one of them will be of help to many modellers, Andy.
Charlie, on my two part August 2024 update, I've been rebuilding platforms 1 & 2, using the Scale model scenery platform kit. It's worth checking out. You have to buy the surfacing, and walls, separately, but there's different combinations you can make, and it's really good, once you take your time, which I didn't do the first time, hence why I had to rebuild! Links to the products are in the descriptions of the videos.
Thanks to the miracle of RU-vid, you went through the monotony of installing the tiles so we don't have to, only to find out it was not something we should even attempt. For this, we thank you all! The more important lesson however is the level of detail you strive for, something we can only hope to achieve on our own layouts - real or imagined. Thank you! ~Maarten
Nice video Charlie. On my platform edges I have used Metcalfe square paving . It doesn't break still looks good. Have a go see what you think. Take care stay safe
Hi Charlie, like you said I use scribed plastic card for the slabs and fine wet and dry for the tarmac. I use a cheap guillotine to cut the strips. Loved watching you do this as it was really informative 👍
Do you have to glue them down with an overhang? I have a mix of platform types. The Hornby ones have a painted edge and are flush with the platform's edge. The other type I have used is the Metcalfe kits and they have a sticky edging strip which sticks on the edge with no overhang. The overhang is built by the walls under the platform. You could use a router to remove some of the wood, leaving you with a platform edge to stick the tiles along, they will not be chipped or broken by a shunter with the outside frame drive. I hope this makes sense. Martin. (Thailand) Yorkdale LNER Reservation Railway.
I'm sure it's mentioned elsewhere, but I used laser cut "steam era" platform edging. They come in strips which makes them very easy to lay. As always a great video and it's comforting to know that advanced modellers don't always get it right.
Charlie, I was wondering early on if you had allowed for the extra buts near the top edge! I only did that once! Great video, as always, and getting platforms that are long and uniformly flat is a real challenge!
Hi Charlie, great video. I've been going through this process myself at the moment! The technique I've been using is the paper method for the brick effect and sealing it with a quality matt varnish to prevent the water from the ballasting process softening the paper it also protects from UV damage, I've then covered a strip of 2mm square balsa in brick capping paper and glueing this to the top of the platform edge, this sets the distance of the platform and carriage. The top of the platform is a strip of 3mm MDF cut to the shape and width of the platform this is then sanded with 180 grit paper, lightly wiped to remove any dust and painted in a suitably pleasing colour, this gives a nice asphalt appearance without mucking around with expense liquid systems. I've then routed a shallow step in the top edge (using a rabbet router) to fit Plasticard tile effect this could be substituted for the ceramic tiles in your video and would probably give a better fitment, the routed edge makes the tiles flush with asphalt surface. once I've completed this I'll post some pics to your FB page and Hornby modelling for beginner's page when I get chance. keep up the good work, god knows we need something to watch as the tv is completely banjaxed these days! all the best, if you read this far well done, and all the best from Steve in Australia
hi Charlie, i was thinking of the video , and i recon you could use the damage edge tiles as its a disused track , have the platform layed as you done and leave the snaped as per video, then make up a fence to corden of the disused side , lay the track upto the throat but have it trunkated, its an idea , once again great content ,
hi Charlie watching your station platform build i saw you using superglue on your sheet brickwork and it looked very fiddley. i was a kitchen fitter and i used a double sided tape designed for sticking worktop edgings to worktops, i would imagine it would work very well for the purpose of sticking plastic sheet to most surfaces as it is strong enough to stick edgings to worktops which undergo a lot of wear and tear plus water spillages. you can purchase this at screwfix ( Unika PVC Adhesive Worktop Tape 40mm x 5m (504GX) hope this helps cheers David
Hi again Charlie Your patience is amazing. Always interesting and educational. It's always good to know what not to do as well. Many thanks. I think it's a Peco platform for me! Stay safe. Howard
Another great video Charlie which has generated a lot of interesting comments and information from others. Thanks for sharing your pain with us. It really is useful. Roy.
Thanks Charlie, a learning experience that has saved quite a few of us, wasted hours of toil. I have used various methods over the years but can’t really beat scribed plasticard for platforms.
Hi Charlie I dont always comment but have been watching you for quite a few years, Just getting back into it after health issue and being unable to do much for the last 2 years . Thank you for this episode While i am N scale , You have just answered my question on building a station , I always enjoy your channel Thank you for the inspiration Regards Greg
Brilliant stuff from Nigel, I plan my layouts using SCARM so now I can design my platforms on the printout to ensure the correct placing for straight platform sections. Curved sections sadly require some testing using the old pencil on the longest coach method.
On a second thought about the platform edging stones I think you might be able to get away with these if you put measures in place to remediate the issues you ran into. Here is a thought, an identical thickness piece of wood alongside the platform as you place them ensures they sit flat. More width of the platform underneath so less sticks out and possibly a layer of something thin but strong underneath to prevent them breaking off at the edge - the trick is making that layer invisible so maybe bevel the edge such that it is invisible at the edge of the platform. In reality I doubt that those tiles overhang without something structural underneath them to support them anyway. But, like I said in an earlier comment, probably overkill for something nobody is likely to look at that closely.
What I’ve decided to do Andrew, is to use laser cut edging stones. And then within the platform itself use some of the ceramic tiles to break up the uniformity. Regards, Charlie.
Evening Charlie, I am the young gentlemen who you were talking to at the Wells Show on Saturday while I was working on Moors View (the Snowy N gauge one). It was a pleasure to talk to you and it was good to get some questions answered, I hope you enjoyed the show. i think these platforms look excellent. We spent a long time trying to remember the last name of Richard from Everard Junction and discussing Richard Watson move from Hornby to Accurascale. I look forward to future videos.
Obviously a bit late as you've already made and filmed the platforms, but a good tip I came across is to use water based varnish on all the surfaces you intend to glue stuff to. Rather than plywood I have just used 18mm MDF to make my curved platform after making a paper pattern (a la Tony North Eastern) and then used components from the Metcalfe platform kit to "dress" it. The varnishing lets you use the likes of PVA and save a bit on superglue to spend on ceramic tiles! - or not as the case may be. Cheers
Excellent video, Charlie, and an interesting feature on the platform construction. Previously in 'OO" I have used MDF cut to the width of the finished platform (including overhang), turned it upside down and used a router to remove the amount necessary in several passes in order to obtain the depth of overhang and thickness of the coping slab necessary. I have recently been faffing around with laser-cut platform kits for my 'N' gauge build and have lost the will to live (far too much warpage on these very thin kits for N) and will revert to the same technique as for the OO. Looking forward to the next video.
Sand them off with a 120grid sandpaper and use a sandingblock if you don't have a electric sander. To make the details i use a plasticard of 1mm thick and with photoshop download a tile template, weather it in the program, print it and glue is on with sprayglue to the plasticard.
Very informative as always Charlie. As for covering the sides of the platforms you advised against using brick papers, as the paper discolours when it comes into contact with wet PVA used to fix the ballast. This is true if you don't spay Matt varnish onto the brick paper first. If sprayed with varnish then the paper won't discolour. I have numerous Scalescenes structures on my layout which are all brick paper covered and have ballasted up and around them without issue. Cheers Euan
Hi Charlie. I had exactly the same dilemma of how to finish off the platform edging with coping stones. As my platforms are curved, it posed an even greater challenge. As I have access to 3D printing, I decided to model the stone but I also included a small lip on the underside so it gave a face to align with the platform edge thus removing the need to use some kind of stop to align them correctly especially as it was on a curved profile. Once printed, I bonded them to the platform surface made from balsa wood using Gorilla wood glue which allowed time for repositioning. As they are printed in resin, they are quite robust, can be sanded if needed and the acrylic paint adheres very well. Happy to send photos if required.
It's frustrating when it doesn't work out, but well done for having a go. I had a very similar experience on Frontington, where I used tiny individual tiles for the edges, and they ended up being such a mess that I tore them all up and used longer strips instead, which worked much better, so I would definitely recommend that approach. Thanks for sharing, I look forward to seeing your part 2!
Many thanks for publishing these findings Charlie, you've saved us a lot of strife. I'm considering using painted plasticard tiles instead. More work initially but it'll be more durable in the long run.
Hi Charlie. I’m glad that I’m not the only one to seriously mess up. As it happens I’m in the process of building my own platforms. I’ve done it several times over the years but this time I’m trying to build curved platforms and it’s proving a nightmare. Getting the clearances right is driving me crazy. But a few tips that might help you. I use Mek Pak from Slaters as this glue can be brushed on and is really easy to use benefitting from capillary adhesion. I also paint my plasticard sheets before cutting up using little pillars to hide joins and staggering the thin topping strips to help hiding the sectional look. I look forward to part two. Regards Carl
I am glad you shared this about the platform edge. I am a little clumsiest people around. I am sure I would break these tiles so I will go for scribed plasticard. Much safer idea for me. Great video, again Charlie. Well done.
Great another helpful video about the best way of doing our layouts better it’s shame you had to go through the time end monotamy of layong those tiles l used hornby skaledale patforms one pack in the same colour as my GWR thatcham station and other in the red brick like my beighton parkway midland railway station Thanks again for all your inspiration Best wishes Kev Beighton Parkway
I admire your dedication to accuracy and getting the scale just right - I;m still at the "that looks roughly right so it will do" stage. I have to say that yours looks by far the better!
