Friday, June 23, 2017

Progress and LEGO Mockup

I'm glad to announce the module and it's fascia are completed. Everything was sanded down, primed and sanded again to get a nice smooth finish that will look good in my office room. I wasn't sure about the color to use, but finally settled down to the tried and true black as so often used by British modellers. Honestly, I'm quite happy with the result and can't wait to add the last coat this evening.


I also decided to make a scale mockup of Moulée St-Pie feed mill. Honestly, the structure probably date back to the 1950s and is far larger than our usual grain elevators. The main building is a tower with a 50ft x 50ft footprint flanked with two other 50ft x 50ft warehouses.


I wasn't eager to waste material making a mock up so I decided to use LEGO bricks and make one as close as possible to the prototype. Honestly, it turned out far better than I thought. I was also able to use a LEGO rolling door as can be seen on the real building. It would make a very interesting feature on the layout and I'm actually thinking about including LEGO parts inside the final structure. I suppose it could be activated with a fairly simple hand-activated mechanism.


However, all things being good, I must admit the structure looks quite tall and I'll need to adjust the dimensions a little bit to better fit the space available and make sure it looks good.


As a side note, I consider one could use LEGO bricks to make sturdy structure cores. Aftermarket parts can be bought at good prices online and would ensure building wouldn't warp. Being plastic, you can glue styrene and other materials to it just like we do with styrene cores. I don't know if it would be economically viable with Moulée St-Pie, but it wouldn't hurt to try something out.

3 comments:

  1. I've often thought of building a grain elevator out of LEGO... nice work.

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  2. LEGO: What a delightfully inventive way to envision the project! Thanks for sharing that.
    - Trevor (Port Rowan in 1:64)

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  3. I am thinking as well. It looks so realistic and beautiful.

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