Preliminary work on the back scenes for the clubs' exhibition layout, Allingham, has been started by club-member John Kendall...well done John!

Simple Gutters

I think I lost count of the number of model buildings, primarily Metcalfe and Superquik, that don't have gutters (or downspouts, but that's a subject for another blog). This is another bugbear of mine, among many.

As I'm currently constructing a building (more of that in a later blog), I thought I'd share a simple method of making gutters. You can buy the Wills and Ratio building packs but I've found that you are frequently left with parts you don't need after using the gutters.

Think of a real building, there's a roof which usually overlaps the wall. A soffit and the gutter. You can very quickly and cheaply make these out of Evergreen Plastic Strip. Here's how:



Before adding the roof, glue the 0.080 x 0.080 strip along the top of the wall. If your building is card contact cement or superglue should work. You'll need to decide what's best for you. I'm working in plastic.

The strip will need to be beveled to match the contour of the roof. For card buildings you might find it better to do this before gluing it to the wall. You could do this if you are upgrading an existing building.

Take the 0.015 x 0.188 strip and 0.100 half round and glue them together. This gives you a gluing strip to firmly attach it to the building. If you are adding downspouts, drill for these before gluing the gutters to the building.

It's the little details that set our models apart from the rest.