Platform Paving

It was waaay back at the end of July when I last posted about progress with Hexworthy, when I had cut the platforms from 3mm foam-core board, and was experimenting with the idea of paving using individually cut "slabs" of 40-thou plasticard.

So with Loctern Quay finished, time to get back to making paving slabs. I lightly sanded the slabs for a  less smooth surface, and cut it strips, marking them by scoring with the calipers to ensure they are consistent and parallel. I then used my cheap "chopper" to trim them to length, the red quadrant on the right is being used to clamp a piece of plastic to act as a stop so all the pieces are cut the same length.

The large slabs are 3' x 2' (12mm x 8mm), and smaller ones 2' x 18" (8mm x 6mm). I used the large ones to line the edges of the platform, including the bay, while the smaller ones fill in the surface around the station building. They are stuck down to the foam-core surface (which is a thin layer of card) with Bostik impact adhesive. The rest of the platform will be gravel (sand) for variety, and to save time!

I decided to run the paving parallel to the station, which saved fiddly half-slabs. I was left with about a 2mm gap to fill with part slabs, so I cheated and trimmed it back to the whole slab! I made a step for the door to the goods shed/cafe too.

In the close up you can seen I've done a little more sanding to the surface after laying the slabs to give texture, yet there is still a slight unevenness and irregularity that looks quite effective. I'm quite pleased with the result and it didn't take as long as I thought it might. It just needs painting now.

You can also see the stonework face of the platform, which is simply embossed into the edge of the foam-core board. From this angle it looks like the platform is lifting slightly, though some heavy books on it when I come to glue it in place should sort that.