Entry posted by Jon020
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The final stage of the lengthy 47 project began with the glazing. For this I used two packets of Extreme Etchings laserglaze... one packet for the Bachmann 47 (which I used in the bodyside and cabside windows) and the other for the Heljan 47 which I needed for the windscreens which were to sit in scale frames... and the Bachmann ones were too small.
However, the Heljans ones were still a little large but these were simply sanded back using three grades of Tamiya sanding sticks to achieve a nice chamfered and smooth finish that would provide an interference fit to the screens; not that whilst I think Brian designed these screens to be fitted to the models from the outside, I needed to fit them from the inside to abut the new etched frames that adorned my loco.
A test-fit allows a comparison with the original screens and the result is really something special. It has been shown before how the glazing can transform the model; George Dent did some nice articles on this for both Model Rail... and in his blog, but actually enlarging the apertures and fitting the frames... and glazing to fit can transform this model’s front end... so it’s still a bit of work, but well worth the effort.
The screens were fitted and secured in place with Kleer around the edge of the screen... once secure, I applied a coat of kleer to the inner face and let this dry whilst the screen was horizontal... this dries lovely and flat and glass-like. Once these were all done, I did the same to the outer surfaces... which seals any slight gaps too. The glass-like appearance is different to the glazing on its own... but again, every little extra helps [now, where have I heard that before].
As a slight diversion and to practice with some Humbrol weathering inks, I had a play around with the front end of my detailed (etc) Cravens 105... giving all the seams a weathered-in appearance more reminiscent of the actual units that I knew so well... and of course this is the one that I had the controls of (briefly) back in 1976. Applied to seep into the crevices and then wiped away, the result is pleasing. I’d use this eventually... a bit... when I weathered my 47.
With the screens fitted, it was time to work on some final details; these included the windscreen wipers.
After I responded with a bemused look to Mike when he asked whether I needed straight arm or pantograph wipers... I bought both and it taught me to do my research when buying from Brian ;-) anyway... I needed the straight arm wipers for “415” and these come posed as in-line or angled. Having looked at several photos the angled ones would not suit so I went for the in-line ones and bent these to shape... checking where the “pin” angle needed to be to give me the right arm length on the model. Now, several of Brian’s wipers can be bent to represent the wiper blade but these are a bit more 2-dimensionsal with a etched section representing the wiper blade holder.
These looked nice, but I then added a short length of 33swg wire under the wiper to represent the rubber blade... and secured this in place with thin Zap-a-gap. As with most details, this can be a little fiddly, but it ends up looking like a decent “fine” blade and once the wire is touched-in in black (I used a permanent marker) it looks quite neat.
Now, the original holes for the wipers were covered when I added the “eyebrow” fairings... so 0.4mm holes were drilled in what looked like the right positions for the wiper attachments [make sure photo references are used to get a good position]
The wipers were pushed through and the arms bent inside to anchor in place... all secured with a dollop of glue n glaze which dries nice and clear, does not fog and still allows the wipers to flex a little.
I positioned these at the two ends differently, just to provide a little more individuality and by checking reference photos again to ensure that the positioning would be (could be) genuine. The No. 1 end had these positioned towards the centre pillar, whereas the No. 2 end had the driver’s one positioned again to the centre pillar, but the No. 2 man’s one is positioned to the outside edge... which I liked.
Now, there were a few more details that I wanted to add and these concerned the pipework that is visible though the engine room windows. I spent a lot of time checking this, identifying the windows through which the pipes were visible and then working out how to represent these... the more I looked, the more puzzled I became. I worked out which windows needed these but when I check contemporary (1974-75 era) photos I found that I might have been wasting my time. I’d planned to make a little plastic mask to sit around the windows, like a frame, and onto this I would attach the wires. The pic shows two slices of bluetack attached to the bodysides so that when I dropped this onto the chassis I could judge how much room I had (not a lot... but enough)
But as I said, as I looked closer I realised that the pipes appeared later in their life (wonder what they were for?) and I found pics of 415 without the pipes (correct dates) when later shots of other locos showed them fitted ... so wey-hey, a job saved. However, there does seem to be some form of blind or screen that partially covers one window, so I made one up. I also noticed that it was quite common for the 2nd man’s sun blind to be extended... so with the same material, I made two of these up ... rectangular pieces of thin plastic card, with a piece cut out to prevent fouling the inner part of the wiper arms. All of these were painted grey and secured into the body with the glue n glaze as used before... and set aside to dry.
So, I guess that was that. I secured the cabs in place and fitted the fans... and “did it all up”. I came very close to not weathering the body at all, because I really liked the overall finish I’d achieved (not perfect but “ok”)... but that would just not be right would it... but I grabbed a few “clean” shots before the airbrush got any closer.
The shots do show the improvements that the etch parts provide at the loco ends... and the fan grills really do let those fans show through so wonderfully... it’s a crime not to replace these on any model.
As before, the Sound chip (ESU V4 Leggomanbiffo) and big speaker are fitted in the top, with the sound coming through the fans orifice – having managed to allow enough passage of air around this, the sound is nice.
Finishing
Before the airbrush was brought out, I used the Humbrol weathering inks to highlight the cantrail grills and horn louvers. Applied carefully with a thin brush this put enough black into the recesses to make the grills “deeper” looking such that when weathered it all looked right.
Weathering with the airbrush (my newer Iwata Revolution) came next. I did intend to take some shots as I went along, but I forgot. Sorry. Suffice to say, I started on the chassis and bogies. With reference to sufficient prototype photos in a plethora of books and the class47.co.uk gallery to hand, and (once the maskol had dried) I started with a dark-brown mix, formed of Frame dirt and some roof dirt (all paints being Railmatch enamels... which I like) which was gently misted over the whole bogies and fuel tanks... and bufferbeams in a very gentle manner, with very little paint and very little pressure. Gradually, an uneven pattern was built up, looking to see where dirt would accumulate and where it would mist-away. This is not a quick blast with one colour, but a gradual application of a dusting of dirt. With reference to photos, the 47 bogies tend to look darker when dirty than those of some other classes (gawd know why), but it’s best to stick with what you can see rather what you (think you) know.
Once this was at a stage I was happy with, I used the same colour along the lower edges of the bodyside and around the front ends. This was then lifted with the usual technique of a cotton bud (Q-tip) soaked in white spirit and wiped on a towel to remove most of the liquid and then used to lift most of the paint. The bodysides are treated by moving the bud in a downwards movement dragging the paint down... the ends are treated similarly but with more dirt allowed to accumulate on the lower edges where it would remain; this gentle lifting leaves paint inside recessed areas so the bodyside steps and marker light clusters retain the ingrained dirt... which is good.
Once this was all done, I changed the colour to a lighter shade with a higher percentage of sleeper grime, and applied this again to areas of the bogies, tanks and bufferbeams (and pipes). An irregular finish was sought and this was not such a saturated coat as before... giving more of a mottled appearance. Again, the body was treated as before, with further streaking of the bodyside achieved. However, unlike other classes, I decided that the bodysides would hold no patterns of dirt (unlike the tumblehone on a 37 or 55) and a clean (or wiped) appearance would be left – the coach wash plants will do a sound job to the slab sides of a 47... but they’ll miss the ends. Thus the ends were given more of a splatter and again wiped, but leaving more grime to accumulate at the lower edges.
The roof is filthy... I wanted an appearance of a hard-worked loco... it’s just done a KingsX to Newcastle and back run... so it should not be too clean... and it’d be unlikely for Gateshead (it’s home depot) to give it a wash... so the overall finish would obscure that half-decent paint finish... but I did not want to lose the colour variation, so the roof-grey panels are still visible though the dirt.... just. I applied a number of passes of “roof dirt” starting from the engine exhaust and slowly working towards either end. Several light detail passes were made to prevent any colour shadow and blue showing through... especially at either end of the serck shutters... but eventually it was covered and still slightly uneven. I added some black to the mix and started again from the exhaust... adding some from the boiler too... maybe some Mk1 stock had been recently used.
I then used some powders. The bogies needed some highlighting, and after adding some more humbrol black ink/wash enamel to the springs etc, I added some carrs light brown (possibly brake dust colour) to the bogie frames. I use a small brush dipped in the powder and brush this onto the plastic... a stiff brush helps and this can then be worked-in to the paint to build up patches of colour. This will be a bit harsh, so I then used some thinners (I had some humbrol thinners – not sure why, but they were in my paints box so I used them) to wash the powdered areas back a bit; this serves to blend the colour a little more and soften the effect. Again, working from photos the colour is added in carefully. Some further colours were added in to the bodyside lower edges (despite my earlier statement) to put some grime in the areas under the cab doors and around the nose ends (again), thus blending the body and chassis together. Finally, some black powders were ingrained into patches on the roof and around the main exhaust to provide some further roof colour variation.
The Hornby wash enamel/inks came out again to highlight details such as the recess at the top of the cab doors, ridges between the windscreen “eyebrows” and rain strip and 34G shed plate rivets. The buffers were given a greasy mix of gun-metal and black... smeared on and wiped off with the top of a propelling pencil that has a nice buffer-shaped surface... and that was that.
So... a few photos to show the end result.
The first photo was not too easy to take, but it shows the subtle effect of the headcode lighting through the paper numbers .... not the transparent ones which I think are a) too bright and B) look wrong when not lit. Actually I think they look wrong when lit because no countering of the Halation effect has been taken. The actual digits (I did some research into this) were printed/painted onto their screens and the material of the white area was thinner to allow the light to pass through. BUT, not all of the white area was of a thinner material... only a thin portion of it was. So, for example, if we took a number 1 that was, oh I don’t know, 30 cm high and 3cm thick (in metric for our younger readers) then the thinner material through which light would pass would be 30cm high but 1cm thick; the effect of halation would cause the illuminated thin strip to bleed-out to the same area as the full digit but it would not distort. And that’s how they did it. So... to get it properly right, we’d need to do that in 4mm.... and no, I didn’t think so either, so I’m pleased that mine are nicely subdued as shown.
Finally here’s a montage of a few shots that I grabbed once the loco was done, showing all four front quarters and some details around the tanks... which to be honest, I’m still rather pleased with.
So that brings my project to a close. It’s had its challenges and I’m glad it’s finished... and I suppose that I’m glad that I did it and ended up with a model that looks as close to a 47 as I think I’m likely to get to in 4mm scale. Of course, there is the promise of some etched kits for cant rail grills and operable rad shutters... so maybe, just maybe that other Bachmann body that appeared in shot earlier in this entry might just get hacked about one day; I’ll never say never; but next I need a simpler project (remembering that this was my simple post Deltic project)... and that life does not always turn out the way one planned it.
Until next time... cheerio.... and thanks for reading. 
Jon
P.S. for those real nerds amongst us, I've uploaded a photo set to my flickr pages should you wish to refresh the whole project. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nimbus20/sets/72157629059423555/
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