big jim's workbench...onto figures and buildings

[big jim]

Sure are, I wasnt going to be cheeky and add the. to MY workbench thread!

 

Ill add some pics to my layout thread later so show them off

[class"66"]

37401 looks the bizz.

Ile have look through my surplus V4 sound decoders jim,im sure ive got two 37 sounds on 8 pin decoder

[big jim]

back to the dbso.....

 

donor parts vehicle

 

one of the lighted versions of the coach, not a donor for the lights but the chassis with pickups

 

 

i decided in the end to just swap the bogie as i'd detailed the DBSO chassis already

 

the reason i wanted pickups is so i can fit this lighting unit courtesy of jason edmunds

 

used a lais dcc function only decoder

 

 

and with the lighting unit added

 

fibre optic light guides

 

 

melted the ends over with a lighter

 

testing it....

 

headlight and markers

 

headlight only

 

taillights

 

markers and taillights

 

and all lit

 

and back on the chassis, i need to re-align them on the 2nd mans side though

 

 

hopefully get it finished later in the week

[class"66"]

Very nice lighting here Jim

[big jim]

not updated this for a while as the layout rebuild has taken up most of my modelling time but tonight with the weather being a bit rough i decided to crack on with some MK3s for my NMT

 

got 4 finished, only pics for 3 of them though, done both the generator vehicles as well as the conference car and track recorder, the final one will be the pantograph car

 

i have used PH designs etches throughout, some coaches have full window blanking plates, some windows are reduced in size and others have replacement window frames

 

genny coach

 

 

test car 10

 

other genny car

 

 

got a bit of filling to do here and therebefore even looking at priming them but i want to try and crack on with them asap, the biggest challenge will be the roof mods on the pantograph vehicle

[Pete Harvey]

not updated this for a while as the layout rebuild has taken up most of my modelling time but tonight with the weather being a bit rough i decided to crack on with some MK3s for my NMT

 

got 4 finished, only pics for 3 of them though, done both the generator vehicles as well as the conference car and track recorder, the final one will be the pantograph car

 

i have used PH designs etches throughout, some coaches have full window blanking plates, some windows are reduced in size and others have replacement window frames

 

genny coach

 

 

test car 10

 

other genny car

 

 

got a bit of filling to do here and therebefore even looking at priming them but i want to try and crack on with them asap, the biggest challenge will be the roof mods on the pantograph vehicle

 

Great work Jim you are doing a cracking job. 

[big jim]

NMT is pretty much at a stage to prime up

 

 

Gen van

 

977994

 

977993

 

 

985814

 

Gen car

 

Gonna try and prime them soon and see where I need to add a bit more filler etc

[Pete Harvey]

Very nice work there Jim.

[big jim]

Primed up the NMT coaches

 

A bit rough and ready but for what I want they are more than passable, I'm going to let them dry/harden over the weekend and possibly give them a bit of a rub down in places and patch prime before hand painting the yellow

 

 

 

 

 

Pantograph loosely fitted in place, glued in the down position so I could remove the spring holder so it sits lower

 

One thing I will have to do is replace the Lima pizza cutter wheels with Hornby ones, unfortunately the Hornby ones don't fit the Lima bogies as a direct replacement

 

Lima wheels

 

You can see the difference between the size (Hornby on the right)

 

It's not the overall diameter that's the problem but the length of the axle, the Hornby one being a fair bit longer

 

That's where this micro mark 'truck tuner' comes in, this little tool has been a god send, I bought it for the hachette coaches I updated a few years back and have used it a fair bit to free up binding wheels

 

Basically sits in the bogie...

 

Give it a twist nad gently squeeze the bogie sides and it cuts into the plastic to allow the wheels to fit

 

The Hornby wheels then fit nicely and free wheel lovely, just 3 more coaches to do (when I get the wheels)

 

[NickL2008]

The axle reamer is a great little tool, I really do need to get one of those as, the Lima mk3 wheels as you say Jim are awful, particularly on code 75 track

 

NL

[big jim]

Hand painted the coaches with Phoenix paints network rail yellow using a nice Daler and Rowney wide brush, very happy with how they have turned out

 

 

Got to paint the roof black on the pantograph coach

 

 

 

 

Got some laserglaze for the Lima coaches but I'm not sure if it will fit as it should be pushed in from the outside and I've added etched frames, hopefully I can get in in from the rear when the coaches are fully dry

 

 

Going to look good snaking its way round the layout once it's finished (both the layout and NMT!)

 

 

 

 

Testing times, the NMT passing the other test train, SGT2 with 37057 leading

 

 

I'm going to get some NMT decals ordered from railtec, I know the power cars have the old style decals but I'm happy to compromise mixing and matching the 2 styles (unless I can easily remove the existing decals without damaging the locos of course)

[big jim]

bit more done on the NMT, too cold and wet to be messing in the shed so bought the stuff into the kitchen (you can tell my wife is out this evening!)

 

first up lazerglazed the coaches, had to rub back a bit of paint from around the holes as they are a very precise fit

 

they look so much better than the standard glazing

 

the only issue being the glazing is part of the roof on lima coaches so i had to cut them off, they also act as anchors for the roof and hold the whole lot together so im going to have to glue the roofs in place when im happy with the finished coach

 

secured a couple if frames that came loose when fitting the lazer glaze with glue and glaze so hopefully it will dry clear

 

you can certainly see the difference between the glazing!

 

 

in hindsight i should have fixed the glazing in place before fitting the frames and left the masking film on them as they are designed to be fitted from outside, ive had to fit then from the inside pushing towards the frame hence why some came loose, in all honestly in hindsight i shouldnt have used lima coaches!

 

im not bothering with interor detailing, just putting the seating units back in, on this coach i also experimented with painting the cantrail stripe but i think i'll end up using decals on the rest

 

as some of the orange bled through the masking tape

 

i found these s-kits brake disk etches in my stock box so fitted them to a coach to see how they look, i think they are a nice touch so i'll get some more for the rest of the coaches, or get the PH designs equivalent, ive also replaced the wheels as per the previous post, only 2 more coaches to do

 

then i had a look at the pantograph coach, knocked up some bits and bobs to fill in the space in the roof well, based it on a pic i found on google, not exactly prototypical but more than passable

 

then gave it a coat of black paint, the white box will be silver when i get round to it

 

so to finish off, 2 1/2 more coaches to lazerglaze, 4 coaches to fit brake disc etches to, 2 to ream out the bogies for Hornby wheels, cant rail stripes/ohle flashes etc on all of the coaches and new style NMT decals to apply (when i buy them)

[steve shorrock]

Looking good Jim

[class"66"]

Nice network rail coaches you've made Jim..

[ess1uk]

Great work Jim

[big jim]

Mini workbench in the kitchen again

 

Chipped up the NMT and arriva DVT

 

Added shawplan brake discs to the 68s and nameplates to the DRS one

 

I picked up a colas 37421 from the derby show today which I thought I'd have a go at backdating to a 37/2 with replacement grilles and light clusters etc

 

 

Rubbed down the existing plastic grilles so they were flush with the bodywork and added shawplan etched grills in their place

 

Added etches over the headcode panel as well as removing the ETH jumper and receptical from the nose end

 

Etched depot plaques and "Cardiff canton"'nameplates

 

Going to hand prime the rubbed down bits and grilles/headcode panels tomorrow hopefully then get some top coat on there then see if I can get some numbers made up (and get the new style colas helmet logos for it)

 

Also going to need some new horns and a buffer head fitting as well as a couple of extra handrails on the nose ends

 

I also tonight did a bit more to the NMT coaches, added some more laserglaze to one of the coaches and began to add PH designs etched brake discs to the wheels

[big jim]

Put a bit of primer on the 37

 

 

Also give the yellow ends a first coat of yellow paint but forgot to get a pic of it

[big jim]

Almost finished 37254, silver to add to kick plates, new horns, buffer head and pipes on one end and finished

 

 

 

So with that out of the way I made a start on the next project, this one has leapfrogged the TRU as it's a relatively simple job compared to that

 

Start off with a Hornby railroad MK1 bsk and hack it to pieces (never thought to get pics until this stage)

 

 

Mark out the roof

 

And cut most of it away too

 

Then add some plasticard instead

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Same on the other end

 

Thanks to wolf27 I have a lovely set of etched sides that I will glue to the coach sides to produce test coach Mentor in its current highly modified guise

 

 

Test fit

 

 

And on its chassis

 

 

I'm thinking of using 2 pack type epoxy to secure the etched sides to the plastic body shell clamping them tight with crocodile clips while it sets unless anyone can think of something else to use (glue wise) there are also etched ends to add too

 

Chassis wise there are extra boxed to add, plastic bits of the Hornby chassis to remove etc then source things like the pantograph, insulators etc, the remaining roof needs cutting back ever so slightly to put the etched 'viewing window' at an angle but that's a simple job with a micro file

 

Quite pleased with how far I got tonight with it, may have a bit more time tomorrow to do a bit more or I may decal up my NMT coaches (although 2 still need the laserglaze adding)

Edited May 23, 2017 by big jim

[newbryford]

I'm thinking of using 2 pack type epoxy to secure the etched sides to the plastic body shell clamping them tight with crocodile clips while it sets unless anyone can think of something else to use (glue wise) there are also etched ends to add too

 

 

 

Make sure you pre-curve the sides.

I usually use impact adhesive (Evostik - other brands are available) for full sides and lots of clothes pegs along the bottom edge. With DL not going to DEMU, I'm now doing a demo. I'll probably make a start on MENTOR before or during the show.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[big jim]

Make sure you pre-curve the sides.

I usually use impact adhesive (Evostik - other brands are available) for full sides and lots of clothes pegs along the bottom edge. With DL not going to DEMU, I'm now doing a demo. I'll probably make a start on MENTOR before or during the show.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

i was going to message you about curving the sides, whats a nice easy method of doing it (ie free with bits i may have in the house!)

[newbryford]

i was going to message you about curving the sides, whats a nice easy method of doing it (ie free with bits i may have in the house!)

 

I don't posses any rolling bars. Iuse a rolling pin on a hard surface, with about three layers of tea-towel under the etch. It takes a bit of time, but isn't too aggressive on the brass.

 

I suspect there'll be lots of other methods.

 

Edit: A quick search http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/1798-forming-the-curve-in-brass-coach-sides/&do=findComment&comment=11654

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/99106-mjt-etched-brass-emu-sides-forming-the-tumblehome-help/&do=findComment&comment=1884503

https://www.scalefour.org/resources/tumblehome.html

 

Cheers,

Mick

Edited May 23, 2017 by newbryford

[big jim]

Did the rolling pin trick earlier, worked a charm, didn't get any pics as my wife was giving me dirty looks at the time for rummaging through her baking cupboard!!

[big jim]

mentor is looking good, this has been one build ive really enjoyed doing, only a couple of evenings work to get to the stage shown below and an absolute pleasure to build

 

this is how i clamped the sides while the glue set, left it overnight and it is solid!

 

scraped, cut and rubbed the detail off the ends

 

cleaned off glue residue from around the window holes etc

 

 

marked up and curved the end panels

 

and glued them in place

 

 

back to the roof, filled in gaps with squadron putty and cut the remaining roof area at an angle for the observation window

 

and fitted up

 

superglued those in place and again squadron putty in gaps

 

also filled in the edges between the etches and when set rubbed them back

 

it was then onto someohe finer detail bits of the etch, shane says he had trouble with some of these parts not being produced correctly with no fold scores but i managed to do something with them

 

generator intake

 

 

fuel tank

 

 

this one i did struggle with though

 

body on the chassis

 

 

end gangway spot glued in place, will be removed to paint the coach

 

few more its to add, these make up fire pull handles,hinges, door handles and fuel tank gauges

 

then last job, window frames (on one side) secured in place with glue and glaze

 

 

the big bit is going to be the roof areas, luckily as well as prototype pics i have the real thing to use as refrence in work this week!

 

 

im going to have a nose inside tomorrow with a view to getting the floorplan as i am feeling like detailing this inside with lights etc, i have a spare lightbar from a Hornby mk2 that is ideal for the job

 

one final question, my model has the wrong bogies, do Hornby do suitable ones on any coaches in their range?

[sub39h]

How are you going to glaze the coach please?

[big jim]

How are you going to glaze the coach please?

very carefully!

 

not really thought that far ahead but as i have extra window etches on sprues i can use those as templates and cut something like blister packs to suit and attach them with glue and glaze

 

the real thing has tinted windows, i do have some tinted window film but if i fit that then i wont see the interior if i decide to detail it