D1031 "Western Rifleman" (JLTRT)
Entry posted by Dan Randall
1,997 views
Tuesday 3rd June 2008: I decided to do some work to the Western today. This is a direct result of seeing the progress "Druid" is making with his version of the same kit - thanks Druid!
I last did some work on my Western about six months ago, but for some reason, I forgot to post it on RMweb at the time.
Anyway, from the outset, I decided to illuminate the cabs, headcodes and marker lights. However, because certain parts will be inaccessible once the kit is built, a bit of forward planning is called for.
Marker lights: Although very nicely moulded on the cab fronts, the actual lens part is just a shallow blind hole, so the first job is to drill these out....
I discovered that I had some aluminium tube in stock that was a nice snug fit in the holes, (outside diameter is 1.5mm and the inside diameter is 0.85mm). A short section of tube is cut off and cleaned up to remove any internal and external burrs. It is then inserted into the hole in the marker light where, because of its snug fit, it will stay where you put it....
With a 0.85mm drill in a pin chuck, carefully drill through the centre of the tube, keeping the drill as perpendicular to the cab as possible. Note that the cab has a very shallow "V" shaped front, so it is this facet that you need to keep perpendicular to! The tube ensures that the holes being drilled are nicely centred. Here's the drilling in progress....
And finished....
I think I drilled down to about 10mm or so, removing the drill frequently and removing the swarf from the flutes. The area behind the marker lights is a large plug of resin - this is what you're drilling into....
And here are marker lights done....
Once the 0.85mm holes are done, remove the tube and carefully enlarge the holes to 1.5mm, like so....
(That was last years output, now we move on to today's progress). 
Once this has been done, you need to get the fibre optic from its light source to the marker light itself. Initially, I had drilled another hole at an angle from the rear to intersect with the holes drilled from the front, as indicated by the scriber in the picture....
Having done this, I discovered that I couldn't run the fibre optic to the light source as I had first envisaged, because getting the chassis moulding in and out would have caused problems. I had to resort to making a channel in the cab casting using a burr in a mini drill following a rough guide line....
A few minutes later and this is where it's at....
I had to drill through from the marker light again until it met up with the channel and you can just make out the drill in the picture.
Once the channel is ready, it's time to install a length of the same aluminium tube that was used for the drilling. This will enable the fibre optic to be fed through from the light source to the marker light. Ensure that there are no kinks in the tube otherwise you won't be able to feed the fibre optic through! Here's a piece of tube and length of fibre optic in position....
Before going any further, I thought I'd better see if this would actually work. Here's a view from the front with a length of fibre optic in position, with just ambient light visible....
The same again, but this time, the other end of the fibre optic is being held over a light source....
I realise that the marker light on this side should actually be red, but I was using my anglepoise lamp as the light source. 
The fibre optic is actually about 6 - 7mm from the outside of the marker light, because as I moved it nearer the outside, it started to move away from being central, probably due to the curvature it goes through on its journey. The aluminium tube stops short too and only just plugs into the hole at the back, again I think, due to its curvature. I might fit a small offcut of aluminium tube from the front of the marker light to channel the light from the fibre optic. Also, if I countersink the internal bore of the tube with a larger drill, I'm hoping it will give the impression of a reflector behind the lens. The lenses themselves will just be blobs of Microscale "Kristal Klear" and although the red marker light will have a red light source, I shall attempt to give the lens a red tint too, as this seems to be quite apparent in photographs.
Anyway, having satisfied myself that it's worthwhile continuing I mixed up some Milliput and filled in the channel....
A few hours later, the Milliput could be sanded down and this is the result....
In order for the fibre optic cable to reach the light source, the hatched part of the cab bulkhead needs to be removed....
I do have more pictures to post, but it's time for bed now so I think they'll have to wait.
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Tuesday 3rd June 2008 (continued): OK, here's the stuff I was too tired to post yesterday.
Head code illumination: My first thought on how to illuminate the head codes was to use one or two small bulbs. I was a little worried about the build up of heat so I drilled a 6mm hole through the bulkhead and under the cab floor to hopefully permit some degree of ventilation. The more I thought about it though, the less I liked the idea of bulbs. They have a tendency to expire eventually and I was worried about being able to get to them if I needed to.
I decided that a single 5mm white LED might be more suitable and decided the best way to get it into the headcode void was from below, via the chassis moulding. This caused its own problems in that unlike a bulb, the light emitted from an LED is concentrated into a fairly narrow beam and in this case would be shining upwards instead of forwards. Being made of a sort of cream/grey resin, I suppose the walls of the headcode void might have bounced the light around a bit and enabled some to shine forwards, but I didn't want to take any chances.
I fabricated a brass "illumination box" to fit inside the headcode void. This is obviously more reflective than resin and incorporated a curved rear reflector. I felt if any light was being bounced around inside, the reflector would definitely channel the light forwards. Being brass, I figured this would also take some of the harshness from the white LED and give it a sort of tungsten glow.
Having made one of these, I couldn't face making any more (and I do intend to build more Westerns in the future). As I was doing some artwork for various etched projects at the time (remember the Castle balance weights?), I took the easy way out, drew them up and had them etched. Here's the result in its flat state....
And folded up....
I had to bin the etched reflectors and fabricate new ones from some scrap brass. I'd drawn them too short and the (now unrequired), vent holes at the rear caused them to crease. The artwork has since been modified. 
The next job is to mark the chassis moulding where the LED is to go....
And then drill the hole....
Here's the head code illumination box in position....
Now fit the LED....
Connect the LED to a power source and it should light up....
There seems to be a reasonable amount of light on show, so fingers crossed.
This is where it gets interesting. With the power to the LED off, slide the cab into position....
Then dim the lights and switch the power back on....
I'm pretty happy with that. The power source I'm using here is just the test facility from a multi-meter, so it's probably fairly low voltage. Once installed properly, the LEDs will be connected to a proper power supply via resistors. The Western is to be DCC fitted at some point in the future, so I'll be able to tweak the light output if needs be.
I now need to devise a way to illuminate the cabs and in fairness, I'll probably just drill some holes at the top of the bulkheads, feed the legs of the LEDs through and connect them to a power source. I also need to install the LEDs that provide the light for the marker lights and run the fibre optics to them.
Incidentally, the headcode blinds are made by Precision Labels. Here's what's on and more importantly, in the packet....
I bought mine in October 2005 from Frizinghall Model Railways, Bradford (01274) 542515 and they cost ??9.99 + ??1.00 postage.
I'd not noticed the sticker on the back of the packet before - I imagine you could get them direct from Precision too.
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Sunday 6th July 2008: After a bit of an absence from the workbench, I managed to do some more to the Western today. Having done some work to the marker lights in a previous posting, I decided to give some thought to the cab illumination today. I had intended to install two 3mm LEDs in each cab, but following a conversation with a friend earlier in the day, I decided that I might actually get away with just one in each cab.
My friend has recently installed lighting to his MMP Class 47 and has managed to embed the tails/wiring in a channel milled in the cab roof castings (which are quite thick), whilst the LEDs themselves (one per cab), point downwards.
The cab roof castings on the Western aren't thick enough to permit this, but this wasn't really an issue for me because I wanted to be able to get them out easily should the need ever arise. Also, having tried folding the tails of an LED at 90 degrees and putting it in position in the roof, I wasn't happy with the way it hung down like a chandelier. I decided to keep the LED's as close to the underside of the roof as possible and have them pointing straight ahead and the results were most encouraging.
I also wanted a simple method of getting power to the LEDs and decided to use these miniature plugs & sockets, which came from "All Components"....
As luck would have it, the tails of the LEDs fit nicely into the connectors....
I marked the Anodes and Cathodes with some overhead projector pens, so I'd know which was which after cutting them to the same length....
I think I trimmed them both so they were about 25mm long and then inserted them as far as they would go into a female connector. Having done this I bent the tails over approximately 90 degrees....
I made a couple of slots in the centre of the cab rear bulkheads to accept the tails of the LEDs....
Here's an LED and connector just resting in position....
The tails of the LEDs will be held in the slots with a dab of superglue and filler and should be easy enough to get out again should I need to. The connectors just slide up into position and are held by friction as one would expect.
Anyway, having got the basic set up together, it's time for a test. Here's the cab in a suitably dimmed room....
Add power to the LED and this is the result....
It's a shame the cab interior isn't painted yet.
A final view showing both bulkheads with their LEDs glued in position....
That's all for now - more pictures as and when.
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Tuesday 8th July 2008: A few bogie shots, as requested by 28ten....
Underside of bogie, motor end....
Bogie casting/moulding showing leading axle hole....
The centre axle holes are supplied elongated to allow up and down movement. I imagine the same could be done to the leading holes too, leaving the rear (driven), axle rigid as is the norm with a steam loco chassis.
Here's one of the original bogie castings/mouldings after I'd dropped it on the floor....
I'd just completed it and was about to take it upstairs for a session on the rolling road (out of the way of the kitten), when I inexplicably let it go. 
When the bogies are complete with wheels, motors, castings and so on, they're pretty heavy, so be very careful when you build yours.
Following a quick e-mail to JLTRT, I had a replacement bogie on my workbench within a couple of days. 
These are the (three) whitemetal castings that make up the suspension that surrounds the centre wheels....
These are supposed to be glued into slots in the bogie sides, but I decided to modify them to enable me to get the wheels in and out if needed. I soldered some brass studding to the whitemetal castings and made holes at the top of the slots to give a sort of keyhole effect, like so....
The castings are then held on by putting nuts on the studding from inside.
Finally, a couple of shots of the brake rigging....
I must get around to doing the other three sets of rigging soon.
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Thursday 10th July 2008: Having dealt with getting some fibre optics to the marker lights in a previous posting, I decided to deal with the "light source" ends today.
After a little thought, I decided on some male and female connectors made from telescopic tube. Here are the bits required to do one marker light....
One down, three to go.
Once all the tubing was prepared, I drilled a couple of 0.9mm holes in the rear of the bulkheads....
Work then begins on the LEDs. As before, I marked the anode and cathode with red and blue overhead projector pens and then trimmed them to the same length. Next, small lengths of sheathing from some appropriately sized (and coloured), multi strand cable are slid in place. I removed the pins from the male part of the miniature 2 pin connectors seen previously and having bent the LED tails 90 degrees, the remainder of the male connector is slid into place and glued with superglue. Finally, I drilled a 0.9mm hole through the male connector and glued a short length of 0.9mm wire. Here's one example finished....
The larger of the tubes shown earlier then slides over the LED to make the female part of the assembly....
Although the tube slides easily over the LED, it tends to catch on the plastic sheathing.
I filed a bit of bevel on the inside of the tube and once it's passed the leading edge of the sheathing, it holds on nicely.
This how the LED will look, once positioned on the bulkhead....
To make the male part of the assembly, the intermediate brass tubes are telescoped and soldered together. The aluminium tube is glued inside these and the fibre optic is glued inside the aluminium....
To allow for the domed shape of the LED, I put a bevel on the inside of the tubes with a centre drill....
This is how the light source and fibre optic come together....
Both ends have now been dealt with....
With the bulkhead in position, this is how it looks....
Finally, I've installed the LEDs for the headcodes from below. I think the LEDs must have a slight taper to their bodies, because they are a nice interference fit in a 5mm hole, no glue required....
I'm now in a position, where I can actually think about gluing the body together. However, I'll probably leave it for a bit in case I think of something else I need to do first. I may well start painting and fitting out the cab interiors though and I still have a couple of bags of castings to de-sprue and clean up, plus three lots of brake rigging to fit. 
More progress reports as and when.
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Tuesday 29th July 2008: With a few hours to kill before work (but not enough for a fully blown session), I decided to make a start on the cab interiors. I gave the castings a good scrub with some liquid scouring cream and then dried them with a hairdryer. Here they are ready for painting....
Next a light coat of Halfords acrylic satin black paint....
This was followed by some Precision Paints BR Freight Stock Grey....
This was applied by fairly loosely by brush, as I didn't want a pristine finish and quite a bit of white spirit was stippled in and blended with the paint too.
This done, it was time to get ready for work, but they needed to dry off anyway.
Moving on to today (Friday), I applied more Precision Paint, this time Roof Grey. This was to darken down the existing finish and also to pick out some of the black items on my prototype picture, but without the intensity of black paint....
Again, lots of white spirit was used and I'm pretty happy with the results. I'll have to start painting/fitting the various controls next and then think about painting the bulkheads and the inside of the cab castings themselves.
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Friday 26 September 2008: I had a few hours in which to do some modelling today and thought I'd do a bit more to the Western. I've spent a lot of time looking through one of my most thumbed books lately "Power of the Westerns", trying to find a suitable identity for my model (more of that later). After looking at various Westerns and especially cab fronts for so long, I realised there might be room for improvement in the headcode box area.
On the kit, the vertical divider between the doors has no representation of the gap that exists between them (if you see what I mean?). On the prototype, the left hand door closes over the right hand door, therefore the gap should be offset to the right. I don't have specific dimensions, but it looks like the gap is about two thirds of the way across. There is also a small handle on the left hand door and I decided to have a go at replicating both these missing features.
Here are a couple of pictures of the headcode box on "Western Campaigner" on the West Somerset Railway....
Unfortunately, they don't illustrate the offset gap because they weren't closed at the time, but you can make out the small handle on the left hand door.
I might have to replicate the holes at the top and bottom of the right hand door as well, but that can wait for another day.
In order to get a decent vertical scribe line between the doors, I decided to make a jig from some pieces of brass. This also doubles up as a jig to drill the holes accurately. Here are the basic components....
The piece on the left fits snugly into the aperture in the left hand door (the holes are just an aid to soldering the parts together), whilst the right hand piece rests on the aperture surround.
Here's the first part sitting in the headcode aperture....
The raised mouldings on the vertical bar will need to be removed for the jig to fit and will be reinstated later.
Here are the parts soldered together....
The holes have now been drilled for the handle....
Because the headcode aperture is recessed into the cab front, these "wings" need to be folded to conform to the appropriate shape....
At this point I realised there needed to be some additional holes top and bottom, so these were incorporated into the jig....
The jig is now fitted into the aperture in the left hand door....
After scribing and drilling, this is the result....
It took quite a while to actually make the jig, but not very long to do the scribing and drilling. However, by the time I'd finished the first one, it was time for bed (I was going to Scaleforum the following morning!). I'll do the other cab next time I get a bit of spare time.
I mentioned earlier that I was looking for an identity for my Western. It had been my intention to go for a Swindon built example and I had already bought plates for D1029 "Western Legionnaire". Having bought the plates, I realised I couldn't find a picture of the prototype in scabby Rail Blue finish circa 1972. Also, in every picture I've seen of "Legionnaire", there's no sign of headboard clips and this was something I wanted on my model. Having trawled through a couple of books, I came across a picture of D1031 Western Rifleman in "Power of the Westerns"....
The picture shows the loco being stripped for spares in Swindon works and the finish is, as desired, pretty scabby and it has headboard clips. Although built at Crewe rather than Swindon, what attracted me (apart from the rather cool name), was the date the photo was taken - 5th November 1975. As a child, I loved fireworks - as a matter of fact, I still do.
I thought it was rather poignant that on that day in 1975, as a fourteen year old that couldn't wait for darkness to fall, this handsome loco was being dismantled and would soon be no more. The real clincher though was reading in Adrian Curtis' book "Cast of Thousands", that the loco's last day in traffic was 28th November 1974 - my 14th birthday. Whilst working a Margam-Acton freight that evening, it had caught fire near Patchway and rather like my favoured "Standard Fireworks", would have been "lighting up the sky" that evening.
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Saturday 18th October 2008: A little more progress was made on the Western today, specifically to the headcode boxes. My previous post showed how I'd represented the gap between the headcode box doors. Having done this, I started to become drawn to the gap around the doors that is incorporated in the casting - it just seemed too wide in comparison with photos of the prototype, especially when compared with the vertical gap that I'd just added. In a moment of extreme bravery (or foolishness), I decided to try and rectify the appearance.
First of all, I pared off the representations of hinges with a chisel shaped blade. Then the moulded gap was plugged with some JP Green Model Filler. Once this had set (which doesn't take too long), the excess was removed by a combination of scraping with the chisel blade and fine wet or dry paper in wet mode. Having removed the excess filler, a new gap was scribed on the centre line.
Here are some cruel enlargements of the results....
Here's a before and after comparison....
It looks a bit ragged in the pictures, but is much better in the flesh. I think it makes a big difference which should really become apparent after painting and weathering. The hinges will need to be reinstated and there are a couple of other small things to do, but this cab is nearly there.
Speaking of painting, there may be some of that happening soon, but just to the cabs initially. I've devised a means of representing the glazing rubbers in the headcode doors and it will be a lot easier to fit these after priming and painting the ends yellow, but before the cabs are glued to the sides & roof. Here are a couple of shots of the glazing rubber....
Again it looks a bit rough at this kind of magnification (and I hadn't noticed the glazing and "rubber" had drifted apart at the bottom right hand corner), but it makes a big difference at normal size. I did this by rounding off the edge of a piece of 15 thou styrene to give a semi-circular profile. Once this was done, this edge of the sheet was cut off at about 2mm wide and then a piece was cut off and trimmed to length to fit snugly in the aperture, though this took a bit of trial and error (I did actually make a block of appropriate dimensions from Milliput to wrap the styrene around, enabling it to be plunged into hot water to aid the forming process, but it wasn't very successful).
The glazing is just a piece of acrylic sheet about 1mm thick, cut to the size of the aperture less 15 thou all around. I had a lot of trouble with this because being quite thick, it was hard to cut accurately and even harder to clean up without damaging the visible faces. This was the Mk 1 version and having tested the principle, I had some glazing material laser cut....
These came out very well and if my measurements were correct, they should be a nice fit - I'll report more on this when I get around to fitting them.
Before packing up for the day, I thought I'd fit name board clips and lamp irons temporarily, to get a feel for the finished model....
I also applied filler to the unmodified cab and was able to rub this down and scribe the gaps this morning....
That's all for now - more updates as and when.
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Sunday 23rd November 2008: In my previous post I mentioned that I was having some windows etched. I opened the door to the porch yesterday lunchtime to let the dog out and discovered Postie had been. I only spoke to the etchers (PPD), regarding these on Thursday and wasn't expecting them until sometime next week, so top marks to them.
Anyway, here are a couple of views of the fret....
On the back of these are some small half etched holes that, when embossed, should have represented the bolts/rivets that secured the handles. I realised that if I were to actually try and emboss these, the frame would probably distort, so I decided to leave well alone.
I stuck some wet or dry paper to an eraser with double sided tape and used this to rough up the rear of the fret to give a key for the adhesive....
The next job was to cut and shape some 10 thou clear Evergreen to size....
This was a pretty boring job and given that I'd like some more Westerns, I think I'll be putting in a order for some more laser-cut glazing soon! Anyway, this was attached with canopy glue, pressing the frame down hard onto the glazing with the other side of the eraser. Any excess glue was removed from the glazing with a cocktail stick and/or a small damp paintbrush. I did try using superglue to start with, but found the frames and glazing tended to part company if flexed. I'm hoping the canopy glue will have a little more give in it. One down, seven to go....
Halfway there....
Once all the windows were done, they were put to one side, whilst the cab was tackled. Here's what the windows look like as supplied....
The idea is to carefully remove material up to the raised edge.
Almost there....
There's no going back now!
Having removed the material from one window, I thought I'd try the etches for size. I should really have left them for about 24 hours, but I (and you), want to see what they look like now. Having carefully removed them from the fret and cleaned them up, this is the result....
Next, they're clamped so the frames are held securely, whilst the handle is formed....
After bending as far as possible in this clamp, they were finished off on the bench, by holding the frame down with a metal straight edge and finishing off the fold to just over ninety degrees, to give this result....
It's now time to (temporarily), fit them to the cab and this was done with a couple of dabs of canopy glue....
A different angle showing the handles....
(I wish I'd fitted the instrument panel before taking this picture).
At this point, the memory on the camera became full, so I thought I might as well get the pictures onto the PC and post them here. I might do a bit more before bedtime, but don't expect any more pictures today!
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Friday 12th December 2008: I've just had a week off, but it wasn't until 14:00 hrs today, that I managed to indulge in some workbench activity. 
Anyway, I've made a little more progress with the Western - I managed to remove the unwanted material from the three remaining cab side window apertures. This will allow the fitting of the etched replacements when the time comes. Here are the cabs after treatment....
I also decided to permanently fit the lamp irons and name board clips to both cabs....
The buffers on the left hand cab are just fitted temporarily, but it's starting to come together now. (The windscreen apertures on the other cab need a little flash removed before too long).
Looking at pictures in "Power of the Westerns", it became apparent that the head code box doors required a few additional holes, two of which sit in a small recessed area on the right hand door (one top, one bottom). I ought to have made a jig, but couldn't be bothered and did them by eye....
These were done with a 0.3mm drill, but will be enlarged to 0.35mm, as soon as I find the pack of drills I ordered from Squires a few days ago.
I think they look OK, but will probably make a jig for the next and any subsequent Westerns. The recessed areas were made by pressing a sharp scalpel blade into the resin at the edges of the rebate, making a couple of intermediate nicks and then carving/scraping away the excess. The rebates are rather small and the cruel enlargement does them no favours, but viewed normally (and under a layer of filth), I think they'll look fine.
A close-up of the buffers, just for the hell of it....
These will probably be fitted quite late in the build (after the main body painting stage, I imagine) and will be chemically blackened first.
I know I've said this before, but I think I'm pretty close to getting some paint on the cabs now. I just need to reinstate the hinges on the head code box doors, de-flash the windscreens on one of the cabs and make provision for attaching the lost wax cab steps. These are just supposed to be glued on, but for strength, I want to pin them as well.
I was just wondering whether or not to do some more, when the dog came along to see what I was up to and tell me it was time for bed....
It was about 22:40, so I had to agree with him. More updates, as and when.
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Wednesday 17th December: Not modelling progress as such, but a means to an end. I got in from work Tuesday evening to discover Postie had been. I'd placed an order with Squires first thing the previous morning for (amongst other things), some pin chucks and here they are....
I needed one that would go down as small as 0mm to replace the one that expired a few days ago. The one on the left goes from 0 - 1mm and will enable me to crack on with the Western again. The other four came as a set and go from 0 - 1mm, 0.8 - 1.5mm, 1.3 - 3.1mm and 3.0 - 4.8mm. The first one of the set is obviously exactly the same as the one far left - I thought it prudent to have a spare of this size after last week's events.
As for the others, well, I have two other pin chucks in my toolbox that seem to fulfil most of my other drilling needs, but I have found on occasions, I've been using one or more drills that require the same chuck. The solution was obvious really - buy some more chucks, but until my hand was forced last week, it had never occurred to me. Top marks to Squires for their most efficient mail order service.
Now, if talk of further Western progress has excited anyone (other than me), here's something else that Postie brought with him....
I ordered these the old fashioned cheque-in-an-envelope-way and had them within seven days. Once again, I think Shawplan and the Post Office are to be congratulated for the quick turnaround. I might get a bit of modelling in at the weekend if I'm lucky, so stay tuned.
Friday 26th December 2008: I managed a few hours on the Western today, the main job being to sort out the cab steps. They're designed to be glued on, but I wanted to pin them as well as I felt they might be a bit vulnerable to damage otherwise....
I drilled a 0.7mm hole on one side where it makes contact with the body....
I then discovered I had some brass channel in stock that was a pretty good fit over the steps....
Drill through the hole in the step and through the channel....
Then turn the step through 180 degrees and drill through the channel again....
Whilst the step is this way round, from the back of the channel, insert the drill into the first hole and mark the undrilled side of the step. Having done this, remove the channel and finish drilling the step to end up with this....
Now fit the remaining steps into the channel in turn and mark through with the drill....
You should be able to make out where the drill has made its marks....
You can now finish off the holes to end up with this....
It's not clear from the instructions or prototype photos where the steps are positioned, so I decided to put them about 1mm back from the edge. I put a small strip of double-sided tape under the cab doors, plonked each step on the tape and drilled through the holes into the cab castings....
In case of any variance in the hole positions, I marked each step to ensure it went back in the right place, in this case B end, Driver's side.
Once these holes were drilled, I enlarged them slightly (0.85mm I think), to allow a little adjustment and to make room for the superglue.
I countersunk the holes in the steps to allow a bead of solder to form around the 0.7mm wire pins I was installing....
I did the same to the holes in the cab castings in case the solder beads prevented the steps from sitting hard against the resin, but forgot to take a picture.
Here are the wire pins....
They should fit nicely into the holes....
Once happy with the fit of the steps, it was out with the superglue....
I'm pretty pleased with today's progress, as I'm a step closer to getting some primer and paint on the cabs. I think the windscreens are the last hurdle now - I don't really want to use the glazing material that came with the kit, because it's some sort of plastic or acrylic material. There's nothing wrong with that as such, it's just that being flexible, I'm worried about unrealistic distorted reflections when it catches the light. Im going to try and order some microscope slides next week and have a play with those. I do have some glass cover slips, but they're pretty thin (about 0.18mm) and I don't think they'll be robust enough on an area as big as the windscreens.
More updates as they happen.
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Sunday 1st February 2009: I managed to make a bit more progress on the Western today. My last proper session was way back on Boxing Day, but I did manage a couple of hours about a fortnight ago and today's session was a continuation of that one really.
The main aim was to attempt to make some windscreens using real glass microscope slides, which are approximately 1mm thick. Going back to the session a fortnight ago, I'd managed to blag a few microscope slides from a friend (I kept forgetting to order my own), but didn't have a great deal of luck at that time. I managed to make two windscreens, but wasn't particularly happy with either of them. If I'd been more careful, I could have potentially made eight with the slides at my disposal.
With two mediocre windscreens and a pile of broken glass on the bench, it gave me the incentive I needed to order some slides of my own, so I sent off for a hundred of them. These duly arrived, so I had another go at the task today and actually managed to make four windscreens that I'm pretty happy with. Here's the starting point....
(The scriber comes from CPL Products and is supplied with their microscope cover slips. These differ from the above in that they're only 0.18mm thick. I do have a use for these, but that's for a future post).
I put some red electrical insulation tape on one of the slides....
Ballpoint ink shows up well on this and it provides a relatively non-slip surface later on when marking out. I think this idea came from Simon Varnam's web site, so thanks for the tip Simon. I wanted to do the outer edges of the windscreens first and if I was lucky, I'd get two good edges from one score line.
Using one of the supplied JLTRT plastic windows (or in this case, a glass one I'd made earlier), I marked where the glass needed to be cut. I held the slide and pre-cut window hard against a small metal block and drew a short line with the ballpoint pen....
Once this is done, the line can be extended as necessary....
Due to the thickness of the pen nib, the physical edge of the glass will actually be about half a millimetre inside the pen line. (It's not important on this first cut, but it will be when you come to do the second one). Because the glass cannot be guaranteed to break cleanly, using a scalpel, cut the tape just on the edge of the pen line and remove the excess from the waste side....
Align a straightedge with the edge of the tape and then scribe a line onto the glass....
Align the scribed line with the edge of the work surface and press down on the unsupported side to snap the glass. I forgot to photograph this stage, but here's the result....
If you're lucky, you'll get a clean break - I didn't, but it doesn't matter, as it will need to be cleaned-up anyway. It's a bit ragged at this point, so you have to watch your fingers! Incidentally, the right hand piece had to be re-scribed and snapped off again.
Here it is after a partial clean-up with an abrasive stone....
The dull bits are where the stone has done its work and after a little more time and effort, we end up with this....
Final finishing was done using a couple of different grades of wet or dry paper and a little water.
The biggest problem with the glass is its tendency to chip at the edges when cleaning-up. This wouldn't matter too much if the glass was going to sit in a large rebate, but unfortunately, you don't get that with the Western....
I made and rejected several windscreens because the glass had chipped and the prismatic effect had encroached into the visible area of the screens. After a while, I realised I would never achieve 100% success and providing the blemish is not too big, I'm happy to fit a less than perfect screen. The edges of windscreens can accumulate quite a bit of grime and I intend to hide any such blemishes this way. If the chip is on the outside of the screen, I'll have to apply a little filler to the chips before weathering, but if the chip is on the inside of the glass, it will be much easier to deal with.
Once both straight edges are finished, it's time to do the curved edge....
I scored both sides of the glass and did a series of radiating lines, thinking it might help with the snapping-off process. This was done using some pliers and here's the result....
Again, not pretty, but not a problem. Here it is after cleaning-up....
Before the glass can be checked for size in the aperture, the bottom corner will need to be rounded off. The piece in the foreground is already finished....
Both screens are finished....
Time to fit them temporarily and see how they look....
The driver's side screen wasn't quite such a tight fit and has tilted inwards slightly in the picture. Luckily, it's not glued in yet.
A few hours later and all four screens are finished and fitted temporarily....
I think the next job might be to paint the cab interiors. Once this is done, the windscreens can be glued in. I might feel like I'm getting somewhere then.
More updates as they happen.
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Saturday 7th February 2009: A pleasant few hours at the workbench today saw the cab interiors and bulkheads receiving a lick of paint. Photos of Western cab interiors (especially in colour), seem to be a bit thin on the ground. This is the conclusion I've come to, having studied the books in my collection. What I've done therefore, is guesswork really, but if anyone has information on this subject they'd be willing to share, I for one, would be most grateful.
I did come across several pictures on the Internet of Westerns on the Swindon scrap line and these included a couple of pictures of the Driver's desk and various instruments and controls. I used these pictures as a basis for painting my desks some time ago and these were basically done with Precision Paints BR Freight Stock Grey and BR Roof Grey over Halfords Satin Black.
I decided to paint the bulkheads and cab interiors the same sort of colour as the desks, but I didn't bother with the Satin Black on either of them, as there was very little of it still visible on the desks once I'd gone over them with two shades of grey. Also, I wanted the bulkhead lights to remain as unpainted resin and couldn't be bothered to mask them off. Here's how the bulkheads look now....
The electrical conduits were painted with Humbrol matt orange (can't remember the number), but I added a drop of Precision Roof Grey and some Gloss Varnish, to tone down the intensity and add a little shine. The bulkhead lights were painted with Gloss Varnish to suggest glass, as were the two large circular fittings. I think one of these might be a fire alarm and wonder if it ought to have a red surround. Does anyone know the answer please?
Here are the cab interiors....
I just painted the bits that would be visible through the windows - no point in wasting paint.
One of the bulkheads seen through the (as yet unglazed), windscreens....
Apologies for the harsh lighting, but it was the only way I could get a half-decent picture. I removed the moulded door handles before painting and drilled holes for their replacements, which will be fashioned from flattened fusewire or scrap etch.
Finally, a view through the side window....
I'm looking forward to replicating this shot once the side windows and glazing have been installed.
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Sunday 15th February 2009: I wasn't 100% happy with the clear styrene glazing I'd used on the cab side windows, as it was quite easily scratched, so I decided to have another attempt, but this time, using real glass cover slips for the glazing material.
The first step was to apply some domestic masking tape to the cover slips. The etched frames are positioned on top, with the bottom edge aligned with the edge of the glass....
Using a sharp scalpel blade held against the top of the frame, a couple of marks are made....
The etch is removed and using the marks as a guide, the tape is cut along its length. Having removed the tape from the waste side, the glass is scored and then snapped off....
Having taken care of the height, the procedure is repeated for the length....
A while later, here are the results....
Any corners that need rounding off will be dealt with once the glass and frames are glued and the adhesive has set.
Having cut all the glass to size, the frames can be removed from the etch and cleaned-up and then have their handles formed....
On the first windows I did, I experimented with both canopy glue and superglue. I don't think either was right for the job and coupled with the smoothness of the etches, I had a few instances of frames and glazing parting company. These etches were modified and now incorporate a series of small holes around their perimeter on the inside. This is to provide a key for the adhesive, in this case, slow setting Araldite. Here's all the glazing and frames after gluing....
Edit: Any excess Araldite that oozed out from between the parts was scraped off and then the frames and glazing were wiped over with a cotton bud dampened with Methylated Spirit. This will leave a residue on the glass, but on a previously done test piece this was easily removed, once dry, with a fibreglass pen.
This done, they were put in a safe place to cure. Any glass protruding beyond the frames will be removed using an abrasive stone and/or some wet or dry paper glued to a piece of wood.
Having admired Roger Manton's Western on the JLTRT stand on several occasions, I decided his idea of removing the rain strips on the cab was a good one....
Roger said it's easier to fill and rub down the joints between the cab, side and roof castings, without the rain strips in the way. They'll be reinstated after, with strips of suitably formed wire.
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Sunday 15th February 2009 (Continued): When I posted the previous installment, I forgot to mention that the last job of the day was to Araldite the real glass windscreens in.
I didn't take any pictures at the time, because once I'd glued them in and removed the excess adhesive (using a scraper and cotton bud dampened with Methylated Spirit), I put them straight in the modelling cupboard to cure. Well, a week has passed and here they are....
I've tried to catch the light in the pictures to illustrate the fact that the windows are actually glazed and also to show the diluted residual Araldite on the glass. This will be removed with a fibreglass pen and I'll do this in my next workbench session - I'll post some more pictures then.
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Tuesday 24th February 2009: With a couple of hours to kill before setting off to work, I thought I'd have a go at removing the diluted film of Araldite covering both sides of the Western's windscreens. I've already done the one nearest the camera and also in the picture are the few tools I used....
An internal view....
An external close-up....
Another close-up showing the secondman's windscreen partially done....
The same from inside, highlighted against a dark background....
Both windscreens finished....
This was literally 15-20 minutes work. I still have the other cab to do, but that'll have to wait until next time.
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Tuesday 10th March 2009: Being suitably inspired by some of the stuff at last Saturday's Kettering show, I decided a little more work on the Western was in order today. Having already removed the residual Araldite from the windscreens of one cab, the first job was to bring the remaining cab up to the same stage....
With that out of the way, I thought I'd have a go at forming the short handrails that were fitted to the headcode box door. I made these from 0.31mm brass wire....
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