1951 Pullman Scratchbuild in 1/32

[Bucoops]

Agree with the above, looks pretty good to me!

[hendie]

Thanks for the comments @richard i, @Nova Scotian, & @Bucoops.  You guys are way too kind!!!   

 

I've been grabbing some more time at work for 3D printing stuff but don't have anything worth showing in that respect at the moment.  I'm trying to avoid 3D printing everything as I really enjoy the scratch building challenge and the thought process behind it.  However, there are definitely times when there is really no viable alternative to 3D printing - i.e. for replicating minute details and when multiples of an object are required.  Larger objects can be cast in resin but smaller objects are much more difficult to do unless you have access to some specialist equipment.  In those cases I console myself that I am still creating something - e.g. the model.  I think those door handles were a perfect example.

 

Anyway, moving on... 

I did start work on some internal stuff - basically just killing time until I can get on with the *real* assembly, which is delayed until I can get those transfers I've been waiting so long for. 

In the bar area, at one end of the bar there is a gift cabinet...

 

The gift cabinet -

 

 

Some framing, sanded to a nice half round edge

 

 

Then test fitted with some "glass" shelves

 

 

The gift cabinet also has sliding glass doors on the front so they might prove a bit more challenging to make and look right.

 

<pause>

 

The gift cabinet is now fully stained, waiting to dry and then it will get another coat of semi gloss. I'm toying with the idea of adding two steel braces (i.e. bits of wire) per shelf to take away from the overall blandness and general emptiness inside.

 

The rest of my available time has been spent with micro-mesh in hand.  The entrance doors and frames proved to be very troublesome.  Doing a great big flat expanse like the side frame was relatively easy to micro-mesh, but the doors are a different matter wot with all the nooks and crannies and such.  I'm sticking with the 'not quite perfect' look again for the doors. 

 

On the 3D printing route, I have the diamond window completed.  My original idea back when I started all this was to do that one in PE, but I won't get the relief and detail that window really needs. Printing it will be the way to go.  The main window assembly is also designed, ready for the printer.  I'm quietly confident about the diamond window, but I'm only going to print one of the main windows as a test to see if it needs any tweaks before I go off printing the entire carriage worth of windows.

 

Next job was to fix the shelf brackets.  I simply drilled Ø0.4mm holes through the back of the cabinet. The holes were then countersunk slightly on the rear face (to help with gluing), then some stainless steel wire was pushed through the holes until it was 5mm proud into the cabinet.  Sloopergloo was slapped on the back and when hard, the excess wire was snipped off the rear and it was all sanded flush

 

 

This gave me 4 sets of brackets to sit shelves onto, and yet more surfaces for dust to be attracted to.

 

 

Once the shelves were in - I used GS Hypo to tack them in place, I began work on the sliding doors.  The job would have been made a whole lot easier if I hadn't glued the facing on the front first as the sliding windows had to be tucked in behind the facings, but Percy Verance helped out and I got there in the end.

 

 

Then a couple of off-cuts were sliced to act as 'handles' on the doors.

 

 

I really should have thought ahead and got some baubles and wotnots to put inside the cabinet.  Maybe I'll revisit it at a later date, who knows.  It should be easy enough to pop those doors off though when/if the time comes.

Anyways, job done. One gift cabinet made

 

 

 

[hendie]

Greetings folks.  Back once again after a long hiatus where life and work get in the way.  I haven't been completely idle though...

 

Hey ho.

Since I am doing nothing else at the moment except wallowing in my own special type of purgatory, waiting on transfers, and never one to pass up a challenge... I took some scraps of styrene and whittled out this little intriguing shape here.

Can you tell what it is yet ?  (are we allowed to say that yet or is it too soon?)

 

 

Truth be told, I just cut some shapes and a couple of bits of rod and glued them all together, but keep believing the chewing/whittling version if it makes you happy!

Unfortunately, despite measuring the gift cabinet width several times I still managed to make the mini-macro Pegasus too big to fit into the cabinet 

Additionally unfortunately also I made a right hash up of the paint job. 

In my defense, the bristles my brushes are akin to the nostril hairs of a camel who uses Insette Spikey on a regular basis

and I've got shakey hands

and I do believe there was a mild earthquake

and I may have had to much coffee

or not enough

 

 

That version shall be retired, never to surface again.  However it has now got under my skin and I have to make one that actually fits inside the gift cabinet.  Stay tuned.

 

I had a brief excursion to doing some more on my other (languishing) builds -   While that particular diversion was going on some even more diversionary stuff arrived. To wit mes amis, a window frame. Yes. A window frame.

We don't want to go making something the wrong size now do we?   So I had a single window frame printed as a test for fitting before I went and ordered a *cough* trainload of them. 

 

 

 

I was originally going to make these out of PE, but after some serious thought I realized that I couldn't get the depth I needed with PE, even using several layers - plus, all the layers and the folding just got very complicated.  With some reluctance I decided to go down the 3D printing route.  I say reluctance because I consider this effort a scratch build and I thoroughly enjoy that aspect of this labor of love. 

I could easily have 3D printed the entire carriage from buffer to buffer but where's the fun in that?  However, as I (think I have) mentioned sometime somewhere previously, there are times when there's just no substitute for what can be achieved with this medium. 

(P.S. I started another round of sanding before a final clear coat, which is why the side frame looks so mottled at the mo'!)

It's just a shame the damned thing didn't fit!

 

 

Curiouser and curiouser.  I was positive I had checked and verified that dimension on multiple occasions to ensure I got it right.  (See above for how successful my multiple measuring sessions have been!)

I checked the frame.  I know I had designed it to be 37 mm wide, and what's this I see?  Why it's almost 0.2 mm too long. Dammit!  That'll do it.

 

 

Now that led me off on a trail checking my 3D model, the STP file and several other avenues, and everything pointed to me creating and submitting a window frame that should have been 37 mm width at the critical area.  So what's going on then ?  Is it Shapeways? Are their printers out of calibration ? Or is this result what I have to expect from the resolution of the printer/material combination ? Perhaps.

It did raise a question though - if it was down to printer tolerance, would the next batch be printed on the very same printer? Unlikely.  Would they be better or worse?  Who knows.

I reckoned that 0.15 mm would be enough to ensure it fitted, and if there was a gap, it would be so small it would be very difficult to notice.

So today during lunchtime I decided to update the model and remove 0.15 mm from the width, but held off from submitting the newly updated model file. 

 

This evening while I was messing about trying to find more things to do I happens across the window frame and wanted to double check the fit to make sure I was removing the right amount of width, and I also wanted to add slightly more depth to the frame as well.

Wait, what's this???  It fits!!!   What the...

I tried it in several windows just to make sure and it fitted perfectly in each and every one.  I measure it again with the calipers and got 37.0 mm give or take a gnats hair.

Now I know plastic shrinks, and some plastics will shrink for days, if not weeks, but for a part this small on volume and cross section, any shrinkage should have completed long before it arrived at my abode.

Nonetheless, I'll take this as a win - and go back and add the 0.15 mm I removed earlier today.  Actually I may just go somewhere in between, maybe 0.08 mm just to be on the safe side.

 

 

And lookey here.  Lampshades no less. Single lampshades and double lampshades.  Check the size of that digit holding them and you can understand why I went the same route with these.

There's no way on this earth that I could have made something so delicate and symmetric, then to have made multiples of them. Not a chance!

I love the way the plastic has captured the look of the frosted glass.

 

 

Look at the detail captured here.

Sadly, I have to now paint them.  I've put that off for now as I had to go and order some decent paintbrushes before I could even attempt to paint detail this small.

The frames around the lamps will be painted according to which compartment they are in. For example, those fittings in the bar area will be chrome finish, while those in the dining area will be brass.

I'm sure I'll have just oodles of fun trying not to mess those up.

 

 

Which brings us to a close for this update where there really wasn't any actual update, just me slamming up photo's of parts that I didn't even have to make (aside from that mini-macro Pegasus).

Well, the last thing that I didn't make was the diamond window assembly.  Yup!  Printed two, too.  So delicate.

 

 

Aaaaannnnndddddd, they fit!!!

 

 

Woopie doo it fits.  It fits I tell you.

I'll count that as a win.

 

and now slope off to try and chase up the transfer ghost

 

 

 

[hendie]

Anyways, anyone remember these ?

 

 

I got me a new toy and thought I would try it out to see if I could wash out the icky residue from inside the lamp covers

 

 

Well, this is what happens when you stick them in an ultrasonic bath with IPA to wash out the sticky residue.  Not great.

 

 

There's no sticky residue any more but I don't know if I will use these or get some more and chance the residue issue (it may react with the paint).  I've sen some comments on forums where after some time, a crystallization growth occurs on the surface where the 3D print has been painted.  I haven't seen it on any of my stuff so far but it's something I'll need to look into in more depth when I get the time.

Since the transfers still seem a ways off, I need to find other tasks to keep me sane.  For some time now I have been looking at the seats, and more and more I felt I hadn't captured the look I was going for.

Back to basics...

 

 

You can see the original former there in the background - nothing more than a few pieces of cable wrapped over a styrene core and the ends filled in with milliput.

 

Evolution of a seat. - On the right is my original original.  In the middle was my last attempt that I grew to dislike over time, and on the right is my new version

 

 

which I don't like either!

It's too skinny at the waist methinks.

 

So back on with some milliput again.

 

 

It's still a bit rough but should shape up nicely with some gentle persuasion from various sanding implements.

Here it is compared to the other versions. I thought the side bits (sorry, my chair terminology is not up to scratch) were too obvious and clunky looking.  The new version on the right has a more tapered version which 'flows' better to my mind.

 

 

Seen from the side you can see more of the *cough* improvement.  I also shortened the arms just a touch.

 

 

I'm much happier with that - or at least I will be when I've finished sanding and shaping.  I should note here that I found that a couple of dips in whatever flavor of Klear you have available seems to help in covering over pinholes in the resin.

Then I just need to make 16 or so of them.

So I guess I can scrap these one's then!

At least I shall have plenty of test subjects for painting when the time comes.

 

 

Still going with an interior theme here - what goes with chairs ?  Tables.

Of course, they couldn't just be plain old tables.  No.  That would be too easy.  They had to have tablecloths on them didn't they ?  Well, you wouldn't spend upwards of a few grand to sit on a train without tablecloths would you ?

Tablecloths are a bit problematic when it comes to modeling aren't they ?  How do you get that hanging over the edge look to a tablecloth in 1/32 scale?

This is my best guess (or my only guess at the moment - let's see how it turns out)

 

 

Passable ?

 

 

It's not great I'll admit, but a decent first pass. (I hope)

It will come as no surprise that there are two different sizes of tables so I had to do the metal tape thing all over again, and there are a number of tables!  Me being lazy as always does not want to have to model each and every table individually so I am going to have a try at casting them in resin.

 

 

 

and this is where I realized that my silicone was out of date and have to go and order more

 

 

 

 

 

[08-362]

For the lampshades: I cant remember if you used it before, but would a masking solution help with preventing paint getting on the glass sections? For example Humbrol Maskol.

Obviously you can't do much until you get a new set, but it's a possibility.

[hendie]

On 11/09/2019 at 06:48, 08-362 said:

but would a masking solution help with preventing paint getting on the glass sections?

 

thanks for the suggestion 08 - I did consider it but masking solution I find is too thick to be able to get into sharp corners etc with any degree of accuracy.

I have purchased a set of very fine paintbrushes which I plan on using.  I think with a bit of care - and lots of breath-holding, I should be able to produce a reasonable job.

Painting the chairs is a much more daunting prospect - but I (think I) have a plan...

 

 

Edited September 15, 2019 by hendie

[hendie]

 

In this particular car, there are 16 comfy chairs, and two long and four short tables - with tablecloths.

 

Some de-lego-ing and pulling things out of silicone produced this.  The originals and hopefully two workable molds.  Lets see how we get on then.

 

 

I decided to use my old stock resin - why not? What's the worst that could happen.  Well, it stated in bold type on the containers 'Shake well before use'

Since this had been lying for who knows how long I made sure I gave it a good shake.  Of course the inevitable happens when you shake liquidy things - LOTS of bubbles. Lots!

In my rush to see how the molds came out I completely forgot to test the resin on an old mold in case something went not quite right.

 

 

However, the gods seemed to be on my side today and at least I cold see that the resin was starting to cure

 

 

After waiting probably not quite long enough I popped the resin out of the molds. Here's some upside down tables

 

 

They look slightly better the correct way up.  I can see lots of sanding in my future.

 

 

What about the chair then ?

Well, first impressions (sic) are good

 

 

Compared to my last version (on the left) I think these capture the shape I was after much better.

 

 

What about those tables then ?  Well I couldn't resist getting at least one set looking slightly more table like so out with the sanding paper and lots of elbow grease later, and a quick squirt of primer... this is the short table..

 

 

... and this is the longer table

 

 

There are a few bubbles here and there, especially around the sharp ends - not really a surprise, but overall, I think these will clean up nicely with a swipe of filler here and there and a judicious application of micro-mesh.

 

 

Primer also went on the new comfy chair.  It's looking a little bit rough, but a dip in whatever flavor of Klear I have should help sort that out.

 

 

But what do they look like together I hear you ask.  Well, wait no longer

 

 

That is all the easy part.  The tables in particular - all they will need is a coat of something near white.  The chairs are a different beast altogether.  They are a rather brightish blue with a white flower pattern.

I can see lots of experimentation in my future trying to get something approaching that pattern.

 

The result of an afternoon's work in Hendieland

 

 

I'll pick the best of those tables, and I only have another half dozen or so chairs to make.  I should get those done at the next session.

 

and now the countdown begins until my test transfers arrive....

 

 

 

[hendie]

yet another teeny tiny update. This does not mean that nothing has been getting done - more that the work going on in the background is pretty boring and not particularly photogenic.

 

I continued to get more comfy chairs from the comfy chair mold, though I think the mold has now passed it's sell by date.  Take a look at the flutes inside the mold - you can see they are really beginning to tear up quite badly.  However, I needed 16 chairs and I managed to get 20 chairs by this point, though the last couple of chairs do need some clean up. (actually I think I only need 14 chairs - need to double check)

 

 

What time there was available today was spent sanding,

and sanding

 

and more sanding

 

followed by more sanding

 

until I got to this point

 

 

Quite happy with that lot though it is pretty nigh on impossible to see how good or bad they are in that whitest of white whites.  I'll need to hit them with some primer to see how many little air holes got captured, and just how much more cleanup they will require.

I did face one problem though - if you remember back to the mold.  I used modeling clay in there to help build up the body and give these parts some strength.  The down side to that is now i do not have a reference point on the underside - it's all lumpy. How do I know how long to cut each table leg ?

 

 

In order to be able to set the height of these tables I need a reference point/surface.  The top of the tables are now nice and flat once they've been sanded but I need to be able to fix a table leg and two brackets to the underside in order to fit them to the wall panels.  I needed a consistent surface on the undersides.

Some time back (years?) I purchased an end mill - for what I have no idea, but it did come in handy.

The end mill was mounted in my bench press and the stop set a few mm higher than the wooden block shown here.

 

 

That meant I could then plunge the end mill into the resin knowing that I wouldn't push right through it - and the depth would be consistent from (and parallel to) the top surface.  This gives me a uniform level to fit the mounting brackets and the table leg to (whenever I get around to them)

 

 

Proof of concept worked, so now back to the boring stuff.

 

until next time...

 

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by hendie

[hendie]

Momentous moments No 1

 

look what just arrived !!!

My trial sheet of transfers. Hooray!  Although this trial sheet is mainly to test dimensions and colors, there's a few transfers that I can use - namely all the stuff that goes on the end vestibule - and that will let me get started on some actual long awaited construction.

 

 

WOW !   What can I say ?

These transfers look fantastic - way better than I imagined.  Just look at that detail  (trusty blade included for scale factor)

 

 

Even more scale factor - that's the tip of my index finger wavering there in the foreground.

 

 

Yes, I did have a little 'artistic' moment there and included my name as part of the transfers - am I allowed to do that ? (since I re-designed the darned thing)

 

Blown away I am.  Blown away.

It's really tempting to jump right in and try these but I want to wait until I've calmed down and have plenty of time in front of me so there's no rush. 

 

 

<a few days later>  I managed to spend some time down at the workbench.

This time I dived right into the transfers - it was a learning experience - I've never worked with spot printed transfers before. (you can probably tell after looking at the pic below)

The 4 samples are for choosing the colors.  Based on these I think I am going with Sample A (yes, the one I damaged). It appears to be closest in color based on all my reference photo's.

I also managed to add a small twist to Sample C.

I initially tried using MicroS1 and MicroS2 (can never remember if it's Sol or Set that's first so I have them numbered) but they didn't seem to make any difference whatsoever, and I messed up a couple of the transfers  - so then I followed the instructions (getting old you see).  Basically, wet the transfer, slide off into place, then press down to remove all h2o stuck underneath.  It's slightly more difficult than the type I'm used to but I'll get there.  I have to!

 

 

I'll give those a coat of clear next time I'm in the basement - just to check that my chosen clear coat won't mess them up.

 

It's just as well these are samples, but I can see I am going to have to make sure I order enough spares to get me through - they can be quite fragile when subjected to Hend treatment.

I also had a go at what promises to be one of the more difficult applications - those double lines will run the length of the car - about 600 mm or so.

I also learned that I'll have to let each individual transfer dry thoroughly before trying to add another transfer adjacent to one already in place.

 

 

Altogether a very valuable learning experience but I'm sure I have a long way to go yet before I'm proficient at this malarkey.  It was worth the investment in getting this trial sheet before committing to the full shebang.

 

I did get these two transfers in place before I packed in for the evening.  Progress.

 

 

I thought these were the first 'official' transfers on the build but apparently I added one to the undersides two or three years ago (yes, it's been that long!)

 

Hend the impressed signing off

 

 

[Steadfast]

Hi Hendie,

First post on the thread from me, but I've been following your work from when the carriage started. Browsing as a guest on britmodeller (some nice other stuff you've done too) then recapped by going through this thread now.

Absolutely fantastic attention to detail! I love all the little touches you've gone the extra mile with, all very worthwhile.

The transfers look amazing, the print finish looks very similar to some I had printed. I don't know what technology the company I use has (SpotModel in Spain) but the results are very comparable. One thing I did find was that Microscale solutions caused the decal to soften and bend, but the wrong way, so it curled up. Then I read the instructions and saw that SpotModel don't recommend setting solutions...

Keep up the good work 

 

Jo

[hendie]

On 26/09/2019 at 23:03, Steadfast said:

Absolutely fantastic attention to detail! I love all the little touches you've gone the extra mile with, all very worthwhile.

 

Thanks Jo  - I appreciate the comments.  After what seems like a couple of years of inactivity I finally seem to be getting somewhere.  It's been a long haul, but this has been on my to do list ever since I designed the 1:1 car so I am determined to get it completed... one day!!!

 

 

I was determined to get into some actual construction - but there were a few things that needed done first.  Part of the test sheet of transfers contains a few items that I need on the end vestibule (I'm sure you've heard me harp on about that many times) - I was about to cut those out and apply them when I noticed (or rather remembered) something about Pegasus - there is an orange line around the car just below the cant rail... something to do about electrical danger.  Now, if I had been bright I would have had a transfer made up for that orange strip but no, I had completely forgotten about it, and it needed done before I go sticking transfers all over the place.  Nowt for it but to paint the blighter.

How do you paint a narrow very narrow orange strip along the length of a train car ?  Thank heavens for Aizu tape is all I can say.

I took a roll of 1mm wide tape and applied it along the top edge of the sideframe.  Not an easy task keeping that straight by any means.  It was a case of stick it down at one end then slowly, carefully grabbing the tape with tweezers about every 20 - 30 mm and touching it down with the tweezers, then using a cloth to make sure it was burnished flat.  I got that as straight as I could and both sides probably took me a good 30 minutes to get that first strip of tape down.

That was followed by Aizu 0.5mm tape. Again, starting off and using tweezers every inch or so to touch the tape onto the surface before burnishing the length that had just been applied.  The tape was lifted and relaid many times along that length as I needed it to nest right into the previous strip.

This shot shows the 0.5mm tape being applied - minus the hand with the tweezers as cludgey old me can't operate tweezers and a camera simultaneously in the same hand

 

 

Once that effort was completed and my eyes had recovered, it was time to lay down a third strip.  Again Aizu tape but this time 2mm tape (I think) - but again had to be very closely aligned with the 0.5mm I had just laid down.  Once I was happy with the masking... grab one end of the 0.5mm and rip that stuff right off again.  Yes really.   All that time and effort to get the tape nicely in position, only to remove it again.  Isn't this modeling malarkey fun ?

As you can see for yourselves here - this leaves a nice 0.5mm wide gap between the first and third strips of tape.  It should be a relatively even gap as well although I did spot a couple of places where it seemed to narrow down.  No!  I wasn't going to do it again!

 

 

I mixed up some orange gloss with a few drops of dark grey just to take the brightness away from it.  Then it was time to attack...

I was taking no chances this time - my Tamiya tape with integral blast screen was used as protection.

 

 

The same process was applied to the end vestibules.

Painting was quite frightening - it was very difficult to tell how well the orange has covered the umber, and I was very conscious of laying the paint on too tick, and also terrified it would cover well enough. Once the masking was removed I'd never be able to mask to the same lines again and it would be a strip back and start again job. Again!

 

I was extremely nervous when it came time to remove the masking - this paint job has been my worst nightmare and I didn't want to botch it up this late in the game.  Thankfully the masking came away cleanly (another nice thing about Aizu tape) and the orange seemed to have covered sufficiently.  Strong enough to be easily seen , and not too bright.

 

 

Ditto on the side frames

 

 

It even looks to be relatively straight.

 

 

Large sighs of relief

 

 

Then at long last, the transfers were applied to the vestibule ends

 

 

Another milestone reached.  I can now actually begin some construction on the ends now. (well, as soon as I have clear coated these first!)

 

I seem to remember I had built a whole bunch of stuff made and ready to stick on... now where did I put them.  Where's that safe place again?

 

(later that week...)

Having had a whole night to themselves, it was time to add the final coat to the transfers.  First the orange line was given a quick buff with micromesh to remove the ridges left my masking.  Then another pucker moment or two was had while I applied the final clear coat to the vestibule ends.  I ended up with two tiny spots but so tiny even I am not going to get bothered by them.

 

 

Everything looks great but you can still catch the carrier film in the light quite easily.  It seems a gloss coat will not make the carrier invisible which is a bit of a bummer, but I don't know that there's much if anything I can do about that. 

 

 

I'm guessing this is a limitation of the media.  I don't suppose it matters much on most of your normal teensy weensy train scales, where it would hardly be seen.  However scaling up to this size means that I do need large areas of carrier film to hold the numerous parts of the decal together - ergo, there are going to be large areas of carrier film present.

On the vestibule ends I am not too bothered by the carrier but on the side frames where there is such a large expanse of flatness.... the transfers could make or break the build.   Well, maybe not that drastic, but it would be a shame if I couldn't make a decent enough job with these to make it look presentable.

Quality though, is unquestionable.  These decals are astounding.

 

 

I'm leaving the clear coat for a few days to harden up properly before I start handling it (just in case).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hilux5972]

Did the umber have a high gloss finish prior to you adding the transfers? I find that even the largest transfers don’t show any carrier film when a good high gloss base is used. 

[richard i]

I agree gloss varnish the sides and satin it back once they are applied. Also I use transfix rather than water it sucks them down better on to the model. 

If you do both these already then I am out of suggestions. 

Richard

[cctransuk]

10 hours ago, hendie said:

Everything looks great but you can still catch the carrier film in the light quite easily.

 

 

 

What you are seeing is air trapped beneath the carrier film - it may appear smooth, but the paint is still microscopically rough.

 

It is possible to apply waterslide transfers into wet Klear floor lacquer - it is then impossible to trap any air under the carrier film.

 

You have to be quick and confident as Klear dries quickly - practice first !!

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Cambridge Custom Transfers.

https://www.cctrans.org.uk/products.htm

Edited September 29, 2019 by cctransuk

[Mark]

Quick question. Hopefully without causing too much consternation!

 

Is this coach being built in contemporary form?

 

 If not the electrification warning flashes are too modern.

 

Regards

 

Mark Humphrys

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

Quick question. Hopefully without causing too much consternation!

 

Is this coach being built in contemporary form?

 

 If not the electrification warning flashes are too modern.

 

Regards

 

Mark Humphrys

 

I'd guess so - given the presence of the orange OHLW line.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[Steadfast]

Hi Hendie,

The slightly visible carrier is something I've had the same with on my decals, I'm guessing it is exactly the same technology.

For my second sheet, which I'm currently drawing up, I'm experimenting with a much closer carrier film. Admittedly these are very tiny as they are N scale, but it proves the concept! On my first sheet there was a good 0.5-1mm visible carrier surround, at minimum. The pink layer is the clear coat, by the way, if anyone's wondering

 

Jo

[hendie]

@Hilux5972 and @richard i, yes there was a high gloss coat on the surface before I applied the transfers.  I use Alclad Aqua Gloss.

 

 

3 hours ago, cctransuk said:

It is possible to apply waterslide transfers into wet Klear floor lacquer -

 

thanks, I'll look into that

 

 

1 hour ago, Steadfast said:

For my second sheet, which I'm currently drawing up, I'm experimenting with a much closer carrier film.

 

thanks Jo, that's one of the routes I am looking into for the next batch.

 

I should have mentioned these transfers have been produced by Railtec, who I'm sure you are all familiar with.  The quality of the product is fantastic and I'm sure most of the issue is down to my application techniques.

I think there is another aspect to my challenge.  That of size.  Some of these decals will be several inches long - and trying to get the air removed from under a long, narrow transfer without distorting it in any way is going to be challenging. Lots of practice in the future.

 

 

3 hours ago, Mark said:

Is this coach being built in contemporary form?

 

 If not the electrification warning flashes are too modern.

 

2 hours ago, cctransuk said:

I'd guess so - given the presence of the orange OHLW line.

 

I was the design engineer on this project when the car was built in Edinburgh back in 2000, which is the reason behind me wanting to build this model. I openly admit I know nothing about trains and I'm just following my references. If my references show it, I'm adding it.

 

[PaulCheffus]

21 hours ago, hendie said:

I should have mentioned these transfers have been produced by Railtec, who I'm sure you are all familiar with.  The quality of the product is fantastic and I'm sure most of the issue is down to my application techniques.

I think there is another aspect to my challenge.  That of size.  Some of these decals will be several inches long - and trying to get the air removed from under a long, narrow transfer without distorting it in any way is going to be challenging. Lots of practice in the future.

Hi

 

These are Railtec transfers and although 1/148 scale the Polybulk lettering is quite large. There is no carrier film visible and they were laid on a gloss surface.

Cheers

 

Paul

[hendie]

Thanks Paul - was the Polybulk one continuous transfer or individual letters ?   Looks great by the way.

 

 

From there, on to today's escapades.  I can forewarn you that I did actually get some of yer akchul real construction completed today - it seemed so strange!  To celebrate I took loads of photo's to bore you with and hopefully didn't miss anything important.

Starting with the vestibules, nicely glossed, completed wiv stickers n everyfink. (another strange feeling).  I also dug out bits and pieces salvaged from previous failed vestibule ends that must have been a couple of years ago by now.

 

 

First job of the day was to remove anything from the vestibule which wasn't very vestibulic. Namely, the passageway entrance.  In a rare moment of planning ahead, when I originally did these, I had the passageway entrance scored in the plastic but not removed.  That made it a simple, if still somewhat scary, to gently score the ehrr... scores with a fresh blade.  The scores were on the reverse side from that shown here, so there was always a fear in my mind that some paint would decide to part company with the plastic leaving me lying on the concrete floor, whimpering like a child who's just had his lolly stolen.

Gently does it... a bit at a time.

 

 

And if the gods are willing, we end up with nothing... a space.  Just what we wanted!  Emptiness!

 

 

Next step was to gently file around the edges at an angle to cut back any hard edges of the paint - I didn't want my clumsy digits peeling back any of the brown stuff after all this time.

I'll deal with the small white edge later

 

 

Looks like we are finally getting somewhere on this build.  I had some clear acetate (or acrylic) sheet which I purchased who knows when, but when I looked at it from a "window" perspective, I wasn't completely happy.  Yes, it was nice and clear, but like most of those thin films, when it caught the light you could see small striations which showed the surface wasn't completely flat.  You had to look, but it was there.

Fortuitously, I had also bought some 0.030" Lexan (plexiglass) and this appeared to be much better - and it could still be cut with a blade.

 

 

The windows were glued in with GS-Hypo, then the interior was glued on top of that using E6000.  I had to make new interior panels but you already saw me doing that several years ago so no need to show again.

 

 

Finally, almost 5, yes 5 (count them!)  years into the build and we have a vestibule end complete with windows and interior paneling. 

 

 

I got so excited, I made two!

 

 

With that excitement over, it was time to mangle and destroy that perfect finish I had worked to hard to achieve.

(This is where the more exciting buildy stuff starts to appear.)

It's diaphragm time folks!

Since the diaphragms are going to be literally hanging off the end of the car, I thought it prudent to and provide some positive fixings for them, and not rely solely on glue, so, rough up the surface and start drilling some holes in it

 

 

Why ?

Well, I though using some brass rivets would come in handy to assist in positioning and fixing.

Once I had drilled the vestibule end, I transferred the holes to the diaphragm and popped in some brass rivets. 4 in total.

 

 

Next up were the bellows for the diaphragm.  If you have a really good memory, you will recall that I made these many years ago from the foil paper inside cigarette packets.  Surprisingly they have stood the test of time, though they did have a few cobwebs and loads of dust I had to clean off first.

 

 

Cut to size and glued to the diaphragm, they almost look convincing.  Well, convincing enough for me. - and that's what counts I guess.

 

 

The bellows and top cover had some superglue gel smushed over the surfaces (and superglue normal to hold the rivets in place), then the rivets were guided into their mating holes on the vestibule end and the whole shebang clamped together.

The s/g gel gave me some wiggle time to position the diaphragm relative to the doorway.

 

 

Are we there yet ?

'Fraid not. Still more gubbinses to attached.  Strangely, for me at least, I managed to find things I had made a year or two back without too much trouble.  Normally my 'safe' places go walkabout the moment I turn my back.

Anyways, there are some electrical wotnots to be added.  Sorry for the poor photo, but you can see the small roundish thing just below the window, one on each side of the doorway.  There is a small tube protruding from the bottom end - that will get some electrical cable and a plug when I get around to it.

 

 

Next, another electrical power socket thingy.  Things are really starting to take shape now.  It's amazing what a splash of color can do to a build.

 

 

and there we have an almost complete vestibule end 'cept for some cable and a plug, and a few other bits n pieces.

you also get to see some nice greasy fingerprints all over the place, free of charge.

 

 

Warning: and photo's after this point are completely gratuitous and posted for purely selfish reasons.  - 'cos I took them.

 

So what does it look like in situ then I hear you ask?

I really should have stuck on a sideframe or two to take these shots, but that would have meant tidying up my workbench and putting tools and stuff away, so no side frames I'm afraid... just use your imagination.

 

 

 

 

that's all for the time being folks.  See you at the next stop

 

 

 

[Bucoops]

Love it

[Ceptic]

Bloody marvellous modelling workmanship, hendie.

 

A joy to watch.

Many thanks.

[PaulCheffus]

3 hours ago, hendie said:

Thanks Paul - was the Polybulk one continuous transfer or individual letters ?   Looks great by the way.

Hi

 

Thanks and the Polybulk lettering was one continuous transfer.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[hendie]

Thanks for the comments @Bucoops, @Ceptic, and @PaulCheffus - very much appreciated.

 

 

I wrote a few posts back that the gods seemed to be smiling on me - I almost wrote in that very same post that things were going so well, those same gods must be planning something nasty for me in the near future.  I didn't post that in case I jinxed myself.

 

I needn't have bothered - the gods dumped on me yet again - Look to the bottom right of the vestibule, just to the left of the electrical wozzit

Damn!!!!

 

 

Some glue must have seeped around the sides of the wooden paneling and sucked the bejesus out of the styrene as it cured.   As you can imagine, I was less than pleased when I discovered that.

After cursing and screaming I quietened down a bit and thought what do I do here ?   I can try and repair it, or is there an alternative?

Well, there may be an alternative i.e. hiding it, or at least some of it.

The PassCom has some vertical pipery running up the vestibule just to the side of the diaphragm.  One of the sinks runs vertically and would for the most part, be hidden behind said pipe.

 

 

I'm still undecided whether to repair or just move on.  I'm really not sure what to do here.

Anyways, moving on for the mo' I thought that pipe arrangement (I had made many moons ago) looked a bit oversized, so attempted another, this time from brass rod.

This looks much better, and to my eye, more in scale

 

 

Still avoiding any decision as to repair, ignore, or throw it out the window, I made another few bits and pieces for the PassCom mechanical stuff.  (It kept my mind of the sinking issue)

 

 

Those of you daft enough to follow this thread will know of my inherent fear of painting, and how many times I have stripped this thing back to metal in the quest for a decent paint job. I now have that decent paint job, but there's more - I also need to have a very good gloss coat on top.

I managed to get a decent gloss coat months ago, and micromeshed it back (I can't for the life of me remember why), but now I have some transfers to apply, I need to get that gloss coat back in place.

I've tried many things and had many fails.  However, after much to-ing and fro-ing I decided to use Testors Wet Gloss - it gets great write ups and seems to be the best thing for a really shiny gloss coat. The downside is that it comes in small 3oz aerosols.

I had used Alclad Aqua gloss on the vestibule ends, and to be honest, I am really going off Alclad - except for their grey primer.  Every Alclad I have used has had issues with durability.  The chrome and other metals seem to wear off as soon as I touch them.  The black primer I used on the Wessex does not appear very durable and even light masking is pulling the black primer off.  The grey primer on the other hand sticks like the proverbial to a blanket, and I love it.

However, back to the Aqua Gloss - it lays down nicely but I find that after handling, that shiny gloss disappears and leaves a dull cruddy looking surface - which I had completely forgotten about when I sprayed the vestibule ends.

So, back to the Testors Wet Gloss... I had one part used aerosol left and decided to use it for the side frames - they are going to get a lot of handling once coated and the last thing I needed was for the gloss to disappear under handling with my greasy sweaty mitts.

Lots of preparation - polythene everywhere to keep dust away - a good wash and clean of the side-frames, and micromeshing of the orange stripe to remove any hard edges.

and back to gloss coat!!!

 

 

Except - for some reason, one side frame appeared to get lots of particulate caught up in the spraying.  Dammit!    The other side went much better and the finish was perfect

 

 

except for this little .   ARghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!  Of course, one little stray hair(?) couldn't have landed anywhere where it would be covered by a transfer could it ? Oh no, it had to land smack in the middle of a nice cream colored panel.

 

 

So, two more aerosols ordered and two side frames to be rubbed down yet again.

 

I did get a new toy to play with - I have a few vices that can hold very narrow bits n bobs, but realized last week that I had nothing that could hold slightly thicker parts with any ease.

This proved to be very useful for holding some aluminum while I filed to shaped. A good investment.

 

 

So, at the end of play this weekend, I have a few electrical plugs and a few PassCom pieces painted up

 

 

This modeling malarkey is fun isn't it ?

 

 

[Ian Major]

I have to admit that if you hadn't pointed out the imperfection in the first photo I would not have spotted it. I still think it is a fantastic piece of workmanship that leaves me in awe.

 

A stray hair puts you in illustrious company. When the main lens for the Hubble telescope was polished to shape highly accurate jigs were used. One had a hair get in to it resulting in the telescope being myopic ultimately required a space walk to fit some "specs". If they are affected thus what chance do we modellers stand? 

 

I look forward to your next installment.

 

Ian.