1951 Pullman Scratchbuild in 1/32

[Bucoops]

I didn't join just to comment on your thread, but having just read it from the beginning it can be my first post on here. Wow! Fantastic work.

 

What's your connection to the original carriage?

[hendie]

I didn't join just to comment on your thread, but having just read it from the beginning it can be my first post on here. Wow! Fantastic work.

 

What's your connection to the original carriage?

 

Thanks Bucoops.

 

The connection is the fact that I was the design engineer with responsibility for the redesign back in 1998 - 2000 when the wooden body was removed and destroyed, and a new steel superstructure built on the original chassis. 

It was only a small company so I had the job of surveying the original carriage to get as much information as I could from it, taking hundreds of photo's in the process, and ended up creating about 80% of the engineering drawings... following up with a bit of project management on site as the "new" Pegasus took shape.

My name, along with the names of the interior designer, another design engineer, and a few of the welders on the job, are stamped into the steel shear plate above the vestibule end. 

[Enterprisingwestern]

Thanks Bucoops.

 

The connection is the fact that I was the design engineer with responsibility for the redesign back in 1998 - 2000 when the wooden body was removed and destroyed, and a new steel superstructure built on the original chassis. 

It was only a small company so I had the job of surveying the original carriage to get as much information as I could from it, taking hundreds of photo's in the process, and ended up creating about 80% of the engineering drawings... following up with a bit of project management on site as the "new" Pegasus took shape.

My name, along with the names of the interior designer, another design engineer, and a few of the welders on the job, are stamped into the steel shear plate above the vestibule end. 

 

So when a manufacturer wishes to make a model of the Pullman car they know where to come!

 

Mike.

[Bucoops]

Thanks Bucoops.

 

The connection is the fact that I was the design engineer with responsibility for the redesign back in 1998 - 2000 when the wooden body was removed and destroyed, and a new steel superstructure built on the original chassis. 

It was only a small company so I had the job of surveying the original carriage to get as much information as I could from it, taking hundreds of photo's in the process, and ended up creating about 80% of the engineering drawings... following up with a bit of project management on site as the "new" Pegasus took shape.

My name, along with the names of the interior designer, another design engineer, and a few of the welders on the job, are stamped into the steel shear plate above the vestibule end. 

 

I got the impression you knew it intimately and indeed you do!

[jrg1]

Thanks Bucoops.

 

The connection is the fact that I was the design engineer with responsibility for the redesign back in 1998 - 2000 when the wooden body was removed and destroyed, and a new steel superstructure built on the original chassis. 

It was only a small company so I had the job of surveying the original carriage to get as much information as I could from it, taking hundreds of photo's in the process, and ended up creating about 80% of the engineering drawings... following up with a bit of project management on site as the "new" Pegasus took shape.

My name, along with the names of the interior designer, another design engineer, and a few of the welders on the job, are stamped into the steel shear plate above the vestibule end. 

I have just read a report of the restoration of Pegasus.  Apart from the superb work done to the body, I was particularly interested in the specification for the bogies.  A GNR design, dating back to the start of the 20th century, and upgraded for speeds unheard of then.  A tribute to the original designers on the GNR, and also the present day re-engineering staff.  Have you any comments on this aspect fo the project?

[hendie]

That was an aspect of the build that I was not involved in. My area of responsibility was the chassis and superstructure.  All I can really remember of that subject was that there were a few discussions where there was talk of fitting commonwealth bogies, but as we wanted to keep as much of the character of the original as possible that the final outcome was to retain the Gresleys, and do a bearing modification to allow the speeds required for modern day use.   I believe there were also some modifications to the braking system.  The owners of the company I worked for had a lot more experience in that area so they handled the running gear modifications, and the electrical side of things. 

I came from a couple of years of designing buses to being the sole (re)designer of the Pegasus rebuild so it was quite intimidating to begin with until I became familiar with some of the standards and specifications we had to meet. After about a year or so of working on Pegasus we brought an interior designer and a couple of draftsmen on board. By that time I had already completed about 95% of the structure redesign work, and then moved to liaising with the steel fabricators throughout the build. 

Sorry I can't be of more help.

[hendie]

Things have been moving v e r y    s  l  o  w  l  y  this week. Between meetings, wining and dining suppliers, surgery and just life in general, I didn't really get much done, but did move forward just a tad...

The frames around the dinette windows put up a good fight.  I tried two or three different methods before settling on this one.  The window apertures were cut out and squared up to the best of my abilities. For reasons unbeknown to me, the windows looked all square on one side, but all looked slightly canted from the other side - or it could just be my eyes. I did measure everything several times before and after cutting, and there were some slight discrepancies in the widths, but it was in the region of 0.05 mm or thereabouts. I refuse to get carried away - less than 0.25mm is good enough for me, unless it's blatantly obvious.

 

Anyways.. my method.... well, after the apertures were cut, I then cut 2mm wide strips of basswood that had already been stained and clear coated. These were cut so that they were just snug in the window aperture, and each piece helped hold the adjacent piece in place.  In this photo, they are all flush on one side.

 

 

When it came time to glue them in place, I placed a spacer underneath so that I had roughly 1mm protruding from each side. Then. I placed a piece of scrap 1/32" basswood either side of the frame, and used a sanding stick to reduce the height of the protruding frame. I kept sanding until I could see sanding marks on the scrap. That told me that the frame was pretty even all the way around.

 

 

As can be seen (almost) here.  Poor quality photo but the camera just refused to focus.

 

 

Roller blind covers were up next. These were glued in place, then the whole thing given a clear coat, which looks terrible in this photo, but thankfully is nowhere near as bad looking in the flesh.

 

 

Due to the method I chose to make the frames, the windows became a lot more difficult to make up. There was no groove or inset for the windows to slide into - it was a butt joint up against the frame.  That meant I had to cut the windows (0.010" clear styrene) pretty darn close to the aperture size. Make the windows too tight and they would simply buckle in the opening.  Too loose and they would just fall out.  I was three for four... only one scrap window.

I also added some small sections of brass channel just under the windows to (i) act as retainers for the window blinds, and (ii) add a bit of visual interest.  I can't really remember if we did have catches under the windows but my tricky memory suggests that maybe we did.

 

 

Once the windows were nicely centered up I diluted some white glue and with a fine brush, I ran a bead around the frame on the front and back.  I find that diluting the white glue slightly helps it creep into the gaps, and I get the impression that it dries clearer as well, but I'm probably making that part up.

Not shown here, but on the reverse side, I added hinges using the same method I used for the electrical cabinet.

 

 

I still have the door handle and escutcheon (been trying to think of that word for days now) plate to fit, but I have to convince myself to pull the trigger on putting up the moolah to have some PE made up, so that could be a few weeks away yet.

Then the available free time was finished up with making a small push to flush button for the bathroom, seen here to the left of the WC.

 

 

and there we have this weeks somewhat less than stellar progress, but progress nonetheless. 

I have really been trying to get to a painting stage for the side frames, but life keeps conspiring against me. Maybe next week will be the week...

[hendie]

yet another micro update here at the Hendie Rail Works.

 

The "azure" blue of the vanity top in the bathroom had been bothering me, so finally, I kicked my own butt into action and mixed up another batch of paint, this time a much lighter shade of blue.  I think this looks much better and is more in keeping with the overall color scheme.  The chromed faucet also got glued in place.

 

 

Not shown in this episode, but I also made a start on the bathroom floor. I selected the portion I'll be using, marked it out, and that got a coat of semi gloss clear to take the shine of the photographic paper.  The WC also got a coat of satin white though I forgot to go clicky on that particular piece.

 

Still working on the bathroom area, I made up the hand rail that goes across the window. Stainless steel wire, and two aluminum mounting plates.  I see from this photo that there's still a slight bend in the wire.  I'll sort that out later (if I remember!)

 

 

I also made up the remaining bathroom hardware - the towel rail, and the toilet roll holder. So the lathe saw some decent action today. AFter those were made up, I gave them all a quick coating of Alclad chrome and they are now drying off.

 

 

Once the chrome has cured, I'll give them a quick coating of aqua clear.

That means that the bathroom stuff is almost finished. All that's left is the window - I'll need to experiment a little to see what kind of frosted finish I can achieve on clear styrene, and then there's 4 small panels to box in the window, but I can't really do anything with that until the bathroom is fitted along with the side frames.

 

Other work for today included some not very photogenic stuff - the side frames got a good buffing with 1000 grade wet and dry, followed by priming with alclad grey primer.  That showed up some minor flaws which I'll need to deal with before attempting any final color on the frames.  Nothing difficult, just that time consuming stuff, where if you want a decent finish, you need a decent starting place.

 

[hendie]

the gods have been shining on me this week... found some paint, .   The trouble is... if the gods are shining on me this week, they must have some really awful stuff in line for me over the next few weeks - but I'll take it when I can.

 

I started off by taking a deep breath...  There's a train in there somewhere believe it or not.  Now I just have to find it.   So I tidied up (somewhat reluctantly).

 

 

I thought that the bathroom area was complete ready for assembly, then I remembered that I still have a mirror to make, and the small light that overhangs the mirror.   This brought the lathe into play again, and I turned this little lamp shaped thingy from aluminum rod.  I still have an escutcheon plate to make up for it - another job for the lathe, and figure out what shape to make the standoff.   I still haven't figured out what to do about the ceiling panel yet, and there would be lights in that also.... not to fret... plenty of time yet.

 

 

A lot of the week was spent preparing wood paneling for the interior - scrub with wire wool, stain, dry, scrub with wire wool, detack, clear coat, and follow up with a light run over with the wire wool again.  All fairly simple stuff, but time consuming and necessary if I want paneling on the interior of this coach.

 

I also discovered while pouring over my drawings that there's an electrical cabinet at each corridor end !       When I made the last one, it would have been so easy to cut the wood a little bit longer then cut two from the finished article. Now I have to make another complete cabinet from scratch... actually, I am making two this time as it's just as easy. I'll then select the best two cabinets to install in the interior.

I have also decided to remake the vestibule ends as I was not happy with the seam lines - I couldn't get them straight enough.  I'm going to use a different construction method this time around which I believe will achieve better results - hopefully this weekend.

 

Now onto the ground breaking earth shattering news item of the week.... Paint !!!   I got some paint !

After literally months of searching online both in the USA and in the UK, I found some paint for the Umber and Cream from a couple of UK suppliers.  Then found that one would not send stuff overseas, another wouldn't accept overseas credit cards... then when I eventually found one that was willing, Royal Mail rules made it impossible.  Yet more jiggery pokery ensued including lining up friends and family coming over this year for holidays to bring said paints before realizing that it was illegal to fly with aerosols.  I tried all the local automotive stores, and Walmart with no luck.

Then... last weekend I was in our Ace friendly hardware store when I spotted two likely looking candidates, and quickly snapped them up.

I did a quick test spray on some spare side frames (I have LOTS !) and am extremely overjoyed at the color match.  Okay it doesn't look great in this photo, but in the flesh, I think it's a really good match, particularly the "cream"

 

 

So, if anyone in the USA ever decides to build a UK Pullman these are the colors you want: Ace own brand Chocolate Brown, and Navajo White

 

 

Of course, I discovered these colors just after I had ordered a batch of possible candidates. Sod's law innit ?

 

Over the last few months I have been communicating with Terry Bye, the editor of the Pullman & CIWL News, a very knowledgeable and helpful chap.  On discussing the Pullman colors, Terry explained that there is no "off-the-shelf" Pullman color, and each batch is mixed when required. This results in (as you can imagine) some variance in the actual colors which is shown to excellent effect in this photo by Martin Allen (supplied by Terry).  I'd say there's three different shades of "umber" shown there. (Note, the Humbrol attempt is not even close to any of them)

 

 

Photo: Copyright Martin Allen 2017

 

The Chocolate Brown I am using I think is closer to the Umber on the extreme left of this photo. It's certainly within the "range" of umbers that I have seen, now that I look more closely at photo's.

I also noticed that the hardware store had another brown color - very close to the chocolate color but just a tad darker.  I may splash out this weekend and buy a tin just to see how different it is when applied.  For $3 or so, I've nothing to lose.

 

The outcome of all this is that my months long search is finally over, and I can proceed with the next phase of the build now. 

The last major hurdle will be getting Pullman decals in 1/32 scale.  I've seen plenty of Pullman decals but none in 1/32 or Gauge 1.  The pin-striping I think I can manage via other means but the PULLMAN text, the name plate, and the coat of arms are going to test my mettle in the near future.

 

onwards and onwards....

[BlueLightning]

I have the coat of arms and correct font that I could send over to you if it would help. The coat of arms isn't the biggest resolution image ever but it should be fine for 1/32 for making your own transfers.

 

Gary

[stevejjjexcov]

This is the first time I have seen this thread. WOW what skills. Can you make the roof removable? It will be a shame to hide all the work in the w.c.

Early in the thread you mentioned a Wessex,is this the bi-plane? If so can you post a pic ?

All the best Steve

[hendie]

I have the coat of arms and correct font that I could send over to you if it would help. The coat of arms isn't the biggest resolution image ever but it should be fine for 1/32 for making your own transfers.

 

Gary

 

 Gary,  I already have a good resolution photo of the coat of arms but a copy of the font would certainly be useful, as well as any closeups of the lining/pin striping .   I'm definitely missing a good view of the scroll pattern either side of the Pullman text on the upper section of the side frame. (if anyone has photo's)

[BlueLightning]

I will dig out the font file and send it over in a PM.

 

I am planning a trip over to the Bluebell Railway in the near future I will see if I can get any detail shots of the lining on their Pullmans for you, however that will depend on how close I can get to them.

 

Gary

[Hilux5972]

With regards to the transfers and decals, why don't your get in touch with Railtec or Precision Labels? They may well be able to do custom transfers for you.

[richard i]

Fox transfers? They do all sizes up to the real railway size.

[hendie]

This is the first time I have seen this thread. WOW what skills. Can you make the roof removable? It will be a shame to hide all the work in the w.c.

Early in the thread you mentioned a Wessex,is this the bi-plane? If so can you post a pic ?

All the best Steve

 

Steve, unfortunately it's not the bi-plane. It's the Wessex HC II helicopter. (I worked on them many, many years ago)

 

 

 

a build thread can be found here if you are interested... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971153-wessex-hc2-a-dauphins-stablemate-520-days-later-its-finished-why-yes-it-is-indeed/#comment-1799520

 

or just lots of pictures over here.... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234994581-28-sqn-wessex-xt678-hotel-hc2-raf-sek-kong-19823/

 

I will dig out the font file and send it over in a PM.

 

I am planning a trip over to the Bluebell Railway in the near future I will see if I can get any detail shots of the lining on their Pullmans for you, however that will depend on how close I can get to them.

 

Gary

 

Gary - thanks. Any shots of the scroll work would be great

 

With regards to the transfers and decals, why don't your get in touch with Railtec or Precision Labels? They may well be able to do custom transfers for you.

 

Hilix, I had a look at Precision Labels last night but I'll check into Railtec this weekend - thanks

 

Fox transfers? They do all sizes up to the real railway size.

 

Richard,  I already had a look at Fox (they were also  suggested by Terry) but it seems that they do every scale except Gauge 1.   I'll have another look in case I missed anything.

 

 

Does anyone know what color is used for the pinstriping, and for the Pullman text ?

I assumed gold, but on closer inspection it appears to be more of a very  pale flat gold, almost fawn like color.   The Pullman text I see has reds, blacks, whites etc.    

[hendie]

Can you make the roof removable? It will be a shame to hide all the work in the w.c.

 

I'm hoping that the WC will be less of a focal are than the bar and dining areas by the time all the fittings like chairs, tables, luggage racks etc are fitted.

 

Steve, this is one area where I am struggling.  I haven't given the end game too much thought - I just know that I wanted to make a scale copy over since I worked on the job all those years ago.

I was kind of hoping that the solution will creep up on me as the build progresses, but nothing definitive has occurred to me yet.

 

I thought about making the roof removable, but it's going to be displayed in a perspex case similar to the case I had made for the Wessex

 

 

Once it's in the case, it's very unlikely that I'll ever remove the top of the case again.  If I did, it would certainly be a rare occurrence. 

Making the carriage roof removable is fine up to a point - but I think that the more the roof is removed and refitted, the more likelihood there is for damage.  The last thing I want is to take it all apart again to effect repairs.

 

So far I have thought of the following scenarios:

• A clear section in the roof (idea discarded pretty quickly)
• Having the roof supported 3 or 4 inches above the carriage (perspex rods as support?)
• Having a completely removable roof
• Having a removable center section - vestibule ends would stay in place
• Hinged roof (crazy but maybe possible) - display the carriage with the roof hinged open
• Just buttoning the whole thing up - I'll always know what's inside - and maybe having a small digital display showing shots of the interior
• Have some kind of hinged cabinet that makes it easier to access the carriage

 

I really don't know what to do here.  If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd welcome them.

 

Luckily I am a good bit away from having to make a decision.  There's plenty for me to be doing before I reach that milestone.

[Enterprisingwestern]

I'm hoping that the WC will be less of a focal are than the bar and dining areas by the time all the fittings like chairs, tables, luggage racks etc are fitted.

 

Steve, this is one area where I am struggling.  I haven't given the end game too much thought - I just know that I wanted to make a scale copy over since I worked on the job all those years ago.

I was kind of hoping that the solution will creep up on me as the build progresses, but nothing definitive has occurred to me yet.

 

I thought about making the roof removable, but it's going to be displayed in a perspex case similar to the case I had made for the Wessex

 

 

Once it's in the case, it's very unlikely that I'll ever remove the top of the case again.  If I did, it would certainly be a rare occurrence. 

Making the carriage roof removable is fine up to a point - but I think that the more the roof is removed and refitted, the more likelihood there is for damage.  The last thing I want is to take it all apart again to effect repairs.

 

 

I really don't know what to do here.  If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd welcome them.

 

 

Easy, make another model without the roof!

 

Mike.Hat, coat, gone.

[richard i]

Rather than hinge the roof up, hinge a side to come down. Held in place at the top with small magnets

[hendie]

Rather than hinge the roof up, hinge a side to come down. Held in place at the top with small magnets

 

Now that's out of the box thinking Richard - thanks.  I'll mull that one over.  I had planned on the roof carlines sitting into the cant rail as a fixing method but I should be able to change that if I take you up on your suggestion.  Thanks again !

 

Anyhoos, today was a good day.  It was a slow day but it was a good day.  I got modeling time !   The best laid plans of mice and all that... as I have mentioned gazillions of times, I've been desperate to get a coat of paint on the side frames, so guess what I did today ?  I never went near the darn things !  Such is life.   I was full of good intentions, but working on the end vestibule drawings over the weekend got me all kerfuffled and excited.

 

So, being all excited and such, I completely forgot what I was going to start on, and carried on with the electrical cabinets.  As before, two blocks of balsa were glued together, then radiused along one edge.  Once that was complete, I skinned it with a piece of 1/32 basswood soaked in IPA.  The IPA really wicks into the basswood pretty quickly so within a few minutes I was able to bend it around the radius and glue it all up.   Enough here to make a bunch of cabinets methinks.

 

 

The minor problem facing me at this point is the fact that the cabinets are too deep, so in order to get an even cut all the way around, I jigged up my patented slicer tool.   A razor saw blade clamped at the correct height - I could now run the "cabinet" back and forth along the blade creating a nice even cut to bring the depth of the cabinet down to the correct width/depth.

 

 

Then I got bored with that.  Upon reviewing all my reference photo's the other night I spotted a small feature I had previously missed.  Check the top left of this photo - above the dinette windows are some brass covers.  The dinette walls are rather thin, so in order to be able to use roller blinds in the dinette, a slot was cut in the wall, the blinds fitted, then the brass covers hid the roller mechanism from the corridor side.  Pelmets hid the same in the dinette side.

 

 

I thought that would be a nice feature to add, so I cut some 0.005" brass sheet, then found some brass rod which was then filed flat along one side (do rods have sides ? - anyways, you know what I mean).  These were then glued into position on the corridor side of the dinette wall.

 

 

And then I remembered what I was exited about earlier.... the end vestibules.  I fired up the automatic cutter, and cut out a couple of end vestibules.  Now, previously, I had made the end vestibule up from three separate pieces.  They looked great until I gave them a coat of primer - I was not happy with the seams. I just couldn't get a nice even vertical seam, at least, not one I was happy with.  It was time for a rethink.  This time I decided to try cutting the entire vestibule end from one piece.  That was the easy part.

Now, I took a chance, and decided to try creating the bend, by scoring a line along the vestibule end with a scriber.  A few passes gave me a nice deep, and more importantly, straight line which I could use for creating the bend.

 

 

It worked !   You can see how straight the bend line is in this photo here.  The styrene got a bit cruddy from my cutting mat, but a little micromesh will soon sort that out.

 

 

Now, this is where my plans went all to pot.  I got so carried away with the quality of the bend that I just kept going with the vestibule.  The vestibule is paneled (as is everything else in this carriage),  but the vestibule is slightly different.  This was one of the challenging aspects of the project - the carriage had to meet modern crash standards. In order to do that, we had to beef up the carriage ends.  In the side frames, we used standard steel "C channel - in the vestibule, we used heavy walled steel box section.  This meant that the paneling stood off the exterior walls by a significant amount so I tried to replicate that here.  Using 5mm thick blocks, I framed the gangway entrance.

 

 

I then cut a chunk out of the styrene and started hacking away at anything which didn't look like a gangway entrance.  The dremel clone came in very handy for this work.  Looking at this, I can see that I still need to do a little fettling in the doorway arch - which will end up being hidden by the diaphragm - but it will bug me if I don't do it.

 

 

Then on the interior, I started shaping the gangway frame.

 

 

I cut some spacers to use between the styrene and the basswood, which allowed the interior panel to sit back at the right depth (to my eye anyway). Then it was time to attack the window - slowly and multiple dry fits later, I had a window opening - you can see just how far back the panel is from the styrene in this photo.  I also had to cut the window larger than the corresponding opening in the vestibule to allow for the insets.

 

 

This is all just dry fitted but it shows the idea.  I think I am going to have to stain all these pieces individually before fitting, so I can get a decent finish on the parts. Just before the insets go into the window, I'll throw in a piece of clear styrene to act as the window.

 

 

and that is as far as I got today - a very satisfying day it was though. I'm very happy with the progress on the vestibule.  It took a good few hours to get this far, but I think it was worth it.

 

Now I need to start thinking about how this is all going to go together if I am putting lights in there.

 

until next time....

[Enterprisingwestern]

Don't you just hate it when old women photobomb your detail shot?

 

Mike.

[stevejjjexcov]

Hi Hendie, shame its not a biplane, great model though and well presented.

[hendie]

Just the tiniest of updates today.  I thought I had better post something while I had the chance. I'm heading off next week for three days and it looks like I'll be heading off just about every week for the next month so modeling time will be at a premium.

 

The lathe was called into action and I made a small mounting plate for the bathroom lamp. It's still to be chromed but I think it's looking the part so far.

 

 

I discovered something during the week that gave me pause for thought.  Take a look at the shot below... notice the nice warp along the edge ?

This was one of my trial pieces, and I'm kind of glad that this happened - With those trial pieces, I didn't really care about the quality of the paint application - I just wanted to see the color so I just kept spraying until I got what I needed.  That resulted in one area having a largish run in the paint - guess which area ?   I would not have expected that to happen.

 

 

With that learning in mind, I didn't want to lay down any heavy coats of paint just yet. So, I decanted some of the Navajo White, thinned it down slightly and started spraying the side frames AT LONG LAST !!!

I'm going to leave this starter coat overnight before I give it another spray.  I guess this moment should feel rather special as I hvae been tryingto get to this stage for months, but I have to say that it was a bit of an anti-climax.

 

 

The new electrical cabinets got made though they still have to get a coat of clear, and some handles.  I'm thinking of trying a different style than I had on the first one - we'll see where that ends up.  I like the finish on these ones better than the original.

 

 

And back to working on the vestibule end.  The side panels got added, and everything was placed on the chassis so I get my angles correct.

 

 

A quick view from the outside just 'cos I took the photo.

 

 

I'll need to make another vestibule end with the cutter - hopefully tomorrow.  I did cut two the other week, but once again, the cutter screwed up on the window curves. At least I have plenty scrap to try out for painting and decals !

[N15class]

Looking better every post. With sheet material you need to both sides whether it's paint or glue etc. It needs to be balanced.

[hendie]

another minuscule update I'm afraid.   Modeling time is at a premium these days. Last week was New York, next week is Chicago, followed by another trip up to the northern limits of Pennsyl-tucky-vania in the week or two following that.  Since I'm only grabbing a bit of time here and there, I decided to hold off on the paint for the time being - I want to have plenty of time to apply the paint and not have to rush it.  It's going to be the very first thing that people see so it needs to be at least half decent.

 

I started work on the heater covers. These are present in every area of the train, though you would never really notice them unless you were looking for them.  The first one starts in the corridor, right next to the electrical cabinet.  The heater box was built up from a 3 mm strip along the bottom, 5mm spacers, a 1mm wide strip along the top edge, capped off with a 5mm wide top. It's a real pain cutting the thin strips, but it's a lot easier than trying to cut out 5mm wide rectangles along the length of a strip.

 

 

If I remember correctly, on the real thing we specified a brass sheet with a Fleur De Lis shaped punched pattern.  At least, that's what my memory is telling me (so there's no guarantee it's anywhere near right!)  Of course, there's no way I could reproduce that in this scale, but I did find a nice diamond shaped mesh in my spares box. I'm not sure if I have enough to do the entire train, but I have plenty of time to find some more (though a quick google tells me it's now out of production - why am I not surprised!)

Anyways, I cut a 6mm wide strip of the mesh and ca'd that in the back side of the heater box.  Also added in this shot is a 2mm wide skirting - No! I will not do an ogee profile on the top of the skirting !  I thought I was being good by sanding a nice mitre along the top edge, but by the time I had used wire wool on the face, the mitre had disappeared and turned into a nice quarter round edge.  I guess that's what I will be sticking with as we move along now.  (It's also been clear coated, but I think you spotted that!)

 

 

I'm a sucker for a quick dry fit, or test shot.  I used a scrap panel as the wall panel here, with the electrical cabinet, and heater box placed in front. This is essentially what the corridor is going to look like.  I still have to figure out the handles for the electrical cabinet, but I think it's starting to look quite effective now.

 

 

While the clear coat was drying I turned my attention to the bathroom area once again.  The mirror foil I ordered arrived during the week so that was one of the very last pieces for the bathroom.  It wasn't as good as I had hoped it was going to be - at least, not at this scale.

I had a few attempts at wrapping a piece of styrene with the foil, but the wrapped edges looked terrible. In the end, I stuck the foil on a piece of styrene, then trimmed the excess away with a sharp knife. It's very "hammered finish" looking - so I'm not entirely happy with it.

 

 

Of course, only after I had done all this did SWMBO tell me that there was a spare travel mirror in a drawer that I could have. It looks much better and whatever it is made of can be cut quite easily, so when I get back next week I'll have another go at mirror making.

 

But here we are dry fitting again, this time with the mirror, the light, and the towel rail in position.  I'm quite pleased with the way this is progressing (though it could have been a little bit faster!)

 

 

The mirror looks better from this angle - but I've decided - it's going to reflective heaven later.  I'm not sure the light is entirely accurate - I think the real one is mounted flush with the wall, and not suspended as I have it here.  Any thoughts ?... should I make another and make it wall mounted this time ?

 

 

Booger.... in that photo, it looks like the alclad chrome is wearing off the towel rail.  I find that alclad chrome looks great - until you breathe on it that is.- even if clear coated I find it still wears off way too easily.

 

Then last shot for today - it looks very cosy in there, doesn't it ?

 

 

I can see a little bit of warping on the bathroom/dinette wall. - I'll need to see if I can eliminate that.  Actually, there will be two lights mounted on that wall on the dinette side, and if I'm putting LED's in there I'll have to somehow get cable along that wall and into position.

The 1/32" basswood is pretty spot on in scale thickness for the internal walls. However, at that thickness it will be almost impossible to have any embedded channels for cables for the LED's, so I might double up on a couple of the internal walls. That would give me a lot more scope for laying cables in for LED's, and would have the bonus of the bond helping eliminate any warp in the panels.  I'll need to check the drawings and see how feasible that path forward is.

 

so, until next time....