1951 Pullman Scratchbuild in 1/32

[Wigan Wallgate OO Gauge]

This is stunning

[stevejjjexcov]

Just caught up with the thread. Great workmanship and good progress, this is proper scratch building.

All the best Steve

[hendie]

Greetings fellow modelers.  Now, it may well seem that nothing has been happening over the last few weeks, Well, for the most part, that is true.  However, I have been getting time here and there to work on one area, and while it couldn't be called modeling in itself (in the strictest sense), it is extremely important to the finished object.  And as dictated by the Father of Modeling, Hieronymus Receptacle II, in his work "the collected tenets of modeling" Page 34, Chapter 3, Rule 7:  "The time, effort, and skill spent on a single task will be inversely proportional to the sum of the attention it gains from onlookers, while any flaw, omission, or inaccuracy will exponentially detract from the quality of the finished model.  Thereby bugging the bejeezus out of the modeler for the rest of eternity, while opening him/her to ridicule and disdain from the modeling community at large"

(I was going to try and derive a formula, but common sense took over.... but not until I had listed all the variables, and found an on-line equation editor)

 

Anyways....

 

Yup !  Transfers !  (or decals, dee-kals...  if you're here in the US).   But I'm old fashioned, so...  Transfers, the parts that no-one ever notices, unless they're wrong in some way, shape, or form.... or misplaced, or off-center.... etc. etc. etc. 

So, after searching t'interwebby for several fruitless months, I came to the conclusion that I had made a momentous decision back in the Summer of 2014 to go ahead and build this carriage in the only scale that does not have off-the-shelf-decals widely available. 

So that left me with one option: Don't have any decals on it !    Well, two options really, - Option 1: Don't have any decals on it !   Option 2: Make my own!   Sounds fine until we realize that the transfers are mostly light in color, and will be overlaid and a dark chocolate brown background.

Okay, 3 Options !   Option 1: Don't have any decals on it !   Option 2: Make my own!  Option 3: Have them made for me -professional like!

So, it looks like I have no option but to have these made by a real transfer maker - but I still need to provide artwork.  So that's what I have been working on.  Thanks again to Terry Bye who provided some great material for me to work from.

 

I thought I'd start with something easy - the name plate.  One word - "PEGASUS" with some fancy scroll work around it - should be easy - right ?

 

Well, it's a bit harder than it seems at first.  Most transfer makers prefer artwork in vector format as opposed to raster format, and as everyone knows - the more work you can do yourself, the cheaper it is on the other end (or so they say).  So, starting with a raster image,  I imported the image into Draftsight (free software) and started tracing over the top of the image.  This was where I started hitting the first of the hurdles.  In the image below, look closely, and you can see that the images are similar, but not exactly alike. I'm glad I caught this at this stage, or that could have been painful later on.  The scroll-work on the left is from the carriage I am modeling, the scroll-work on the right is from a different carriage. I had originally started working with the image on the right as it is slightly clearer - but as I now know - not 100% correct.

 

 

The image above is also a good comparison of the brown "Umber" color used on Pullmans - look at the difference in shades above.

 

So, now I have the correct image - why do I need two - especially one that is not correct (for my carriage) - Well, the process I am using is essentially tracing lines over the image.   I'm using polylines - lines which have multiple nodes, and which I can convert to splines (curvy lines) later.  However, I am tracing over a raster image which is made up of pixels - and look what happens when you zoom in on the image.....  At best, I can only guess at the shape I am trying to recreate - so having another reference picture helps me determine what shape I'm actually trying to make.

 

 

The blue squares in the picture above are the nodes I mentioned earlier.  Once I convert the polyline into a spline, I can then grab individual nodes and reposition them to generate a better looking curve, and hopefully a more accurate shape. 

Of course, I am going to have some (hopefully small) errors in these "shapes", but once it's all scaled down to 1/32, and considering that each Pullman carriage appears to be unique, I'm not overly concerned and am sure that these will suffice.

 

The great thing about CAD is that you can really simplify matters.  Take the image below - you can see that all the scroll-work is symmetrical. Sometimes only in one axis, sometimes in more than one.  So, to make life easy, I define the axes of symmetry, draw what I need, then mirror the work from one side to the other using my division line as the axis.  The two scroll-works on top are now completed and you can just make out the original work in white in the photo below.

 

 

The text was a little more troublesome.  I did discover that the text is very close to Times New Roman, but not quite a 100% match.   At the top is pure unadulterated Times New Roman.  In the center is the tracing I made of the tect from a god quality photo.  At the bottom is Times New Roman but scaled out to 120% in the X direction.   It's very close, but look at the "S" in particular - Times New Roman isn't going to work for me here unfortunately.  So now I have to trace the text (already done... obviously) and add dropped shadows as well.

 

 

and this is where we are to date.   Most of the transfers have been figured out.  I still have the Pullman text at the top of the carriage to do, and the Pullman emblem but I have a really good quality photo of that so it shouldn't be too difficult.  Oh, and I just need to make sure I can export from this software into a format the printers can accept.

 

 

So, all this stuff that's never really going to be noticed (unless it's wrong) has taken me several weeks so far and I still have a bit to go, just to get the artwork finished. Then I have to get them printed.

 

I also discovered some photo's that made me realize that the chassis that I previously thought was finished is indeed, not finished at all.  I still have a number of items to make and fit to the chassis - and they're all bright orange.

[Enterprisingwestern]

Greetings fellow modelers.  Now, it may well seem that nothing has been happening over the last few weeks, Well, for the most part, that is true.  However, I have been getting time here and there to work on one area, and while it couldn't be called modeling in itself (in the strictest sense), it is extremely important to the finished object.  And as dictated by the Father of Modeling, Hieronymus Receptacle II, in his work "the collected tenets of modeling" Page 34, Chapter 3, Rule 7:  "The time, effort, and skill spent on a single task will be inversely proportional to the sum of the attention it gains from onlookers, while any flaw, omission, or inaccuracy will exponentially detract from the quality of the finished model.  Thereby bugging the bejeezus out of the modeler for the rest of eternity, while opening him/her to ridicule and disdain from the modeling community at large"

(I was going to try and derive a formula, but common sense took over.... but not until I had listed all the variables, and found an on-line equation editor)

 

Anyways....

 

Yup !  Transfers !  (or decals, dee-kals...  if you're here in the US).   But I'm old fashioned, so...  Transfers, the parts that no-one ever notices, unless they're wrong in some way, shape, or form.... or misplaced, or off-center.... etc. etc. etc. 

So, after searching t'interwebby for several fruitless months, I came to the conclusion that I had made a momentous decision back in the Summer of 2014 to go ahead and build this carriage in the only scale that does not have off-the-shelf-decals widely available. 

So that left me with one option: Don't have any decals on it !    Well, two options really, - Option 1: Don't have any decals on it !   Option 2: Make my own!   Sounds fine until we realize that the transfers are mostly light in color, and will be overlaid and a dark chocolate brown background.

Okay, 3 Options !   Option 1: Don't have any decals on it !   Option 2: Make my own!  Option 3: Have them made for me -professional like!

So, it looks like I have no option but to have these made by a real transfer maker - but I still need to provide artwork.  So that's what I have been working on.  Thanks again to Terry Bye who provided some great material for me to work from.

 

I thought I'd start with something easy - the name plate.  One word - "PEGASUS" with some fancy scroll work around it - should be easy - right ?

 

Well, it's a bit harder than it seems at first.  Most transfer makers prefer artwork in vector format as opposed to raster format, and as everyone knows - the more work you can do yourself, the cheaper it is on the other end (or so they say).  So, starting with a raster image,  I imported the image into Draftsight (free software) and started tracing over the top of the image.  This was where I started hitting the first of the hurdles.  In the image below, look closely, and you can see that the images are similar, but not exactly alike. I'm glad I caught this at this stage, or that could have been painful later on.  The scroll-work on the left is from the carriage I am modeling, the scroll-work on the right is from a different carriage. I had originally started working with the image on the right as it is slightly clearer - but as I now know - not 100% correct.

 

 

The image above is also a good comparison of the brown "Umber" color used on Pullmans - look at the difference in shades above.

 

So, now I have the correct image - why do I need two - especially one that is not correct (for my carriage) - Well, the process I am using is essentially tracing lines over the image.   I'm using polylines - lines which have multiple nodes, and which I can convert to splines (curvy lines) later.  However, I am tracing over a raster image which is made up of pixels - and look what happens when you zoom in on the image.....  At best, I can only guess at the shape I am trying to recreate - so having another reference picture helps me determine what shape I'm actually trying to make.

 

 

The blue squares in the picture above are the nodes I mentioned earlier.  Once I convert the polyline into a spline, I can then grab individual nodes and reposition them to generate a better looking curve, and hopefully a more accurate shape. 

Of course, I am going to have some (hopefully small) errors in these "shapes", but once it's all scaled down to 1/32, and considering that each Pullman carriage appears to be unique, I'm not overly concerned and am sure that these will suffice.

 

The great thing about CAD is that you can really simplify matters.  Take the image below - you can see that all the scroll-work is symmetrical. Sometimes only in one axis, sometimes in more than one.  So, to make life easy, I define the axes of symmetry, draw what I need, then mirror the work from one side to the other using my division line as the axis.  The two scroll-works on top are now completed and you can just make out the original work in white in the photo below.

 

 

The text was a little more troublesome.  I did discover that the text is very close to Times New Roman, but not quite a 100% match.   At the top is pure unadulterated Times New Roman.  In the center is the tracing I made of the tect from a god quality photo.  At the bottom is Times New Roman but scaled out to 120% in the X direction.   It's very close, but look at the "S" in particular - Times New Roman isn't going to work for me here unfortunately.  So now I have to trace the text (already done... obviously) and add dropped shadows as well.

 

 

and this is where we are to date.   Most of the transfers have been figured out.  I still have the Pullman text at the top of the carriage to do, and the Pullman emblem but I have a really good quality photo of that so it shouldn't be too difficult.  Oh, and I just need to make sure I can export from this software into a format the printers can accept.

 

 

So, all this stuff that's never really going to be noticed (unless it's wrong) has taken me several weeks so far and I still have a bit to go, just to get the artwork finished. Then I have to get them printed.

 

I also discovered some photo's that made me realize that the chassis that I previously thought was finished is indeed, not finished at all.  I still have a number of items to make and fit to the chassis - and they're all bright orange.

 

Superb work as ever.

Went over the top of my head by a good twenty feet!

 

Mike.

[hendie]

and so, on to today's little excursion into the crazy world of modeling.  Boxes, little boxes, all made out of ticky tacky.... well, not quite, but close. 

I discovered that there are a number of electrical connectors on the carriage ends, suspended under the chassis, so, of course they need to be built.   Building boxes is a lot harder than it looks due to the number of right angles, perpendicular surfaces etc. - Just one side out of square and it all looks rather cack.  The closest thing I had to the right size was a chunk of wood - so a little padding was added to get to the right size.

 

 

Then cut up, faces added to cover the wood, and some Meng nuts and bolts with some punched discs as a starting point.  I still didn't get them all quite square but once they're all completed, they should pass a quick inspection.

 

 

Then I got side tracked.... I spotted an interesting looking whadyamacallit on the vestibule end and fancied having a go at it.  Originally I started working in brass, but then realized I was making things hard for myself and switched to styrene - and still made it hard for myself.  My first attempt is the one at the back.  It was close, but no coconut - so I had another go. Hence the one at the front.

 

 

It appeared much better.  A quick squirt of primer showed that it still needs some work, but it's just about there.  Here you can see what it's supposed to look like once it's bright orange.

 

 

It's also a good shot of the orange boxes still to be constructed and added to the chassis, as well as some hoses and connectors (various).  Believe it or not - that little connector took me almost all day to make - and I still have another to scratch, and finish the orange boxes. 

 

I had been a little concerned over the last few days that my mojo had gone walkabout.  I was finding it difficult to get back into the swing of things after being away for so long - but I think it's crawling back slowly !

[richard i]

Modeling mojo on major projects is like learning a language where you wax and wain between thinking you can speak it well and then look how much you still don't know. I try to remember it takes 10% of the time to get 90% of the way there and 90% of the time to get the last 10% of the way.

Richard

[hendie]

I did start a side build a while back as a temporary diversion from this project when I needed a break.  I may need to dig that out again.

I started this project back in 2014 so it's been going for about two and a half years though I did take a break after the chassis frame was constructed. Still, it's a long time to be staring at the same build.   However, there's a few horrible jobs I want to get out of the way first - I'd hate to take a break knowing that the first jobs to be accomplished coming back are all the nasty ones

[hendie]

Boxes, little boxes....all shapes and sizes they are.   I got the second ETS made up. This time it went a lot faster.  I'll be using the two on the right as I think the one on the left is too long.   A coat of paint and then I can add the cables and such. (and transfers.... much later)

 

 

Meng nuts and bolts were added to the mystery boxes, and I found a length of wire in my spares box which is the perfect diameter to use as the  cable.  The wire is a bit shiny at the moment, but hopefully a rub with micromesh will dull it down some.

 

 

I also turned some "plugs" and connectors on the lathe this afternoon.  I think these should work nicely once they are primed and painted.

 

 

I mounted the boxes on some brass square tube, using a stainless steel pin inserted into the tube and the styrene box to give a bit of strength.  I need to do some serious bending of that cable as it exits the box under the chassis so I need all the strength I can get in these parts.

Then last thing for this evening was a quick coat of alclad primer

 

 

There's still another couple of electrical thingamabobs hanging under the chassis that I have yet to make.  I'll probably have a go at those next - any excuse not to try painting those side frames!

[hendie]

So, as always, things did not go according to plan.  Family business took priority, then I spent most of today at the car dealership as the air conditioning on our new car decided to start playing up.

 

The rest of the connector were made up using all kinds of scrap styrene - tubes, rods, sheet and wotnot. Then Meng resin nuts and bolts added to give that final detailed look.  One down here, with several more to go.

 

 

I won't bore you with any more detail - we all know how to stick plastic together.  Anyhoos, the parts were primed and then this afternoon, I gave them a coat of orange gloss.

 

 

... and a couple of parts I missed in the first shot. It's going to be interesting when it comes to fitting all the wires in these parts.

I'm going to let the paint cure overnight then apply a dark dirt wash over the orange as pretty much all the photo's I have seen of these parts show them as being grimy and generally grubby

 

 

I intend to have the parts actually fitted to the chassis before I start messing around with wires - at least that  is plan A - so they'll need to be solid when attached.

Here's a quick dry fit of the parts in their approximate positions.  Part of me thinks it ruins the overall look of the carriage and another part of me likes the fact that there's another color other than black to make some detail pop.

 

 

And as is always the case, while I was researching photo's these parts I spotted yet another couple of things that need to be made and added to the chassis.  I've no idea what it does - it looks like someone cut a drain pipe in half lengthwise and stuck it on the end of the chassis.  it does appear to be hinged at the top and has a muckle chunk of chain attached.  I'll have a go at making 4 of those tomorrow - if I ever get any time

[timbowilts]

Your mystery items may be the four collars that were dropped over the coach buffers to "extend" them when the buckeye cuoplers weren't in use or the coach was at the end of the train? The buffers would be pulled out and a collar dropped on top of the shank

 

Tim T

[Bucoops]

Your mystery items may be the four collars that were dropped over the coach buffers to "extend" them when the buckeye cuoplers weren't in use or the coach was at the end of the train? The buffers would be pulled out and a collar dropped on top of the shank

 

Tim T

 

I think you're right - also used on LNER buckeye fitted coaches. And others probably.

 

edit: this shows the rough idea:

 

http://ftp.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic.php?f=241&p=1397533#p1272628

Edited June 4, 2017 by Bucoops

[hendie]

Thanks guys.  It seems so obvious now that you have explained it.

[Bucoops]

Doesn't make it not a valid query as it's certainly not obvious unless you know about it. Only reason I know is because I asked once when coupling up a Gresley coach why they collars were needed - we never used the buckeyes on the railway I volunteered at

[hendie]

Another quick fire update.  Today's adventure was making what I now know to be collars for extending the buffers.  I can't believe I spent almost all of today on these.  The actual collars themselves were easy - but I spent about an hour or so trying to figure out the bracket that they are mounted on.  I ended up making about three or four variations of the bracket before ending up with one I liked.

 

The process of making the collars then....

Top left:  gluing a thin strip of styrene around a suitable sized tube.

Top right: once the glue had cured, file down the strip to arrive at a nice collar on the ehrr... collar

Bottom left: With a sanding stick, remove anything that doesn't look like it belongs on there...

Bottom right: Add the lugs for the chain

Center: The basic collar, ready for detailing

 

 

Yep, it took me an hour to arrive at this design for a bracket.... some days, it just doesn't go so well, does it ?

The collars are now mounted on the brackets, and I added some brass wire to replicate the "hook" that the collar hangs from

 

 

There are still eyelets and chain to fit to these parts though I need to lay my hands on some more chain. the stuff I currently have is too large for these parts... looks like I'll be raiding SWMBO's jewellery box in the very near future.  I'll only fit the chain once these parts are in place though - otherwise it could get messy.

 

Then a quick coat of primer before the evening is over.

 

 

Next session they'll get a nice coat of some shade of black. 

I did manage to get all the orange boxes lightly weathered and looking a bit less than pristine, but not completely mucky.  they then got a coat of semi matt clear and are now curing overnight.  once the black is on the buffer collars, I can spend and hour or two getting all those greeblies glued on to the chassis

[hendie]

Well, almost a bit of a disaster yesterday... I began fitting the orange boxes to the chassis.  I've been very conscious of the layout of said boxes being asymmetric,  and marked everything out, having to drill the chassis at a couple of points to make sure I got enough strength in the mounting locations for the parts.  It's a bit confusing because I'm looking at the photo's the right way up, but I'm working on the chassis upside down - don't anyone dare ask why I didn't just turn the photo upside down !

Anyway, I spent about an hour last night positioning everything and finally got the epoxy glue in place and set everything up on one end of the chassis. Then...

 

*cough*

 

just as the epoxy was going off, I noticed that I had two sets of boxes swapped on the wrong side of the chassis !!!    Eeeeek ! 

I managed to get things ripped out just in time without too much damage. 

There was some minor clean up required but not as bad as having the parts in the wrong location!

 

 

I'll warn you beforehand that it's yet another very small update, and all the photo's are of the exact same piece of train - the electrical connections at the end of the chassis. Maybe not the most exciting piece of scratching, but for me, it was important.

Sorry for the quality of the photo's... black on black is not the easiest thing to capture.

I had a little bit of salvage work to do this evening to clean up the remains of the epoxy glue left over from last nights close disaster - so here's how it looks...

 

 

Then from underneath (which no-one will ever see).  I have a little bit of touch up to do later but all easy stuff. Those cables entering the rear of the boxes were problematic - I had to put such a tight bend on them to clear the bogie that it put a fair bit of stress on the joints - which was why I had decided to use epoxy glue in this instance.

 

 

But those cables will be visible from the side so it was worth the effort.

 

 

Then a view from the business end.  It's all taking shape though at a much slower rate than I had anticipated.  Chain is ordered so as I can get the buffer collars mounted as soon as that arrives.

 

 

I shall add more of a downward bend to the looped cable to give a more weighted effect once the glue has fully cured.

I also just spotted that I should really have modeled the connector on the extreme left with the cover closed - my reference photo had a plug connected and I was so focused on getting the shape right that I completely forgot that this car will be standalone, therefore no other cable to plug in.  I'll see if I can modify that later.

 

now just the other end to do !

[hendie]

So, on to todays saga... let's start with the not-so-bad part of the day.  the chain for the buffer collars arrived and at first glance the link size looked pretty good (I had to guess when ordering)

 

 

The chain was duly cut to length, added to the buffer collar mounting, then fixed to the chassis. Looking at this photo I may have the length of the chain a little bit too long, but scale-wise, it looks fine. My home made chain link still needs painted though at this point I am also reworking the orange connector on the end so I have a little bit of touching up left to do. I'll take another photo when it's all finished.

 

 

Now, welcome to my nightmare...

the vestibule end and the tale of the styrene paint repeller. .  Itried painting the vestibule end and it almost went well - just not quite!

One spot !   one tiny little spot refused to take paint - booger!  I have since sanded this all down and I think it's recoverable. (as long as nothing else goes wrong!)

 

 

Those of a nervous disposition - please go to another thread now.  

Warning: The following post contains some disturbing images. Viewer discretion advised.

 

THIS is what gave me palpitations last night... erks alors !   The paint is very wet just now - I'll go away until it's dry now...

 

 

That is extremely nasty - isn't it. (rhetorical - no-one needs to answer)

Then, just to add insult to injury.... this happens (yes, you can rearrange the letters in "this" to form another, perhaps more apt, statement)

 

 

What gods have I upset recently huh ?

Then just to make my evening perfect I started spotting these type of sink marks. it looks like I've carved this side frame out of balsa using my teeth

 

 

So, thoroughly despondent and with sinking heart I tried bringing myself back to some semblance of normality by conducting my very own root cause analysis and settled on the theory that it was the styrene glue reacting (obviously) with the styrene and causing it to "pull" on the styrene as the glue dried, thus creating the imperfection in the outer face.  It sounded reasonable enough to me.  Now to test my theory....

i had a spare side frame kicking around - a spare dozen or so, actually.  So I bonded some "C" channel to the side frame using E6000 which is more of a rubbery/silicone like compound and does not eat styrene the way the usual cement does. I left it on a flat surface overnight with a couple of weights to apply some pressure to the bond.  Then tonight I found this....

 

 

You can clearly see where the channel is bonded on the reverse face.  Based on that - it is clear that the styrene glue does have an impact, but is not the only factor at play. Pressure also plays a part in this fiasco.

Maybe I just picked the wrong medium to use.

 

The one photo I didn't take tonight but will at the next session - is the same view as the photo directly above, but of the side frames in the third picture.  After the paint dried, the tin canning effect really diminished, so much so that I am actually considering using them.... though I still have some convincing to do with myself.

 

The alternative is to start again and this time, apply a supporting structure behind the side frames which does not impart excess pressure on to the styrene as it is bonded. Perhaps a brass channel assembly, pre-soldered, then bonded just using superglue and a very light press on the styrene.

 

until next time...

[Enterprisingwestern]

Not being either a chemist or engineer, but here's my two cents worth.

Maybe you picked the wrong type of plastic sheet, styrene, with it being so thin over a larger area, has no self support system in it's chemical make up, so is quite susceptible to following the easy route and being pulled and stretched by whatever is underneath it,

Maybe ABS sheet would have been better as this is a "harder" plastic and has more inbuilt strength, more like a metal sheet.

Anyway, whatever the cause or solution, a bit of a bngger.

 

Mike.

[MikeTrice]

Daft question. Are you sure it is not solvents in the paint?

[hendie]

Daft question. Are you sure it is not solvents in the paint?

 

I'm sure it must be the solvents that are causing the reaction.  That is, when used directly from the rattle can.   I am going to decant the next batch and try again.  Thanks for the input !

 

 

 

Not being either a chemist or engineer, but here's my two cents worth.

Maybe you picked the wrong type of plastic sheet, styrene, with it being so thin over a larger area, has no self support system in it's chemical make up, so is quite susceptible to following the easy route and being pulled and stretched by whatever is underneath it,

Maybe ABS sheet would have been better as this is a "harder" plastic and has more inbuilt strength, more like a metal sheet.

Anyway, whatever the cause or solution, a bit of a bngger.

 

Mike.

 

What you say about the styrene is undoubtedly true.  I had used c channel as backing to give it more strength, but used a bit too much styrene cement, thereby softening the flat sheet too much.  I have ordered some more, and of different thicknesses.  I have a couple of tests I want to run as I think I have a path forward now - just need to test my theory first.

[jrg1]

I wonder if you can get the required strength by laminating an number of strips, one at a time, to the side?  I have found that this is rather more rigid than one thick strip of sheet.

[Bucoops]

Those sides look a lot like when I tried to paint my first kit - I was utterly heartbroken as until then the kit had gone really well. I'm sure you'll find a way round - your skills are WAY above mine!

[hendie]

So, onto today's little escapade with paints, pigments and problems.  Let's start off with what went well....

 

eh....

 

well...

 

uhmmnn...

 

 

Okay, now we've got that part behind us, let's carry on with what really happened...

 

The vestibule end was sanded down nice and smooth. A straightforward job that didn't take long at all. That was done a few nights ago.  Today, it was cleaned, dusted down and holding my breath.... I went for the respray.

 

 

Holy crappola.  Things just aren't going my way with this build are they ?  About the only part with a decent finish is the part that was sanded down.  The previous "good" finish has gone all phnargley

Based on that, it appears that the enamel paint is reacting with itself !  (By this time, the mojo is getting a little battered).

Okay, vestibule end is not back on the shelf while I rethink that approach.  I still have another one to make so I may just as well make two new ones.

 

On to the dreaded side frames. (by this time i have taken another deep breath).  This brought with it another whole new set of problems - have you ever tried masking a straight line nearly 600mm in length ?  (that's about 2 feet in Americanese) - Then another one and tried to keep them parallel ?

It didn't help that Cleetus here kept masking to the outside of the cream demarcation instead of the inside !  'duh!

Anyways, after a good 30 minutes I eventually had one side masked and ready to go.  By this time abandon was thrown to the wind and I had already decided that these side frames are going to be my test pieces - unless things go completely against plan and they turn out okay.

Rattle can shaked and rattled until the ball bearing wore out, finger depressed (not just my finger at this point!) and whooshy whooshy paint sprayed.... then demasked at the earliest opportunity.

 

 

On a cursory glance it sort of looks okay doesn't it.

 

And while we still have some tin canning effect going on, it is not as blatantly obvious as I thought it was going to be.

 

 

However, on closer inspection we can see that once again, there is some kind of reaction going on - and about a third of the way up from the bottom of that photo is yet another I-won't-take-paint spot.  Booger and bolloricks!

Overall, the finish is rather pants considering it had all been micro-meshed smooth.  Just as well, this is a test piece (now!)

 

 

Fear not! says I, and promptly start banging my head on the concrete floor in a typical Cleesesque fashion.

 

So, moving on.... I've also been continuing to work on the transfer sheet, and am almost complete. That called for a quick print out to check scaling and to make sure everything fitted where it should. (...still a couple of "transfers" missing here)

 

 

The paint reaction can be seen better here just to the left of the Pegasus name plate.

 

 

All of this paint malarkey had my mind in a boil and I decided to try a different tack.  Up till now, I had been using the brown enamel straight from the rattle can. Probably not the best approach but I thought it was worth a try.  Now I know better.

While I was trying to sort out the paint colors some weeks ago, I had bought another color - "Italian Dark Brown" from Model Master. It looked worth a shot and by this time I had nothing to lose had I ?

I had bought it being under the impression that it was acrylic - and it wasn't. It was also a matt finish while I was looking for a gloss.

What the heck, let's try it anyway - I opened up my tin of humbrol enamel thinner to find that the inside of the can had corroded and I had lots of rusty floaters in the tin.  Nice one Humbrol!

Let's cut to the chase here... Upper is the brown enamel from the rattle can, and the lower is airbrushed Italian dark brown.  Whaddya know - I got a nice even decent finish all over - no reaction either ('cept from me).

 

 

The photo above doesn't really do the color any justice - artificial light and all that.   I had a rattle can of clear enamel gloss lying around so before the Italian brown even had time to cure I gave it a lashing of clear gloss - well, part of it at least - so I could see what the color change effect was like

 

 

Despite what the photo above shows, the two colors are in fact very close to one another.  Close enough for me to consider using the italian brown. It is certainly within the range of Pullman "Umber" shades that I have seen.

 

Thoroughly depressing huh ?   Well, not quite - despite almost nothing going right over the last few weeks, I do feel that I am making some headway - mainly by making mistakes and ruling things out.

 

Rattle cans are out!   at least for using to apply the paint.  I will do another test mule at the earliest opportunity using decanted brown from the rattle can to see what that turns out like - safe in the knowledge that I have the Italian Brown to fall back on (if I get hold of some not-rusty not-Humbrol enamel thinners)

The tin-canning effect is not as pronounced as I thought it was going to be, so with a different bonding agent, less pressure on the joint, and a bit of care, I think I can minimize that effect.

I will have two different thickness of styrene to use for the side frame to see which is better. Currently I am using 0.020" - about 0.5 mm.  I have also ordered 0.030" - about 0.75 mm.  Obviously, the thicker styrene means that the windows will sit further back from the outer surface, but it may look okay - only a test will tell.

 

Where are we now ?  well, the mojo is definitely not 100% but it is on the rebound so at least heading in the right direction.  It feels crap that I haven't made any real progress in the last few weeks, but I am finally getting to a point where I feel progress is forthcoming in the not too distant future. 

 

or perhaps just another few "learning opportunities" - who knows ?

[hendie]

I wonder if you can get the required strength by laminating an number of strips, one at a time, to the side?  I have found that this is rather more rigid than one thick strip of sheet.

 

I have now decided to try going down the brass sheet route... stay tuned

 

Those sides look a lot like when I tried to paint my first kit - I was utterly heartbroken as until then the kit had gone really well. I'm sure you'll find a way round - your skills are WAY above mine!

 

Thanks for the compliment Bucoops.   I'll get there in the end - it looks like I'll just need to take a couple of detours along the journey.

 

at least I now have a couple of test pieces to try the transfers out on

[Spitfire2865]

Something tells me the paint issue is due to not letting the enamels cure between coats. If its just primed styrene there should be no spots where its not keying

[Colin parks]

Hi Hendie,

 

I have been following this build with great admiration - shame about the snags with the coach sides.

 

You mention that you are now contemplating making the coach sides from brass sheet, but styrene can be used successfully for such applications, given a few basic rules:

always laminate the sides fully, using Humbrol Liquid Poly (butyl acetate) or Limonene solvents;  never, ever use glue, cement, MEK or any other plastic solvent for construction;  drill 0.5mm holes pitched at 10mm in the intermediate lamination to allow solvent vapours to vent off.  

 

For 1/32 scale, your sides* should be approx 2.4mm thick, or around 90 thou., so your 20 thou. sheet sides should be laminated to an intermediate layer of 40 thou. sheet and an inner skin of 30 or 40 thou. sheet.  

 

(* Depending on the scale thickness of a Pullman coach side.  I am assuming they are somewhere between 2 1/2" - 3" thick.)   

 

Further to the comment by spitfire2865 on the painting process and the need to wait for the paint to cure between coats, it is always best to wash plastic components in warm water/ detergent, rinse, and carefully dry prior to painting.

 

Colin