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Millerhillboys N gauge workbench


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V3 also returned from a light encounter with Alba weathering, the photographs here are really not doing her justice. Dave has taken the edge of the sharpness of the out the can paintjob and just matted down and flattened everything a treat.

 

She's a lovely model, if I do say so herself and the gentle weathering has finished her off . Just needing final detailing, crew, lamps etc

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Edited by millerhillboy
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1 hour ago, millerhillboy said:

Managed to progress a few things that are lying about, mostly wagons

 

Trying my hand at 16 tonners, the weathering of which seems to be a subject in its own right. I'm not quite too sure how this has went. I think I like the colours and tones but I'm not sure about the rust spots, which I can't get out my head that I've applied with a tiny drill bit and I think it looks like that's what I've done.

 

Anyway, feedback always welcome, good back or indifferent.

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Hi,

I like the look of your 16t minerals... I'm certain there will be examples that weathered like that, weren't there 500,000? Sometimes I think these super close up photos don't do us any favours,  they look fine at normal viewing distances and 100% better than out of the box examples... nicely done>

Cheers

Duncan

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Thanks Duncan, appreciate your input.  You are right off course with your comment regarding the scale and harshness of the photography at this scale and I remember working with some paul bartlett pictures up in front of me whilst doing the weathering and thinking I'd done OK but when I see them there the rust spots do look like circles applied with a circular object, which I kind of suppose many rust spots would have been anyway.

 

They do look OK at NVD like you say and that's all I am for.

 

Thanks for your comments.

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  • 2 weeks later...

At the risk of accelerating the process of my marbles getting lost.... I decided to attend to a recent delivery from the excellent Modelu3D

 

I like to have my locos lamped up, even if it does happen to sometimes end up showing the wrong headcode.

 

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Then after painting and dotting with a 0.3mm drill bit to replicate the lamp.

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I also was still not quite satisfied with my 16 tonners so had another go. I wanted to soften the look of the rust spots and get it more blended in.

 

Not sure if I acheived that or not but I think these might be a little better, as always feedback welcome either way. You won't hurt my feelings :D

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Well done, more excellent work. I very much like the look of the wagons. One thing that isn't possible (with plastic models) is the battered look of the prototypes- often the sides and ends of the wagons were bowed out  (or in) where rough loading and unloading took their toll!

I remember working in the wagon shops at Darnall beating the panels out to a more 'square' shape, my ears still ringing!

Cheers

Duncan

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Yeah, agreed on the battered and bruised point. I've seen a few guys try it in bigger scales and I'm not even sure it works there so you can forget it with N gauge.

 

Thanks for your feeback though, its appreciated. I always think you've got a great eye with the colour palette you use for your weathering so if they work for you that's a good start IMO

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I’d say you’ve done a good, competent job there, Craig. In the scale you’re modelling and from the viewing distances you’ll employ these look just fine. Weathering 16 tonners is a subject all on its own and I’m still on the journey to a point where I’m truly satisfied with my own work.

These are well up to the state of the art though.

Seeing as you can’t truly replicate the dunts and skelps the bodysides experienced with plastic, paint effects are the next best option.

Unless you’re daft enough to build a fleet of etched ones!

 

Davy.

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I’d say you’ve done a good, competent job there, Craig. In the scale you’re modelling and from the viewing distances you’ll employ these look just fine. Weathering 16 tonners is a subject all on its own and I’m still on the journey to a point where I’m truly satisfied with my own work.

These are well up to the state of the art though.

Seeing as you can’t truly replicate the dunts and skelps the bodysides experienced with plastic, paint effects are the next best option.

Unless you’re daft enough to build a fleet of etched ones!

 

Davy.

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Thanks Dave

 always good to get feedback from a true expert. I think you are right about 16 tonners though, it does seem to be a subject in its own right.

 

another difficultyI find is trying to generate suitable variation accross a rake of them, you feel if you are doing the same thing time and time again, it probably wouldn't look like it in the end either but as you are working you tend to get sucked into it.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Been fiddling about with shortshank couplings, both NEM and original rapido variants. I'm finding that on a lot of stock there is a lot of room for manouevre.  Especially on NGS society kits

 

I'm using 3D printed couplings from 3DR on shapeways,

 

https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace/miniatures/trains?tag=3dr

 

they offer rapido style couplings in a variety of shank lengths and a tester sort of pack to try different lengths.

 

Trying them on N gauge society build bogie bolster D kits

 

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The gap between the buffer beams even with the short shank rapido's is still 12mm. You'll note I'm missing buffers, as a few of them came off whilst I was fiddling so I decided to buy some finer oval buffers from NBrass, they should be 3.3mm long when fitted so I should still have a 5-6mm gap between buffer faces which is still loads TBH.

 

FWIW I'm using a test oval with 10.5" radius curves which is the minimum I will have on the end layout (if I ever get there) and 6mm between buffer faces is still loads.

 

Edited by millerhillboy
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  • 2 weeks later...

Finished the bogie bolster coupling gap project with new oval buffers from N-Brass and the short shank couplers. The wagons still easily navigate 10” radius curves. 

 

The gap has came down by 4mm but looks much better than that alone. 

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  • 6 months later...

Also been doing again from the N gauge society some boplate's both unfitted and vac braked.

 

Here's the unfitted one, tried to get a nice weathered deck look which to my eye would be as much a grey/silver colour as it would be a wood colour.

 

I used a Tamiya deck colour followed by dry brushing a light grey and also some brown and black washes as well.

Not sure the picture does it justice as in reality it looks more grey than the beige it appears in the picture  but in general I am happy with the outcome.

 

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Edited by millerhillboy
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Knew I had some loco projects done somewhere, managed to tidy up a fairly standard Dapol A3 into 60090 Grand Parade to suit the Edinburgh scene, only major addition was the double chimney and rework the front bufferbeam to get rid of the shape issue on bottom which accomodates the coupler normally.

Added the smokebox brass plate thing which came with the nameplates from Fiox, which I think is a nice addition.

 

Still got to get round to painting the Modelu crew figures to populate the cab, and possibly find something to put in for draincocks, NBrass wire perhaps?

 

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Edited by millerhillboy
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After seeing the unfitted Boplate posted above I decided to revisit the weathering. Any pictures I can see of boplates or similar wagons tend to show them as being absolutely grotty in condition and as such I thought mines looked a tad too fresh.

 

Not a huge difference but just adding some filth (brown vallejo model wash) around the body mouldings I think brings it down another notch.

 

Also added coupling hooks which are absent from the original kit.

 

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Here's the first of two vac fitted Boplates, still awaiting the N Brass handbrake wheels to be added.  I also added N Brass oval buffers which are considerably finer to the eye than the moulded ones that come with the kit. Coupling hooks again added.

 

Again not particularly exciting but I think it shows that a decent wagon can be had in N gauge using the society kits and at a sensible price. I'm finding it ever harder to stomach the cost of even things like wagons these days (as good as they tend to be)  and there's a lot of pleasure to be had from doing your own.

 

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Edited by millerhillboy
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  • 1 month later...

More run of the mill out the box tweaking and enhancing rather than anything major.

 

EFE class 17, lowered and front buffer beam detailed which was a challenge to say the least but got there in the end.

Some gentle weathering also applied here but not hugely visible in these pictures

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