Ian's 7mm workbench - recent photos

[ncklowe]

I may still end up respraying the peak but had nothing to lose trying to blend in a patch as I need to paint one of my two blue anyway. The colour is very close (tried a few but Precision post 1954 BR green was closest) but I can't get the finish the same - will have to see if light weathering masks the join.

 

By way of a diversion I've been respraying a Dapol pannier which will become 8702 (St Blazey) with the later totem. Main body is Halfords satin, flattened with very fine wet and dry and then polished with kitchen roll and the smokebox was Plasti-kote which goes on very easily and is a bit of a discovery. A few bits to touch up where I filled the seam either side of the smoke box at the front - my one gripe with the Dapol model. Various loose details need refixing and I still can't get the roof to sit properly, before I get to work weathering. 8702 was a Beyer Peacock, which had the welded seams on the tanks and I've not really worked out how to do them yet - I may omit them.

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Have a look at Archer Fine Transfers in the States. They do a variety of weld lines in printed resin transfers. There may be something there to suit. There are stockists in the UK but I have found it just as quick and easy to order direct from the States.

 

Nick

[Hal Nail]

I'm sure we've all experienced the carpet monster but I've had a run in with his nasty big brother the workbench muncher today and have managed to lose the new class 46 roof panel that I made this morning. Given it is 12mm x 30mm this is ridiculous but I can't find it anywhere.

 

Meanwhile having finally got a finish I was happy with where I removed the small panel that was only on the 45's, I promptly stripped it again peeling off the masking tape for the body stripe. Irritating but on balance at I'm encouraged and think I can avoid a complete respray.

[Hal Nail]

Have redone the green now - several thin coats applied with one pass of a flat brush, flattened with 2000 grade wet and dry and then buffed with kitchen roll. Once I'd proved a patch could be made to work work I decided to use the grills for the joins - the main one is in line with the right side of the black grill and I'm pretty happy wont show once weathered. I've tidied up the duck egg areas further since the photos - mixed from humbrol colours and again will be toned down by weathering.

 

I usually weather with enamel washes but need to be careful I don't attack the finish so may just dry brush hints of grime collecting round the grills - I wanted a fairly newly delivered loco for this one otherwise i wouldn't have worried about the green patch quite so much.

 

[pwr]

I'm sure we've all experienced the carpet monster but I've had a run in with his nasty big brother the workbench muncher today and have managed to lose the new class 46 roof panel that I made this morning. Given it is 12mm x 30mm this is ridiculous but I can't find it anywhere.

 

Meanwhile having finally got a finish I was happy with where I removed the small panel that was only on the 45's, I promptly stripped it again peeling off the masking tape for the body stripe. Irritating but on balance at I'm encouraged and think I can avoid a complete respray.

 

That is so frustrating. I had a similar experience with a tender fall plate that was about the same size. Never did find it and had to make another.

 

Paul R

[Hal Nail]

Made a start on weathering today.I end up taking most of what I put on off again but better to build up slowly than over do it. I've been putting off doing the class 46 roof as its a big area but it needs doing next. The last of the sun was a bit harsh but I find photos really highlight the areas to work on more than staring at the model for some reason. 

 

Edited October 31, 2018 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

I think the class 46 is nearly done. Very happy with the repainted area - in the end the extra roof panel has proved far harder to blend in. I've got the missing windscreen wiper safely stashed somewhere, need to find a way to represent the "taps" from the underneath tanks and I'm still playing around with headcodes. The 1V is Precision Labels see through type, the 1M Heljans original: the photos even them out but somewhere in between would be about right. I will try the Precision but modifying their frame arrangement which has a see through section for the numbers to show through but dulls them down too much (I'm being picky though to be honest).

 

 

Edited November 13, 2018 by Hal Nail

[deltic17]

Lovely work on the 46 - if I'm not mistaken don't you need to modify the headcode box to just a centre one and not centre/split for a 46??

[Hal Nail]

Lovely work on the 46 - if I'm not mistaken don't you need to modify the headcode box to just a centre one and not centre/split for a 46??

Thank you. I worked from a photo of this loco at Birmingham in 1962 (I think).

 

I had originally thought the only visible difference was the headcodes as you describe but in fact earlier 46s were still built with a central pair. After the introduction of the one piece type on later builds, a lot of retro fitting went on to both classes. I have seen the numbers described somewhere but can’t recall where now.

 

Relatively speaking not so many earlier photos around: the blue star equipment is usually missing and possibly by the time that was removed, the headcodes had been altered as well.

 

The original plan was to do a 45 with this format headcodes and a 46 with a one piece in blue but I got a bit carried away!

Edited November 17, 2018 by Hal Nail

[mike hughes]

I knew I’d seen it somewhere as well

 

https://www.derbysulzers.com/45headcode.html

 

It says the one piece head code was 174 onwards

 

Michael

[Hal Nail]

This might be over-ambitious but I've been mulling over whether I could create bow ended corridor stock from B set coaches (probably the 4 car set).

 

I'd like an all third, a brake third left unmodified and then with the bits left over either a brake composite which only had a single set of luggage doors or probably a composite or another all third, which i could potentially sell. Suspect squeezing out a 4th might be tricky but would have a shell for new sides at least.

 

Before I get plotting I was hoping for some help with dimensions to see if the 4 coach sets have the same spacing between compartments as the 2 car. On my my diagram e140 coach, measuring centre to centre, a pair of 2nd class doors are 46mm apart and 1st class 50mm. Could anyone confirm if the equivalent 4 coach sets are the same please?

 

edit to say even ignoring kits, it would obviously be easier (and a lot cheaper) to just add new sides to a single coach but I quite fancy the challenge. 

Edited November 27, 2018 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

 

 

The 57xx now has an identity - a St Blazey loco. Plates including the specially sized Beyer Peacock on the front splasher are from Narrow Planet. I was tempted to say finished but I might still fill the join in the chimney which grates a bit every time I see it, I've got an ATC shoe to fit at the rear once I've found pictures of the battery boxes and I'll probably change the vacuum/steam pipes at some point. I also straighten the cab plate every day and it resets itself like that (double sided tape).

 

I'm still giving this one a tick in the "finish something occasionally" drive though!

(Edit - er, it wasnt finished and got completely redone later!)

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Hal Nail

[47606odin]

Given how accurately stuff gets made these days, the joint in the chimney is awful and unnecessary. I filled one on my terrier, and made a massive difference

[Hal Nail]

A spot of weathering today - the photos as ever show every mistake which I will then go back and attack next time. I bought the brake 3rd cheap on eBay. Apart from opening the windows and fitting the ends more flush I wasn't planning to do much although it was missing all sorts of fittings which will need replacing. You do wonder what people do to their models sometimes!

Edited February 10, 2019 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

Not posted for a while and haven't done a lot although the brake 3rd is largely finished: It was missing it's buffers so I'll need to source some. Meanwhile a bit more weathering today. Difficult to photo but trying to get a reasonably clean but working look. The tank sides have a bit of sheen but the rest is dulled down. I find I end up taking off most of what I put on but thats safer than overdoing it.

[Hal Nail]

Started on my Heljan rat today. Impatient as ever i've completely forgotten to number it but will sort before i do the other side. I find it very difficult to photo track dirt - to the naked eye it is much more even and duller than it appears in the photos, which seem to over-emphasise all the highlights.

 

Edit - ive lost these photos

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

More work on the rat which now has an identity, for now on one side. I'm not sure if it was based at St Blazey but was frequently snapped in the area c1979/80.

 

The Fox transfers are very good but it's not my favourite task. I use Humbrol decalfix and slide them into position (when I've caught them before they detach) using a small brush but any attempt to blot either moves them or worse they stick to the wet tissue. Once in position - easier said than done - I leave them alone now and gently blot away the sticky residue an hour or so later.

 

Pressfix would avoid this and I prefer them but i'm too tight to buy an enormous sheet.

 

The headcode glass looks terrible, especially the edges. One fell out later so I've gone round the in black but if it doesn't work, I'll have to re-glaze which is another job I don't like!

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

Headcode better now I think.

[Hal Nail]

I bought this mineral wagon on eBay for a good price and set about having a go at the weathering.

 

Using techniques described by others - Games Workshop Typhus Corrosion and artists Burnt Umber were applied and then when dry, removed using a combination of cotton wool buds dipped in white spirit, and some 2400 grade wet and dry used wet. It was a lot harder to shift than the videos I had seen! For variety I mixed up a lighter rust wash and flowed onto the rivets with a flat brush. I inside was painted black and then washed over with a couple of varieties of rust colour using a wide flat brush

Edited June 15, 2019 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

Ouch! So Modelu drivers don't bounce... but they do glue back together! (I'd already modified his arm and that survived being dropped on a hard floor)

Edited October 21, 2019 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

Latest project is a Tower Brass autocoach being finished in unlined maroon.  The assorted scraps in the first photo are the masks I used on the bogies to keep as much off the wheels as possible - only partially successfully.

 

I've opened up a few windows on each side by filing out the brass - I decided against trying any of the toplights! The coach is now weathered and pretty much finished bar the interior - I think i'm going to scratch build seats as too tight to pay for any of the ones I can find commercially. I'll post up some shots next time we get any bright weather...

Edited October 21, 2019 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

The autocoach is about done now bar some seating. The high gloss above was given the usual wet and dry treatment and then weathered: I apply enamel then remove using a flattie and lots of white spirit.

 

I used some semi-opaque plastic bits bags for the hammered glass in the top lights. A couple of pipes were added from the spares box and the cab woodwork is a plasticard veneer with the plank lines drawn on, then washed over in a neutral wood (its probably not strictly accurate but represents the feel of the original wood interior). Cab fittings are some Dapol spares and I'm probably going to try a Modelu diesel shunter driver (or pose myself!) as the chap above has the wrong arm out.   

Edited October 22, 2019 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

Next project is a Tower Brass E147 B set. I've wanted one for ages but not for the amount they tend to go for but recently was able get one for £320 and jumped at it.

 

The paint came off very easily in IPA (20 mins per side) - if I wasn't too tight to properly immerse the whole body it would have been even quicker!

 

After 7 coaches, representing open droplights is getting a tad repetitive and the final pair of sides are largely shut. I've added the over door rain strips from plasticard and the missing hinges on the second luggage door - I thought about brass but trial soldering didn't go well. 

 

Now summoning the resolve to create 4x18 door stops then its off to the paint shops - realistically I've got a few months till its warm enough. In the meantime the bodies ride far too high on the bogies and I need to sort that.

 

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

After experimenting with tiny slivers of plasticard section, I was happy these gave the impression of door stops and don't want to be drilling loads of holes. I applied a small blob of superglue with a pointed off-cut and dropped them on with a knife blade. It's going to be a pain flattering the paint without knocking them off but that only occured to me after I'd done them.

Edited November 11, 2019 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

Modifications to lower the body. Difficult to capture but the gap really stood out before. I filed down the mount about 0.5mm and added a 0.5mm cheat strip to deepen the solebars, which were slightly thin anyway. Finally I've reduced the springs under the bogies which has turned out to be the hardest job of the lot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by Hal Nail

[Hal Nail]

Underframe now painted and weathered and happy it looks much better than as supplied. I've had a second thoughts on the doorstops and orderd some etched ones from CPL. If a job's worth doing....