Hunslet 16" 0-6-0 ST

[Nick Mitchell]

Those who know how to paint locomotives will be able to tell me that I'm doing this in completely the wrong order, but after waiting 72 hours for the green to harden, I went for red as the next colour in the end. I figured it would be easier to mask the buffer beams to spray the black than the other way round. In hindsight, that might not have been such a good call, as everything that would have been black ended up being masked off (along with the green) as I sprayed the red paint. I think I was worrying about the red covering any black overspray, but it has covered the green on the rear buffer beam with no problems.

 

On all the locos I have painted fully so far (ok - both of them!) the livery has been black, and the buffer beams have been brush painted in after an overall coat of gloss black. Using thinned red paint on a black buffer beam has allowed a natural dirty look as a good base for further weathering. For Beatrice I wanted something cleaner, so masking and spraying was the order of the day. Well out of my comfort zone, but I think I've got away with it. The paint is Humbrol gloss red, thinned 1:1 with white spirit. While I was at it, I sprayed the coupling rods red. There are a couple of other red bits on the loco (rods under the tank on the right side, and a few bits in the cab) but these will have to be brushed in much later on.

 

There were a couple of places along the bottom edge of the bunker where the red crept under the masking tape (which was Tamya), but this was easily removed with a brush moistened with white spirit. Looking at the photos now, I can see the brush tip caught the top of the vacuum stand pipe.

 

 

 

Better painters than me would do it all by brush, but I want to spray as much of the black as I can to get an even coverage - especially of the smokebox and chimney. Some parts of the footplate will almost certainly need to be brushed in though. The masking will be interesting...

 

[-missy-]

On 13/02/2021 at 01:39, Nick Mitchell said:

I had my airbrush out earlier this week and gave Beatrice a coat of etching primer.

All my recently found confidence (well, confidence may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I had become slightly less terrified) disappeared when I inspected the results close up.

Poor Beatrice looked like she'd been left in a spider-infested shed for a hundred years: the dreaded cobwebbing had visited me once again.

I thought I had done everything the same as the previous time I used this primer (Phoenix Precision 2-pack), but something was obviously not right.

 

 

Hi Nick.

 

After seeing your results I wondered to myself if it was worth investing in some of this 2 pack primer to see if it was any better than the regular aerosol paint I have been using from Halfords. When checking the website I came across this little nugget of information...

 

 

As a result I am now not sure if it is the right stuff for me. It might be what is causing your problems maybe?

 

Julia.

[Nick Mitchell]

1 hour ago, -missy- said:

 

Hi Nick.

 

After seeing your results I wondered to myself if it was worth investing in some of this 2 pack primer to see if it was any better than the regular aerosol paint I have been using from Halfords. When checking the website I came across this little nugget of information...

 

 

As a result I am now not sure if it is the right stuff for me. It might be what is causing your problems maybe?

 

Julia.

 

Thanks for that Julia. Please don't let my incompetence put you off having a go!

I think I have been following a lot of that advice inadvertently - even down to using a Badger 200 single action internal mix airbrush (which my grandfather gave me when I was a teenager - what incredible foresight he had!). I have been using an Iwata neo double action for applying the gloss.

The surface preparation I used was a mild acid wash with Shiny Sinks in an ultrasonic cleaner.

The PQ17 pre-paint cleaner mentioned is actually cellulose thinners, and is what I have been adding to my "mix".

I have had fantastic results with this primer. When it goes right, it is brilliant. I don't airbrush often enough to really get the feel for it, and so my results are not consistent. I do want to persist with it and get it right more often.

On reflection, there are two potential causes of my cobwebs. One might be too high air:paint ratio (too much air). I tend to be a bit tentative, especially when I'm out of practice. The other might be the paint not thinned enough. The bit on the website quoted above about mixing equal quantities of thinners and paint, and there being a 3-hour pot life is fantasy.

 

[Nick Mitchell]

Do you ever have days when your modelling feels like it is going backwards?

I had a day like that earlier this week when I picked up Beatrice and the front functional coupling dropper came off in my fingers.

Within a couple of minutes, the rear one had come off as well. Bizzarre!

I had picked it up to try the loco body on the chassis, to see what it looked like with both halves painted.

Especially I wanted to see how conspicuous the gap between the firebox sides and front would be. It is more exposed on the fireman's side, but the addition of fire irons later will disguise it further.

 

I took the photo below in a rare shaft of sunlight coming through the window. The colour looks quite different in natural light.

 

 

Once the sun had gone in, I took the following short video to prove that it runs nicely before I ruin it.

 

 

Today I spent a bit of time making some repairs.

I reattached the coupling droppers. The front one took a few attempts, and unfortunately I lingered too long with the soldering iron and the paint has blackened.

 

 

The re-fitting rear coupling was more successful.

I also made and fitted a new guard iron for the rear right corner of the chassis. This was very tricky to hold and solder, but I have got away without too much damage to the paint.

 

 

 

[2mmKiwi]

Looking good Nick, you must be a bit of a night owl posted 4.00am UK time?

[Nick Mitchell]

5 hours ago, 2mmKiwi said:

Looking good Nick, you must be a bit of a night owl posted 4.00am UK time?

Technically it was only 8 minutes past 3, but yes - I am naturally nocturnal. The only problem with that is I still have to get up in the morning for work

[Trewisin]

Hi Nick,just been looking at your blog.Wow what a super little loco youve got there .I dont think one ran on Backworth rails.

as i cant seem to find a picture of one. No doubt Geordie in exile has some info to that as he is also from the area.

Keep up the good work and enjoy.Regars Ray.

[queensquare]

Beautifully neat work as ever Nick,

 

jerry

[Nick Mitchell]

2 hours ago, Trewisin said:

Hi Nick,just been looking at your blog.Wow what a super little loco youve got there .I dont think one ran on Backworth rails.

as i cant seem to find a picture of one. No doubt Geordie in exile has some info to that as he is also from the area.

Keep up the good work and enjoy.Regars Ray.

The prototype for my model spent its entire working (pre-preservation) life at Ackton Hall colliery near Pontefract.

When I finish it, the livery will be as close to "as currently preserved" as my skills allow, and it is definitely a "Rule 1" project.

[Trewisin]

Thanks for the info Nick. A smashing little loco cant wait to see the end result. Regards ..Ray

[chrisveitch]

I'm sure you're not stuck for "next projects", but that little tram loco you've been playing with looks like it would be an interesting 2mm challenge...

[Nick Mitchell]

1 hour ago, chrisveitch said:

I'm sure you're not stuck for "next projects", but that little tram loco you've been playing with looks like it would be an interesting 2mm challenge...

 

It is an absolutely awesome machine. I want one!

I'm really hoping Paul "Piglet" Middleton will allow it to stay at Embsay for a while, or visit us again soon.

 

For anyone who doesn't know what Chris is talking about, Joining Beatrice and the resident NER Autocar at Embsay last weekend were three visiting locomotives. On Monday I spent the day firing No.8 "Lucie", a Cockerill Type IV 0-4-0 tram loco as she hauled our set of Victorian and Edwardian 6-wheelers. I was pleased to get the text on Sunday night saying Lucie was replacing visiting Terrier "Knowle" on the roster (firing the Terrier had nearly killed me on Saturday), and I couldn't stop grinning all day. She has Walschaerts' valve gear, but unusually the return rods are driven by eccentrics inside the frames. I'd never fired anything with a vertical boiler before, but it steamed brilliantly and thought nothing of our 2 miles of 1:100 out of Bolton Abbey, thrashing along at 15-20mph while sounding like a Black 5 on an express...

 

A model would certainly be a challenge, but do-able I think. The water tank is fairly large (basically the whole of one end) and the boiler has room to conceal a motor.

 

 

[chrisveitch]

55 minutes ago, Nick Mitchell said:

For anyone who doesn't know what Chris is talking about, Joining Beatrice and the resident NER Autocar at Embsay last weekend were three visiting locomotives. On Monday I spent the day firing No.8 "Lucie", a Cockerill Type IV 0-4-0 tram loco as she hauled our set of Victorian and Edwardian 6-wheelers

Magnifique! It certainly makes a splendid noise. 

 

In some photos it looks like you're standing in a hole - does it have a bit of dropped footplate to access the firehole door or is this an illusion?

 

 

[Nick Mitchell]

1 hour ago, chrisveitch said:

In some photos it looks like you're standing in a hole - does it have a bit of dropped footplate to access the firehole door or is this an illusion?

 

It is no illusion. The firehole door is below the level of the footplate. It is actually quite easy to fire with the world's smallest shovel - once you get used to the idea that the grate is circular! There are no dampers, so you have no control over the rate of combustion other than with the blower. The ash pan (a flat, round tray) is almost touching the floor.

 

 

 

 

[chrisveitch]

Many thanks Nick, and apologies for the thread drift - I'd noticed you firing it on Matt's FB posts and couldn't resist. 

[Nick Mitchell]

So... it's been a year since my last update on Beatrice.

I did spray the main black areas a few days after the last posting, and there things have remained, while I was too scared to think about the lining.

The real Beatrice has a very elaborate livery, with both edge lining and panel lining. I might end up with a slightly simplified scheme. Or I might abandon the lining altogether and cover her with "grot" if it all gets too much for me!

The edge lining is a red stripe with black filling in to the edge of the surface, and this is where I have decided to make a start.

The first session has been to use a spring bow compass to follow the curved edges with the red line - around the tank front and parts of the cab sides.

Some bits got a bit messy and I've tried to tidy them up with a brush.

Overall, I'm not too impressed with the results.

With the naked eye, it's hard to tell there's lining there at all. With a close up photograph, some of it looks horrendous. I've taken it off and put it back on a few times, and this is the best I can manage at the moment. Ian Rathbone I am not!

 

I've taken a few very cruel pictures of what I've done so far. Feel free to comment/criticise/advise! I get the feeling this is going to be a lengthy process.

 

This is the cruellest close up of the front of the saddle tank. Trying to tidy up the outside edge of the line with a brush was tantamount to impossible. The inside edge is a bit neater, but I'm hoping the black will cover up most of it!

 

 

You can see I'm missing a bit behind the chimney. I'll have to try and brush this in somehow later. I want the existing lines to be fully cured before then, so I don't ruin them...

 

 

The classic side-on view with a pound coin for scale (she really is tiny!)

If you zoom in it looks quite scrappy round the cab. Somehow the lining along the bottom of the frames came out much better - but was easier to get at to do.

 

 

This view shows the lining all the way over the top of the tank. I had to do the centre section behind the chimney with a brush. It also shows the detail between the frames...

 

 

In this view of the left hand side, the cab lining is practically invisible - and improved no end for that!

While I had the red paint tin open, I brushed in the reversing reach rod and sander operating rod. i think the colour here adds a lot to the character of the loco. I do need to sort that handrail out under the tank though!

 

 

Here the cab-side lining is visible. Sorry it's a bit out of focus. Still you can see how jittery the lines are. Bear in mind how much bigger than real life the photo is though...

 

[Sithlord75]

Decals instead maybe?  Fiddly yes, but more so than what you’re doing?  Hoping to see the real one in June (but mostly wanting to see the Fowler 150hp diesel!!!)

[Caley Jim]

If the it is a black edge with a red line bordering that and no Green in between, why not just paint a broad red line round the edges, using one 'blade' of the bow pen as a guide against the edge, and then do a narrower black line outside that?

 

Jim

[Nick Mitchell]

25 minutes ago, Caley Jim said:

If the it is a black edge with a red line bordering that and no Green in between, why not just paint a broad red line round the edges, using one 'blade' of the bow pen as a guide against the edge, and then do a narrower black line outside that?

It is like that, Jim.

 

33 minutes ago, Sithlord75 said:

Decals instead maybe?  Fiddly yes, but more so than what you’re doing?  Hoping to see the real one in June (but mostly wanting to see the Fowler 150hp diesel!!!)

I'll probably try and make some transfers for the panel lining.

They are a broad lime green band, with a thin yellow inside edge, and red outside edge.

The scheme is very similar to SECR lining - above the footplate at least.