Wagons and Coaches for Templefield

[westernviscount]

Morning all. I have returned again to my favourite comfort kit, the kitmaster/Dapol 20t brake. 

 

This time I have tried to refine a couple more aspects including a new 3d printed inner end and door, .33mm handrails instead of my usual .5mm and some whitemetal buffers, coupling hook and vac pipe. 

 

As I think I have stated here before, I experimented with some CAD/CAM on this kit which involved drawing up some parts using microsoft 3D builder (free with windows 10) and printing using a monoprize 3D printer (Not my own/very basic).

 

 

 

The print went slightly awry but was acceptable for my needs. This end shows the seperate door in the open position. 

 

 

Struts were made under the vehicle using L-section strip. New footboards made from styrene and solebars ribs created.

 

  

L.M.S. whitemetal buffers etc were added and .33mm handrails added. Moulded handrails need to scraped away using a chisel scalpel first.   

 

 

On to painting. A semi-distressed look was achieved by priming the body with grey then painting using enamel colour in pristine condition. Other tones of brown and reds are dry brushed over the top along with some natural would colours. This dry then a thinned coat of tamiya acrylic nato brown painted over. Once touch dry, this layer is washed with thinners and "scrubbed" and "scratched" with a toothpick to allow the previous layer to show through in areas. This also gives the paint a subtle pealing, blistered texture.

 

Metal parts are treated with rust coloured weathering powders worked into either the wet paint or brushed on matt varnish (dependant on tackiness). Once dry the acrylic brown is painted over and once this is dry, thinners is washed over and again attacked with a toothpick. 

 

 

Black powders are mixed with decalfix and washed over to darken it all down. 

A roof was made from styrene, correcting the placement of the vents, brass tube for the chimney and styrene strip for the rain strips. A coat of matt varnish spray is used to seal and dull down the colour. This stage does knock back a lot of the colour variation and perhaps a mist instead of a coat should be used. 

 

Lamp irons will need to be addressed as I attempted to cut corners using styrene but these are to fragile and not fine enough.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by westernviscount
Extending the scope of the thread

[BernardTPM]

I used one of the Airfix Brake van underframes under a Lima body, which made a pretty good combination back in the late '70s. Odd though that Airfix missed off the underframe bracing.

[westernviscount]

2 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

I used one of the Airfix Brake van underframes under a Lima body, which made a pretty good combination back in the late '70s. Odd though that Airfix missed off the underframe bracing.

One reason for their absence could be that the moulded footboards are so thick they obscure any under frame detail. 

[BernardTPM]

Could be, yes.

[JohnR]

On 22/10/2020 at 11:49, westernviscount said:

 

 

  

L.M.S. whitemetal buffers etc were added and .33mm handrails added. Moulded handrails need to scraped away using a chisel scalpel first.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm having a go at one of these kits, although not to the same extent as yourself. I'm just looking to replace the handrails for my first attempt. 

 

How did you secure the handrails? I've tried to use a little hand drill to create a hole, but the bit doesnt seem to be making much impression in the hard plastic.

[westernviscount]

38 minutes ago, JohnR said:

 

I'm having a go at one of these kits, although not to the same extent as yourself. I'm just looking to replace the handrails for my first attempt. 

 

How did you secure the handrails? I've tried to use a little hand drill to create a hole, but the bit doesnt seem to be making much impression in the hard plastic.

Hi John,

 

I use a good set of micro-drill bits. I say good as I bought a cheap set recently and they are useless. I usually use the ones stocked in hobbycraft https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/modelcraft-microbox-hss-twist-drill-set-20-pack/568811-1000

 

I use a pin vice and use a "back and forth" action as opposed to a continual turn. This seems to drill and gives me control. When doing the guards grab rails at the ends you don't want to go fully through. 

 

I have started using .33mm wire for which I used a .4mm drill bit.  Without a larger hole the handrail will bend unless 100% accurate. 

 

To hold them, I test fit first to check they sit nicely then remove them and dab the ends with cyno. Like many, I place a blob of glue on some scrap material first for control. 

 

So, I would suggest your drill bits are not sharp enough as the plastic is not that hard in this kit. 

 

I hope this is of some help and let me know how you get on. 

[westernviscount]

So I recently completed a kit I have wanted to do for years. I wanted to add another pre BR parcels van to my stock box and as I model western region in the blue period (loosely...very loosely) a hawkworth full brake seemd appropriate. 

 

At first, I considered re-painting a Hornby coach into blue but considered the cost of the coach, the process of stripping the paint and repainting to a good standard would be almost as difficult and expensive as attempting a comet kit version...well that was my thinking anyway. 

 

So...

 

I ordered the kit from wizard models. Unboxing to me is a meditative experience, not to be cheapened with a camera, mind-numbing commentary and online audience;-) but once I had landed from Nirvana, I wanted to capture this shot as a memento of the kit in its unsullied form before I got my mits on it. 

 

 

A week or so of getting to grips with soldering and having a slight sense of "just dont ruin it" i arrived at this point. 

 

 

I am sure comet veterans have a better way of lining the roof up. The curve of the roof ends do not match the aluminium roof itself but I don't think it is expected to fall together.

[westernviscount]

 

The dome is matched to the roof profile by use of milliput. This is not in tge instructions but I felt it the best (cheapest) solution. It sanded really smooth. The end of the whitemetal casting is filed to mqtch the bow end. 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by westernviscount

[westernviscount]

The website suggests the kit contains all you need but the guards steps, door hinges, end steps and corridor connection suspension is on a seperate fret. 

 

I washed the kit in soapy water which I am not sure is the best way but I assumed I needed to clean the side of flux and other gundge. 

 

 

I am not overly keen on the quality of my cant rail matching between cast dome end and main roof but at the stage had done what I thought I could. 

 

 

The spraying of red oxide brings the detail of tge kit to life and the thinness of the body shell achieved by using brass is demonstrated (I might be being converted!). 

[westernviscount]

 

Painting involved the spraying of railmatch br blue, 3 coats then tge underframe, roof and gangeays were hand painted humbrol 32 dark grey. 

 

I initially used the clear plastic supplied for glazing to glue on the inside of the body as I thought the brass thin enough to make it look flush glazed...nah!! It looked terrible. 

So...

Window panes were cut individually, cut to a rectangle the corners sanded. They were dressed to push fir into the appertures. I had at this staged allowed the pai t to cure for a couple of weeks. Attempting this soo er I think would have chipped the paint around the windows. 

[westernviscount]

virtually completed save the weathering which I must sam I am not keen to proceed with. I hoped to use screwlink couplings but the corridor connector is too long to make this viable. I think I built it too long in tge first place but too late to change. 

The window bars are 5amp fuse wire soldered to a frame and glued behind the windows. The bars behind the door windows look to be of a finer type so after much fiddling I decided to scribe lines into clear plastic. 

 

More careful research would have led me to remove the steps from the bogies and perhaps the steps from the end of the body. 

[westernviscount]

Back to some modelling. A parkside BY kit with some additional biys and bobs. 

 

A couple of addition include the scraping away of handrails and door handles and replacement with .3mm brass wire. 

 

White metal buffers, hooks, vac pipes and torpedo vents from Lanarkshire. 

 

I replaced the guards steps with scratch built brass ones. 

 

 

Some of the brake gear was scratched up from brass wire. Parkside supply plastic rod for the underframe bracing which I replaced with .5mm wire. 

 

Note the white plastikard along the solebar. These are to widen the gap between the solebars so the W irons are not pushed out tok far and the wheels spin freely. I read of this technique in the railway modeller. 

 

Edited June 25, 2022 by westernviscount