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Ben's Resprays Workbench Thread


cambo74
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So, what follows here is either an attempt by me to be honest or it will turn out to be a Gerald Ratner style professional suicide ...... lets hope its the first option ......

 

Last night I received a semi anonymous email which contained lots of constructive criticism of my work from my peers - some of whom may frequent this forum ..... It mentioned various things from taking on too much work to the quality of my finishing and it made me think - it certainly didn't make me sleep last night - but I have to admit that they were right on a number of the points raised ... 

 

So, what to do .... well I could get arsey and defensive but there is no point, there is enough negativity and bad feeling in the world at the moment so with that in mind I have decided to take the positive route ....

 

Im not going to list excuses or reasons why, aside from saying, 2020 has not been a great year for anyone and if I'm honest my focus has changed from it being a hobby to becoming a job - something a wise old sage said to me when I started out doing this to avoid at all costs.  I've become a production line and as a consequence have rushed through things at times and not finished the models off to the standards I would expect myself and in what is a growing and competitive industry, these types of things make you stand out from the rest. Dont get me wrong its nice to be busy but sometimes the balance wasn't there.

 

I have decided to remove my previous thread and will use 2021 to start afresh on many fronts, I will also not update as much as I used to as although people enjoy seeing work in progress - it can also be seen as unfinished and I think that less is more sometimes and will mostly publish pictures of the final product as apposed to when there may be the odd thing still not completed.

 

This is my livelihood and as a consequence how I am perceived by my customers and colleagues is of paramount importance and something I will endeavour to improve moving forward.

 

Have a few days off with the Kids now which im really looking forward to and come Monday I will sit down in what is Day 1 of Bens Resprays 2 - Spray Harder !!!

 

Thanks for taking time to read this and thank you to all my loyal friends and customers who have supported me since I started doing this full time in 2018 - here's to a great year for us all...

 

Ben 

Edited by cambo74
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Hi Ben,

 

Turning a hobby into a job was great for me but after eighteen years it caused me to leave and do something else with my life. I had about ten years away from railways completely, which turned out to be a good thing as it expanded my outlook on life and allowed me to think differently about how to earn a living and relate to what my interests are. I'm back into railways although the big railway isn't coming back toy trains are the way forward.

 

As far a criticism goes, it is my experience of life that the harshest criticism comes from those with the least ability.

 

I have managed to adopt a life style that allows me to do pretty much what I want when I want, should I go for a walk, do some paid work, play toy trains or look out of the window ?

 

Gibbo.

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The hardest part of being in business is probably knowing when to say no - if someone is offering you money today and that money may not be there tomorrow the urge to say yes becomes harder and harder to resist especially if there are outside forces that press down - mortgages, pandemics, competition.

 

You have to come up with a workable production line that leaves gaps for life, downtime and maintaining your mental health - then when work comes your way to you look at the slots available, you tell the person when you can do the work and make an agreement.

 

Perhaps you can offer discount to people who are can be more flexible to start dates allowing to still chop and change schedules within reason so if a piece comes up you can reschedule to accomodate without over working yourself.

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Yep, it's a tricky balance getting everything right....I'm now 8 years in and every day is still a school day for me. We have discussed this before....quality is paramount and all else is worked around that. You can have your cake and eat it with this business, but you have to be honest with yourself and know your strengths and weaknesses. 

 

Best of luck.

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2 minutes ago, blueeighties said:

Yep, it's a tricky balance getting everything right....I'm now 8 years in and every day is still a school day for me. We have discussed this before....quality is paramount and all else is worked around that. You can have your cake and eat it with this business, but you have to be honest with yourself and know your strengths and weaknesses. 

 

Best of luck.

 

Quite right mate .... we do have many chats about things over the years ....... looking forward to putting things into practice .....

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Hi Ben,

Well first of all that's a crappy way to get a message to you. Although I only launched Squirrel Rail last year I have been doing rail work on and off for over 10 years and I've learnt you can't please all of the people all of the time. I post things half way through/part finished and hope that people see the amount of work that goes into a respray or a weathering job as well as providing a bit of inspiration to other modellers.

It is very difficult when it becomes a production line but I am fortunate that whilst this is now my day job I do not have to rely on it, but it is a fine balancing act. 

Good luck with the relaunch and all the best Cheers Jerry

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Wishing you the best of luck Ben. As Lee has mentioned quality is paramount. We’ve all been there chasing being the first to do things in certain liveries but it matters not being first if you can’t reflect on it being your best. I know I’m not alone in saying you can drop me a message if you want help or advice. Nor am I saying that because I think I’m perfect. We all have issues with masking, decals, etc etc. It’s just how we respond to those issues. 

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2 hours ago, DBC90024 said:

Thumbs up here Ben ... 

 

You do it how you see fit, personally I liked what you did before, it was kinda cool watching things come together ... I had actually been looking for your latest workbench upload .. but it has to work for you of course first and foremost.

 

Kat@johnsonstreetIEMD

 

Cheers Kat- ill probably try and find some middle ground but I guess what im trying to say is that im going to slow down a bit and not go at 100 miles an hour all the time .... the small bits are usually the most important ones ....

 

Ben 

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  • cambo74 changed the title to Ben's Resprays Workbench Thread
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Ok then .... off we go .....

 

To start with a couple of 47s which have been resprayed and renumbered into Large Logo Livery and then detailed and weathered ...... 47517 Andrew Carnegie & 47550 University of Dundee.....

 

 

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Back on the paints today ......a new approach to Inter City ScotRail Livery .... am going to try Fox Transfers stripes ......also the obligatory pair of Scottish Large Logo 47s, a DRS Class 66 no 091 and finally a Freightliner Green Class 90 - 90041....

 

 

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5 hours ago, bartram108 said:

Might be a trick of the light but I'd say there's green showing through the yellow on the 90, just above the light cluster

 

Graham

 

Would hope its a trick of the light as it was masked fully before the green went on .........

 

And checked and indeed a trick of the light .... sorry 

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Something very therapeutic about taking off the masking tape after a days work .... todays efforts have seen the following : Little and Large EWS Class 47 and 37s, Inter City Class 50s and 87 and also a smaller version ..... a Hornby Push/Pull Set resprayed in Blue/Grey Livery and finally am Interim Europhoenix Class 73 ala the ex DRS 37s ......

 

 

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1 hour ago, cambo74 said:

A few locos have had transfers applied today .... 47582, 47635 & 37128 in Large Logo Livery and 90036 in DB Cargo Livery and finally 47541 in Inter CIty ScotRail Livery ....

 

 

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Hi Ben, duplication alert:excl: I reckon you can guess which one!! Cheers Jerry

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