Building an N gauge coach kit

[2mm Andy]

They look really nice - difficult to believe that they're N gauge!

 

I use Games Workshop 'Purity Seal' satin varnish prior to applying transfers - that seems to give enough of a gloss finish to get the transfers to stick (although I still get the occasional disaster!)

 

Andy

[DavidK71]

On 19/08/2011 at 18:08, 2mm Andy said:

They look really nice - difficult to believe that they're N gauge!

 

I use Games Workshop 'Purity Seal' satin varnish prior to applying transfers - that seems to give enough of a gloss finish to get the transfers to stick (although I still get the occasional disaster!)

Thanks! I intend to investigate 'Purity Seal' - if you can lay transfers on it then I should be able to just use that as the top varnish coat without needing to use another gloss layer to protect the decals. Is that what you do?

Edited September 5, 2022 by DavidK71

[2mm Andy]

I apply a coat of 'purity seal' and let it dry, apply the transfers (using Microsol if necessary) then when they're fixed in place, give the transfers a couple of coats of Johnson's 'Klear' to protect them. I then spray a matt varnish over the whole wagon. I used to use Humbrol aerosol varnish, but I got a can of Testor's Dullcote recently and intend giving that a go on the next batch of wagons.

 

The purity seal seems to take the transfers OK, although I have had problems on things like wagon strapping where it's difficult to get the transfer flat.

 

Andy

[DavidK71]

Finished! The following photographs aren't brilliant as it is rather overcast today, but I will add better ones when the weather is more suitable.

 

 

There is actually some work to do on the couplers, but that will wait until I have another Hawksworth made up and can judge how closely coupled they can be.

 

Since the last post I've been experimenting with the finish on the coach sides. In the end I've left it as Halfords clear lacquer, which is glossy but not too glossy. While I could get satin varnishes like Purity Seal to apply okay to test pieces, I didn't really like how it made the colours, especially the crimson, so much less vibrant. The final effect, hopefully, is of having just emerged from the Swindon paint shop 🙂.

 

Apart from that, I've added the glazing using the supplied strip in the kit. The lavatory window has been frosted by rubbing the glazing with fine sandpaper. It doesn't show up well in the photograph but looks good here ... Curtains are simply painted on the inside of the glazing strip, and the corridor handrail is sections of nickel-sliver wire glued to the glazing strip.

 

Anyway, I'm very pleased with the result. On to the next coaches ...

Edited September 5, 2022 by DavidK71

[MrSimon]

Hi,

 

The coach looks excellent finished, I can't wait to see the rest of them!

 

Simon

[DavidK71]

As previously promised, a few further photographs of the Hawksworth brake third, taken in rather better light:

 

 

 

These photographs do show one area for improvement: you can see at the very bottom of the coach sides where the paint doesn't cover the actual bottom edge of the sides. Will do better next time ...

 

Speaking of which, as mentioned in the past, the next project is an Ultima kit of an LMS 50' full brake. This is now mostly assembled, though the roof and sides are just tacked in place at the moment for the photograph:

 

 

I've not made many deviations from the instructions. The instructions describe soldering a small platform to the truss rod to hold the voltage regulator - instead I've attached a length of scrap brass fret to the side bracing and used that to support the regulator, which seems a more sensible arrangement (and was taken from the Comet instructions for their 4mm kit). Nickel silver wire has also been used for the rails at the ends, also following the Comet instructions. The roof has had the lining tape described in a previous post applied, along with the vents, and the roof then sprayed with undercoat - this seems to have worked well. I've also re-modelled the bogies somewhat to move the coupler holders back into the bogie, so that the coach couples acceptably closely.

[Dr Al]

This is exquisite work!

 

Regards,

Alan

[MrSimon]

Hi, the full brake looks really good - is it still available from Ultima and are the bogies free-running? Can't wait to see it painted up, although the finish is so clean it's almost a shame to loose the silver!

 

Simon

[Kris]

Those look great David. the paint finish and the glazing is so much better than I have achieved. I might have to try again on those fronts having seen yours.

 

 

@ Simon

Looking at Ultima's website it suggests that the sides for the brake are available as are most of the parts but the kit as a whole is not. I'd suggest you contact them to see what can be done Simon.

[DavidK71]

@Alan: Thank you!

 

@Simon: The kit is still available, I think. It's listed on the Ultima web site here (http://www.ultima-mo...by.cs?Section=K) as the first entry in the list. The list is slightly misleading as it says "etched sides" but means "kit with etched sides" as opposed to "kit with pre-printed sides". You'd also need bogie etches and axle boxes (listed here http://www.ultima-mo...by.cs?Section=K) as well as wheels and top hat bearings (which Ultima sell, but can also be obtained elsewhere). Looking at the above link the bogie etch is now out of stock but I expect Alan will have an idea of when he'll have more in stock. You'll also need couplers, plasticard rod and some way of tackling the roof rain strips.

 

Building the bogies did challenge me a bit (as described in a previous post) and I've modified what I've done with them since that post to get the couplers in close enough. Having said that, they do run very smoothly. As an alternative for bogies, you could also see if you could get hold of some spare Bachmann Farish Stanier coach bogies - I've not tried this, but looking at a Stanier coach they seem like a decent representation of an LMS bogie.

 

And yes, the silver finish does photograph well 🙂

 

@Kris: For the glazing I think the trick is thin etched coach sides, a thin plastic glazing strip and a small amount of a thick glue to stick the glazing strip in place. I used Evostick Impact which is a bit like the consistency of warm Mozarella, but its thickness does mean that you can put a small blob close to the window and then press down hard without having it run everywhere.

 

On the painting front I think we'd all do even better with an airbrush, it's just a question of getting the courage to buy and try it!

Edited September 5, 2022 by DavidK71

[Etched Pixels]

Looking at Ultima's website it suggests that the sides for the brake are available as are most of the parts but the kit as a whole is not. I'd suggest you contact them to see what can be done Simon.

 

The bogies are on backorder having slightly changed design to incorporate the coupling changes Colin Allbright made in the later bogies and having switched them to Nickel Silver. They should be back in a couple of weeks. It's also possible to build them with 2mm SA bogies if you are a member. You can do a reasonable approximation with BR Mark 1 bogies (available from Peter's Spares and other places) which is perhaps a good way to get going if you are not confident about bogie building.

 

Sadly Bachmann don't do bogie packs in N as they do in OO and while I can get (and indeed do stock) some Dapol bogies with hopefully more to come I can't get RTR Bachmann bogies for the kits which would have been ideal.

 

Alan

[DavidK71]

Crikey, it's been a while since I updated this thread ... I have finally got round to finishing the Stanier full brake, and here it is, with a Dapol/NGS Stove R behind for company:

 

 

The bogies I'm very pleased with. Despite a few problems early on, they run very smoothly, and I'm glad I experimented with using top hat bearings. They were brush painted with Humbrol primer, then Humbrol satin black, and finally a coat of Humbrol matt varnish to give the final finish.

 

The underframe and sides were sprayed with Halfords grey primer, and then Hycote satin black sprayed on top. While this looks pretty good, I have had better results spraying with Halfords satin black on a Hawksworth full brake I'm also working on: the Halfords black seems to give a better finish, with the Hycote being a little bit thicker.

 

Painting the roof was a source of woe, and the main reason it took so long to finish this coach. I ended up repeatedly spraying the roof with undercoat, then sanding and filling the join between the roof and the sides, then spraying again ... in the end the finish on the roof was terrible as I'd sprayed too much paint on it, so I took it off, stripped it back and tried again, this time with more discipline about how much filling to do before considering the join acceptable . I also took the opportunity to remove the torpedo vents and replace them with shell vents, as I intended to model one of the later batches, which most sources say had shell vents. Looking at the pictures on Paul Bartlett's site I'm not completely sure I've got this right, as most of his pictures show either all torpedo vents, or a random mixture of shell and torpedo vents. Ah well, I'm not changing it now ...

 

The sides were sprayed with Halfords red primer, then sprayed with Alfa Romeo 530 rosso red, this time mixed by Halfords. To my eye this gives a very pleasing version of BR crimson. Custom cellulose paint in spray cans is definitely harder to work with than the standard acrylics, but I'm getting better at not applying too much, and the result is worth the effort. Transfers are from ModelMaster via the NGS, and then the sides were sealed with a coat of Halfords clear lacquer, followed by a final, very light coat of Humbrol matt varnish from a rattle can. I've had bad experiences with applying too much of this before, so this was applied very sparingly (one pass with the can 25cm away from the sides), which proved enough to take the glossy shine off the sides.

 

One thing I'm not completely happy with is that I don't think I got enough tumblehome into the sides. I've not found an entirely satisfactory way of doing this, and I've been wondering whether to trying to acquire a length of metal tubing to roll against might be an answer. Any suggestions?

 

Anyway, there we go: one Stanier 50' brake, and another very nice kit from Ultima. More coaches to follow in time ...

[Kris]

I use a rolling pin (about 75mm) to do the tumble home and for smaller work I use a length of tube (about 25mm)

[D869]

Hi David,

 

Nice job - I particularly like the colour.

 

For tumblehomes I use a suitable sized piece of metal rod (smaller than the diameter I'm aiming for) and put the coach side on what I grandiosely call a 'tumblehome jig'. You could use wooden dowel, but I think metal is probably better for the smaller diameters.

 

The jig in question is easily made in 5 minutes from a few strips of cereal packet - one base piece comfortably bigger than the coach side, a strip at the top to locate the top edge of the coach side and then two (or more) strips glued on top of each other so that they don't quite clear near to the bottom edge of the coach side and prop it up away from the base. I then carefully push the metal rod down onto the lower part of the coach side and the lower strips of card force the bottom edge to bend around the metal rod. I often use more than one metal rod of different (progressively smaller) diameters to gradually form the curve.

 

Take your time and keep removing and checking because it's easier to add more curve than to reduce the curve... although reducing the curve isn't impossible if you do go wrong - just smooth the curve against a slightly larger diameter rod.

 

I don't think this was my idea originally but I have no idea where it came from.

 

Of course it pays to have plenty of choice of metal rod diameters to choose from, but be creative and scour your toolbox, kitchen drawers etc.

 

Regards, Andy

[DavidK71]

Thank you both for the tumblehome suggestions - I shall start work on my "tumblehome jig" soon 🙂

Edited September 5, 2022 by DavidK71

[DavidK71]

More Hawksworth coaches are on my workbench, but I thought I'd post this as a teaser of a more adventurous project:

 

 

The sides are from Bill Bedford, and are of a H15 restaurant coach. The roof is from a Masterclass Models 70' toplight kit, which will also be used to provide the correct underframe. I still need to source (or make) some appropriate gas cylinders, and decide on 4- or 6-wheel bogies.

[DavidK71]

And one more for the collection - this time a Hawksworth K45 full brake:

 

 

Construction was as per the previous brake third, except that this time the underframe was painted by spraying with Halfords satin black, which has produced a nice fine, even finish. I am not entirely happy with the bogies, however, as they really should be GWR 9' pressed steel ones. Time to investigate the 2mm Association's range ...

Edited December 15, 2011 by DavidK71

[Karhedron]

Superb work again. Sorry if I missed it earlier but who's transfers did you use for lining and numbering?

[McRuss]

David,

 

the Halford paints are these acrylics or email paints? And the Alfa Romeo 530 rosso red paint for your LMS Full Brake, you said it was mixed at Halfords.

What did it cost? I ask because I visit the UK next month and maybe would visit a Halford store to paint some paint cans.

 

Markus

[DavidK71]

On 15/12/2011 at 15:44, Karhedron said:

Superb work again. Sorry if I missed it earlier but who's transfers did you use for lining and numbering?

Thank you! The transfers are all Model Master, from the NGS. The numbers are from their sheet for ex-GWR coaches, cut up and re-arranged to provide the numbers I want. I applied them with plenty of Microsol to get them to flatten down completely, and then a coat of lacquer and a final thin coat of satin varnish to hold them and hide the carrier film. I do find the carrier film on these a bit thick - on the full brake it can still be seen if you hold the coach up to the light at just the right angle. I think for the next one I am going to try removing the film and see what happens.

 

On 15/12/2011 at 16:57, McRuss said:

The Halford paints are these acrylics or email paints? And the Alfa Romeo 530 rosso red paint for your LMS Full Brake, you said it was mixed at Halfords. What did it cost? I ask because I visit the UK next month and maybe would visit a Halford store to paint some paint cans.

The AR 530 rosso red is cellulose paint - what I think of as old fashioned car paint. I only seem to see cellulose paint these days in custom mixing services - presumably enamels and acrylics can't be mixed in the same way easily. I think a 400ml rattle can made up to AR530 cost me about £16. There are companies on the Internet and eBay that advertise similar mixing services and may well be cheaper or more practical from Germany. The grey and black Halfords paints are just from their standard range of acrylics.

Edited September 5, 2022 by DavidK71

[D869]

The photo isn't very detailed but the bogies you used don't seem a million miles away from being correct.

 

The Association ones involve more folding and soldering than the ones you used. They are pretty good representations of the bogies used on the passenger carrying vehicles but many of the NPCS vehicles had bogies of the same basic design but with shorter springs and smaller footsteps. I decided it was impractical to change the springs on the Association kits, so my model has bogies that are not quite typical of those used on the full brakes in the photos I've seen. They should be perfect for your brake third etc though.

[BernardTPM]

The correct basic pattern of bogies are also under the Dapol 1938 Collett coaches. Unfortunately they're not listed as a separate item currently.

[DavidK71]

The Association ones involve more folding and soldering than the ones you used. They are pretty good representations of the bogies used on the passenger carrying vehicles but many of the NPCS vehicles had bogies of the same basic design but with shorter springs and smaller footsteps.

That's interesting stuff. I think I'm ready to try the more complicated 2mm Association bogies - I've got a six-wheel bogie on the workbench at the moment that seems to work, so I must be getting the hang of them!

 

The correct basic pattern of bogies are also under the Dapol 1938 Collett coaches. Unfortunately they're not listed as a separate item currently.

I think Alan was working on persuading Dapol to let him sell them separately - hopefully he'll succeed.

[Kris]

The 2mm ones aren't that complex, and once you get used to them they go together quickly (ish). Are your 2 hawksworths slightly different heights?

[DavidK71]

Are your 2 hawksworths slightly different heights?

You are right, though oddly the photograph makes this look more pronounced than it is. (Must get a better camera...) I have some very thin brass washers somewhere: I need to pack one under the bogies to lift it slightly.