Wright writes.....

[t-b-g]

6 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Lovely work Simon,

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

Is it really 2mm FS? On first glance, I assumed it was 4mm! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

I had to check by looking at Simon's own thread. It would be a decent model in 7mm, a very good one in 4mm but in 2mm? Wow!

[Tony Wright]

Returning to the theme of how the real locomotives were made................

 

I know Doncaster used to stencil the loco's number on every individual part of it, before it was dismantled before repair. 

 

If, for instance, the cladding panels on the A4s got mixed up, they wouldn't fit another one.

[grahame]

5 hours ago, 65179 said:

A while ago I put a photo up of the B16 I'd been working on.  Well, working at nothing like Tony's pace, it is now nearing completion.

 

 

A bit of tweaking, lamps, crew and a DG coupling still required.

 

Simon 

 

Sensational workmanship.

 

[Bucoops]

15 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Returning to the theme of how the real locomotives were made................

 

I know Doncaster used to stencil the loco's number on every individual part of it, before it was dismantled before repair. 

 

If, for instance, the cladding panels on the A4s got mixed up, they wouldn't fit another one.

 

The "blog" on the NRM website about the refurbishment of Sir Nigel Gresley (the loco, not the corpse!) quite often mentions parts being stamped with classmates, and I think sometimes numbers from other classes. Makes for an interesting history of the loco.

 

https://blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/sir-nigel-gresley-overhaul/

 

 

[richard i]

5 hours ago, Jesse Sim said:

I thought I’d show off my very first attempt at painting teak, I’ve used some old Hornby Clerestorys as a demo. I’d like to hear everyone’s opinions and if possible some help in making it better or your own methods. I think it doesn’t look as bad as what I thought it would. It’s only a rough go. 

Drag the brush in different directions, upper panels had wood grain running vertically, lower panels were horizontal.

richard 

[Paul Cram]

The top coat looks as though the paint was a bit too thick. A thinner caoat may produce better results.

[jwealleans]

Quote

The "blog" on the NRM website about the refurbishment of Sir Nigel Gresley (the loco, not the corpse!) quite often mentions parts being stamped with classmates, and I think sometimes numbers from other classes. Makes for an interesting history of the loco.

 

Yes, I can vouch for that.  I helped with the overhaul at the end of the 1970s/early 80s and a lot of the motion was stamped 60026.

[jamie92208]

For a lo g time there was a suspicion that Coronation and Duchess of Hamilton never gotbtheir true identies back.  However when I looked round on Holbeck shed one day, mostbof thevmotion was stamped 6229.

 

Jamie

[FarrMan]

1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

Rotring ink isn't as dense as paint and you end up with translucent lines.  

 

I thought so. i wonder if anyone has tried it with paint thinned down?

 

Lloyd

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

 

Yes, I can vouch for that.  I helped with the overhaul at the end of the 1970s/early 80s and a lot of the motion was stamped 60026.

I visited Crewe Works in 1966/'67 when both 60007 and 60026 were there. 

 

Most of MILES BEEVOR's mechanical stuff (including the drivers) was in much better condition than SIR NIGEL's, so was used.

 

For my 70th birthday, my family bought me a driving day on the GC. As part of the experience, we were given a conducted tour of the workshops at Loughborough. 70013 was present, with most of the motion stamped '70006'.

 

I think it was things like boiler cladding pieces which were unique to each loco.........

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[APOLLO]

Sir Nigel on Crewe South shed after restoration and presumably being run in.

 

 

One of the two mentioned by Tony on Crewe works, I think on a different date - can't quite make out the number. Is this Miles Beevor ?

 

 

Evening Star in the paint shop.

 

 

This is Flying Scotsman on Doncaster shed 26 Oct 1968. Nobody around so we visited the cab, where all was gleaming and workmanlike.

 

Whats that coach ?

 

 

Same day at the back of York shed

 

 

One for the Gas Works Railway fans (GWR) - Tysley open day  5 Oct 1969 - Wot elf n saftey ?

 

 

Happy days - even after August 1968.

 

Brit15

[Northmoor]

On 19/05/2020 at 16:24, Dunsignalling said:

Steam locomotives were built by hand, and the process bore almost no resemblance to the way most things are made today by robots working to tolerances almost unmeasurable a century ago.

 

The aviation would have you believe they have always worked to much greater standards, but my experience of the abandoned Nimrod MRA4 programme would suggest otherwise.  These airframes dated back to the days of the DH Comet and one of the many, many problems affecting the rebuilds were no two were the same, so what should have been a standard fitment became a series of custom-builds.  It was said that the variation in some dimensions between airframes could be measured in inches.

 

Edit: Thanks to Willie Whizz for recording the same story earlier, I hadn't caught up that far in the thread.  The Nimrod programme was a disaster from beginning to end though.........

Edited May 20, 2020 by Northmoor
Acknowledging duplicate anecdote

[Ollie K]

2 hours ago, jwealleans said:

 

Yes, I can vouch for that.  I helped with the overhaul at the end of the 1970s/early 80s and a lot of the motion was stamped 60026.

 

A couple of weeks before lockdown, I visited the NRM and as ever, had a good poke around Mallard. I'd assumed that given the frequency with which parts were changed and shared at every overhaul since 1938, little of the original loco survives, but up close was pleasantly surprised to see much of the motion clearly stamped '4468'. 

 

[Wingman Mothergoose]

Tony,

Can you recommend some good but cheap paint brushes? I’ve only got a couple of brushes and they’ve seen better days, and I’d like to experiment with adding washes, dry brushing and painting LNER teak livery. My brushes are definitely NOT up to the task! 
 

Chris

[James Fitzjames]

3 hours ago, FarrMan said:

 

I thought so. i wonder if anyone has tried it with paint thinned down?

 

Lloyd

Geoff Haynes has a section about it in his Painting and Lining Model Locomotives and Coaches p. 66 on

[Steamport Southport]

36 minutes ago, Wingman Mothergoose said:

Tony,

Can you recommend some good but cheap paint brushes? I’ve only got a couple of brushes and they’ve seen better days, and I’d like to experiment with adding washes, dry brushing and painting LNER teak livery. My brushes are definitely NOT up to the task! 
 

Chris

 

Try The Works.

 

They sell good artists brushes for a very reasonable price. The current selection doesn't look great, but people have probably hoovered them up during lockdown.

 

https://www.theworks.co.uk/c/art-supplies/paint-brushes

 

 

 

Jason

[James Fitzjames]

44 minutes ago, Wingman Mothergoose said:

Tony,

Can you recommend some good but cheap paint brushes? I’ve only got a couple of brushes and they’ve seen better days, and I’d like to experiment with adding washes, dry brushing and painting LNER teak livery. My brushes are definitely NOT up to the task! 
 

Chris

For oil paint/Slow Drying Acrylic methods, you can just chop down some stiffish kids' brushes

[micknich2003]

Try this site, good quility at a sensible price.   Shop - ABC Brushes

[Wingman Mothergoose]

I had a quick go at dry brushing a scrap coach this evening, using Phoenix track colour. I’m pleased with the results, what do you guys think? 

Not the best light to take photos in! 
 

Chris

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, Wingman Mothergoose said:

Tony,

Can you recommend some good but cheap paint brushes? I’ve only got a couple of brushes and they’ve seen better days, and I’d like to experiment with adding washes, dry brushing and painting LNER teak livery. My brushes are definitely NOT up to the task! 
 

Chris

Good evening Chris,

 

I cannot recommend any cheap paint brushes, I'm afraid. All you'll get is a cheap paint finish!

 

Right from my art school days in the mid-'60s, despite student poverty, I've always bought Winsor and Newton's professional water colour sables in a variety of sizes. These are certainly not cheap - expect to pay over £60-70.00 for a reasonable range. 

 

As the name implies, they're for water colours, and using them to apply enamels (as I do) does rather abuse them. However, accept no substitutes. 

 

I brush-painted the following two locos over 40 years ago (the lining is transfer) using Winsor and Newton's sables and Humbrol enamel (in the days when the paint was brilliant). They were finished with a coat of polyurethane satin varnish, again sable-applied. You won't get a finish like these with cheap brushes.........

 

 

 

 

 

As the sables get used, they deteriorate, and are 'cascaded' to dry-brushing and weathering usage, and, finally, scenery duties.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

27 minutes ago, Wingman Mothergoose said:

I had a quick go at dry brushing a scrap coach this evening, using Phoenix track colour. I’m pleased with the results, what do you guys think? 

Not the best light to take photos in! 
 

Chris

What is the effect you're trying to achieve, Chris?

 

A heavily-weathered carriage? It seems to have turned lighter to the right, or is this the lighting?

 

Where possible nowadays, I paint the carriages I build with Halfords car acrylic rattle cans, using appropriate colours (Ford Burgundy Red for BR maroon, for instance). 

 

In the case of Mailcoach carriages, where, to me, spray-painting is not an option, I use enamels applied with sables. 

 

 

This ex-Silver Jubilee triplet was painted using Winsor and Newton's sables applying Railmatch BR maroon enamel (several coats), transfer-lined and finished off with a coat of polyurethane satin varnish; again, sable-applied.

 

 

This Tourist BTO had the same treatment.

 

I stress again, I don't think a decent brush-applied finish can be achieved with cheap brushes.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[PMP]

4 hours ago, Northmoor said:

  These airframes dated back to the days of the DH Comet and one of the many, many problems affecting the rebuilds were no two were the same, so what should have been a standard fitment became a series of custom-builds.  It was said that the variation in some dimensions between airframes could be measured in inches.

 

More recently, the Shorts Belfast built Tucano trainers were equally variable in their build quality, the riggers having many stories of trying to get them ‘square’, particularly the early ones.

[Atso]

3 hours ago, Wingman Mothergoose said:

Tony,

Can you recommend some good but cheap paint brushes? I’ve only got a couple of brushes and they’ve seen better days, and I’d like to experiment with adding washes, dry brushing and painting LNER teak livery. My brushes are definitely NOT up to the task! 
 

Chris

 

Hi Chris,

 

I generally use Daler Rowney Aquafine Flat Sables as they seem to be a good compromise between quality and price. I picked mine up in Hobbycraft, although the online store doesn't seem to have them at the moment.

 

A quick google search however turned up this link. https://www.google.com/shopping/product/5913249040509805901?q=Daler+Rowney+Aquafine+Brushes+flat+Sable&rlz=1C1AFAB_enGB488GB488&sxsrf=ALeKk03qzwDWFfsqUHVAB_yBaNv8m8h-cw:1590008768456&biw=1536&bih=760&prds=opd:3609527279140725970

 

Rather than dry brushing, maybe you could consider a light enamel wash instead. Once it is touch dry it can be reactivated with white spirit to create some interesting effects.

 

I would also highly recommend 'The Art of Weathering' by Martyn Welch, it covers several techniques and is a well thumbed reference in my collection.

 

Here is one of my loco efforts using Martyn's techniques (apologies about the carrier film being visible on the number).

 

[65179]

12 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

There should be a law against it. 2mm models that look better than most 4mm and some 7mm models should be banned. They just make the rest of of us look like novice beginners.

 

To be serious for a moment, that is simply stunning!

 

Thank you to Tony, Tony, Jerry, Grahame and others who've commented on my model. It means a lot to receive positive comments from such excellent modellers. I shan't be challenging the likes of Professor Watson, particularly in relation to mechanical excellence  though!

 

I've been a little unfair in presenting my model without both the DG coupling and the universal joint between the motor in the tender and the worm in the loco. It's also rather more obviously 2mm from other angles.

 

 

The true measure of a good 2mm model is probably what it looks like from above, as that is how it will normally be seen, but I find the sort of low angle shots I shared helpful to see if my models will pass muster compared with shots of the real thing; taken from similar angles as they usually are.

 

Thanks again

 

Simon

[Northmoor]

42 minutes ago, PMP said:

 

More recently, the Shorts Belfast built Tucano trainers were equally variable in their build quality, the riggers having many stories of trying to get them ‘square’, particularly the early ones.

The rail industry has no reason to be treated as second-rate.  The floors of BREL York-built Networker stock was constructed from slotted-together aluminium extrusions.  These nearly 23 metre sections were laser-measured and are supposed to be accurate in length to less than 1 millimetre, so an accuracy of about 1 in 23,000.