Bachmann 37 windscreens the easy way?

[tractor_37260]

Sorry for the delay tractor_37260. I use the Shawplan h/c panels back-to-front because they have indentations in the fronts for his etched marker lights - the "rings". Those rings are already too low profile, and the half etch indentation in the panels makes them even more so. With the tube method, if I used the plates right way round the indentation would show around the tube. Also, the indentations are a good guide of the thickness the plates need to be reduced by. Does that make sense?

The original Bachmann plates and rings have to be removed, yes. I can't stand them with those awful square corners and all bunged up with over-thick paint.

So it's a case of poor originals and not quite perfect replacements.

Good luck with the grommets. I really recommend soldering them to a backing plate and filing them there. And handle them very carefully afterwards to avoid distortion. Again, what the eye doesn't see, the airbrush will!

 

 

 

 

Daddyman

Thanks for the info on the H/C panels - that makes perfect sense now, especially the plate thinning using the recesses as a thickness guide etc. I don't like the original square cornered H/C panels either. 

Nice work on the tank/pipe details, and those bufferbeams,  a coat of yellow coming soon on the noses ?

[Daddyman]

Update on progress: all work has been on painting which means five minutes' activity interspersed by hours of drying, effectively preventing any progress on the model for a couple of weeks. The noses have taken ages, needing many coast of yellow even with a matt white undercoat, but are just about there now. The No1 end headcode has had a first salvo with black. I get this as close as possible with masking tape, but it's virtually impossible to get right, so once this is dry I'll tidy up the edges with 1500 sandpaper - it works for white smokebox door straps, hope it will work here. First coat of maroon on the windscreens has shown some tidying needs doing before the next coat. Also in this shot is the Vitrains MW jumper, which is not bad at all. I've simply cut off the ETH jumper which VT erroneously attached to the other end; this will then plug into the MW socket on the bufferbeam - though here it looks as if I'm copying VT and plugging it into the ETH jumper! I'm not.

 

Fuel tanks are at a similar state, all work stopped while painting goes on:

 

During the time waiting for 406 drying I've been getting other things done, batch-building 37 fuel tanks, bogies and nose ends and painting the BDAs/BEAs:

 

This shows the first stage of the decking: matt white applied, then masked off while the faded orangey-pink is sprayed on, and then daubed in a mucky wet mix:

 

This mix is then wiped off, but the texture of the matt white makes sure that much of the muck stays, representing bleached out oak, which is as close as I can get to the WHL wagons as their decking is covered in rusty wire mesh presumably to protect workers from slipping. I can't find a source of fine enough mesh in big enough sheets, so faded oak it is:

 

The more-or-less finished result:

 

I'm still experimenting on the stanchions. I've sprayed some 0.75 square strip orange and will then overspray that with a grey or black colour, but there are as many stanchion colours as there are stanchions...

 

Also been fiddling with a BSW, just because I had a BDA body spare after cannibalising it for brake lever, bolsters and bogies. The bogies are Cambrian as will be the bolsters, with the same 0.75 stanchions - Cambrian's are way too thick. 

 

Finally, what will become 47739, a Motherwell demic. A pet hate of mine is crappy old models used as scrap-line locos: if scrap lines are worth modelling then they're worth doing properly. I watched trains in the 80s, missed out the 90s and then came up for air in 2003-2006 to find lots of those 80s locos stored in pretty poor condition. But with squeaky-clean 170s and 158s everywhere, it was nice to see the dereliction of those locos and to think about how to model the effects of time. I travelled to Millerhill, Motherwell and Ayr to see this End of Days. They were good times - pretty much the last ones: 90s on the North Berwick and 37s on the FW sleeper. Precious memories and worth doing justice to, so this is a brand-new Bachmann 47.

 

I've cut out the battery box covers and replaced the marker lights with the RES style, stripped the black surrounds off the headcode dots and am repainting the dots themselves. As well as the class 60 buffers, the bufferbeam will need a gutted ETS box on the RHS. I'll also have to replace the TDM cables now that I've re-seated the jumpers. The big job, though, will be the weathering. One side I've painted in DRS smoke blue mixed with a tiny bit of the RES grey, which matches photos of 739 at Motherwell in 2005:

http://wnxx.com/images/scrap/plog-content/images/class-40-to-class-47/class-47-47721-47799/47739-motherwell-090605-d-stafford.jpg

 

Apart from the fact that I've got the masking line slightly wrong, revealing a bit of the old grey, this colour looks about right so far, though it will need some staining and distressing. I now have to do the edges of the roof, where the absence of soot exposed fading to the same colour. Then the problem will be the red - how to represent fading and paint rubbed down to primer in places (I can't simply scuff the Bachmann paint as the plastic is bright red). To be continued ...

[tractor_37260]

Update on progress: all work has been on painting which means five minutes' activity interspersed by hours of drying, effectively preventing any progress on the model for a couple of weeks. The noses have taken ages, needing many coast of yellow even with a matt white undercoat, but are just about there now. The No1 end headcode has had a first salvo with black. I get this as close as possible with masking tape, but it's virtually impossible to get right, so once this is dry I'll tidy up the edges with 1500 sandpaper - it works for white smokebox door straps, hope it will work here. First coat of maroon on the windscreens has shown some tidying needs doing before the next coat. Also in this shot is the Vitrains MW jumper, which is not bad at all. I've simply cut off the ETH jumper which VT erroneously attached to the other end; this will then plug into the MW socket on the bufferbeam - though here it looks as if I'm copying VT and plugging it into the ETH jumper! I'm not.

P1340500.jpg

 

 

 

 

.

Starting to take shape nicely, would it perhaps have been easier/possible to mod the headcode box/etched plate etc and then paint them prior to fitting to save awkward masking etc  The Vi trains MU jumpers look so much better that Bach's "lump" of plastic.

[Daddyman]

Yes, exactly what I've resorted to - mug's game trying to mask in that area. So I did the h/c maker surrounds in brass rod and soldered them to the Shawplan hc plate, then held them on a cocktail stick and sprayed them black. At the same time i made the hc box on the nose good and resprayed that.

 

Fuel tanks are all done and the windscreens are just about at the point where I can say I'm happy with the paint finish. Big thing now is the glazing, then transfers, then the roof fan, then weathering, and I'll post photos once that's all done.

 

All the best.

[Daddyman]

Glazing all weekend. After about 4 hours yesterday and then the same again on and off today during Paris-Roubaix. Sum total: two panes done. I reckon I've discarded almost 20 panes that I've worked on for around half an hour only to find a slight gap. What a pane! The Shawplan panes with the edge filed off are almost a good fit, but not quite - and even the tiniest gap looks awful on this job.

Clearly, something's wrong with my method but not sure what - the light is good, the files are good. Maybe my eyesight! Certainly took a hit this weekend.

Edited April 13, 2014 by Daddyman

[Southwich]

Really enjoyed finding this thread a few months ago @Daddyman - did the tractors get finished in the end? 

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Daddyman]

No, they didn't. Where the 37 was concerned, it was always an exercise in t@#d-polishing, so it was hard to get the motivation to finish. And the PITA of trying to get hold of Shawplan eventually put me off diesel modelling for good. 

 

Things are easier now with Stenson Models helping on the BDAs and TTAs, and good-looking models of the 66 and 37 either here or on the way, meaning it's no longer necessary to try to deal with Shawplan.  

[Southwich]

1 hour ago, Daddyman said:

No, they didn't. Where the 37 was concerned, it was always an exercise in t@#d-polishing, so it was hard to get the motivation to finish. And the PITA of trying to get hold of Shawplan eventually put me off diesel modelling for good. 

 

Things are easier now with Stenson Models helping on the BDAs and TTAs, and good-looking models of the 66 and 37 either here or on the way, meaning it's no longer necessary to try to deal with Shawplan.  

Thats a massive shame as it’s some seriously inspirational modelling! If the 37s are sitting around gathering dust I’d be more than happy to take them off your hands and get them finished. They’ve been a great pointer for me

 

As you’ve shown I think the Bachmann model can scrub up nicely if you give it some attention!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will