Traeth Mawr -Building Mr Price's house , (mostly)

[Compound2632]

6 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said:

A few pages or so back you talked about using a wine bottle as a former to curve plastic for a coach roof. I have been tryihg but the plastic, even 20 thou, doesn't seem to be much affected. How hot was the water? I am a little uncertain about putting boiling water in a wine bottle in case the bottle takes offence.

 

The plastic sheet needs to be immersed in the hot water. The way I do this is to put the wine bottle in a cafetiere:

 

 

[Obviously with the set-up arranged so that the water doesn't pour out - I don't know what's happened here as when I previously posted this photo it was in the correct orientation.]

 

I fill the bottle with hot water too, otherwise it floats! The water is just off the boil.

 

Most wine bottles are around 3" diameter, which is about right for a 10 ft radius roof; I need 8 ft radius as well, for which a 2½" diameter bottle or jar is needed - I started out with an olive jar but was gifted a desert wine bottle.

 

Plan your drinking according to your modelling needs!

[Nick Gough]

Another possibility, especially for longer roofs, is to use the tins that spirits bottles come in:

 

Not the cardboard ones, obviously!

[ChrisN]

3 hours ago, corneliuslundie said:

A few pages or so back you talked about using a wine bottle as a former to curve plastic for a coach roof. I have been trying but the plastic, even 20 thou, doesn't seem to be much affected. How hot was the water? I am a little uncertain about putting boiling water in a wine bottle in case the bottle takes offence.

And those photos of GWR carriages in pre 1908 livery are most useful but rather daunting. I have some Ration 4-wheelers which several decades ago were painted in the 1930s livery, and trying now to add the brown and black is proving a nightmare, as the previous paint was apparently quite thick and has blurred the borders of the panels so the brown is not staying where it is put. Apart from which the Precison GWR cream is a distinctly lighter colour and seems to have very poor covering power. I wanted a brown and lake rake plus a pre-1908 liveried rake for my 1912 layout but I fear they may all end up in one of the later liveries.

Jonathan

 

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

The plastic sheet needs to be immersed in the hot water. The way I do this is to put the wine bottle in a cafetiere:

 

 

[Obviously with the set-up arranged so that the water doesn't pour out - I don't know what's happened here as when I previously posted this photo it was in the correct orientation.]

 

I fill the bottle with hot water too, otherwise it floats! The water is just off the boil.

 

Most wine bottles are around 3" diameter, which is about right for a 10 ft radius roof; I need 8 ft radius as well, for which a 2½" diameter bottle or jar is needed - I started out with an olive jar but was gifted a desert wine bottle.

 

Plan your drinking according to your modelling needs!

 

Well, er, yes.  I do pour boiling water into the bottle, but perhaps I am a bit more gung-ho than I should be.  I tape the plasticard down with masking tape and then last time I held it in place with and old pair of tights.  I make sure the bottle is warm first, and have it on an insulator.  The (wooden) table would do, if you were certain you were not going to spill any.  Last tie I had it on the cooker with the lid down.  I have not had a problem.  The temperature was probably the same as Stephen, just of boiling.  I leave it overnight, partly so as not to handle a hot bottle.

 

You could I suppose, put the bottle filled with water, and roof into the oven and set it for 100 degrees.  Leave for ten minutes and turn the oven off and let cool.

 

I have not got onto painting more than the droplights yet.  It is interesting about the coverage of the Precision paint as I had intended to paint the lining, and panels first and use that to cover the parts where I have overpainted.  I had expected it to have difficulty covering the brown.

[ChrisN]

2 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Another possibility, especially for longer roofs, is to use the tins that spirits bottles come in:

 

Not the cardboard ones, obviously!

 

Or the triangular ones! 

[Simond]

Boiling water is likely to be necessary.  You'll not break the wine bottle if you pre-warm it (I'd better say "probably not") before pouring the boiling water over it and the plastic.

 

I have a tin of the type that some bottles of whisky are sold in, and use that, as thermal shock is not a worry.

 

In the tin, I keep several pairs of 'er ladyship's hoisery, as tights or stockings are ideal for securing the plasticard to the tin - they provide even pressure which avoids a wavy edge.  When the job is done, the tin & tights are dried and live on a shelf at the back of a store cupboard.

[Compound2632]

The snag with all this is that I have yet to find a bottle that is the right shape and size for the lower roof of Midland clerestory carriages.

 

 

[ChrisN]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

The snag with all this is that I have yet to find a bottle that is the right shape and size for the lower roof of Midland clerestory carriages.

 

 

 

You try rolling the plastic, with a piece of dowel on a soft surface.  I have been singularly unsuccessful with this method but I believe @BlueLightning has been using a towel as the soft surface,   It is on to, 'to try' list.

[BlueLightning]

4 hours ago, ChrisN said:

 

You try rolling the plastic, with a piece of dowel on a soft surface.  I have been singularly unsuccessful with this method but I believe @BlueLightning has been using a towel as the soft surface,   It is on to, 'to try' list.

 

I roll brass like this for plastic I do the same as @Compound2632 with the cafetiere

 

Gary

[MikeOxon]

1 hour ago, BlueLightning said:

 

I roll brass like this for plastic I do the same as @Compound2632 with the cafetiere

 

Gary

Brass is often an easier material to use than plastic, especially when curvature is involved.  You don't have to solder it, as several glues are effective. 

[ChrisN]

I have done as much modelling as I could have recently as I have been distracted.  It is all M….  M….. My fault.  I have been distracted by a young lady.  Now you cannot be married to one lady for over forty years and allow yourself to be distracted by young ladies, but this one is different.  (Poor excuse, everyone says that.)

 

I was reading a blog post of Mikkel’s called ‘Undecided Sky’, which is too old for me to remember, but someone posted a comment on it.  Reading it again it was as good as it was at first, but the discussion continued and Mikkel posted this picture of a young lady 

 

 

Now I remembered a similar young lady who I had met about a year ago. 

 

 

 

 

You will immediately notice the similarity, yes they both are wearing long jackets.  This lady is wearing little else, but that can be remedied.   I have used this lady before.  You may remember this young servant who is so pre-occupied with her own thoughts she has just thrown a bucket of water along the path she has just washed in the wrong direction and has soaked an officer of Her Majesty’s Volunteers.

 

 

 

 

Here is her employer looking out of the window and the above lady is her employers companion.  Close up the painting is fairly poor, but they will eventually be inside a house so I was not to worried.  Not so sure now though as they are a bit rough.  So I looked on EBay for ‘Woman in Waiting’, (Gaugemaster was sold out, and I did not think of looking elsewhere, and it was free postage.)  I found an EBay post and it said to me, ‘Would you like to buy again?’  Obviously they are not selling like hot cakes.  So I ordered one.

 

 

 

 

Then the problems started, as she would not talk to me.  She would not tell me her name, or if she was married or what.  She is of course 1:87 and most of my figures are 1:72, so would she be too small, or perhaps someone’s teenage daughter?  Previously it had not mattered as the lady and her companion were inside the house and height/size differences would not notice.  (We have had long discussions about the size difference and the problem with 1:87 as compared to 1:72 is not the height it is the width.  You cannot say they are just short people as short people are generally as wide as tall people, within reason, but 1:87 people are not as wide as 1:72 people.)

 

So who was she?  She arrived, and not wishing to wait the three days in quarantine I opened the box, washed my hands and set to work.  The lady has a pile of hair at the front, that had to be removed with a file so her hat would fit.  I also removed some buttons from her double breasted jacket, and scored down the front to give the impression of a single breasted jacket.

 

She is leaning to the side.  That will never do!   So, getting out my DAS I set to work to give her a skirt.  (Milliput is probably better but I usually use that when I have a lot to do.)  I crossed her legs as one was sticking out to the side, and gave her a skirt.  I have some dentist’s picks that I use to give folds and generally sculpt.  (I know, it is not that obvious.)  The skirt is longer than her legs. 

 

 

 

 

 

When she was dry I stood her against a 1:72 Stadden figure and yes, she was a teenager.  That would explain why she would not talk to me.  Having discovered that she began to talk, in fact I could not stop her!  I found out that she was the Traeth Mawr Doctor’s daughter, I found her mum and her younger sister.  She is about 17 and her sister a bit younger, about 16.  I eventually found her dad, I think he must have been out on a house call as he was where I first looked for him, but he was not there then. 

 

He then told me that he could never get her to take her hands out of her pockets, and that I had to chop her arm off!  She took it quiet well, and it was soon glued back on.  I did not try and file the shoulder which if I had done would have got it closer to the body, but I still think it looks alright.

 

 

 

It is 1895, and although they are not in the latest fashion she still needs those balloon type sleeves on the arms.  More DAS.  Well you can see it on her above, but they were not modern enough for her!  Well, actually, the DAS on the right arm fell off and disappeared.  I added some more, but when it was dry and I primed it, it fell off again.  So I made up a tiny amount of Milliput.  You need more than you think to wrap around the arm.  Despite smoothing it with my trusty dentists prodder, and water it still looks a bit rough.

 

 

 

 

 

Hats.  I made these hats previously.  These are from Fimo, and Milliput.  I always thought them too big, but three seemed just about right.  You can see from the picture that the hat is not symmetrical, so one of them works quite well. 

 

 

 

Undercoat the hat and her, then when dry attach the hat with superglue.  Strip of paper for a collar.  Paint and there we are, hopefully she will look better when finished.  So introducing,  Ellen Williams, Doctor’s House, Station Road Traeth Mawr.  Oh dear, perhaps I should not give out young lady’s addresses.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

Edited January 15, 2023 by ChrisN

[Compound2632]

The hat makes all the difference, though I do wonder if it could be a bit thinner-brimmed - card or  plasticard?

 

1 hour ago, ChrisN said:

The lady has a pile of hair at the front, that had to be removed with a file so her hat would fit. 

 

But perhaps I should not be encouraging you to take up millinery, or hairdressing for that matter.

 

1 hour ago, ChrisN said:

We have had long discussions about the size difference and the problem with 1:87 as compared to 1:72 is not the height it is the width.  You cannot say they are just short people as short people are generally as wide as tall people, within reason, but 1:87 people are not as wide as 1:72 people.

 

Can one not get stout 1:87 figures? Germans: Bavarians or Saxons perhaps, but not Prussians.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Compound2632

[ChrisN]

10 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

The hat makes all the difference, though I do wonder if it could be a bit thinner-brimmed - card or  plasticard?

 

 

But perhaps I should not be encouraging you to take up millinery, or hairdressing for that matter.

 

 

Can one not get stout 1:87 figures? Germans: Bavarians or Saxons perhaps, but not Prussians.

 

Yes the hat does in this case, although it worked alright the first time without.  She will look better painted.  I think I am happy with the hat.  The head is not in the centre but for this hat that is how it should be.  I have tried plasticard and paper, probably a hole punch for A4 paper to cut it out but they may be a little big.  I used the end of a paint brush to push into it to make the bump for where the head goes.  I stopped trying when I found 00 hats for sale, and Andy Stadden figures that already had them, although ladies hats are not available really.

 

Preiser do fat, er, height challenged for weight people but they tend to be fat round the tummy.  No, perhaps not all, but their arms are still thin. Interestingly though the lady with the bucket of water was 1:87 but was the correct height.  If I see a stout person who looks interesting then perhaps I will acquire them and see how they look.

 

[Compound2632]

39 minutes ago, ChrisN said:

If I see a stout person who looks interesting then perhaps I will acquire them and see how they look.

 

RMWeb sentence of the day!

[Nick Gough]

3 hours ago, ChrisN said:

 

The lady has a pile of hair at the front, that had to be removed with a file so her hat would fit.

I wish I could offer that service to my wife. She has been complaining for weeks about being unable to go to the hairdressers.

 

I have suggested giving it a go with my hair/beard clippers, but strangely, she has so far declined my generous offer!

[Mikkel]

That's a rather remarkable transformation! 

 

I was wondering if some lavish decoration of the hat would add further Victorian extravagance. E.g. following one of these examples: https://thegraphicsfairy.com/victorian-hat-lady-image/

 

[ChrisN]

1 hour ago, Mikkel said:

That's a rather remarkable transformation! 

 

I was wondering if some lavish decoration of the hat would add further Victorian extravagance. E.g. following one of these examples: https://thegraphicsfairy.com/victorian-hat-lady-image/

 

 

Mikkel,

This is the trouble with showing a half finished project.  I have an idea, which probably will not work, but we shall see.

 

I have in the past rolled up bits of DAS or Milliput and made 'flowers'.  (In 4mm painted rolled bits looked like flowers.

 

I just need to get on and paint her, and her family so I can try out my experiment.

[Donw]

On 31/03/2021 at 09:48, ChrisN said:

 

Mikkel,

This is the trouble with showing a half finished project.  I have an idea, which probably will not work, but we shall see.

 

I have in the past rolled up bits of DAS or Milliput and made 'flowers'.  (In 4mm painted rolled bits looked like flowers.

 

I just need to get on and paint her, and her family so I can try out my experiment.

 

'Experiment'  I do hope you are not becoming a Frankenstein!

 

Wonderful Chris both the stories and the plastic surgery or is it white metal? You must have good imagination to see what can be made of these figures.

 

Also for those wondering about coach liveries 

Here is a picture of my D15. A very useful coach as it is only 285mm over buffers in 0 gauge. The livery is slightly simplified but I can live with that

 

 

Don

 

[ChrisN]

8 minutes ago, Donw said:

 

'Experiment'  I do hope you are not becoming a Frankenstein!

 

Wonderful Chris both the stories and the plastic surgery or is it white metal? You must have good imagination to see what can be made of these figures.

 

Also for those wondering about coach liveries 

Here is a picture of my D15. A very useful coach as it is only 285mm over buffers in 0 gauge. The livery is slightly simplified but I can live with that

 

 

Don

 

 

Thank you Don,

This one is plastic so is slightly easier.  I seem to be easily side tracked by figures, but I am only experimenting in 4mm, honest.  

[ChrisN]

There has been some modelling, but not too much, but even less time to post, but hopefully next week I will get my laptop back so times when I cannot model, I can post. 

 

It just so happens that for various reasons my wife is going to the Kassam Stadium on Wednesday, not to watch football, but to get her vaccination.  She suggested that we make a day of it together, then I ca drive her home if she feels rough.  Well, we looked and we looked and eventually my wife said, (I had been holding my tongue for ages), "Oh look, it is near Didcot and they have a steam day on Wednesday.  So, we shall go together, and then after lunch she will depart and get her jab.

 

So, if you also happen to be there on Wednesday, and see a grey haired man in a green padded coat, (no not the type that has straps on the ends of the arms), with a camera, and possibly a green woolly hat, crawling around under the G20 trying to take photos of what is actually under there, and how different it is to what I have modelled, then once you have stopped laughing please say 'Hello'.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

[drduncan]

If you take any pictures of Dean period coaches would you mind sharing them?

Duncan

Edited April 10, 2021 by drduncan

[Northroader]

Remember to pick up any stray lumps of coal lying around.

[corneliuslundie]

As long as you know it is proper Welsh steam coal.

Jonathan

[ChrisN]

16 hours ago, drduncan said:

If you take any pictures of Dean period coaches would you mind sharing them?

Duncan

 

Duncan,

Any particular requests?  The shed is a bit dark for photos but I will try.

 

I could share them on here, or send them by Dropbox.  I suppose I could start a Gallery, that would work?  I have some already from last time which I am not sure I have shared.

[drduncan]

Thanks, but nothing in particular, as I’ve lots of Dean stuff on the CAD and real workbench so almost any detail images will help.

Perhaps a gallery is the way forward?

D

[MikeOxon]

16 hours ago, Northroader said:

Remember to pick up any stray lumps of coal lying around.

This website should not promote theft !!!!!