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Spitfire's Workbench - On3 Obsession


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Oh wow! Long pause. Been very busy with school and all. Though I have been trying to get some modeling in once in a while.

Last night I finally finished something Ive been working on since the summer.

The Midland long low is now finished.

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Building this wagon has taught me I hate brass brake levers. They just seem too flimsy and vulnerable. But it looks good now. I just wish I didnt warp the floor during assembly. Oh well.

The wagon still needs weathering but I figured Id wait. No rush anyway.

 

Well theres the short update.

The brake van is still coming along. Doing stepboards...or at least trying to. Dont have the best materials for it currently. May try soldering some up.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello everyone

I have a new project.

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A while ago I asked if anyone had any info on this wagon.

 

And someone responded the other day.

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So I got to work

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The solebars and the eventual headstocks are both cosmetic and dont actually hold the frame together like my brake van which still needs stepboards.

So thats all for now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok, so for such a big break, I havent had much work done. Still working on little bits and Im starting to hate painting.

 

The stepboards are built, not fully painted yet though.

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I was bored last night so I made a quick spool for wire.

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Its about 5 scale feet tall so will become a wagon load.

 

The traction wagon hasnt progressed much. Got the floors on and scribed, and I made a start on the buffers. Im using Bachmann sprung buffers with a plasticard backplate.

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And the fruits of an order started months ago. Tarpaulins printed on wax paper. Very nicely done I must add. For £4 a sheet, its not a bad deal when the only other premade option is smiths costing more for less.

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Heres the contact info if anyone wants. (Usual disclaimer, just a satisfied customer)

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And heres my attempt at dirtying one up. I sprayed black paint on the back, then with thinners, I rubbed the front, pressed it in a damp cloth, dirtied it with weathering powder, added the ropes, and crumpled it. Looks good to me.

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And a final boredom build, a large crate. Wooden frame covered in plasticard and L beams. Another hopeful load for a wagon.

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Well. Maybe not what you expected, but An update nonetheless. Im losing more and more time to school.

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Nice one Spitfire, proof that boredom produces creativity. Those wagon sheets look interesting, could be just what I need.

I admit, the sheets have the crumpled appearance of plastic tarp, but in 4mm scale, youre NOT getting a fabric look, feel, and shape. Although they are Very thin so maybe doping it like a balsa plane would produce the smooth look of fabric.

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Hello again!

Well today started with me finally putting the stepboards and final two handrails on. All while watching the old film The Ghost Train because I was bored and it came up on my youtube recommended list. So, lively film, and more importantly, after a long wait, I have the brake van nearly complete.

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Extra light to show the last minute addition to the inner veranda. Found out they had windows, had to add them. Tried painting them, but just ended up sticking plasticard to it and painting it on that. Can barely see them anyway.

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And... Ive started the L&Y van from David Geen.

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Going to give it springing as I didnt like the way the axlebox castings attach. Though that means I either need to cut apart the lovely castings to get springs and boxes, or order some seperately. May just cut up castings and let it hang off the solebars.

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Paint isnt perfect and Im not a huge fan of this new gray colour. Has a strange tint to it that doesnt show up in photos. Kinda greenish maybe? Hard to describe but not totally gray.

 

Well theres my update. May get it lettered by tonight even!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, heres a plane update.

I honestly tried to find any work done on my trains since my last update but I havent had time or resources.

So...

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There is still another star to add on the bottom but I need to look up its positioning as its not referenced in the instructions.

 

And the Spitfire.

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Cockpit is done. All held together by rubber bands now till I can find the best paint colour for the camouflage. I have a few browns to choose from but I may need to mix up a green. A lot has been painted, sky bottom, wheel wells, wheels and gear, prop, cockpit, and some details. There isnt much to this kit to be honest, and is a walk in the park compared to my Swordfish which is still sitting in bits while I neglect to find a rigging solution.

May be a train related update tonight if another package comes.

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Well then.

My Spitfire is finished.

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All decals were applied lovingly, except the damn red squares on the guns. They were a pain in 1/48th and theyre a pain in 1/72nd. Im happy theyre on though.

The square of paper underneath is the plans for a base with a bit of grass. I just need to work out how to do the borders. I thought a nice wooden picture frame with a respectable border but those are hard to find. Maybe Ill just get edging wood and build a frame. Yeah.

 

 

And finally, continued work on the L&Y van. I picked my prototype and I found a very nice 1925 photo of it in L&Y lettering. My first wagon with mismatched wheels.

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Now a stupid photo so you can see how bad I am at lining things up. Doesnt help I broke one of the brake bits.

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Well. There. More work. Last night I applied probably 50 decals, today, all the rest. I still dont like waterslide decals.

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Well. A quick update. My L&Y van is slowly progressing. I have just finished the roof.

I was torn between actually cutting a hole in the roof or making it look like there was a hole. I opted for the false hole to make fitting the roof easier.

The roof is the plastic supplied by david geen but thats as far as the kit goes in my build. I decided to not use the weather strips from the kit as they were overscale and not shaped ideally.

So thin plastic strip created the weather strips, some paper made the metal edge strips, and a plastic strip was put on the roof center to end the door opening.

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Then the roof door...tarp was considered.

Waterslide decals come protected by some wax paper which seemed a nice texture for a tarp. I cut a bit off and wrapped an end around a brass rod. This will be fixed to the roof once on the wagon. Ill only glue it at the top and bottom, leaving the sides and middle loose to have a bit of an uneven surface.

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I havent done much work but what I have done took a lot of thought and preparation. As always, I was terrified to start on the roof as it required cutting and I only had that to work with. But Im happy with how it turned out. Cant wait to get more superglue so I can actually finish this wagon. I think itll turn out nice.

All thats left to do is add the roof, handrails, brake levers, and letter it...by hand...unless anyone out there wouldnt mind sparing some 4mm L&Y pressfix transfers. Not sure if I should just by a sheet. I dont plan on making much more L&Y stock for a long time. This wagon was just for my like of roof hatches.

And if I were to do a pregrouping layout, it would be Midland.

Oh well.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well it only took me 3 weeks but I finally stuck the roof bit to the wall bits.

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And here you can see my "door hatch". I figured it would look fine even if I didnt cut an actual hole.

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At this rate Ill get the next kit done by next summer.

Edited by Spitfire2865
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  • 3 weeks later...

Wow. Its been a while.

Not done much. Started on the LNWR diag 103 last night and its half glued together at this point. Though, Im not using Davids unsprung design, but using some sprung units so the solebars need quite a lot of thinning to get everything to fit between them. I need to cut even more for the spring castings as I just got the sprung units to sit between the frames.

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I do believe my skin now has quite a bit of ground whitemetal embedded in it.

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Wow. Two updates in three days. Havent managed that in over a month.

Well. Day off from work saw quite a bit of work.

Body was glued together.

Ive started painting the buffers and I attached the couplings.(temporarily, as initial measurements show that I can once again have sprung couplings on a wagon, Im not ready to bend the pins as on a built wagon, theyre a bit of a pain to remove cleanly.)

I attached the springs and thinned the backs considerably. It is "almost" flush with the solebars.

Solebars have been thinned even more, though it hasnt helped fit the axleguards. Im considering thinning them, or at least removing the paint on the bits where its too tight of a fit.

Ive also given it another coat of paint.

The floor has been cut to shape and a piece of plasticard cut to size for a start on wheel packing.

And Ive done a lot of wrestling with the CA glue which keeps gluing itself shut.

Ill let the pictures say the rest.

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Just a loose fit together.

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And thats that, back to work tomorrow.

I may have gotten my modeling spirit back finally!

 

Edit: yes I realize the damn glue frosting. Ill fix that in my touch up painting.

Also, the floor is not yet glued on.

Edited by Spitfire2865
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  • 2 weeks later...

Well then. Finally this wagon is completely built.

Glued the wheels and brakes on the other day and just tonight, glued the brake levers on.

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A lot of procrastinating and waiting.

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I still need to touch up the paint before lettering.

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Though...not sure how to letter it. I was thinking old and faded LNWR livery as found in some photos...

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But I would have to hand letter it all if I wanted it to look faded and worn. 4 letters doesnt sound hard but making them look good is hard.

 

Well. Any ideas? Maybe somehow stamping it and then scraping off the ink a bit. Hmmm...how to make rubber stamps...

Or using decals and aging them...

I dont know.

All I know is this took FAR too long to get built.

 

But once this and the L&Y van are finished, Im thinking of taking a break from wagons and going for either my micro inglenook OR my first loco kit. Need suggestions though. I have some ideas but I cant decide.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well then. I just spent the past 2 hours picking out th ironwork in black, then a quick touch up of any overflow. It looks neat and clean from a foot away, but as you all know, the camera shows all faults.

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A quick shot with the other wagon currently being worked on.

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I need decals for L&Y and LNWR.

 

Anyone know where I could buy just enough decals for one wagon? The letters are the important parts. The numbers on both could be substituted for ones I already have.

 

All thats needed now is handrails and both wagons are fully built!

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Hello. I did quite a bit tonight. Figured it would be a good post.

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The LNWR diag 103 is done. Yes one sides axleboxes are crooked. I realized this after the glue set...which was about 2 seconds after I pushed them onto the bearings.

I figured Id forgo the LNWR lettering due to budget and time. Though this specific wagon did exist, it did so with standard LMS axleboxes rather than the rarer pointed front ones.

 

And the L&Y van got grab rails. When I started this van, I hated the colour, shape, and blandness. Then I realized I forgot to pick out the ironwork in black, and after adding the irons, this looks like a very nice van. It now just needs proper lettering, which I will wait for. I had a specific van in mind when I started. I even used the same axleboxes, mismatched the wheels, and even bent one of the horizontal grab rails(though not enough for it to actually show)

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Here is the photo I referenced. As usual when it comes to prototype photos, this does not belong to me.

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I tried to replicate this 1925 photo as best I could. There are a few inconsistencies such as the tag on the left side, lack of securing chains, and brake safety loops.

 

Though I think I followed it well. Next lettering, then the dirt.

 

Edit!

I just realized the headstocks are differently shaped. (May need to take care of that.)

Edited by Spitfire2865
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Hello again!

The past few days Ive been hard at work trying to finish the Airfix Swordfish kit that I started months ago. I stopped due to me wanting to incorporate rigging, but then forgetting about it until I glued the wing halves together. Well. I figured I could get a half decent model out of it, and decided to finish it.

And just my luck. Working on the last main decal, the right side roundel, and I make a mess of it. Too much microsol, too much prodding trying to get it to sit flat and even. Well, an email to Airfix and Im still waiting for a reply. .

If anyone has a 1/76th RAF roundel decal from the Airfix swordfish?

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And last night I was bored and figured Id add brake rigging to my parkside brake van. I understand how the rigging works in general, so its a representation just to have something under there. Nothing advanced or accurate. Also, while adding the brake rods, I somehow tightened the w irons and the axles werent free spinning. I had some lubricant oil, so I tried some on the eye of a needle, put it to the bearing, and spun the wheel. Very nicely free spinning wheels, but on second thought, regret it due to...brake van needing to be a brake and all...

At least I know Remington lubricant works well in bearings.

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