Spitfire's Workbench - On3 Obsession

[N15class]

Is it 2 or 3 times the cost. If you open a RTR box. It is about 20 minutes by the time you have added the bits they don't. A loco kit will take say 40 hours. That makes the kit very cheap hourly entertainment and the RTR very dear.

[Spitfire2865]

Well, sorry no trains. Still waiting for the wheels.

But I have been working on that Sopwith Camel kit from MONTHS ago. Over spring break, I found the kit at home and I figured Id finish it.

And from there, Ive done a lot of work in the past 2 days. I had left it fully painted but the top wing, interplane struts, and landing gear were yet to be glued.

I gave the wings a new coat of cream as it was a little thin, touched up the green, and put it all together.

Looking at it, it seemed very empty without the rigging. Not being afraid of a challenge, I have started to rig it this afternoon. After two failed attempts, I figured out a good process and now I have 5 pieces of thread attached.

Next is the tail rigging and then I need to find decals.

 

Ok. I realize this is a train forum but we dont all do only trains. Can anyone point me to some good aftermarket decals for 1/72nd RAF roundels? I cant seem to find any. I would need early large roundels with white borders and a small fuselage roundel with yellow border for my swordfish, which is now next in line for rigging.

 

Well. Hopefully Ill be back to trains soon. Though I fear I may need to rebuild the chassis as it developed a slight wobble when I added the interior spacers. Wheels will tell me if just the (hornblocks)....GUARD IRONS bent a bit or if there is a more serious issue.

 

Edit for stupid mistake mixing up hornblocks and guard irons.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Spitfire2865

[Nile]

Aeromaster decals spring to mind, but there are probably others available.

A search for "raf roundel decal 72" will give you lots of options.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Nile

[Spitfire2865]

Wow! Its been a while.

It took quite a bit to get the wheels for the Jinty, but they finally came.

After plenty of fiddling, I finally have a running chassis...sort of.

Still a long way to go to get the chassis fully running, but Im back on track. No pun intended.

And heres a video of it running propped up on some paints.

 

And I recently finished another plane. A Roden SE5A

 

Now in the mail I have some 1/350th Dauntless kits as well as detailing etches for them.

[Spitfire2865]

Slow work.

Ive done very little. This semester is coming to an end and Ive been exhausted from finishing things.

I built the slaters underframe. This was the first slaters kit which didnt naturally sit flat. Must have been warped slightly.

Im thinking of building an LNWR diagram 33 van in Late LNWR livery. A bit too early for my timeframe but I like the look. Just have to get the energy to scratchbuild a body.

 

 

The Jinty has progressed slowly as well. Brake gear was fiddly to assemble as I had the whole thing held together loosely with clips holding it all together to line it up and slowly soldered each brake to its hinge. If I did it correct, I actually would have had moveable brake gear, but my soldering is still a bit sloppy and I managed to fix it all together.

 

And the task I was regretting the most, pickups. Next time Ill go for plungers for ease but here it was too late. After about 5 tries at back wipers, I gave up and made tread wipers. The front and middle pickups push against the wheels while the rear ones hook under and around the flange.

 

Paint next, then final assembly and then I can make a start at the body.

[Spitfire2865]

Wow. Over a month of no modeling. Fun...

Well. Ive done something.

Its a ship in a bottle, sans bottle. For now at least.

I have a bottle but Im waiting for the paint to dry.

Now I know its not a train, but its my workbench after all.

[Spitfire2865]

Well then.

Ive got my modeling mojo back, and with two kits in the post, one on wait, and one on preorder, as well as the Jinty awaiting body, Ive started a new wagon.

 

Another first, another oddity, and hopefully will turn out well.

 

An L&Y diagram 59 bogie open wagon.

Built from 1905, and sitting on bogies with 2'7-1/4" wheels, they were a followup to the L&Ys bogie vans.

One thing that sold me on this prototype was the use of the smaller wheels which allowed these 35 foot wagons to be turned on wagon turntables.

With my dream layout being a massive goods yard with plenty of wagon TTs, this would give some fun chain shunting options.

 

Ive even started it.

Basic frame built up from plasticcard.

 

Body will be, as usual for me, bass wood with either brass or card strapping.

Bogies will either be ratio (Id have to change the axleboxes) or Dragon models as Ive heard they scaled their bogie van kit down to 4mm.

Buffers Im still deciding on, but my first choice is 51L L&Y coach buffers.

And wheels will be Alan Gibson 10.5mm 8 spoke.

 

I just now have to pay for it all...

[Spitfire2865]

Well, work on the D59 has been moving nicely.

 

The frame is as complete as it will ever be. Just needed now are the bogies, how to attach them, truss rods, and brake cylinder. All that will wait till I have bogies for it.

 

The body has developed as well. I had originally intended to use my individual planks method, but I didnt have anything suitably sized and I didnt want to spend hours thinning bits of wood and filling my lungs with sawdust, so I scribed the walls onto thin bass.

The inside of the wagon was treated to a water based airbrush paint which soaked in nicely and gave a light base coat to be weathered further.

 

And the floor, once again, scribed, painted, and weathered.

 

I have since ordered the buffers and wheels and am just waiting for response about the bogies.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Spitfire2865

[Spitfire2865]

Well. Yesterday I finished the strapping and painted the inside ones.

Today I only made the cleats but they did take a lot of work. 16 in total, I made them all, knocked them all off the desk, found 8, and had to make another 8. Theyre a little big, but I dont see them being any smaller and being anything more than a bit of plasticcard.

 

Im still thinking how to make the chains that secure the doors. Maybe twisted motor wire.

[Spitfire2865]

Well then.

Work has been slowly coming along.

For the D59, I have ordered bogies and wheels, and am expecting them in the next week.

I found the floor ended up warping the frame, but luckily it bent the prototypical way so I could add working truss rods...well..working as in they keep it flat.

Underside has the start if weighting. In this case, lead BBs. Still needs a ton more though.

 

Then one of my new kits, a Parkside LMS brake van. Ive been looking to pick one of these up for a while as I definitely have a use for a third brake van.

Body and chassis built up, handrails added, and sitting flat and level. Just needs roof and underframe bits. Though I may add another interior. I have no clue why I would again as all my efforts the first time were impossible to see. Oh well.

 

And finally. A start on the Jinty again.

Kit came, I made a start of it, then realized the two 12BA nuts that I need to solder to the footplate werent included.

Im not blaming LRM, but its fitting I keep getting delayed on this loco. First the chassis was almost lost in transit, then wheels couldnt be found, then castings were unavailable, and now the nuts are missing which are needed early on in construction.

Though I did all I could so far, up until the whole thing is supposed to start going together. I have the bunker frame built up and detail added, I have the footplate folded up and soldered, headstocks soldered together and coupling holes opened for sprung hooks, tank frame folded up, and steps made up.

 

So yes.

3 projects stalled, one almost finished, and I still need to buy decals for the Pug and jinty.

[Londontram]

I take my hat off to your productivity, which bogies did you go for with the L&Y wagon in the end? Steve

[Spitfire2865]

I take my hat off to your productivity, which bogies did you go for with the L&Y wagon in the end? Steve

I ended up choosing for bogies the Ratio version as apparently the Dragon models version has NOT been converted to 4mm, not to mention its not an etch but a casting.

So the axleboxes will need to be modified, and I have to figure out how in the hell Ill mount the bogies to the frame.

[Spitfire2865]

My brake vans are breeding.

Well then. My newest kit is now complete, including weathering.

The handrails arent perfect but I had to make the holes with a hot needle as I dont have small drill bits anymore and Im too cheap to buy more, but Im not too cheap to keep spending money on more kits.

 

And I bit the bullet and dirtied up one of my oldest kits, my first Parkside brake van.

A light dirtying, but noticeable. Its no longer ex works condition.

 

And finally a nice shot of all 3 vans so far.

Ive already had plans for the next brake van. Either the Midland's 10T or an L&Y design, probably a tin tab.

 

But before then, Id rather get the MR van and D59 finished and the Jinty mostly done.

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Great work Trevor, they look far better than the RTR Bachmann one(s)

[57xx]

Your brake vans look good. Nicely finished, the lettering looks good and distressed.

[Spitfire2865]

Today my mailman dropped off a small envelope which contained the missing nuts for the Jinty.

So as I have absolutely no social life or reason to go outside and do something else, I started working on it again.

Ive gotten quite a bit done this evening too.

Nuts soldered onto footplate, wheel splashers added, and tank and bunker frames attached, as well as the start of fitting the cab.

Next seems to be to start adding the exterior plating to the tank and bunker.

 

And because I was doing nothing with the Slaters underframe, I decided to just make a quick one plank body for it.

The floor originally had mouldings for bottom doors, so I ended up filling the plank lines and rescribing the floor.

I butchered the scribing a bit, but as it was already built, it was a bit hard to scribe the planks anyway.

 

Still waiting on wheels, new underframe for the van, and bearings. Oh how I "love" the postal service.

[Spitfire2865]

A bunch of work last night, a little more today, and Id say Im about half way done with the Jinty.

Loosely assembled.

 

Those steps were a pain.

 

I can find so few good photos of the tank tops.

 

The zoom is your enemy.

Also, handrails are hard.

 

Actually went together easily. Was scared of this bit.

 

Now how to attach the roof and still paint the cab?

Id assume paint doesnt take well to nearby soldering.

[N15class]

A bunch of work last night, a little more today, and Id say Im about half way done with the Jinty.

Loosely assembled.

image.jpg

 

Those steps were a pain.

image.jpg

 

I can find so few good photos of the tank tops.

image.jpg

 

The zoom is your enemy.

image.jpg

Also, handrails are hard.

 

Actually went together easily. Was scared of this bit.

image.jpg

 

Now how to attach the roof and still paint the cab?

Id assume paint doesnt take well to nearby soldering.

Looks good

 

When I built a 7mm jinty I soldered a plate to the back of the cab at 90 degrees. this was screwed to the top of the bunker. A couple of L shaped bits at  front can hold the front under the tank tops.

 

By the way paint sticks to solder better than it does to brass. Just make sure it is not lumpy.

[Twright]

Fantastic work, really looks the part.

[hayfield]

Nice to see the loco coming together, I do like the idea of these composite material kits, where they use the appropriate material for the job in hand. There seems to be plenty of new types of glue available now which are far better than two part epoxy or contact adhesive. But not seen many used in railway modelling.

 

Will follow the thread with interest as its a very nice bit of modelling going on

[Spitfire2865]

Looks good

 

When I built a 7mm jinty I soldered a plate to the back of the cab at 90 degrees. this was screwed to the top of the bunker. A couple of L shaped bits at  front can hold the front under the tank tops.

 

By the way paint sticks to solder better than it does to brass. Just make sure it is not lumpy.

How does primer react to nearby heat? I was thinking mask where I need to solder, prime & paint the cab, attach roof, then when painting, stuff the cab with tissue to mask it.

[Spitfire2865]

Wow. 17 days break from posting. Dont have a lot done as I spent the past 7 away, and the bit before that looking to place a couple orders.

One order was from Dart Castings. There, I got axleboxes for the D59, as well as some crew figures.

Then from Wizard models, I got replacement buffer heads for the D59, as well as more figures and assorted bits.

 

And after over a month, the D59 finally was put together yesterday.

 

Not the best photo of the interior. That packing piece was needed to fix my measuring mistake I found after I added all the detail.

The bogies are Cambrian SR Diamond frame, which I added L&Y B3 axleboxes and lifting rings to.

The wheels are 10.5mm so they do allow full rotation of the bogie.

 

And the Midland van from Cambrian. Though the underframe gave me issues, it went together better than some other kits, although the buffer shanks are too thick for the housings, the sides and ends need a lot of trimming, and the brake lever is a bit fiddly to attach. On a positive note, the roof was extremely easy to attach, being perfectly curved to match the roof profile. (Somehow more often done wrong than right)

 

And to the figures.

Two guards.

 

And the loco crew

 

And finally, the slight work on the Jinty.

Chassis is painted, wheels are fitted, motor is fixed, and Im now just working out the kinks before I secure everything together for the last time.

Its still a bit stiff, so Im working out where that is, and if I have to pull it apart to fix it, or if its just paint on the bearings. Id say paint as I was a little more careless with painting than I originally planned.

Edited July 22, 2015 by Spitfire2865

[hornbyandbf3fan]

That Midland van is excellent!

[WD0-6-0]

I'll second Will there, it's absolutely brilliant. Better than RTR. The D59 looks fantastic too, certainly an unusual model and pulled off superbly.

[Twright]

Worth the wait, fantastic work