West End Workbench

[Barry O]

not yet but I do have a loco to go with them..

[JCL]

Hi Jonathan,

 

I just found your suggestion on articulating coaches here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/36712-whats-the-best-way-to-mount-central-bogie-on-articulated-coaches/?p=396568 - it'll certainly help me with a pair of Wainfleet coaches - an articulated twin - that I'm going to have a go at once I've finished my current project, so thanks very much. I know i diverted this week on the 6 wheel coaches, but I didn't get quite as far afield as the GWR!

 

cheers

 

Jason

[Barry O]

Not for me but if you want the loco to go with it...in BR lined black, I am sure we can arrange a suitable price for the loco...

 

:-)

Honest Baz

[jwealleans]

I'd have to refer you to its eventual proprietor, our former colleague Mr. Foster. Since he had two Panniers when I was last in his shed and Sir has recently completed another one, he may be fully equipped.

[jwealleans]

Bit of an absence from the bench - things have taken a turn for the busy at work and so I'm not expecting to be overburdened with modelling time for a while just now.

 

I have managed the odd thing when the opportunity has presented itself: I bought this at Warley wanting to see how it went together and the answer was pretty well for an old kit. This is the R & E Models GC refrigerated van, recently reissued by Brassmasters.

 

 

It's put together very much as intended with two slight exceptions - the end ladders are a Wizard etch and the odd axlebox is because I dropped it and the original hurtled off into oblivion. This will be on Grantham at St. Neots and with a fair wind may even be weathered.

 

With the carriage stock for Grantham all but complete for the moment, thoughts turned back to the stock for Wickham Market. I'd acquired a pair of Comet/MJT kits for Gresley 51' stock some years ago from someone changing scale. One was a D 50 CL. Now, we had one of those already and there's at least one Hornby one been acquired, so the obvious thing to do was to built a D244. For those who don't know, this was the variant built for the GE section with one less first class compartment, so the lav is offset towards one end.

 

 

Bill Bedford sides on pretty much everything else MJT except the bogies. I've built up a bit of a stock of 'other' bogies while using MJT ones on Grantham stock, so I'm planning to use a few up on these. In the absence of precise CW documents for the East Suffolk I'm just going from photographs, which show a great deal of non-corridor stock in use. I have a few kits put by so hopefully I can roll a few out by the time we start exhibiting it.

Edited June 15, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Some carriage work which has taken place over the last couple of weeks.

 

 

The Lav composite above is pretty well ready for the paint shop.

 

 

I built a D 62 (? - is that right) BT from mainly Comet bits. This was part of a bundle of kits and bits which came my way some time ago - there was a J19 in there as well which I built a number of years ago. Maybe it's just what I've got used to, but I don't like these Comet kits as much.

 

 

Lastly one which did have me thinking a bit. An Ebay buy last May, one of two D & S North Eastern carriages they were selling and to some extent collateral - I was really interested in the 3 compartment BT which came with it. Remarkably, the Ebay photo is still present:

 

 

I thought it was an arc roof vehicle, but set it aside while I rebuilt the other one. It had been glued together, copiously and not too well and so it was stripped and left in a plastic bag until I was idly looking for something to do a few weeks ago. I started putting it back together and wondered what it was. It has a lav, clearly has different sized compartments and was 52' long. Not arc roof, then, that was all 49'. I consulted with Mr. Smart and Mr. Scott of this parish and after debating whether it might be an elliptical roof vehicle but with the wrong ends, eventually we realised that it was a clerestory, but the clerestory roof section was missing.

 

As luck would have it, Dan Pinnock was at the Huntingdon show at the start of the month and I was able to talk to him and show him the part rebuilt coach. Within a few days I had the missing etch and this afternoon put it together. I made a new roof from brass and then bolted the new section to it. I managed to bow the main roof when attaching it, but I think it will bend out eventually - I've got so far with it already. This will be one of the vehicles cascaded to the GE section, so I shan't be refitting the roof lamps as it will be vac braked and electrically lit, which many were by the end of their lives. Being a lavatory carriage it's ideal for the sort of cross country working I have in mind for Wickham Market and will probably be declassed to an all 3rd.

 

Edited July 12, 2018 by jwealleans

[Barry O]

Very nice JW.

Hopefully Dan will contact me soon as I would like some NE coaches to go with my G5.

 

Baz

[grob1234]

Yes, lovely coaching stock there. You'll have to show us the blow by blow painting account too, for mere mortals like me! 

[jwealleans]

Lavatory Composite now with added undercrackers. It's also had torpedo and clerestory vents, hinges, light switch and handrails added. Painting will follow once I stop noticing details to add.

 

 

A visit to Scalefour North provided the opportunity to stock up on the bits I needed to complete the underframe fittings and also convert this Luggage Composite to electric light and vacuum brake:

 

 

This isn't my work, this was very nicely built by Scottiedog of this parish and traded to me a little time ago. I had to remove lower steps, gas tanks and Westinghouse gubbins and replace with what you see.

 

Also at Scalefour North, I picked up a couple of these:

 

 

Bill Bedford's resin wagon kits. I could hardly resist something like this and to be honest, why would you? There's less than 2 hours work in this vehicle, it runs beautifully freely on sprung suspension units, will have sprung buffers and still cost less than many of the new Bachmann wagons. The other one is a Colwick open and I expect it will go together just as well.

Edited June 15, 2018 by jwealleans

[manna]

G'day Gents

 

Everything, cost less than a Bachmann wagon these days.........

 

manna

[jwealleans]

Haven't missed the request for painting details, just accumulating photographs. I'll spare you pictures of paint drying - for the moment - and go on to the Parkside Toad E, which I also acquired at Scalefour North. I believe that was the first show at which it's been available. I haven't been rushing it, but it's gone together reasonably quickly this week.

 

 

What you get - some nicely cast sprues, commendably fine brake gear, no obvious problems or mistakes in sides or ends (as far as I could see) and good clear instructions. On the downside, there's more flash that I would expect to see on a model this new and the roof has neither torpedo vents nor witness marks to drill for them, nor does it have rainstrips. When I read the instructions, it also tells you to put the roof on the wrong way round according to every photo I've looked at.

 

 

Body assembly was fairly straightforward - the corners are a fiddle and I had to resort to a bit of filler to tidy them up. You may be able to see that I've pared off the moulded lamp irons so as to replace them with wire as I usually do. Above there's only one solebar fitted - I have a particular methodology with plastic kits, in that I stick one solebar, allow it to set hard overnight, then fit wheels and the second solebar against it. What is noticeable is that the body fixing brackets aren't as high as they should be, so if you fit them to the bottom of the solebar there's a gap under the body. You can see stubs of Evergreen plastic to fill these gaps. In future I'll probably make my own from 10 thou Evergreen strip as these are way over scale thickness.

 

 

Building the model as above makes it easier to fit the wheels and also allows the use of the Brassmasters jig to ensure axles are square and parallel. I used the Parkside bearings instead of my usual 51L waisted ones and the second solebar has a slight splay to allow the wheels to turn freely. It isn't noticeable, though. The van spent last night as you see it above, the rubber band applying slight pressure to bring the axleboxes in snugly to the axle ends.

 

 

Now on its wheels and free running, I've added the other side body fixing brackets, brake gear and the stepboard at this side. I'm hesitating over trying to use the Parkside steps or making my own from brass. I suspect if I do use theirs I'll be making new ones eventually anyway. I've also added torpedo vents and rainstrips to the roof and fitted inner ends and fixed lamps.

 

For those who might consider a Toad B from this, David Geen does the wooden ducket, as I've mentioned before on this thread. It's a waste part of a sprue as far as he's concerned, so you might need to explain what it is you're after if you try to order any. I believe I'm right in saying that there were Toad Bs built with narrow boarding and wooden duckets?

Edited June 15, 2018 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

I've had quite enough of handrails over the last couple of days. Not to mention footsteps.

 

 

The top step serves as a handy marker for drilling the holes in the solebar for the pegs for the bottom ones. Word of warning - don't try to melt them in with a soldering iron. As you can see above, the plastic shrinks and you end up with a groove in the face of the solebar.

 

With some primer it looks much more homogenous.

 

 

I did mean to photograph the other side, where I have added the extra handrails. I've also added the safety bars across the verandah openings, which Parkside had omitted. Brake cross rods and safety loops and a representation of the screw brake are also just about visible under there. The sliding roof for high summer ventilation is a little-known feature.

 

While in a brake van frame of mind, i thought of this little project which has been lingering a while; I had 2 GN 8 wheel brakevans to restore which came from Ebay. Dan Pinnock kindly let me have a couple of the etched fret of components, which were quite badly bent about and the first one was ready for Warley last year. Reading Peter Tatlow's book, though, he observes that the one in the official photo (which is the one Dan has modelled) has the verandah doors in a different place to all the others and was probably the prototype. What you may be able to see here is that I've filled in the plank grooves and handrail holes and moved the door to the inner side of the verandah, as it seems to have been on the majority of them.

 

Edited June 15, 2018 by jwealleans

[Daddyman]

Very useful to have the pitfalls of the Parkside kit outlined - many thanks. 

[Davey]

I've had quite enough of handrails over the last couple of days. Not to mention footsteps.

 

 

The top step serves as a handy marker for drilling the holes in the solebar for the pegs for the bottom ones. Word of warning - don't try to melt them in with a soldering iron. As you can see above, the plastic shrinks and you end up with a groove in the face of the solebar.

 

With some primer it looks much more homogenous.

 

 

I did mean to photograph the other side, where I have added the extra handrails. I've also added the safety bars across the verandah openings, which Parkside had omitted. Brake cross rods and safety loops and a representation of the screw brake are also just about visible under there. The sliding roof for high summer ventilation is a little-known feature.

 

While in a brake van frame of mind, i thought of this little project which has been lingering a while; I had 2 GN 8 wheel brakevans to restore which came from Ebay. Dan Pinnock kindly let me have a couple of the etched fret of components, which were quite badly bent about and the first one was ready for Warley last year. Reading Peter Tatlow's book, though, he observes that the one in the official photo (which is the one Dan has modelled) has the verandah doors in a different place to all the others and was probably the prototype. What you may be able to see here is that I've filled in the plank grooves and handrail holes and moved the door to the inner side of the verandah, as it seems to have been on the majority of them.

 

 

That looks very much like a Hull & Barnsley Brake Van.

 

Davey

[jwealleans]

There is a distinct resemblance to one design of H & B van. I think it's the handrail layout and the door at one end only.

 

 

Tom asked about painting: I don't think I do anything especially innovative or different, but I've recorded what I've done for the four carriages I had to paint over the last few days.

 

 

The completed model is cleaned, rinsed thoroughly and allowed to dry. Some people attach grab and door handles at this stage, I prefer to leave them until after painting and (especially) lining and then add using cyano.

 

After this the model is taken apart and painted in separate components. Bogies and underframes have a coat of primer (etch or just Halfords grey) and are then sprayed black. I do LNER underframes that way too, painting on the teak solebars and buffer beams by hand afterwards.

 

The body first receives a coat of etch primer (currently using the Teroson one). I have heard that you can get a black etch primer but I've yet to find a can either at Halfords or a show.

 

 

This shows up the lovely D & S panelling really well and is also a good time to spot any flaws in the model.

 

For whitemetal kits I then use Halfords Filler primer, which is a lovely lurid yellow. I did this on the Lavatory Composite as having been built and stripped then rebuilt, the etches had suffered a degree of maltreatment. From the quality of the photo, I suspect the camera felt the same way about that colour.

 

 

Once that is thoroughly dry I apply another coat of primer - almost always Halfords Red Oxide as most of the coaches I build are brown, teak or red. I do this inside and out as the inside will be painted brown.

 

 

Another stint in the airing cupboard to harden and then the final colour. For BR Crimson, I use BMW Zinnobar Red. I've just done a B set using Ford Rosso red which looks a nice colour too, but for some reason the can I was supplied with reacted with something and I had to strip and repaint the whole thing.

 

 

For brown coaches there are a variety of available colours; I chose to do the Luggage Composite in Precision Track Dirt (Coachmann's recommendation) and the other in Humbrol 186 with a spot of black added.

 

 

Both colours are fairly transparent and in places the red primer shows through: that's not a problem as it will add to the variable finish when I weather these, which are almost at the end of their lives. You can patch paint if needed and that will also add to the general air of postwar dilapidation as you'll never get quite the same mix.

 

The final stage is a couple of coats of satin varnish (Halfords again) to help the lettering process. That isn't necessary on the two crimson bodies as the finish of the Halfords paint is satin enough. Here the CL is ready for lettering.

 

 

Once lettered there'll be another coat of satin varnish then Dullcote on the brown vehicles and satin again on the crimson ones, the duller finish reflecting the older and less well cared for vehicles.

Edited June 15, 2018 by jwealleans

[grob1234]

Thank you very much for posting that for me, Jonathan. Very interesting to see your techniques. So I'm correct in thinking that you don't actually add graining like some do? I suppose the thinking being that when they are weathered, the graining would be virtually invisible in these scales anyway?

[jwealleans]

Ah, sorry, Tom, were you expecting to see these in teak? They're for a BR 1950s layout, so most of the stock is red or brown. NER carriages, with a very few exceptions, were painted Crimson Lake before 1923 so went straight into brown under the LNER.

 

I thought I'd done a set of pictures showing how I do teak, but I can't seem to find them this early in the morning. If I do I'll point you to them.

Edited April 19, 2017 by jwealleans

[jwealleans]

Found it - it was done for the LNER forum last year. So here it is for your reading pleasure:

 

As regular readers will have noticed, the last teak carriage is almost completely finished externally. As requested, I've kept a record of the stages of the painting process. Hopefully this will give an idea of how I do it. I wouldn't say it's definitive - the finish Andrew Teale achieves on his carriages for Leicester South is better, IMHO and I wouldn't even presume to compare to the professionals. Mike Trice has also managed a lovely deep orange teak on his carriages which I'd recommend readers to look at as well.

 

When we came together to start building up the Grantham stock, what was pleasing was how similar in shade all our attempts at teak were. That made it very easy to mix stock from all four of us who provide carriages without the resultant rakes looking odd or unmatched.

 

So, to the D178. This is a fairly new carriage in 1938 (built 1935/6, I think) so I was after a finish at the lighter end of the range of shades I produce. To start with, a coat of Halfords Filler Primer. I apply this to almost everything I build, most especially whitemetal kits as it levels the surface and provides a nice smooth finish. With brass kits, unless something has overetched or you've had an accident building it, it's not so critical. What I'm really interested in here is the garish yellow colour.

 

 

If I were aiming for a darker finish for an older vehicle I'd apply a coat of Halfords Red Oxide primer at this point and then carry on as below.

 

From here on what you largely have to do is break the rules of painting. Everything is brush painted because you want to use brush marks and the transparency of the colours to achieve the final finish. Some of it is almost drybrushed as you will see.

 

Once the primer has had time to harden, the carriage has an overall coat of the base colour.

 

 

You can buy a teak base paint, but I find it too yellow. This is my own mix, based on a tin of Humbrol 24 with shades of red and brown dripped into it and mixed until I liked it. I can't really offer any more exact advice than that, I'm afraid, it's a case of experimenting until you reach something you like.

 

After that coat had dried, I picked out panels in lighter shades of yellow and cream.

 

 

Again these were Humbrol yellows and Precision Tourist Stock Primrose (I think that's what they call it). Because I want a fairly light finish i lightened panels rather than darkening them - for an older carriage I'd do the opposite, adding darker orange and brown patches.

 

Once that's ready, we give the whole thing a coat of brown.

 

 

 

This is done using an array of colours: Humbrol 9, 62 and 186, Precision Coach Teak and their two shades of Teak topcoat and Track Dirt. I also used a very little Humbrol 10 in this one which gave a nice graining effect if used very sparingly. Humbrol 9 and the Precision teak colours give an orangey finish, 62 and 186 are more mid brown and the Coach Teak and Track Dirt are more dark brown. You're looking for very poor painting here - streaks, incomplete covering and don't clean your brush between colours so they merge. I use a flat brush to do this, with a small one to work in the corners of panels. You do want a colour distinction between panels, but a blending within them. Also, work in the direction of the grain - vertical for the upper panels (it's easiest to do these first) and horizontal for the lower. Mainly in straight lines but with the odd kink and twist to give a slight grain effect.

 

That's the main part of the job done. You can go back and rework panels you're not happy with while they're drying and if something's really catastrophically bad a cotton bud and white spirit will remove most of what you've done. A spot of white spirit on a small brush will also allow you to blend and soften brush strokes and colour patches within panels.

 

The body is then lined with a Bob Moore pen.

 

 

 

The beading on this one was a really nice width to line on - some of Bill's carriages have a very fine beading which doesn't take the paint so well, while Comet panelling, for example, is very wide. I managed to get the paint flowing really well on this one as well, it was a pleasure to do.

 

Approaching the end now: the lettering is applied and the roof painted. This is a mix of blacks and greys with talc added to give a slight texture to it.

 

 

 

It's still wet in the photos above, hence the shiny patches.

 

Lastly the Klear, to give that nice overall shine.

 

 

 

Klear also darkens the colour, so bear this in mind when applying. This is also brushed on - it's self-levelling so don't be alarmed when it comes up in loads of bubbles. It will sort itself out. I have a special soft flat brush I use only for this. I'll give it two or three thin coats to seal and level the surface and then it's ready to be glazed and have the interior fitted.

 

Does that tell you what you wanted to know?

Edited June 15, 2018 by jwealleans

[grob1234]

A 'thanks' doesn't give credit to this, Jonathan, brilliant tutorial, I appreciate you taking the time to find it for me. I really like the natural feel to the look of the wood panelling you've achieved, and the lining is excellent. I will be experimenting with 'teak' after my visit to the UK in may, by which time I hope to have a lining pen too. I like the idea of darker, older stock too, such as some of those pictured on Steve Banks website. I suppose the finish you have achieved could be darkened with weathering too?

 

Really lovely stuff - one day I too will be the proud owner of a proper rake of coaches like yours  

[jwealleans]

I've been a bit off colour this weekend, so rather than make the most of the lovely weather, I found myself moping round the house. So that the time wasn't completely wasted, I built this.

 

 

This is for Wickham Market as we have a picture of one on the Framlingham branch being used for milk traffic. DS 174, ex-NER D.171 van. Very straightforward build, the only slight deviation being that Dan didn't have any roofs when he sent me the kit. I probably wouldn't have used his anyway, rolling and fitting one from brass sheet is fairly straightforward and makes a much stronger job.

Edited June 15, 2018 by jwealleans

[nerron]

I've been a bit off colour this weekend, so rather than make the most of the lovely weather, I found myself moping round the house. So that the time wasn't completely wasted, I built this.

 

 

This is for Wickham Market as we have a picture of one on the Framlingham branch being used for milk traffic. DS 174, ex-NER D.171 van. Very straightforward build, the only slight deviation being that Dan didn't have any roofs when he sent me the kit. I probably wouldn't have used his anyway, rolling and fitting one from brass sheet is fairly straightforward and makes a much stronger job.

Lovely work. Aren't D&S kits just the best!

[richard i]

will follow with interest as i have a couple of NER NPCS (CCT) to paint and want to see how lettering might be as instructions ambiguous. This carriage might help.

Richard

[jwealleans]

oh, blimey, no pressure then.... This one will be crimson, so from memory it's 'Milk Van' in the long horizontal panel below the ducket, number in the left hand end waist panel and 'Guard' on the central door.

 

Any advance?

[jwealleans]

Aren't D&S kits just the best!

I wouldn't disagree with that at all - I enjoyed that one so much I went across to the  huge  reasonable pile, picked out another box and started another one.   You'll have to foam at the mouth with anticipation for that, though.

[nerron]

I wouldn't disagree with that at all - I enjoyed that one so much I went across to the  huge  reasonable pile, picked out another box and started another one.   You'll have to foam at the mouth with anticipation for that, though.

Foaming started!