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Comet K40 Brake - Airfix B Set Conversion


sjrixon
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From the comet sheet I know the 1931 build numbers are double digit numbers. So I was going to use something like 32 to be in the middle.

The sheet says 32 was branded Bristol TM and Eastleigh from 1951.

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This hobby can be an evil mistress sometimes. I came back to my two sides with the first couple of coats of cream applied to find a small amount of fluff in the paint of both of them! So i've done a little bit of light sanding and I'll have to do another couple of coats.

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Varnish question.... should it be matt like my brown stock, or have more of a sheen.

 

I've some Testors dullcoat that I quite like, or some Humbrol Satin that I don't think I've ever used. 

Edited by sjrixon
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  • RMweb Gold
Progress is always slow when it moves to painting, less interesting too. I've been having issues with spraying, I think I've been over thinning the railmatch paint. I've not sprayed with their acrylics before and each one has a slightly different consistency. 

 

After many thin coats, I was ready to remove the masking tape. The good news is the tape didn't lift any paint, but some got in around the hinges. I'd start to very carefully touch over the brown that's crept onto the cream.

 

I now need to pick out the droplights, I've read they should be red. I'm not sure about the handles if they should be black?

 

Here is the evil close up.

 

IMAG0742_zpsvdqdcanw.jpg

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Coming along nicely. I painted my droplights a sort of mahogany red. With a fine brush they are quite easy to do neatly. With regard to paint bleed around raised surfaces [you may already know this - if so, apologies] I use thin Tamiya tape which I then overlay with ordinary masking tape. The Tamiya tape is more flexible and helps avoid bleed in most cases.

 

Tony 

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I used Tamiya tape.. What I should have done in hindsight, is cut a small hole to slide the hinge through and then add another piece of tap to cover it. They were just too close to the line so have pulled up the tape. 

 

It will be fine once I've tidied it up.. And the lining will cover all evils anyway!

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What also happened last night wasn't overly planned. During a shopping trip on Wizard I'd added the underframe detailing kit, it was a few pounds and made me feel better about the postage. So while I moved the sides to one side after the touching up, I thought I'd look at the buffers. 

 

One thing led to another and the Dremel came out and the underframe was in real trouble. 

 

IMAG0744_zpslwv6vhom.jpg

 

It was pretty clear that the battery box on the far side is in totally the wrong place and that both the brake vacumes were wrong. So off they came.

 

Then a simple job to glue the new ones in.. I left one side in place. It's not like many people are going to see any of this when it's on the layout!

 

IMAG0745_zpsgl3cdbn8.jpg

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Yep, I'm not sure why the pointy bit is in the casting. I always file it off. You need the hole to be visible as this is what the vacuum crank (or whatever it is called) fits into.

Have a look at this pic of a couple of old Hornby Collets I have been converting.

post-6916-0-55310500-1479501604_thumb.jpg

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Yep, I'm not sure why the pointy bit is in the casting. I always file it off. You need the hole to be visible as this is what the vacuum crank (or whatever it is called) fits into.

Have a look at this pic of a couple of old Hornby Collets I have been converting.

attachicon.gifIMG_0007.JPG

Me too, I always assumed it was a location peg but it's easier to remove it.

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I dug out the Comet instructions and looked at the underframe part, should have done that before! So I'll make up an approximation of the vacuum setup. As the underframe is slightly wrong, I'm not going to go too crazy, but I can make something look ok.

 

The hard decision on Sunday was ito touch up the cream part of the sides. I'd managed to get a couple of blemishes in the sides and they had been bugging me. So I'm going to mask up the bottom and touch it up with the airbrush. I'd painted in the droplights, which made this a tough call, but I do it now or it bugs me forever.

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It was quite easy to break of the vacuum brakes and fit them the other way around! While I was underneath I fitted a few other bits :)

 

The Vs were just a bit of bent wire super glued onto the frame. I then put some 0.45 wire through the vacuum and soldered it onto a second V. You can see from this picture I've started some steps, then onto rain strips and this body can go in for some primer.

 

I can see why some people say it's just as easy to build the rest of the coach from the kit, I've hacked the coach about so much!

 

IMAG0751_zps0i0nubir.jpg

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The lining transfers were not quite as easy as I was expecting!  I tried to stretch it out across the coach side and keep it lined up, but it wasn't easy. Quite a lot of transfix later, I don't think I did too bad a job.

 

IMAG0756_zps3lvnyvxw.jpg

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The drop lights were a revel pot. 37. It's called Reddish Brown.. Not sure if it's right, but looks ok!

 

That picture really highlights where I've done the transfers, I guess it's the light reflecting off it. I hope the varnish takes that away!

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