S7 scratch building

[Coal Tank]

Hi Mike, that lady of the lake is beautiful do you know if it is scratch built

John 

[airnimal]

John, yes the Lady was scratch built by the late Peter Everton. It is a beautiful model that works every bit as good as it looks.

 

Well my good lady went shopping leaving me have the day in the workshop. All new bedding was purchased for the visitors when they arrive.  I didn't say anything because it's more than my life is worth. 

I assembled the wagon after the paint had a couple of hours to dry but I will leave it until tomorrow before doing any more at it. The spring wire resting on top of the wheels need a bit more tweaking to achieve the right amount of pressure.  I am not sure which of the liveries I am going to do so I must see if I can find any more photographs.

[airnimal]

I have painted the printed axleboxes and springs and now the fun begins.  

The photograph I am working from has the letters ( coal wagon ) on the second plank down.  I found what I thought was perfect letters in my box of tranfers.  Placing the letters on the wagon revealed that my tranfers were 3mm high but I need ones 4mm high to be correct. The dilemma is do I attempt to hand letter the correct size letters or do I do one of the other liveries. The letters in the photograph are very faded with lots of shunters calk marks on which does appeal to me. 

Edited August 5, 2022 by airnimal

[airnimal]

The good lady has gone out again shopping for curtains and more pillows and cushions.  Did I want to go with her ! Words fail me. You would think that we are going to have royal visitors rather than our own children coming home for a couple of weeks. Still it keeps her happy.

 

So I am attempting to do what I see in the photograph. I think I should have weathered the wagon before doing the lettering because I will probably obliterate the work already  done. Still it's a start. 

Looking at a similar wagon that's had the paint work toned down I should have started with a finish like that. 

[airnimal]

It's amazing what you can do when it's quite in the house. 

I went over the wagon with some weathering powders and lost the coal wagon lettering. But it turned out better for that because I noticed that the letter O in wagon was not central which I hoped I have corrected. 

[Dave Hunt]

Looks to me like another example of a master modelmaker's art Mike.

 

Dave

[airnimal]

No matter how much I look at the photograph I still get it wrong. I noticed that the mark above the brake rack was slightly to the right of the large coach bolt but I had put further away.  I have rubbed it out and have done it again.  I wonder if Van Gogh got it wrong and painted someone nose in the wrong place.  Anyway I am not going to cut off my ear for a simple wagon. 

Edited August 5, 2022 by airnimal

[Dave Hunt]

I have an ex-schoolmate who was in the fine arts business and although he didn't mention Van Gough specifically, he did tell me that many of the old masters' works when examined with modern equipment show myriad corrections and overpainted bits. Hence you are in good company Mike - in more ways than one.

 

Dave

 

PS - and as for 'simple wagon', in your case that's a bit like saying Van Gough knocked out a few simple paintings.

Edited August 5, 2022 by Dave Hunt

[Mikkel]

Excellent chalk marks. Casual and quick marks are so hard to do convincingly, no doubt also in this scale.

[sir douglas]

many of the top paintings around the world have previous versions hidden behind the layers which have only been discovered in the past 30 years with modern scanning technology

[Nick C]

34 minutes ago, sir douglas said:

many of the top paintings around the world have previous versions hidden behind the layers which have only been discovered in the past 30 years with modern scanning technology

Sometimes totally different paintings!

[Caley Jim]

2 hours ago, sir douglas said:

many of the top paintings around the world have previous versions hidden behind the layers which have only been discovered in the past 30 years with modern scanning technology

Using X-ray technology the Scottish National Gallery have found that there is a self portrait painted on the back of a Van Gough painting they have of an old lady.  It's sealed behind the backing, but they are hoping to be able to reveal it.

 

Jim

[airnimal]

I have been trying to model the load of earthen ware pipes packed in straws per photograph I am working from. The pipes are small offcuts of Evergreen tube with the next size to make the collars. 

I struck them down to base of black plasticard  before spraying them with red oxide from a rattle can. 

When this was dry I cut up lost of bits of hairy string into small lengths.  I use two different strings that I had in my bits box for years. One was quite light but the other was better because it had obviously been used more than the pale one. I packed a mixture of both around the tubes pushing it into between the pipes before sealing it with a fine coat of matt varnish.  

[magmouse]

1 hour ago, airnimal said:

I have been trying to model the load of earthen ware pipes packed in straws per photograph I am working from. The pipes are small offcuts of Evergreen tube with the next size to make the collars. 

I struck them down to base of black plasticard  before spraying them with red oxide from a rattle can. 

When this was dry I cut up lost of bits of hairy string into small lengths.  I use two different strings that I had in my bits box for years. One was quite light but the other was better because it had obviously been used more than the pale one. I packed a mixture of both around the tubes pushing it into between the pipes before sealing it with a fine coat of matt varnish.  

Looking good! I generally use plumber’s hemp for straw - it’s a bit finer than string, typically, and (surprisingly) still available on line.

 

do you have a link or reference for the photo you are working from? I’d be interested to see it.

 

Nick.

[airnimal]

Nick, if you go back one page to July 7th posting you will find details of where the photograph is located. If you find the LNWR society at any exhibition you may be able to but back issues of the society's journals. 

[magmouse]

17 minutes ago, airnimal said:

Nick, if you go back one page to July 7th posting you will find details of where the photograph is located. If you find the LNWR society at any exhibition you may be able to but back issues of the society's journals. 

brilliant, thank you.

 

Nick.

[ian@stenochs]

16 hours ago, magmouse said:

Looking good! I generally use plumber’s hemp for straw - it’s a bit finer than string, typically, and (surprisingly) still available on line.

 

do you have a link or reference for the photo you are working from? I’d be interested to see it.

 

Nick.

 

A late modelling friend used hair clippings from his dear wife to represent straw!  She was a natural blond lady  who wore her hair quite long but when she decided to cut it short in later life he gathered up her locks.  I remember him modelling some very realistic corn sheaves for his lineside fields.

 

Ian.

[airnimal]

Waiting for the first of the family to arrive tomorrow I thought I had better not start something to taxing. So I have being toying with producing some tarpaulins from various types of paper with hand drawn graphics.  I am not sure if this will lead to anything because I have been down this road before. 

 

As soon as I posted this I noticed that the ampersand is not right.  Must try harder. 

Edited August 9, 2022 by airnimal
Poor lettering.

[airnimal]

I keep playing around with black tissue paper forming it over some foam packing material but I am not that happy with the results even though I haven't finished it properly. The other thing is all work which has been done underneath will be lost forever.  Perhaps I should start with a wagon built especially without any details above the solebar's !

[Northroader]

You might want to try cooking foil? Get it smooth, then use some Humbrol primer on it.

[airnimal]

Bob, I have tried many different methods of trying to make wagon sheets usually without success.  

This last method has the potential but I need a smooth surface underneath and not the coarse form that I used last time. I have tried foil glued to black paper but it wouldn't fold very well around the moulded block. I will have another go after the family depart for the airport and before the next lot arrives.  

[hayfield]

This may be a bit of a silly reply, if you are still not satisfied with the tissue paper tarp covers, how about trying a very thin piece of material ? by now there must be a synthetic material similar to silk, or even an off cut of silk

[Simond]

I think the issue with modelling things like this is their weight.  Or, perhaps, more realistically, the relationship between their stiffness and their weight.  If you could hold a bit of tarpaulin so it was horizontal, I'm confident that it would have to have a very short overhang before you didn't just get a fold at the point youre holding it, whereas anything we might use as a model materrial will be relatively much stiffer.

 

The two tar'p'd opens in Mike's picture made me think more of wet tissue - that might be persuaded to hang and fold in the way that the real cloth does.  Perhaps a piece of something that doesn't immedately fall apart, so a cleaning cloth for glasses, or a baby wet wipe?  Drape over a (sacrifical) wagon, and drip PVA onto it to see if it sets with the requisite folds, creases and sags, maybe?

[airnimal]

Thank you to everyone for their suggestions regarding tarpaulins. I haven't tried silk but I am continuing with tissue paper and Resin-W. This is the latest attempt using this method.  The jury's out at present so it still could be scrapped. 

[NeilHB]

Personally I think that looks rather good Mike.