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Charlie Strong Metals (and Watery Lane Sidings)


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1 hour ago, sb67 said:

 

I've just realised that the Graphite Sticks come in different grades! The one I got is bone hard, do you know if that matters, I'm assuming the softer ones deposit more graphite? 

That would make sense but I don't know what grade I've got. It was hexagonal, in the shape of a pencil, but fat and without any wood around it, only a paper wrapping that I removed to allow the sides of the stick to be used, so I'm afraid I can't help there.

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Graphite gradings is probably in line with pencil grading.   'H' grades are harder than 'B' grades.   Higher number 'H' is harder, higher number 'B' softer.   A regular pencil is usually HB, or right in the middle.   I'd probably start there for convenience, then work my way 'up' the 'B' grades.

 

I used a lot of apostrophes there.

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  • 1 month later...
5 hours ago, Ruston said:

Some "errors" have come to light in the scrapyard accounts. The management have decided to come down and find out what's been going on for themselves.

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Looks like they're about to take exception to being photographed, too!!! 😱🤣

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Hi Dave,

 

Can I ask where did you get the steel coils from? I especially like the painted markings, they remind me of when I first started work 51 years ago at Ductile Steels Planetary Mill, Wednesfield, West Midlands. If I recall correctly the markings also used to include the details of the metric weight. 

They used to roll steel billets into hot rolled coil. Sometimes the billets arrived by rail but the coils were always dispatched by road.

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13 hours ago, steve45 said:

Hi Dave,

 

Can I ask where did you get the steel coils from? I especially like the painted markings, they remind me of when I first started work 51 years ago at Ductile Steels Planetary Mill, Wednesfield, West Midlands. If I recall correctly the markings also used to include the details of the metric weight. 

They used to roll steel billets into hot rolled coil. Sometimes the billets arrived by rail but the coils were always dispatched by road.

I made them. 5 thou. Plastikard, cut to width and wrapped around a pencil. Seam of glue to prevent it all from unravelling. Painted with Tamiya Gunmetal (or something like that) and strips of insulation tape added as banding. Markings done using white Graphitint pencil.

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You can buy ready made painted steel coils that are quite realistic.  I’ve got some, but can’t remember who made them, there some awful cheap ones available too.  But those scratchbuilt ones are even better.

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Dare I ask how long it took/how steady a hand/how long an abstinence from alcohol it took to successfully apply those wasp stripes?

And, come to that, how long it took to recover from the ordeal afterwards?

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12 hours ago, Ruston said:

Another old 48DS that was of no further use arrives at Strong's yard. This one may spend some time moving wagons about before ending up in one and on its way to becoming a Rover 75.

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I can only imagine Health & Safety issuing instructions that PPE when working with the above is to include darkened eye protection (sunglasses)!

 

I know that such liveries were applied in real life, but I find myself admiring the modelling skills required to produce such a livery whilst at the same time wishing I’d never seen it!

 

Hats off to @Ruston for modelling industrial railways in all their colours and hues!

 

Steve S

 

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Because the body can be broken down into cab, engine casing and frames, it wasn't that difficult a task. About 20 seconds to spray a coat of white, leave for an hour, 2 minutes to brush-paint a coat of yellow, leave for a couple of hours and then around 45 minutes for each of the three parts to apply the masking tape. 20 seconds to spray the black. Apply transfer, leave for an hour, 20 seconds to spray matt varnish. Leave a day and weather. Acrylics are a great time saver. I'd still be waiting for the first coat of white to dry if I'd used enamels. The shed would stink, too.

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I'm impressed with the brushed yellow. I tend to find acrylic yellows & reds are difficult to brush evenly, drying very patchy, streaky & almost transparent in places.

Mostly Tamiya. I gave up on Humbrol, and years ago had similar issues with enamels, which I haven't used in decades -  since being married in fact, by some strange coincidence!! 🙄🤦‍♂️😂😂😂

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