2mm Andy Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 (edited) Stunning work Nick although I have to confess that having spent a while looking at the photos of your model, I'm struggling to actually see the representation of the bolts on the smokebox/tank angle. Andy Edited November 12, 2020 by 2mm Andy 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted November 12, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted November 12, 2020 32 minutes ago, 2mm Andy said: Stunning work Nick although I have to confess that having spent a while looking at the photos of your model, I'm struggling to actually see the representation of the bolts on the smokebox/tank angle. We're at the elite end of the hobby here Andy - invisible rivet counting. Besides, you know I've never shied away from adding details to my models that nobody will ever see. It is a natural progression to want to put stuff on there that I can't see either! Like the fabled emperor resplendent in his "clothes", I am confident that these "bolts" are now accurately positioned, and Beatrice looks all the better for them... The bolts on the vertical surface were pushed through from the other side (via half-etched dimples) and were never that well defined. You have to catch the light just right to see any sign of them, so photographing them is quite tricky. Some of the ones on the cab sides are similar. The strip round the smokebox wrapper suffered a bit with being taken off, cleaned, straightened and re-fitted, and the lumps have worn away somewhat. I believe a couple of them are more visible in the photo below?? If not, admire the long handrails I've just fitted to the tank instead. 14 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted November 14, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted November 14, 2020 I've just spent an enjoyable few hours attending the 2mm Zoom Area Group. In the spirit of real area group meetings, while listening to the conversations, I was attempting to do a bit of model making. This morning I have added a few more details under the tank on the driver's side. The pipe between the cab and the smokebox carries the exhaust steam from the vacuum ejector which has been fitted in preservation. A lot of preserved ex-industrial saddletanks (including at least one Hunslet 16") have such a pipe on top of the tank, running close to the handrail. I think the under-tank arrangement is much neater. On the real loco, this pipe wriggles behind the balance pipe, but seeing as I have made the balance pipe part of the chassis, I am unable to replicate the precise arrangement. The pipe itself (and the vertical section joined to it) are 0.3mm nickel silver. Where it joins the smokebox, there is a flange made from 6 thou brass. In front of the ejector pipe is the operating linkage for the cylinder drain taps. The instructions suggested making this from wire. but I have used a thin part of the etched fret instead. Once I had filed the cusp off, it is about .25mm square. While this is over scale, it will be more robust than wire of the correct diameter, but more than that, having a flat surface it will reflect the light differently. The real thing is supported half way along - it runs in a slot in the top of a pillar. I have replicated the pillar with a length of 0.25mm rod. I filed a flat on the rear of the rod at the top end before soldering the operating rod behind it. I also spent some time readjusting the handrails that I had managed somehow to damage. looking at these pictures I have also noticed the grab handle in top of the tank has got pushed in at one side, and the rear buffer beam is looking decidedly wonky! Once those are tweaked, the tank footsteps are next on my list... 5 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post Nick Mitchell Posted November 14, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted November 14, 2020 Here are a few more pictures. With the chassis in place, you can see the compromise with the balance pipe under the front end of the tank passing behind rather than in front of the ejector pipe. I have also fitted the steps on the tank sides, fixed the wonky grab handle, straightened the rear buffer beam, and fitted a lamp bracket on the smokebox. This latter item is actually a spare from my 9F kit. As well as the ex-Jinty brake hangers and modified LMS buffers, there is also part of a piece of Jubilee chassis somewhere on this loco... you'll never guess! This one shows off the reversing lever well. It also shows off the missing guard iron... I hope I will be able to effect a repair without ruining the lining on the frames(!) Now the driver's side is so "busy" under the tank, you need to look from the fireman's side for a good view of the bits between the frames. This might be more difficult once the fire irons are stowed along the footplate. 12 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted November 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 14, 2020 Exquisite Jerry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike morley Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Looking through my books on industrials suggests that if a guard iron got knocked off it rarely got replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post Nick Mitchell Posted November 15, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted November 15, 2020 Beatrice finally has her face. The handles are my usual handrail knobs trimmed to length and filed as round as I can Looking at this cruel enlargement, I'm thinking the hinge might need some slight adjustment. At least the bolt heads on the tank front are visible in this shot... 15 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted December 5, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 5, 2020 Another lockdown over, and once again I've been busier than ever with things other than modelling! All I've had time to do over the last 3 weeks is make the cab roof, and tweak the smokebox door hinge. The way the roof goes together is a nice bit of design. There is a half-etched roof proper, and then a smaller, full thickness, piece which solders to the underneath and locates inside the the cab walls. Obviously the inner piece needs to be carefully filed to a perfect fit before laminating, to ameliorate any wonkiness in the construction of the cab. So far so good, but then there is the roof ventilator. You may recall that I'd used the etched part for the cab roof vent as a coal door on the bunker front, so I needed to make a new one. Measuring the original in place in the cab was tricky. I resorted to holding various pieces of scrap etch up against it, and measuring those instead. Having made a perfect duplicate, when I placed it on the cab roof, it looked far too small. Photos of the real Beatrice as she is today confirmed this... So another, larger one had to be made - this time guestimating the dimensions. In the photo below, the second attempt is shown on the right: At least I now have a spare coal door for some future tank engine - assuming I remember where I put it! Here's a corner "borrowed" from a photo I found on-line, taken from the footbridge at Embsay. Looks like somebody has stolen the capacitors from the bunker... And my version, soldered in place, from a similar angle. I think it looks about right. This front view shows the aesthetic advantage of the two-layer cab roof design - in that no light shows through the crack between the cab front and the roof. This is something I've had issues with in the past. It does give a very thick cab roof, so I have chamfered the inside edges of the rectangular hole so when you look at an angle like this, the metal looks suitably thin. The list of details left to add is getting quite short now, and I'm coming dangerously close to the painting stage. I'll have to put it away and start another loco project or three before that happens... a Masterclass 8F has begun singing its siren song recently... I've just noticed that Rapido announced a OO RTR version of the Hunslet 16" a few days ago. Beatrice is included in the list of initial versions, but in NCB red with a stovepipe chimney. I wonder if there will be an N version at some point? 9 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted December 16, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 16, 2020 Only a tiny bit of progress to report over the last week or so, as I continue to add the final few details. Next to the smokebox, there are some grab handles which have been added in preservation, tucked in behind the sandbox filler lids. In the first photo, I have drilled holes for the grab handles, and also drilled out the half-etched sandbox filler lids, which were of the recessed-handle type. Beatrice (at least nowadays) has cast ones. I made new raised sandbox filler lids on my lathe from nickel silver rod. The mounting spigot, 0.7mm diameter, extends 1mm below the footplate, and will represent the tube connecting to the sandboxes themselves. The grab handles are 0.25mm wire. Also visible in the photo below are the recently fitted lamp irons, which are N Brass etchings (LMS type). The final details on the footplate are the brackets for stowing the fire irons on the fireman's side. These are made from wire and scrap etch. Next job will be the vacuum hoses. I suppose I ought to have steam heat hoses as well, seeing as this is a "modern image" model... 7 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted December 19, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 19, 2020 Beatrice now has her vacuum and steam heat pipes front and rear: On to the cab interior next... Away from the modelling bench, today I've been firing our covid-secure Santa Specials at Embsay. We have a new visiting loco in Welsh Guardsman - another Austerity. This one is not a Hunslet. Well, most of it isn't. It is actually constructed from parts of three different Austerities, like Frankenstein's monster. Maybe it should be called Welsh Guardsmen. For those of you who enjoy your industrial 0-6-0 saddletanks, here are a couple of pictures, and a video: 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caley Jim Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 What was that 'orrible blue thing doing on the back end of the train? Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted December 20, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 20, 2020 17 minutes ago, Caley Jim said: What was that 'orrible blue thing doing on the back end of the train? Jim You mean apart from adding weight for the Austerity to show how awesome it is? Partly to allow for social distancing on the train, we're having to run trains which are longer than can fit in the loops at Embsay and Bow Bridge. Consequently we're having to top'n'tail the train. Personally I'd prefer to have another steam loco on the tail. (There has been a second loco in steam every day as stand-by/rescue engine). In this direction, the diesel is providing no power, but is exhausting air from the vacuum pipe. In the reverse direction, the steam loco is doing not much more than heating the train. The theory is that the Diesel is off the end of the platform at Bolton Abbey (from where the Santa trains start and finish) so the public don't see it. The steam loco is at the end everybody arrives at, and parades along the length of the car park as it goes for water. Being a fireman on these turns is a bit like being a pop star, with crowds of kids waving at you. OK, maybe not quite a pop star, but it is good fun. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted December 23, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 23, 2020 I have been busy making the boiler backhead. Because the shape of the firebox is waisted at the bottom, I was able to cheat a bit when making the basic shape. I started by turning a profiled disc in the lathe, then filed off a segment at the bottom and area in the centre to clear the parts of the mechanism which protrude into the cab. For the regulator, which has a curve in it, I used a piece of .3mm nickel silver wire, bent to shape, then the central section was squashed flat in a vice. The backhead-mounted injectors are 0.45mm copper wire bent and twisted to shape. Here they are in the initial stages of forming: With various soldered onto the backhead, I am trying to create an impression rather than a 100% accurate impression. There is plenty of detail that I have missed off, but I think this looks busy enough. Here it is epoxied in place in the cab: Once the roof is in place, it is hard to see the detail, but it is important to see that there is something there: The last bit of detail in the cab is the handbrake. I twisted a loop in the end of a piece of 0.25mm steel to form the vertical shaft, and bent up another bit of wire for the handle. The real one is quite spindly. I slipped a short length of micro-bore brass tube over the bottom end, where in reality there is a rubber boot to prevent coal dust getting into the mechanism. The functional couplings (Electra droppers) have been added, as has the whistle cord. The smokebox door has been glued on, meaning the top half of the loco is just about complete. I still need to attend to that pesky missing guard iron on the chassis, but the body is now ready for the paint shop. I doubt I will be able to get anywhere near the finish of Valour, and I'm already regretting my choice of livery... From this angle, the aperture in the backhead is rather obvious, but I'm hoping a well-placed crew member will disguise it. 7 10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted December 23, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 23, 2020 55 minutes ago, Nick Mitchell said: From this angle, the aperture in the backhead is rather obvious, but I'm hoping a well-placed crew member will disguise it. A Modelu version of yourself surely Nick? Lovely work as ever. Merry Christmas Simon 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted December 23, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 23, 2020 12 minutes ago, 65179 said: A Modelu version of yourself surely Nick? Good idea. I was thinking it would be quite nice if we could arrange for Modelu to attend a 2mm event to do some scanning - once that sort if thing is allowed again. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium CF MRC Posted December 24, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 24, 2020 I think one of the problems with Modelu figures is that the individuals that are scanned are often too big for our (older) locos. Looking at old photos, people were shorter and thinner than nowadays and loco crews would certainly not have been carrying excess weight. The figures may also be nominally 1:148 which doesn’t help for 2mm scale either. Nick would look very dashing on his engine, though... Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium figworthy Posted December 24, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 24, 2020 1 hour ago, CF MRC said: I think one of the problems with Modelu figures is that the individuals that are scanned are often too big for our (older) locos. Looking at old photos, people were shorter and thinner than nowadays and loco crews would certainly not have been carrying excess weight. The figures may also be nominally 1:148 which doesn’t help for 2mm scale either. Nick would look very dashing on his engine, though... Tim Would it be possible to scale them to (say) 1.9mm/foot (and breathe in when you are being scanned) ? Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted December 24, 2020 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 24, 2020 The real 6' 1 1/2 " me fits nicely in the cab of the real Beatrice, with all my excess weight (thanks, Tim!). It is Great Western engines where you really have to breathe in to fit through the cab doorway... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richbrummitt Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 I’m reasonably thin but no shorter than Nick. I fitted onto the footplate of a hall at the weekend - tank engine doors are possibly narrower? I agree with Tim and Nick himself that Nick would fit best on Beatrice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted February 13, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) I had my airbrush out earlier this week and gave Beatrice a coat of etching primer. All my recently found confidence (well, confidence may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I had become slightly less terrified) disappeared when I inspected the results close up. Poor Beatrice looked like she'd been left in a spider-infested shed for a hundred years: the dreaded cobwebbing had visited me once again. I thought I had done everything the same as the previous time I used this primer (Phoenix Precision 2-pack), but something was obviously not right. Things turned out to be not quite as bad as they might have been. A vigorous scrub with a camera lens brush removed most of the cobwebs, and there was a reasonable coat of primer stuck to the model underneath them. The more stubborn cobwebs were carefully removed with a combination of tweezers, cocktail slicks and a tiny screwdriver. A blow over with compressed air, and this is what I was left with: I think it is good enough to put a top coat over. In these pictures I have spotted that one of the lamp irons has broken off, and the rear-most handrail pillar under the tank on the driver's side has come loose and pushed in. I think I'll put a lamp where the broken iron is once she's painted, and the handrail knob will have to be glued from inside the tank. I primed one of my plate wagons at the same time as I did Beatrice to use up the paint in the airbrush cup. Obviously this was before I had noticed the cobwebs. The result was similar. If you want to see what these cobwebs are like before removal, zoom in on this: Edited February 13, 2021 by Nick Mitchell 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethashenden Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 What causes those cobwebs? I don't think I've experienced it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nig H Posted February 13, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13, 2021 11 hours ago, Nick Mitchell said: I had my airbrush out earlier this week and gave Beatrice a coat of etching primer. All my recently found confidence (well, confidence may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I had become slightly less terrified) disappeared when I inspected the results close up. Poor Beatrice looked like she'd been left in a spider-infested shed for a hundred years: the dreaded cobwebbing had visited me once again. I thought I had done everything the same as the previous time I used this primer (Phoenix Precision 2-pack), but something was obviously not right. Things turned out to be not quite as bad as they might have been. A vigorous scrub with a camera lens brush removed most of the cobwebs, and there was a reasonable coat of primer stuck to the model underneath them. The more stubborn cobwebs were carefully removed with a combination of tweezers, cocktail slicks and a tiny screwdriver. A blow over with compressed air, and this is what I was left with: I think it is good enough to put a top coat over. In these pictures I have spotted that one of the lamp irons has broken off, and the read-most handrail pillar under the tank on the driver's side has come loose and pushed in. I think I'll put a lamp where the broken iron is once she's painted, and the handrail knob will have to be glued from inside the tank. I primed one of my plate wagons at the same time as I did Beatrice to use up the paint in the airbrush cup. Obviously this was before I had noticed the cobwebs. The result was similar. If you want to see what these cobwebs are like before removal, zoom in on this: Hi Nick, Nice work as usual. Do you know what causes the cobwebbing? Is it caused by the cold maybe? When it happens to me I use water and a fairly stiff brush to clean the paintwork up. As you say, sometimes bits need removing with tweezers or a knife blade - delicate work. Nigel Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted February 13, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13, 2021 3 hours ago, garethashenden said: What causes those cobwebs? 3 hours ago, Nig H said: Is it caused by the cold maybe? I was spraying inside (masked up and with with a filter booth). The central heating has been cranked up the last few weeks, so the paint, air and model were not cold. In his famous book (my copy of which is now autographed ) Ian Rathbone says when he followed Precision's instructions to let the paint down 1:1 with activated thinners, all he got from his airbrush was cobwebs. I follow his recipe of 1 part paint : 2 parts activated thinners : 1 part cellulose thinners All I can think of is that maybe my paint has thickened in the jar over time and now needs thinning even more. It is hard to tell as it is incredibly gloopy to begin with. 3 hours ago, Nig H said: When it happens to me I use water and a fairly stiff brush to clean the paintwork up. As you say, sometimes bits need removing with tweezers or a knife blade - delicate work. Glad to know I'm not the only one who occasionally suffers from this! At least it isn't necessarily a total disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted February 13, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13, 2021 I got the same result with this primer - and gave up on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nick Mitchell Posted February 13, 2021 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13, 2021 Last night I had a go at putting the gloss onto the green bits. I'm using gloss so that painting any lining or transfers will be much easier. If you get the light right, gloss paint does highlight all kinds of defects and blemishes. Once complete, I will give the whole thing a coat of satin or matt varnish - but that is in the far future. For now I'm happy with the way things are progressing. The finish isn't the smoothest, but at least it isn't gritty and I think I've managed not to leave shadows behind handrails and boiler furniture. The paint mix was 2:1 humbrol gloss brunswick green : lime green. It looks a bit lurid in these photos, but in natural light to the naked eye it appears quite a bit darker. I didn't bother masking the bits that won't be green other than the inside of the cab. I haven't decided whether I'll spray the red or the black next. In either case I will leave it several days for the green to go really hard before masking up. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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