A gentle repaint project

[nomisd]

I am not what you would call a serious modeller. I mean when I am modelling, I am serious about it. But there are long stretches of time when I go off in a different direction and lose that mojo. Obvious the railways never go away but the urge to model them does. Then out of the blue, it'll come back as quick as it left. I t has been bubbling under for a while, I have been itching to get back but was waiting for the thing that was going to re-ignite the fire. It came on Friday when out of nowhere I happened to go to the Narrow Planet web site because someone sent me a link about something and whilst I was there I happened to to look at their KB Scale stock. I have thought for a long time if I were ever to model anything narrow gauge it would be in O14 scale. The perfect storm happened and they happened to have the starter track kit and a Ruston LBT in stock. So I ordered them both and await their arrival with bated breath.

 

But I hear you cry, this is the standard gauge industrial forum, your LBT whilst nice has no place here. No but its order has also re-started another long on the back burner project. About 15 years ago a member of the MRC I was a member of was selling off some his kit built O scale locos which is how I became the owner of these

 

 

I used them for a couple of years on the clubs O scale layout but as you can see from the photo they have sat around for a while and are in some dire need of some TLC. I have never really liked the colour of them and don't particularly like the names, not so much the names more the name plates. One of the things that a member of the MRC did for me was to fit them both with Delrin chains

 

 

My first intention is to clean them and strip the paint off them and see where we go from there. What I do with them all eventually is open to conjecture. I would like to build a small layout incorporating SG and 2ft 0in. A layout that I have always had a soft spot for is The End of the Line and the idea of a tipping transfer between the two is a possibility and based on something as simple as Thomas Grey at Burton Latimer, at least its obtainable and animatable. However thats someway off yet.... 

 

 

[nomisd]

I love the smell of acetone in the mornings. Everything disassembled and stripped. No massive problems or scares.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good clean up is now in order. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to get something (a jewel?) to put in the lamps on the RH to make them look like lamps?

[Giles]

Build up with 5 minute epoxy to form a domed lens in situ (having painted the inside silver first!). It works quite well.

[Ruston]

Before you start to repaint the Ruston you might want to take that radiator grille off and put it on the inside of the front panel, where it belongs. It would look a whole lot better then.

[nomisd]

1 hour ago, Ruston said:

Before you start to repaint the Ruston you might want to take that radiator grille off and put it on the inside of the front panel, where it belongs. It would look a whole lot better then.

 

Stupid question time - I have approximately zero experience of brass. I have no variable temp soldering iron but do have a bog standard electrical one. What is the easiest way of doing this?  

[Ruston]

2 hours ago, nomisd said:

 

Stupid question time - I have approximately zero experience of brass. I have no variable temp soldering iron but do have a bog standard electrical one. What is the easiest way of doing this?  

I don't have a varaiable temp. iron either. I've never seen the point in them.

 

If you're worried about the whole thing coming apart, get one area lifted first - start at a corner.  Do a little bit at a time so you don't melt the solder on the rest of it. Go in from behind so the iron is pushing the grille off and when you get a little bit of it lifted, stick some paper in so it doesn't solder back together. Work your way around with the iron and paper until it comes off.

 

The grille may get a bit bent out of shape but you can flatten it out again easily enough.

[nomisd]

I had a closer look at the offending grill to see what was actually holding on. It didn't look like it had been soldered and looked like it had been glued. So I got a scalpel to see if I could use that to "undo" the glue. As I put it on the seam it suspiciously went between the two piece of metal very easily. Yeah it turns out that the grill was attached by

 

 

erm, a very large blob of blutac. In fairness I suppose until I took it off the paint was probably also assisting to. So I have stripped this out but there is now another impediment

 

 

the cavity under the bonnet is filled with lead (the bottom of the photo is the front of the loco). It looks like I will be able to take some of this out so I can get the grill where it is supposed to be. I haven't quite worked out what I am going to hack the lead out with yet but I am sure I will find something....

[nomisd]

I have eased some of the lead out of the way to see if I can make room for sliding the grill up in side. If it were completely clean inside it would probably be possible but there is just too much lead to make it viable without completely creasing and mangaling the grill. The remains of the original grill (the brighter square in the picture with the blutac above) need to go as well so I will need to get the Dremel like tool out to deal with those. 

 

A solution I thought of of the top of my head is to build a frame (from plastic section, perhaps L section?), put the grill on the back of that and then glue that in the hole. Another idea that occurs to me is any examples of oddly re-radiatored 48DSs?

 

Any suggestions on how to close the hole convincingly and easily are very welcome.

Edited May 6, 2020 by nomisd

[Ruston]

Is the lead glued in? I would imagine that it is. It would be difficult to pour molten lead in and the whole thing not unsolder itself with the heat. You could try pouring in something that will weaken or dissolve the glue and see if you can get it out.

[Regularity]

Nitromors is very good at dissolving epoxy, etc.

Edited May 6, 2020 by Regularity
Autocorrect...

[nomisd]

A liberal application of acetone was all that it took to get the glued in lead out and to leave a cavity

 

 

I have had a test fit of the grill and it is going to work fine. 

 

 

Everything needs a good clean up, including straightening out the surround as best as I can and a good cleaning of the grill. I will have to take a break - I need to get some sanding and cleaning wheels for the dremel-a-like and I haven't got any suitable glue to fix the grill with. Deconfinement starts here on Tuesday which includes the reopening of DIY shops, where I can get such things. It'll be nice to go out without my filled in form - I am actually disappointed that I haven't actually been asked for my papers, in a mid-century sort of way, whilst out.

 

[hayfield]

Looks like this may turnout into quite a fun project, I have found a couple of similar projects in the past where you take ages just finding how to take things apart to a basic level befor you can start to putting things back together

[Sweet pea]

An interesting but fun little project.

[5050]

7 hours ago, hayfield said:

Looks like this may turnout into quite a fun project, I have found a couple of similar projects in the past where you take ages just finding how to take things apart to a basic level befor you can start to putting things back together

I've done a few of them over the years, mainly bought cheap on exhibition sales stands for peanuts.

[hayfield]

17 minutes ago, 5050 said:

I've done a few of them over the years, mainly bought cheap on exhibition sales stands for peanuts.

 

I picked up a Wills E2, the Triang chassis had the cast spacers removed, Chassis widened, Romford wheels and a D11 motor fitted. The missing parts I bought from SEF, I am in the process of painting it, the motor is in the boiler and the builder made a cab, which is needs a cast back head reversing lever etc and the coupling rods which are made from rail swapped for etched ones. Finally I can put some transfers on and coal in the bunker

[nomisd]

The front of that RH bothers me. What I am especially bothered about is this, what the arrows are pointing to

 

As far as I can tell this shouldn't actually be here. Its obviously the product of whatever caused the grill etching to be stuck over it with blutac. The thing is I don't think that it had anything to do with the orginal kit. Checking the 48DS drawing in @Ruston 48DS & 88DS book, it shouldn't be there. Looking at every photo I have ever found, it shouldn't be there. Its obviously a bodge. And its all bent and isn't going to look right.

 

So I think that its going. Removing it shouldn't be too problematic. This means that the grill that came off won't fit now so a replacement will have to be made. I don't think I have anything suitable so I think that the old sieve that I have just found in the kitchen may become a donor. Its not the correct pattern but then I found the photo on page 31 of said book of RH 212653 at Brown Bayley in Sheffield for all the world looking like someone has taken a sieve mesh and put it into as a new radiator grill.

 

 

 

[Ruston]

What people often call a grill is actually mesh anyway, certainly on these Rustons. The mesh that's usually supplied with models has squares, where the real thing has diamond shapes. Everyone puts the mesh so the bars are vertical and horizontal but putting them on the diagonal looks much better.

 

You can get mesh from model suppliers. For the smalller scales you can even find it in old fashioned oil filters from old diesel engines but not everyone has access to those, obviously. An old sieve, if the holes are fine enough, will serve well enough.

Edited May 11, 2020 by Ruston

[2mm Andy]

6 hours ago, nomisd said:

The front of that RH bothers me. What I am especially bothered about is this, what the arrows are pointing to

 

As far as I can tell this shouldn't actually be here. Its obviously the product of whatever caused the grill etching to be stuck over it with blutac. The thing is I don't think that it had anything to do with the orginal kit. Checking the 48DS drawing in @Ruston 48DS & 88DS book, it shouldn't be there. Looking at every photo I have ever found, it shouldn't be there. Its obviously a bodge. And its all bent and isn't going to look right.

 

So I think that its going. Removing it shouldn't be too problematic. This means that the grill that came off won't fit now so a replacement will have to be made. I don't think I have anything suitable so I think that the old sieve that I have just found in the kitchen may become a donor. Its not the correct pattern but then I found the photo on page 31 of said book of RH 212653 at Brown Bayley in Sheffield for all the world looking like someone has taken a sieve mesh and put it into as a new radiator grill.

 

 

Could it be that the bonnet front has been soldered on back-to-front? It almost looks as though the recessed area was designed to be on the inside. Just a thought anyway.

 

Andy

[decauville1126]

Has the bonnet frontplate possibly been soldered in back to front - maybe the half-etched area around the opening was to hold the grille? If removal of the frontplate isn't a fanciable option, then perhaps a quick cleanup followed by building up with some filler, sanding flat and tidying the opening before adding some new mesh inside. Would also lose the lumps and bumps that seem to be there.