Britannia pipework

[Firecrest]

Hi all,

 

I'm at the painting stage of my 'Brit' and am trying to get the right colours for the external pipework - i.e. under the cab, over the firebox and from the clack valves backwards along the body. 

 

I've looked at more than a fair few colour plates trying to work out what was lagged, painted, bare metal; and so forth, but most haven't been the sharpest, or it's been indistinct. 

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

best wishes and thanks,

 

Chris

[slilley]

The Bradford Barton hardback on the Brits has a number of close up pictures, albeit in black and white, where you are able to see what is bare copper piping, or lagged pipework of some sort.

 

No 70014 which was displayed at the Festival of Britain was polished to within an inch of its life and the brightwork was very bright including polished edges to the smoke deflectors.

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by slilley

[Right Away]

You’re on the right track (!) by referring to photographs of the prototype. However, preserved examples may exhibit a certain lustre not readily achieved back in the day. A consideration is in what condition you would like your Britannia. Bare copper pipework can soon loose the burnished glow after a few trips. In many photos of the engines in their prime, the water feeds are unpainted but later images can show as if painted - but that could just be an accumulation of dirt!

 

Here’s a few roughly scanned photos and a couple at the bottom showing my Hornby version. I’ve not painted the feeds to the clacks in copper due to (un) steadiness of hand; on reflection, there is still more that can be done to the model.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Right Away
correction

[DCB]

I don't think any two were alike after a few years in service tremendous variations in pipe runs and lagging, paint, limescale blue copper corrosion, almost needs a photo of the right engine taken the right week .    I guess they were all shopped at Crewe, so maybe they modified them as they were shopped or maybe as the pipes broke or leaked.  The big pipe from the injectors on the right hand side seems to vary dramatically loco to loco and early to late condition. 

70014 was the interesting one, Festival of Britain show finish,  Golden Arrow regular loco and ended up with a coal pusher tender.

[Firecrest]

Thanks everyone, that's really helpful - the engine in question is 70024 Vulcan btw... that pic of 70041 above is pretty much how I want her to appear when she's done. Much of it will be covered under a coating of various shades of frame dirt anyway, but it's always good to have a really good look at the prototype first!

As you may have seen from previous threads, the model is an old Triang Brit' (complete with smoke generator - now decommissioned...) that has been stripped down and treated with a Crownline kit. Suffice to say it's like night and day...

 

Anyway onwards and upwards... and if anyone has any tips on how to add the very small handles to the smoke deflectors..🤪

 

Chris