Rob's 7mm Rolling Stock Workbench

[Rob Pulham]

How right you are Paul

[Rob Pulham]

Now for a tale of two Parksides.....

 

I haven't been well for the last couple of weeks which sadly caused me to miss out on York show but I have managed to do a little bit and finish another couple of lurkers on the bench.

 

Some may recall this being constructed some time ago it's one of Parkside's latest kits. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those that recall it may remember that I modelled the vents in the toilet compartment in the open position which seemed like a great idea at the time. They were the absolute devil to glaze.....

 

The opaque windows are made from the plastic trays that chinese takeaways come in. I keep them for strage of parts during builds but realised that some of them are obscure enough for the window glazing job.

 

Thanks also have to go to our very own Paul Gallon ( Wordsell Forever) who pointed me in the direction of the Vallejo equivalent of LNER coach brown (Game Colour Flat Earth) as I fine the acrylics so much easier to get on with for spraying and cleaning up. I still need to make up some brass vacuum pies to replace the whitemetal ones supplied then it's off for a light weathering as it would be another newish one in my time frame

 

Followed by what could be one of their first kits an NBR 8 ton outside framed van. 

I picked this up second hand. It still has solid unsprung buffers and a very plain underframe. Still a nice kit that makes up well enough.

 

 

 

[N15class]

Excellent work as always. I think your wife should be taking commissions, she seems far better than some so called professionals.

[Rob Pulham]

Thanks Peter,

 

It has been suggested that she gives demo's at shows but she's not well and can only do any activity for short periods. Painting pictures is her primary focus and she only weathers my stock when she doesn't feel up to standing at her easel.

[Rob Pulham]

In between building track, painting coach sides, vans and things I have also been messing about painting some etched plates. I have the technique perfected for coloured backing/brass fronts but it's the ones that need black background/white lettering or the reverse where I have been struggling.

 

Here are a few that I have been playing with.

 

 

Then we get onto the more complex ones.....

 

These don't look too bad not perfect but on the side of a weathered wagon they will do nicely. As picked up by Mike Edge in another thread, spot the deliberate mistake here....

 

 

Then we get to really fiddly. Once again magnified to the size that they are they look a bit rough but I think that I am getting there.

 

.

 

In terms of getting them to this point, all the plates were chemically blackened using Carrs brass black - diluted. Then they were all painted with Games Workshop Chaos Black with a brush. After 10 mins drying the ones that were to be brass lettered were then rubbed with a piece of the mounting board type card that etched kits come attached to from the likes of Connoisseur etc. I find that this rubs off the paint from the letters while polishing the brass at the same time and it doesn't create grit that will stick to the still soft paint on the backing. They were then varnished with satin varnish after a couple of hours.

 

The ones that needed to have white lettering were treated in the same way up to this point with the exception that they were left on the fret initially. Next I got a small piece of plasticard and painted the shiny side with cream Humbrol enamel and left it for 15 minutes.

 

At this point I pressed the plates face down onto the painted plasticard and the paint was transferred to the face of the lettering. The smaller Charles Roberts plates were done in a similar fashion but I tried sticking blue tack to the backs of them in an effort to hold them better but it wasn't a success

 

In conclusion they are not perfect but they will do on a weathered wagon sole bar at normal viewing distances. I think that I am on the right lines I just need to perfect the technique.

[Worsdell forever]

The 1785 ones look so good I would have said they were the real thing!

[Rob Pulham]

The 1785 ones look so good I would have said they were the real thing!

 

Thanks Paul,  they are on their way to Germany tomorrow - they were the North Eastern Railway plates that came in my N10 kit.

[Jon Fitness]

Rob,

For plates that require white lettering you could try spraying the plate with a quick waft of Halfords white primer, followed by a gloss white. Allow a good 24hrs for the paint to harden, paint the plate with the contrasting colour in enamel and allow it to just start drying then wipe off the raised detail with a piece of paper (not a tissue!) or rub facedown gently on a piece of paper. It's worked for me on loco smokebox numbers.

Cheers

JF

[Rob Pulham]

Thanks Jon, I will give that one a try.

[Rob Pulham]

I have been a bit quiet on the build posting front because I have been building a Dragon models L&Y 30 ton bogie van and I decided to do an article about it for the gazette so I thought that it wouldn't really be fair to post progress. I will put up some photos of it when it's finished.

 

In between I have been doing a bit more on a pair of Parkside LNER 12 ton vans. I used these initially to experiment with springing before commencing the build of the scale 7 wagons for Love Lane. I have also used them to experiment with Bauxite colours. One of them has been done with Railmatch enamel over a dark red Vallejo primer and the other is Vallejo Dark Fleshtone as recommended as a substitute by a friend (I do find the acrylics so much easier to spray and clean up). What I have found recently is that although the Vallejo Game colours spray well when thinned with de-ionised water they spray even better when thinned with Tamiya Acrylic thinners. This one is thinned with de-ionised water. Both have come out very much on the red end of the spectrum due to the dark red primer. Further experimentation will take place using different coloured primers to see what I prefer.

 

Still to add are the couplings, hoses, door handles and weathering. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2013 by Rob Pulham

[Rob Pulham]

The Wakefield Weathering Wizard has weaved her magic again on my sand wagon. 

 

I had read that these wagons sat in sidings and were mostly covered with a tarpaulin sheet to keep out the worst of the weather so I asked Chris if we had anything that we could make one from. 

 

Not only did she come up with the material, she attached the ropes and weathered the sheet before tying it onto the wagon using the etched rope rings that are supplied - a very fiddly job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[N15class]

That sand wagon is very smart indeed. SWMBO is brilliant at this weathering malarky.

[Rob Pulham]

Thanks Peter,

 

She sure is, being an artist helps

[Rob Pulham]

Due to other distractions and general lack of Mojo I haven't done much modelling for a couple of weeks. 

 

I did spend a couple of evenings on these though.

 

 

They are replacements for the whitemetal pipes that are supplied with their kits by Parkside. They look nice enough but I find them a bit vulnerable.

 

So some 1mm rod, some 28 gauge brass beading wire and some of the infamous scrap etch and we have these - apologies for the not too cracking photo. This was the second attempt and at that I gave up.

 

A bit like wheel blackening, I find making these up to be very therapeutic.

[Worsdell forever]

Vacuum pipes - I don't think there's anything in them... 

 

 

Ok, I'm off...

[Rob Pulham]

Following on from a request on another forum for details of how to make the vac pipes I thought I would share these.

 

While up at the cottage last, I put together a Slaters 8 ton Midland van. It was a kit that I picked up 2nd hand and when I got to them I realised that the castings for door handles/hasp and staples were missing. I had the vague idea that I had some plastic ones left over from another kit but a search amongst the spares boxes didn't turn them up. 

 

I thought about ordering some from Slaters while kicking myself because I had just had a delivery from them of some of the fine chain that MMP use in their kits (an email to David P kindly revealed the source). Having just finished making up the pipes posted earlier today I decided to have a go at making some myself. A look in Midland Wagons Vol 1 gave me a decent photo of what they looked like and this is how far I have got.

 

First I got a length of 0.8mm wire and flattened one end in a pair of pliers. I then drilled a 0.3mm hole in the flattened section and doing the same through the dimple in the van door used this as the datum to determine the length. I drilled a second hole and soldered in 2 pieces of 0.3mm brass wire one of these I left long to go through the door to locate it and the other I filed flush. I then filed the 2 front pieces to represent the bolt heads on the face of the handle.

 

Having determined the length I cut it and flattened the other end again drilling 2 holes but a bit closer together. I bent a piece of 0.3mm wire into a U shape and fed it through the holes to make the staple for the pin or padlock. Again after soldering I left one end long and filed the other flush.

 

I did a similar exercise to create the vertical handles

 

Giving these - the handle has only been drilled on one end in this shot.

 

 

Fitting it to the van side looks like this. The brake lever and guard are from Bill Bedford via Eileens Emporium.

 

 

And both fitted on the other side.

 

 

Next up now I have my Mojo back is to make the hasp part. The plan is to make one closed and one open. Details to follow once I have worked out how to do it - more scrap etch to the rescue me thinks.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Rob Pulham

[Rob Pulham]

A bit more fiddling with scrap etch has sorted the hasps for the Midland van.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They just need gluing in and  a bit of filling where I made a mess of drilling one of the holes and then off to the paint shop.

[Worsdell forever]

Cracking stuff Rob, opening doors next?...

[Rob Pulham]

Cracking stuff Rob, opening doors next?...

 

Thanks Paul. not on a plastic kit - I don't feel that confident about hacking plastic. But perhaps on a brass one. I have a couple of NER birdcage brakes and I had though about having a go at it on one of those - I plan to add side duckets too like the one that you did (Chris bought it especially for me to do that with she was that impressed with yours).

[JeffP]

Padlocks?

[Rob Pulham]

Padlocks?

This type of thing?

 

 

I wasn't planning it on this one but I may have chains and pins.

[jwealleans]

Come on, Jeff - padlocks in this scale are a mere bagatelle to a man of Rob's calibre. Even a bodger like me can do them in 4mm.

 

 

In 7mm FS I'd expect a key as well.

Edited October 17, 2018 by jwealleans

[Rob Pulham]

In the background I have also been working on this Dragon Models L&Y 30 Ton Bogie van. Which is now finished apart from lettering and that I am struggling with. 

 

I painted it bauxite because it's fitted but having made enquiries as to the layout of the lettering there are suggestions that they might have remained in grey. I don't plan to repaint it unless I get something a bit more concrete. I would be happy just to get the layout of the lettering right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have always heard good things about Dragon Models kits but this is my first, although I have built some of the former Majestic range that now sit with Dragon. It's an excellent kit and one that I would recommend. I have added a few extras from scrap etch but you will have to wait for details on that.

[JeffP]

Padlocks in 4mm? Still smiling at that.

 

What was the point of the four tarpaulin bits on that wagon? loading/unloading from above?

[Rob Pulham]

I believe so Jeff, or at least they covered roof hatches. It seems to have been quite common on L&Y vans from what research I have done.