Wright writes.....

[Barry Ten]

These Collett 70 footers (Comet) were rattle-canned:

 

 

But not without difficulty. Both coaches had problems with the paint pulling away after masking. I've since learned to: allow 24 hours after applying primer, and to remove the tack of the masking tape (by peeling it on and off a non-fluffy fabric) before applying it.

 

This Western Pullman (Triang-Southern Pride-Leigh-Genesis) was also rattle-canned.

 

 

Al

[polybear]

9 hours ago, 31A said:

Re. painting coaches in BR livery, I also use Halford's Ford Burgundy Red for maroon coaches, and agree that what is underneath the 'maroon' affects the finished colour.

 

When making coaches from brass kits I first spray with Halford's etching primer which gives the paint a good 'key' to the brass but is grey, so I follow that up with a coat of red oxide primer before applying the 'maroon'.  On one occasion I forgot the red oxide coat and it did make the 'maroon' look different; luckily it was a parcels van so the duller finish didn't matter too much.

 

For red/cream coaches I use a coat of white primer after the grey etching primer, then  spray overall with Railmatch BR Cream from their rattle can.  Then, rule a pencil line with a ruler where the division between the two colours will be, and brush paint the red (Railmatch BR Crimson) on the lower section carefully up to the pencil line with a good flat brush.  Despite care, it probably won't be a perfectly straight line but is usually good enough that the lining transfers at the colour division can hide slight imperfections of the brush painted edge.  After putting the lining transfers on, any red or cream which is on the 'wrong side' of the lining can be carefully painted out with a small brush of the relevant colour.

 

 

Could you show us some photos please?

[Iain.d]

On 04/03/2022 at 05:13, Tony Wright said:

Does anyone have any other examples of rattle can painting, please?

 

For many years I used rattle cans for painting carriages and locomotives with, I think, quite acceptable results.

 

This Milholme 2P built 25+ years ago is painted with Humbrol Matt Black, finished in Humbrol Satin Varnish and lightly weathered. The primer would have been Halfords Grey Primer (probably acrylic):

 

 

 

 

This Ian Kirk Maunsell Corridor Composite dates from the late 90s; Phoenix BR SR Green with Humbrol Satin Varnish:

 

 

This Hornby / Comet refurbish of a LMS D1968 BTK has a Tamiya super fine primer (red oxide) base, Tamiya Maroon (TS11) and finished with Tamiya Semi-Gloss Clear (TS-79) Varnish:

 

 

This Bachmann / Comet refurbish of a Bullied Semi Open Third is in Tamiya primer (light grey), British Racing Green (can’t recall the manufacturer) with Mr Hobby Top Coat Pearl varnish:

 

 

Please ignore the 'sticky-up' corridor connectors, obviously they're not like that when coupled up!

 

I do now own an airbrush but continue to use Tamiya TS11 Maroon as I haven’t found a supply, in Western Australia at least, of an alternative suitable / near suitable maroon that I can thin and spray myself. To make my maroon shades seem different, I used varying shades of grey for the carriage roofs – no two of my adjacently coupled carriages have the same shade of roof grey – which tricks my eye into thinking the maroons are slightly different. Weathering, when I get around to it, will also help.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

Edited April 1, 2022 by Iain.d
Re-added photos

[31A]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Could you show us some photos please?

 

Here are some red and cream coaches that I have made for Gilbert ("Great Northern")'s Peterborough North layout, painted as described.

 

Buffet Car E43134E from an RDEB Models kit; in reality this coach was a conversion from an ex GNR Open Third:

 

 

Buffet Car E9133E; sides from Worsley Works grafted onto a Hornby Gresley coach.  The lighting wasn't so good when I took this picture!

 

 

Third Opens E13307E and E13343E, again brass sides (can't remember what manufacturer) on a Hornby donor.

 

 

 

[30368]

18 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Does anyone have any other examples of rattle can painting, please?

 

Good afternoon Tony,

 

No coaches to show Tony but I have used cans to paint all of the loco's I have built in the last year simply because I have not yet set up my air brush kit yet, too much to do on the house and the layout,

 

So a few pictures of loco's then, my apologies if they have appeared here before.

 

Firstly one of the few ex LNER B9 4-6-0's that survived into BR ownership. It is a Judeth Edge etch which did not include the boiler/firebox so that is scratch built. It is painted with RailMatch BR Rail Black (1205) and then weathered with powders and washes. It runs very well!

 

DJH Urie S15 which is also painted with RailMatch 1205 plus the same weathering approach. Runs ok so probably needs a "layout loco" upgrade. I use the weathering powder as a very fine "grinding paste" to give a mettalic looking finish where it is cleaned off.

 

Lastly a DJH A2/3 which was painted in RailMatch Loco Green (1300) with masking. The black areas were painted with a brush using RailMatch weathered black and then BR loco black which had been thinned with white spirit. This approach gives a good "wet edge" and very few brush marks. The transfers are Fox and applied by me and are just ok. The loco pulls very. wery well.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

Edited March 4, 2022 by 30368

[Coach bogie]

Here are two recent completions. Both are first sprayed with etched Primer from Boyes Stores, a 'has a bit of everything' shop in, in the North East. I try not to spray plastic roof sections with this, I did once, by accident and it does give the plastic a rough finish.

 

The H24, from a set of Bedford sides, is sprayed chocolate (Russett Brown) and cream (Ford Ivory or better still, Triumph Honeysuckle, when I can find it), from rattle cans. As Ben found, sometimes the paint can lift with masking tape. I usually rub down the sides with course glass paper before building starts and with some luck, very little paint lift happens.

 

The H16 from a Geen kit is brush painted with several coats of thinned down Phoenix paints. When finished I spray varnish with a matt rattle can, again available from Boyes Stores, also bought from Wilko in the past.

 

Locos, I generally spray with etched primer, then matt black car spray and then thinned down brush painted Brunswick green etc.

 

Mike Wiltshire

 

 

[The Fatadder]

A few of my recent brass coach builds sprayed with aerosols always with a coat of Halfords etch primer as a base, the Comet E155 composite is sprayed with Halfords Triumph Russett Brown which I think is a pretty good match for wartime brown.  While the concertina brake third and the slip used Hycote ford sierra beige for the cream and Halfords extra matt camouflage brown for the chocolate. The latter needs a coat of a satin varnish to get some life back into it.  In both cases the roof / underframe were painted by hand with a mix of Vallejo grey black, and various browns.

 

I used to do all my spraying with the airbrush, but now for coaching stock projects I am finding the aerosols are an absolute godsend meaning its easy to do a bit of spraying in my lunch brake...

[gr.king]

4 hours ago, 30368 said:

 

Good afternoon Tony,

 

No coaches to show Tony but I have used cans to paint all of the loco's I have built in the last year simply because I have not yet set up my air brush kit yet, too much to do on the house and the layout,

 

So a few pictures of loco's then, my apologies if they have appeared here before.

 

Firstly one of the few ex LNER B9 4-6-0's that survived into BR ownership. It is a Judeth Edge etch which did not include the boiler/firebox so that is scratch built. It is painted with RailMatch BR Rail Black (1205) and then weathered with powders and washes. It runs very well!

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Richard B

 

Nice to see a well modelled B9. Not a common sight...

[Roger Sunderland]

Hi Tony

Itoo use Halfords Ford Burgandy red on maroon coaches, have done for some years, and have had good consistent results. Comet ex LMS 12 wheel diner first Dia 1857. Please note roof is only in undercoat and awaiting some conduit holders for the piping.

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Roger Sunderland
Spelling

[60027Merlin]

An example, side by side, of a kit and a r-t-r model of the same class. The r-t-r (57565) is from the recent arrival from Rails of Sheffield whilst the kit (57645) is a DJH one from so many decades ago. I understand that the Rails model has sold really well and that is no surprise as they have produced a good model, being made by Bachmann. Thank goodness and hopefully that will give the impetus for more Scottish stuff to appear, preferably of the classes that lasted well into B. R. days.

 

I changed the dome on the Rails model to match a picture in local writer A. J. Mullay's book on Edinburgh's railway lines published some time ago plus have weathered it and added a crew etc. 

 

Eric

 

 

[thegreenhowards]

I mainly use rattle cans for four colours; BR Maroon, BR Crimson, BR Brunswick Green and BR Black. I have used countless cans of Ford Burgundy Red over the years for maroon coaches. My Elizabethan rake is probably the best example as all bar the last coach are Southern Pride Thompson conversions painted using Ford Burgundy Red. I like the gloss finish and for coaches, I usually use the Halfords clear lacquer to protect the decalks and enhance the gloss finish. 

 

I use Ford Rosso Red for BR Crimson as seen here on a Comet BZ. In this case I used matt lacquer (preferably Testors Dullcote but I have run out and now use Halfords Matt Lacquer) after the decals to give a less loved look.

 

For BR black, I use Gloss Black to give a good base for the decals to stick to and hide the carrier film which it does very effectively. Then gloss or matt lacquer depending on the desired finish. One coat of matt still gives a satin finish if desired. This O gauge J69 was treated to one coat of Halfords Matt Lacquer before weathering with a (cheap chinese) airbrush.

 

 

Finally BR Green for which I use Rover Brooklands green. 'Sir' tells me that this is too blue and I'm sure he's right. But I can't tell the difference unless it's next to another loco. And I think it's a lot closer than some of Hornby's efforts! This is my W1 based on Graeme King's resin conversion kit.

 

I have also tried spraying green with an airbrush but I don't get as good a finish. So it's a trade off between quality of finish and colour. I will probably use both in the future depending on the time of year - I only use the airbrush outside on a warm day whereas rattle cans I use in the loft.

 

I don't use rattle cans for crimson and cream. Partly because I've never found a decent cream (the recommended ones are discontinued and I can't be bothered to order them specially) but mainly because I don't get on with masking. So I tend to paint crimson and cream by hand and cover the join between the two with a decal.

 

I hope that's helpful.

 

Andy

 

 

 

[thegreenhowards]

Yesterday I spect a very enjoyable day at the Gauge O Guild Spring show. It was mainly a day of ‘retail therapy’ and I spent far too much as so often happens. Two particular curios were a couple of vans I picked up off the bring and buy stand. One is a D335 bread van. 

 

There were two of these built in 1946 to replace a couple of ex HR vans used for delivering bread during bread rationing. It’s not the finest kit being built of vac formed sides but is an example of something a bit different. It lasted until 1967. Does  anyone know what these were used for after bread rationing finished?

 

The other is a NBR D89B covered motor van and carriage truck built in 1912 and lasting until the mid ‘50s. Again a vac formed kit and something a bit different. 
 

 

Both ends are the same so I’m struggling to work out how the cars would have been loaded. Any ideas?

 

Does anyone know the manufacturer of these kits?

 

Andy

[Dave John]

Just for comparison this is Halfords Vauxhall Burgundy red. Slightly deeper in hue than the Ford version. I think it should be a bit purpler, but closest match from a rattle can. 

 

 

Mind you, I had to drink lots of Burgundy before deciding........ 

[Iain.d]

1 hour ago, Dave John said:

Just for comparison this is Halfords Vauxhall Burgundy red. Slightly deeper in hue than the Ford version. I think it should be a bit purpler, but closest match from a rattle can. 

 

 

Mind you, I had to drink lots of Burgundy before deciding........ 

 

That looks superb!

 

kind regards,

 

Iain

[Iain.d]

I have a few bits and pieces on the go at the moment. I’ve been able to begin putting together this Comet Coaches BR Mk1 D23 Restaurant Unclassified. I managed to do all the ‘prep’ work (remove from etches, clean off the etch tabs, drill holes, etc) when we had some time away shortly after Christmas and then this week I spent any evening putting the bogies together and another evening starting the floor pan and soldering in the door hinges.

 

And then putting it together:

 

 

Its actually a bit further forward than this, the underframe is folded down and the bogie sides are attached and there are steps soldered under each door. You can see I drilled four biggish holes in each end, the idea being it would be easier to solder the ends on using these tinned apertures, but I didn’t notice before I drilled the holes that the cast whitemetal end of the BR Mk1s are recessed, only being in contact with the ends at the edges, which is exactly where I didn’t want to solder, for fear of melting the castings!! Need a cup of tea and a rethink on that.

 

And I’ve progressed a bit further on a Comet Stove R I’m doing. On looking at photos of these vehicles, the solebar stepboards and batteries and their support brackets are very prominent but the kit provides nothing to replicate this. So, I fitted stepboards from scrap brass then I measured and cut some 1mm angle brass, drilled .5mm holes and threaded through lengths of .45mm n/s wire to fabricate the battery support bracket. Some careful soldering and I had half completed the support bracket.

 

 

I then soldered this half to the chassis and then built the back supports onto it. I thought this much easier than trying to make a complete cradle and try and solder that to the chassis. The underside:

 

 

And the right way up:

 

 

It’s not exactly right, but is certainly better than not having it. Next up will the brake linkages and buffers and the bottom half will almost be done.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

Edited April 1, 2022 by Iain.d
Re-added photos

[coronach]

3 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Yesterday I spect a very enjoyable day at the Gauge O Guild Spring show. It was mainly a day of ‘retail therapy’ and I spent far too much as so often happens. Two particular curios were a couple of vans I picked up off the bring and buy stand. One is a D335 bread van. 

 

There were two of these built in 1946 to replace a couple of ex HR vans used for delivering bread during bread rationing. It’s not the finest kit being built of vac formed sides but is an example of something a bit different. It lasted until 1967. Does  anyone know what these were used for after bread rationing finished?

 

The other is a NBR D89B covered motor van and carriage truck built in 1912 and lasting until the mid ‘50s. Again a vac formed kit and something a bit different. 
 

 

Both ends are the same so I’m struggling to work out how the cars would have been loaded. Any ideas?

 

Does anyone know the manufacturer of these kits?

 

Andy

I think the 4 wheeled van is probably a Highfields kit from the early 1980s. They were a very economical way of constructing pre-grouping coaches and vans.  Made in Harrogate I think. 
I have a NER non- corridor brake third somewhere in the loft. It is the only on I built that didn’t warp

[Erichill16]

Here's a model I painted with 'rattle cans'. Its a JLRT kit and I used their brand of spray paint. I wish I'd paid more attention to cleaning the model before painting as the finish is quite fragile. An airbrush was used in the weathering process.

Robert

 

 

[PMP]

The JLTRT colors are still available 

https://mm1models.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=61_123

[Tony Wright]

Thanks for all the references to rattle can painting. Some wonderful examples.

 

Mo and I have not long returned from the excellent Preston show over the weekend, where we had a fine time. May I please thank the organising team for putting on such a good event and for looking after us so well? 

 

We made almost £40.00 for CRUK through my loco doctoring or just from donations. I should like to thank all who donated so generously. I was able to fix a few items, including getting a DJH Austerity to go after it appeared to be dead (it's visible in the shot below).

 

 

This was my stand. 

 

All the loco needed was the pick-ups adjusted (dislikeable plungers!), a thorough clean and oil, and away it went (well, on the rolling road). It's yet another loco to have spent 30 odd years in a glass case. 

 

 

A closer view of the finished models I'd made on display (note the preponderance of LMR locos, it being Preston). Actually, my scratch-built K4 attracted the most comments. 

 

I rarely build very much as a demonstrator at shows.......

 

 

However, during quiet periods, I got on with my latest DJH Britannia.

 

May I please thank all of those with whom I spoke? If I appeared 'rude' by not engaging with everyone at busy times, my apologies. I'll often be deep in conversation, and I'll see someone on the periphery, waiting. By the time I'm finished, they've sometimes just gone. 

 

I took the opportunity to photograph a visiting layout for BRM..........

 

 

Clayton End Signalman in OO. 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

Out of possible interest..........

 

I've just learned that the current owner of Biggleswade is thinking of putting it up for sale (it's big, over 40' long!).

 

 

 

 

Anyone interested, please PM me.

[Tony Wright]

I have a question, and I have really no idea as to the answer. 

 

On some of the Coronation drawings, a 'casing' is shown, completely covering all the underframe detail (with the exception of the dynamo). It's a kind of  'bath' shape, but with a flat base and 'tamba' ends, which fits between the skirts, but is shorter by at least a foot at both ends than the skirts. 

 

Having pored over all the photographs I have, it's impossible to tell if it exists or not. 

 

On all the models I've seen, the underframe detail is all there, but hidden by the skirts in normal viewing conditions. Turn a car upside down, and there it is - no 'bath-like' box hiding everything underneath. 

 

My question? Were such things ever fitted on the real things? 

 

My thanks in anticipation. 

[Barry Ten]

5 hours ago, PMP said:

The JLTRT colors are still available 

https://mm1models.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=61_123

 

I only ever tried the BR green from that range but it went on superbly. I'd assumed it was

no longer available so good to know.

[zr2498]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

I have a question, and I have really no idea as to the answer. 

 

On some of the Coronation drawings, a 'casing' is shown, completely covering all the underframe detail (with the exception of the dynamo). It's a kind of  'bath' shape, but with a flat base and 'tamba' ends, which fits between the skirts, but is shorter by at least a foot at both ends than the skirts. 

 

Having pored over all the photographs I have, it's impossible to tell if it exists or not. 

 

On all the models I've seen, the underframe detail is all there, but hidden by the skirts in normal viewing conditions. Turn a car upside down, and there it is - no 'bath-like' box hiding everything underneath. 

 

My question? Were such things ever fitted on the real things? 

 

My thanks in anticipation. 

Tony

Had a look under the Golden Age Models and can't find a 'bath'

Dave

 

 

[zr2498]

Some 'different' painting

As this bridge (Findhorn Viaduct basis), is styrene (not brass as your Little Bytham bridge), the primer used needed to be different but thus far I have used the same acrylic base coat as used on your bridge

Truss frames are being painted and weathered before more assembly / construction with cross beams as access for painting would be impossible afterwards. A long way to go still!

Dave

 

 

Wil try to get the finish to a state similar to this

 

[JIJ]

Hi Tony, 

 

Thanks for the help with the pickups for my 14xx chassis at the Clifton show. The weekend before last. Here's the chassis painted with sandboxes and brake gear added:

 

I still need to grind the pinpoints off of the trailing axle before adding the outside frames. Still needs a bit of running in, but I'd say not bad for a first timer even if the soldering is "that of an imbecile"

 

 

The body will either be reliveried into BR unlined green and weathered, or backdated to a 517 class. It also needs a cab interior.

 

The solder you gave me certainly was easier to use, although I did need to clean the soldering iron more than with flux core. I look forward to cracking on with the 75000!