Scratchbuilt SECR/SR/BR(S) stock

[MikeTrice]

I think you are onto something with the idea of super-gluing the internal partitions to the sides instead of using solvent - nice one!

 

Agree wholeheartedly.

[pete_mcfarlane]

My hands on modelling has been a bit limited recently, so there's not been a massive amount of progress on the Tadpole although all of the vehicles are now on their bogies and the driving coaches are still distortion free. I'll post some photos in the next day or so.

 

One thing I have discovered with the CAD malarkey is that you can do 'modelling' away from the workbench. This evening I put the finishing touches to the cutting files for my second Silhouette project - a SECR diagram 47 lavatory third. One of the peculiar SECR coaches with some of the compartments having dedicated lavatories.

This is based on a Mike King diagram, and was worked on in odd moments between other things. The next step is to have a go at printing it out. 

 

 

 

[pete_mcfarlane]

This is the latest state of play with the Hastings unit. It's been a case of two steps forward and one step back. The step back being the realisation that when I added an extra layer of 40 thou in to the roof, I didn't adjust the formers to compensate. So the roof for the TS, and the half completed one for the Motor coachw ere both two high. New roofs are currently being constructed to the correct height.

 

Apart from that, the motor coach is coming along nicely. It now has MJT bogie sideframes, and a Souther Pride Resin 6KT diesel engine squeezed in to the engine room. Because the Black Beetle intruded in to the floor I had to remove a chunk from the engine to make it fit. 

 

The driving trailer is now on it's bogies The bogies are slowly being detailed - this is slightly soul destroying work as there are 8 boogie sideframes to do, so it's taking a while.

And lastly, this is the current state of play with the SECR lavatory third. After some experimentation I made the sides from 5 layers of 10 thou:

 

- Droplights

- Inner side 1, including droplight frames.

- Inner side 2, including droplight frames.

- Outer side.

- Panelling, and separate window bolections.

 

I experimented with using spray adhesive to stick it the sides together, using solvent only for strengthening the edges and sticking the panelling and bolections in place. So far there's zero sign of warping, although the sides are less rigid than if they'd been stuck together with solvent. This shouldn't matter when the body is assembled.

 

[Colin parks]

Hi Pete,

 

The Hastings unit is looking quite magnificent! I especially like the fact that you have added the resin cast engine too.

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[pete_mcfarlane]

It looks like my experiment of using spray adhesive to hold the sides together hasn't worked. This isn't the best photo, but it shows that the sides have de-laminated in a few places, and to all intents and purposes have warped in the same way as if I'd used too much solvent. 

I gave the warped body a coat of Halford's red oxide and it looks pretty good apart from that one problem. So when I've got some more 10 thou sheet I'll cut another coach body and assemble it with Limonene, and it should turn out OK.

 

[MikeTrice]

What was the spray adhesive used?

[pete_mcfarlane]

Bostik Fast-Tak.

 

It worked OK on the test piece I did, but not on the actual model. 

[pete_mcfarlane]

The process of detailing the Tadpole unit took several months of odd evenings. There's a lot of scratchbuilt underframe detail, plus bits from all the usual suppliers like NNK, MJT and Southern Pride and lots of bits of wire and plastic. The roof lighting cables are steel guitar string with Southern Pride lamp tops, and the roof vents are the mix of types seen in the prototype photos.

 

The power car grille is from a Shawplan etch intended for a class 40 frost grille. It will need careful masking before the thing is painted. The roof air horns are the newer Markits type which have a hole drilled through them. You solder a length of .33mm wire through the hole and this goes in to a hole in the roof, so the horns are more secure and less likely to get knocked off......

 

It's now stripped down, and has been given a good wash ready for priming.

[bigbadbadge]

Wow Pete. That is amazing work, wish I could do that sort of thing.  Hats off fella.

 

All the best

Chris

[Colin parks]

Hi Pete,

 

The unit is looking pretty impressive. There are very few silhouette-cut models that have made it to the painting stage - unless I have missed seeing them!

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[uax6]

Pete,

 

Cracking work, and looking just like the real thing, and the details look great!

 

Having com across the same problem with laminating up sides I have hit on a method that works for me thus:

Outer panel layer (full height 10 thou)

bolection layer (full height 10 thou)

Droplight layer (from top of tumblehome to cantrail, 20thou)

backing layer (full height, but without a continous cantrail so glazing can be slid in from the top, 20 thou)

Glazing supports (two strips about 5mm wide, 20 thou, applied just under window sill and at cantrail to make the slot that the glazing sits in.)

 

All the plain parts of the layers are drilled 0.45mm about 8mm apart to allow the lemonine to vent off, and are left between glass placemats (weighted down) overnight.

 

So far this seems to be working with no distortion. (se my coach thread)

 

Andy G

[pete_mcfarlane]

A quick update to show that the coaches have had a couple of coats of Halford's red primer, with any defects sanded down or filled, and have now had a couple of coats of Valejo white on the driving ends to act as an undercoat for the yellow So far, so go.

[Colin parks]

Hi Pete,

 

I have been out of the loop for a few weeks. Any news of your DMU project? It seemed quite close to completion last month.

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[pete_mcfarlane]

Colin,

 

I'm still painting it - I'm not the quickest when it comes to painting at the best of times, and I've not had much time for modelling of late as I'm preparing to move (from my small rented flat to a house with room for a decent sized layout, so I'm not complaining).

 

I'll try and post some pictures of progress over the weekend. 

 

Pete

[Colin parks]

Good to know things are on the up Pete.

 

No pressure from me, it's just you seem to be the closest to finishing a silhouette-based carriage project. I have been looking through various postings and there do not seem to be any carriages that have come as near to completion as yours.

 

All the best,

 

Colin

Edited July 18, 2014 by Colin parks

[pete_mcfarlane]

As promised, this is the latest state of play with the Tadpole. Still some touching up of the paintwork needed before I move on to transfers.

[pete_mcfarlane]

The Tadpole now has transfers (HMRS pressfix) and door furniture (Southern Pride). It now needs a spot of touching up, and then weathering. The weathering on these units is odd - the narrow bodied Hastings coaches have virtually no body overhanging the chassis and so get a lot dirtier than the wide bodied EPB coach. This will definitely need replicating.

 

[pete_mcfarlane]

Oh dear, it's been more than a few months since I last did any work on the Tadpole. I moved, and then didn't do any modelling for a few months, and then started other projects rather than finishing the ones in flight.

 

Anyway, I've restarted work. The only real problem is that the plasticard roofs have bowed slightly. I'll need to screw or bolt the roofs in place to stop this happening, rather than the original plan of holding them in place with Copydex. Future builds will have to be designed to avoid this problem.....

I'm now slowly adding glazing. This will probably take a while, as it's not the most exciting of jobs....

 

 

 

[billbedford]

Roofs bow like that because the ends uncurl. You can check this by gently squeezing across the width of the roof near the ends. It can be corrected by putting a strut on the inside at cant rail level to bring in the width.

[Colin parks]

Hi Pete,

 

The painting and finishing work looks good!

 

Re. the bowed roofs: what about making a false, flat ceiling fixed to the roofs at cantrail level.  That should bring them back into line and keep the width at cantrail  level consistent.  For removable roofs, you could make some clips on the underside of the roof ends to engage with ridges on the insides of the ends/cab fronts. 

 

For a glue that will hold your roofs in place yet yield if the roof has to be parted from the body, Kwikfix All-Purpose 'Strong Glue' would do the job - but mind you don't get it on the paintwork. Looking at some MRJ articles on plasticard coach-building by Geoff Kent recently was interesting.  He advocates fixing the whole coach chassis body and roof together permanently after painting the interior and glazing.

 

It looks as if you can't fix the roofs permanently to the body sides/ends on your motor coach though due to needing access to the Black Beetle fixing screws.

 

All the best,

 

Colin

[pete_mcfarlane]

I did think about Geoff Kent's method of sticking the roof in place with solvent, but it seemed a bit final for my liking. I think, from reading he article, that he glues the glazing in place with solvent before painting and carefully paints round it. It does avoid he warping problem though!

[Brinkly]

Hi Pete,

 

Not sure how I missed your thread, but there are some truly cracking models you have built. The SER and SECR at the start of the thread are wonderful.

 

Kind regards,

 

Nick.

[pete_mcfarlane]

And after a bit of a hiatus, because I hate gluing windows in to place, I've finished the trailer second. There's a lesson in there somewhere about designing future coaches so that I can stick a continuous glazing strip. the other learning is that the roof went slightly banana shaped, so my original plan of sticking it in place with Copydex or PVA had top be abandoned, and it's now held in place with a big screw at either end. Luckily these don't show (one is in the toilet area) but future roofs need to be designed to avoid this if I want a separate roof - possibly using something that won't warp like metal as the foundation for the plastic roof might help. Or making the body/roof in one piece with a removable metal floor might be better. 

 

 

The other two coaches are slowly progressing as well. 

[georgeT]

Truely excellent modelling Peter, very nice...

[pete_mcfarlane]

And some more progress - the ex 2-EPB DTS is now complete with seats (and no passengers, as it;s locked out of use). Most of the work has been to fit glazing - it was a pain to cut to shape and then fit without getting glue everywhere. My discovery of Deluxe 'Glue n Glaze' part way through this process helped a lot, as it dries clear so fewer windows covered in glue. 

This leaves only the motor coach to do. It's waiting for another pack of MJT Window curtains to arrive and be fitted before the roof is glued on. I'll also have the challenge of fixing the banana shaped roof (which is why there's a gap at one end).

The roof on the TS is held down with screws, so I'll try something similar. 

 

So two morals here for future coach scratchbuilds:

• Design the rood in a way that can't warp, either by including some metal in the costreuction or by making the roof/body as one unit, and the chassis as another (possibly out of NS or brass). 
• Make the glazing easier to fit.