Steve's 4mm workbench. Lima class 47 re vamp, 08 weathering and Hornby 25

[Southwich]

8 hours ago, sb67 said:

A bit more progress, I've nearly done he bufferbeams, they are ready to have the buffers and pipes etc added. 

I've a question about the underframe? I'm not sure if I should airbrush or brush paint as a start before weathering or what colours would be best. Also, which paints would stick to the plastic used for the mouldings best.

 

 

 

 

Looking great Steve! The bufferbeam sits really nicely on the loco. Given Lima moulded in black plastic I’d prime it and paint it Matt black and then Matt varnish it before weathering.

 

I’ve use Mr Surfacer 1500 black and personally found that the best primer. Then a coat of Matt black either Tamiya or railmatch will do the trick before weathering.

James Wells’ 31 which he did over lockdown was fantastic and has loads of articles on his blog:

 

https://westhalton.wordpress.com/2020/12/27/project-lockdown-weathering-preview/

 

 

Hope that helps!

 

Will

[sb67]

4 hours ago, Southwich said:

Looking great Steve! The bufferbeam sits really nicely on the loco. Given Lima moulded in black plastic I’d prime it and paint it Matt black and then Matt varnish it before weathering.

 

I’ve use Mr Surfacer 1500 black and personally found that the best primer. Then a coat of Matt black either Tamiya or railmatch will do the trick before weathering.

James Wells’ 31 which he did over lockdown was fantastic and has loads of articles on his blog:

 

https://westhalton.wordpress.com/2020/12/27/project-lockdown-weathering-preview/

 

 

Hope that helps!

 

Will

 

Thanks for that Will. I will look through that thread, it looks very interesting. Does the Mr Surfacer need diluting for airbrush use? 

[Southwich]

42 minutes ago, sb67 said:

 

Thanks for that Will. I will look through that thread, it looks very interesting. Does the Mr Surfacer need diluting for airbrush use? 

It does yeah - I have used levelling thinner as it’s cellulose, make sure you wear a mask with it! I haven’t used a smoother primer so can’t recommend it enough

 

Will

[westernviscount]

On 29/09/2022 at 15:34, Southwich said:

Looking great Steve! The bufferbeam sits really nicely on the loco. Given Lima moulded in black plastic I’d prime it and paint it Matt black and then Matt varnish it before weathering.

 

I’ve use Mr Surfacer 1500 black and personally found that the best primer. Then a coat of Matt black either Tamiya or railmatch will do the trick before weathering.

James Wells’ 31 which he did over lockdown was fantastic and has loads of articles on his blog:

 

https://westhalton.wordpress.com/2020/12/27/project-lockdown-weathering-preview/

 

 

Hope that helps!

 

Will

The thread you posted demonstrates how these models benefit from flush glaze! Looks excellent. 

 

@sb67 the reinstated bufferbeam cowling looks great. 

 

I am afraid I think I have reuined mine with an awful coat of blue paint. I was disappointed to find my prescision blue had dried up and rushed into using humbrol acrylic. Was not happy with the finish but to be fair, I havent had an airbrush long. 

[sb67]

On 30/09/2022 at 17:27, westernviscount said:

The thread you posted demonstrates how these models benefit from flush glaze! Looks excellent. 

 

@sb67 the reinstated bufferbeam cowling looks great. 

 

I am afraid I think I have reuined mine with an awful coat of blue paint. I was disappointed to find my prescision blue had dried up and rushed into using humbrol acrylic. Was not happy with the finish but to be fair, I havent had an airbrush long. 

 

Oh no! Could you strip it and respray? 

[sb67]

Completed the bufferbeams, I can see a few bits to clean up looking at the photos but I'm quite happy with how they turned out. 

Next up the body, for the loco I'm modelling I've got to fill in the footsteps on the front and there is no handrail to fit on top of the nose but I'm a bit daunted with this bit, having to pare away the moulded detail and drill the handrail holes is a bit challenging, I also have a radiator grill to fit on the roof. 

Any advice regarding fitting handrails would be very much appreciated. 

 

 

 

[37114]

4 minutes ago, sb67 said:

Completed the bufferbeams, I can see a few bits to clean up looking at the photos but I'm quite happy with how they turned out. 

Next up the body, for the loco I'm modelling I've got to fill in the footsteps on the front and there is no handrail to fit on top of the nose but I'm a bit daunted with this bit, having to pare away the moulded detail and drill the handrail holes is a bit challenging, I also have a radiator grill to fit on the roof. 

Any advice regarding fitting handrails would be very much appreciated. 

 

 

 

Hi Steve, Re the handrails I did them on mine and don't recall too many issues,  use a pin vice and a drill bit slightly smaller than the handrail to drill a pilot hole then widen with the right sized bit. From memory you need to drill at angle which means a lot of plastic to go through. Filling the steps is probably harder as you need to protect the other detail but doable.

[sb67]

Radiator grill fitted, getting closer to the time I've got to start removing moulded handrails and drilling holes etc! 

Can anyone recommend an etched brass primer for the small parts? 

@Southwich Would the Mr Surfacer primer be suitable for etched brass? 

 

Edited October 7, 2022 by sb67

[Southwich]

Very nice work on the roof fan grille Steve - that looks exceptional! 
 

I think the short answer is not really, but I think you may be able to get away with it given you won’t be handling/touching the fan grille. I thought it was all surfaces but was watching a tank modeller prime brass etches and he used this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325286470709?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=HtbJIXXrQn-&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=YHj02LytQxq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

I’m not sure if there is a dedicated UK supplier - I need to order some as well so will let you know if I find anything.

 

hope that helps!

 

Will

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Unless it's an all brass kit, for which I would use UPol etch primer, on mixed media kits I just use a regular primer, ie, GW Chaos Black, Halford red or grey general primer (not the plastic specific one) depending on the top coat.

 

Mike.

[sb67]

@Southwich @Enterprisingwestern

 

Thanks guys. I'll try some GW primer as I can get that easily or sometimes they have Vallejo stuff in the shop. 

 

Steve. 

[sb67]

I've decided to re paint the model as I wanted to try it and on closer inspection the Lima finish was a bit dodgy in places. I didn't have any proprietary model stripper so after a bit of research, I soaked it in a bath of Isopropyl Alcohol for 5 days and nothing happened! It then sat in a bath of Detol, that shifted the paint, but it turned into a bit of a gungy mess and needed scrubbing with meths to remove the remainder of the paint. It's turned out ok so I can get on with detailing then priming the whole lot. 

 

 

 

[Halvarras]

On 04/10/2022 at 06:01, 37114 said:

Hi Steve, Re the handrails I did them on mine and don't recall too many issues,  use a pin vice and a drill bit slightly smaller than the handrail to drill a pilot hole then widen with the right sized bit. From memory you need to drill at angle which means a lot of plastic to go through.

 

Agreed, that's how I do it. I have two pin vices, one for the drills, the other permanently fitted with a sturdy needle which I use as a centre punch, as well as for scribing. I use this to gently mark the position of the holes to be drilled - I double-check the positions and if not quite right smooth the mark over with the tip of a scalpel blade and try again. When satisfied I mark the positions more firmly and start drilling. The indentation stops the drill bit from wandering.

I keep a small square of 30 or 40thou plasticard handy and drill this to test-fit the part, wire etc to make sure I use the right size drill for the job - I'd rather drill a hole too large in this than in the model!

When replacing moulded handrails on models, provided these are in the right places carve/sand them down but not completely away - the needle centre punch can then be employed to mark the end hole positions then the rest of the moulding removed which should leave the holes marked, just requiring another quick prod before drilling.

 

[westernviscount]

Hi Steve. Quick note to say your article is great in BRM. The wagons look superb!! Is there going to be one on the hoppers as well?

 

As the 31, Id go dot 4 for lima . Also, are you doing the panel handles on the roof as well? I did, and it does add to the look...before I ruined it with a shocking paint job! 

[sb67]

10 hours ago, westernviscount said:

Hi Steve. Quick note to say your article is great in BRM. The wagons look superb!! Is there going to be one on the hoppers as well?

 

As the 31, Id go dot 4 for lima . Also, are you doing the panel handles on the roof as well? I did, and it does add to the look...before I ruined it with a shocking paint job! 

 

Hi David, thanks for the comment on the article, I was pleased with how it looked in the magazine, I've no plans for the hoppers at the moment but they did say send pics of anything else I might do. 

I wasn't planning on the panel handles, I've no confidence drilling that many holes correctly! It does improve the model further though. I'm just in the process of fitting the handrails on the front and doing the lamp irons at the moment, the lamp irons are PH Designs and seem very fragile but great looking, finding it tricky getting them in place before the glue sets! 

Have you decided what to do about yours, will you strip the paint off and repaint it? 

I have a couple more Lima loco's I'd like to do so I will try 4 dot next time. 

 

 

[sb67]

@westernviscount Due to an unplanned trip to Euro car parts I'll get some 4 dot and I'm sure I can find a Lima loco to remove paint from, how long do you leave the body in the 4 dot? 

[westernviscount]

@sb67 i leave overnight and start to work with a toothbrush to see how its doing. 

[sb67]

1 hour ago, westernviscount said:

@sb67 i leave overnight and start to work with a toothbrush to see how its doing. 

Ok, ta David, I will give that a go, do you clean it with water after? 

[westernviscount]

30 minutes ago, sb67 said:

Ok, ta David, I will give that a go, do you clean it with water after? 

Yes, I rinse with water and a bit of washing up liquid, then water. 

[sb67]

17 hours ago, westernviscount said:

Yes, I rinse with water and a bit of washing up liquid, then water. 

Ok, thanks David. 

[sb67]

Started adding the details to the Loco.

 

 

 

[SouthernBlue80s]

Hi Steve.

I hope you are well.

The 31 is looking good

 

For the handrails in the past.

I have used a very very fine drill bit.

The tool pictured to bend the hand rails.

 

I left quite a bit of excess handrail inside the cabs.

 

I fixed them with superglue Inside the cab.

 

Weenist amounts of plastic putty to fill in any gaps on the outside.

 

Then when everything has properly gone off I trimmed the excess hand rail off inside the cab flush to body, or as near as.

 

 

One of my tiny drill bits is between the putty and the handrail bending tool.

 

(The 16tonner next to it all could do with some chains, better buffers and figure shoveling coal, any idea where I can get these from, as I don't build stock very often so not in the know)

 

Cheers

Steve

 

Edited November 18, 2022 by SouthernBlue80s

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

For the handrails I first drilled out and plugged with plastic rod the existing holes and redrilled them 0.33mm to take stainless steel rod, (on the cab), this gives a more correct sized handrail and, being thin its easier to do the double joggle of the cab side rail.

I used brass rod on the cab front to enable soldering the front door retainers on.

 

Mike.

[sb67]

On 18/11/2022 at 19:32, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

For the handrails I first drilled out and plugged with plastic rod the existing holes and redrilled them 0.33mm to take stainless steel rod, (on the cab), this gives a more correct sized handrail and, being thin its easier to do the double joggle of the cab side rail.

I used brass rod on the cab front to enable soldering the front door retainers on.

 

Mike.

Thanks Mike, any tips on doing the cab side rail, it looks really awkward? 

[sb67]

Here's a before and after, everything primed. Never done this before and it really shows up any blemishes that have still to be worked on, thankfully not too many! Despite the blurb saying the Valejo primer was suitable for plastic and metal it appears to easily scrape off the etched brass radiator grill, although it's not had 24hrs drying time yet, not sure what I can do about that but there's a bit of work to do in that area so it will get another coat.