Nile's kitbuilding bench - Midland 1377

[Nile]

Thanks Mike. It looks like the front section might be angled out slightly, at a smaller angle than I've used.

As brack says, mine is modified so it doesn't have to match perfectly.

[Nile]

With the dome now glued in place I sprayed the model with Halfords primer. You can now see it properly.

 

 

The chassis is complete now that I've fitted the rods.

 

The dots of acrylic paint on them are to identify them, the other one has red dots. It runs better with them this way round.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Nile]

Painting didn't go entirely to plan. Whatever paint I tried I always ended up with a diagonal line on the side tank, with a difference in appearance either side of it. There must have been some residue of support material there, a result of me not cleaning the model thoroughly #. The only solution was to strip off the paint from the side and clean it by laying it in a tray with some white spirit in it.

The difference in the surfaces can be seen in this photo.

 

 

After cleaning and rubbing down the surface was evenly smooth, no more problems with the paint finish.

I've painted it with RailMatch acrylic green paint. I don't know what type of green it is, the little label on the lid has disappeared.

 

 

 

 

# I usually dunk FUD parts in a jar of white spirit, but this model was too big to fit.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Knuckles]

Looking really nice so far.

 

If you go down to Wilkinsons you can pick up a 5 litre plastic bottle of White Spirit for next to nothing and decant it into a deep washing up bowl or similar - worked for me. Then get a funnel and pour it back to save it, albeit slightly dirtier.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Knuckles

[Nile]

Some more bits added and some brass paint.

 

The buffers are plastic ones from Phoenix, ex NNK I think. They fit perfectly into the recesses on the buffer beam.

 

A bit of brass rod painted red serves as the regulator.

 

I'm leaving the upper surfaces inside the cab unpainted, easier than trying to paint them an off-white colour.

 

I've made a Handbrake handle from some bits of brass rod, soldered together.

 

 

Fixed into a hole I drilled in the cab floor, to line up with the brake linkage on the chassis.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Spitfire2865]

Wow. Once again you amaze me.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Spitfire2865

[brack]

Looks good, surprising how a couple of little changes make a big difference in character.

[Nile]

A few more things to finish this build off, for now.

As suggested by Trevor some time ago I've fitted a cover over the worm gear.

 

Some black paper held in by PVA. The long white strip of card is acting as a temporary spacer.

 

The now improved view from the side.

 

 

Some additions to the cab. A brass whistle from the spares box and some coal in the bunker.

 

 

And that's it for now, until I decide what to do with it. It needs a number and/or name and some cab glazing, and maybe working couplings.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Knuckles]

Looks good to me. You going to line it? How does it run with the compensation?

[Nile]

I'm not going to do any more to the Y7 for now. It will be living in a box until I find a use for it. And then who know?

It seems to run just fine, but I've not given it any difficult tests yet.

 

Onto the next model, another 3D print but this time in the less fine but cheaper and more robust WSF material.

 

It's a LNER J65 from CDCDesign.

 

The first coat of black paint reveals the detail.

 

 

This looks like a good print that should scrub up well after some more paint and sanding.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[N15class]

I'm not going to do any more to the Y7 for now. It will be living in a box until I find a use for it. And then who know?

It seems to run just fine, but I've not given it any difficult tests yet.

 

Onto the next model, another 3D print but this time in the less fine but cheaper and more robust WSF material.

01.JPG

It's a LNER J65 from CDCDesign.

 

The first coat of black paint reveals the detail.

02.JPG

03.JPG

This looks like a good print that should scrub up well after some more paint and sanding.

You are right it is much less fine, that will be a lot of work to get it to look like it was made of smooth metal. Good luck.

[Knuckles]

It's possible to get a perfectly smooth finish in WSF for the big areas. I use Halfords Plastic Filler Primer, rub it down wet and reapply. Takes about 3 goes usually then a layer of Tamiya fine primer as a top coat. The hardest parts are getting under the boiler, but no questioning it - FUD or FXD is better and crisper.

 

Costs 2 to 3 times the price though. ;P

 

I seriously wish Shapeways would reduce their FUD costs.

[N15class]

It's possible to get a perfectly smooth finish in WSF for the big areas. I use Halfords Plastic Filler Primer, rub it down wet and reapply. Takes about 3 goes usually then a layer of Tamiya fine primer as a top coat. The hardest parts are getting under the boiler, but no questioning it - FUD or FXD is better and crisper.

 

Costs 2 to 3 times the price though. ;P

 

I seriously wish Shapeways would reduce their FUD costs.

Does it work on the details as well. I would imagine it to be very time consuming and hard to keep from destroying things like beading specticle rims etc whilst getting it filled and flat right upto them.

[Knuckles]

In my experience the only detail that suffers is rivets. In WSF sometimes they will print well but other times they won't, but as for sanding and filing the WSF is true to its name - Strong and Flexible. Specticle plates won't be filed off unless you REALLY force the file for a lot of strokes.

 

I like to use an old gummed up file that is wet to get into the crannies, this way the filler primer turns into a cream and fils the gaps. Most areas can be smoothed with enough time and effort.

 

Smoothing the backhead controls is a bit of a challenge though.

[Nile]

I concur with what Mr Knuckles says. My preferred method is to paint the model with Revell acrylic paint and then sand it, repeat until the desired finish is reached. I start with matt black but then switch to Tar black, it seems to do a better job of filling the microscopic holes in the material. It's also a better colour than straight black, a sort of weathered black.

Meanwhile I've started work on the chassis, and discovered a problem. If built as supplied both the chassis and body sit too low, with the guard irons and springs touching the rails. A two part solution is needed - lower the axle line by 1mm, and fit 1mm spacers between the chassis and body. This will put things where they should be. Since I needed to modify the axle holes I thought I'd try another experiment in compensation, this time with 3 axles. The fixed rear axle with be driven, the other two will be able to move up and down.

 

The vertical guides are bits of plastic card. I did say it was an experiment! The bearings are quite long, about 2mm.

 

The parts for the compensating beam.

 

 

Soldered and bent to get the correct ride height.

 

 

Here it is fitted, using some holes drilled into the side frames.

 

 

If it doesn't work plan B is to use a J69 chassis as it's close enough.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Knuckles]

Respect for trying so many different things out at the risk of failure, we can learn a lot potentially.   Would it not be better to have two identical pivot beams that act on the bush/bearing rather than the axle itself?   Or maybe add a brass tube to the central pivot each side that the bearings go through as to reduce running friction?

 

I'm not compensation expert but it seems this way in my mind at least.

[Nile]

I could add a central bearing to each axle if friction is a problem, but it's quite free running as it is.

[PenrithBeacon]

...

 

preferred method is to paint the model with Revell acrylic paint and then sand it, repeat until the desired finish is reached. I start with matt black but then switch to Tar black, it seems to do a better job of filling the microscopic holes in the material.

 

...

 

 

Interesting method of getting the finish right! What tool do you use as an aid to sanding?

 

Thanks

Edited March 26, 2016 by PenrithBeacon

[Nile]

Various. Sand paper, files,  glass fibre pencil, even a small screwdriver. Start coarse and gradually get finer until it is polishing rather than sanding.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Nile]

To motorize it I'm using a High Level Roadrunner+ gearbox which just about fits, leaving room for a motor and flywheel between the tanks and hidden from view.

 

 

For the coupling rods I'm using Gibson ones for a J69 but modified. The front section is fine but the rear part has to be shortened by a few mm. In the photo below the top one is unmodified, the middle one has been shortened. Below them is a rear piece that has been shortened.

 

 

To shorten the rod, first the end boss is cut off and soldered onto the rear piece, middle of photo below.

Then what is left is shortened to the correct length (lower one in photo) and soldered onto the rear piece, trying to minimize the gap to the boss.

 

 

Then everything is put together for a test on the rollers.

 

Success!

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Knuckles]

Sweet. I have a question though. If you have the front two axles compensated are you using articulated coupling rods or have you bodged it slightly by making the middle coupling rod hole a bit wider or is it somehow working fixed axle??

Edited March 27, 2016 by Knuckles

[Nile]

The side rods are articulated (in two sections), the front axles have plenty of vertical movement, far more than they actually need.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Knuckles]

Ok cool.

Thanks for clearing that up, I wasn't sure if you joined the two halves together fixed or not.

[Nile]

Here the body and chassis are united to check things are as they should be. There are some pieces of 30thou plastic card on top of the chassis to set the body to the correct height.

 

 

Next thing to do is fit some pick-ups. There are recesses on the underside where some bits of PCB can be glued.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Nile

[Knuckles]

Looking good. The brake pad clearence looks a wee too generous but no biggy.