Pragmatic Pre-Grouping - Mikkel's Workbench

[MrWolf]

6 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I did buy myself a set of the small and the medium sized ones but so far I've used them when making a card building, not yet for rolling stock. I threw the boxes away but very quickly got them back out of the bin! loose in the toolbox, the clamps are a menace.

 

Bought some myself, very handy and yes, they do come together with quite some velocity and I have learned the wisdom of keeping them in the box!

Something that is very useful with these is the glass out of one of those pound shop picture frames about the size of a postcard. Glue the glass to a bit of mounting card a quarter of an inch bigger all round after running sandpaper around the cut edges. 

This protects the glass and your fingers.

I figured that out after smashing the first one...

 

That along with the magnetic clamps should ensure that you build wagons that are square in all three planes.

[PhilJ W]

I use a picture frame to assemble models on. A piece of graph paper (2mm squares) in the photo frame helps.

 

[Simond]

Picture frame glass is thin, cheap & probably doesn’t have ground edges, and might be less than perfectly flat.  I think the “frames” which are just glass, clips and a backing board might be toughened, and do have ground edges, so might be better.  
 

I have a glass shelf from an old  cabinet or something, had it for years, it’s about 5mm thick, very definitely flat, toughened, and ground.  When things get too big, the kitchen worktops are granite, so they're ideal for an overnight glue-setting session.  
 

But I do like the graph paper idea.

[Stubby47]

I use Duplo blocks to set corners at 90°, 

 

I'm sure these would be available in Denmark.

[Donw]

I made myself a corner. 

 

[MrWolf]

Modern float glass to actually flat, it's just rather thin and brittle. Clip frames do have safe edges but don't tend to be toughened glass. If you want toughened glass of any thickness, a trip to the car breakers and remove a small flat window from an old van is a good bet. I have one that I use to grind in small bits of motorcycle engines that need to be dead flat but have often suffered from the slings and arrows of outrageous bodgery.

[PhilJ W]

The picture frame that I use is quite old. It has a wood surround and a hardboard backing and the glass is perfectly flat. Only problem is that it is only about 6" X 4", I could sometimes do with something a bit bigger

[Stubby47]

I went to the local glaziers and asked them to cut me an A4 sheet of 5mm glass, with the edges smoothed.

I stuck four little rubber feet on to protect the workbench.

 

[PhilJ W]

1 minute ago, Stubby47 said:

I went to the local glaziers and asked them to cut me an A4 sheet of 5mm glass, with the edges smoothed.

I stuck four little rubber feet on to protect the workbench.

 

Those Lego blocks make a perfect right angle as well.

[kitpw]

 

I've no idea where this glass came from, it's 7mm thick and it's been in my workshop collection as long as I can remember.  The wagon is O gauge.

 

 

These are what my grandfather called gravity clamps: blocks of steel turned square on all faces and very useful for modelling (and they don't stick to every thing ferrous in the tool box). Only the front one was made for the purpose, the others are disused machine tool fittings of one sort or another - ancestry unknown.

 

 

[ChrisN]

My magnet squares were bought from York Modelmaking.  As for the glass, I have four glass placemats which not only serve as a flat surface to put things on, I use them when laminating coach sides to keep them flat.  You can pile books on top to add weigh even though they are quite heavy.

[Regularity]

3 hours ago, Donw said:

I made myself a corner. 

 

Just don’t use it painting inwardsly…

[AlfaZagato]

I scavenge window glass scraps from a local hardware store.

[PhilJ W]

On 11/07/2022 at 10:43, ChrisN said:

My magnet squares were bought from York Modelmaking.  As for the glass, I have four glass placemats which not only serve as a flat surface to put things on, I use them when laminating coach sides to keep them flat.  You can pile books on top to add weigh even though they are quite heavy.

I ordered some and they arrived yesterday, two medium and two small. Having a bit of a problem stacking them as the magnets are quite powerful. You put one box on top of another and it shoots off.

[ChrisN]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

I ordered some and they arrived yesterday, two medium and two small. Having a bit of a problem stacking them as the magnets are quite powerful. You put one box on top of another and it shoots off.

 

I keep mine together in a plastic bag.  I have two sets of small ones.

[sjp23480]

Glass worktops - I use glass kitchen worktop protector - £10 from Amazon, John Lewis and others.  

 

 

[Charlie586]

I use an old kitchen glass worktop too. I've got some aluminium right angles someone gave me which are very useful for soldering, but not as useful for glueing.

 

[Mikkel]

Update from the workbench, it’s a bit of this and that at the moment. 

 

 
Another Slater's clerestory has been started, this time the E37 Tri-compo. The C19 from the same range is running well, so I decided to build a companion for it.

 

 

 
No need to repeat the build details, will just point out a few differences. There was more flash around the windows on these sides, and as the window edges are quite thin they are hard to distinguish from the flash and easily damaged when worked on. Inspecting the sides from behind helped.

 

 

 
This time I remembered to drill out the holes for the door furniture before assembling the sides. One advantage of building similar kits in succession is that the experiences from last time are still fresh in mind (famous last words!).

 

 

The E37s had two small lavatories for the First Class passengers at the center, accessed from neighbouring compartments, with the seating arranged like this. The kit doesn’t provide for it, but I rebuilt the seats to indicate it. The lavatories won't be visible, so I'm not doing them. I won't be adding arm rests to the First Class seats either. Interior detailing doesn't seem to interest me at the moment.

 

 

 
Incidentally I've found that when fitting the seats it’s worth ensuring that the slight gap at each side is equally spaced. It’s a help when fitting the glazing, as it can then be slid down either side of the seat.

 

 

 
I’ve also purchased an Easi-liner pen and am currently practicing with it. There are four different stylus widths in the basic package.

 

 

In principle it’s simple. A few drops are filled into the stylus/nib and off you go. Since taking this photo I found it works better to pull the pen vertically towards yourself. 

 

 

 
First attempts were a bit bumbling, but the instructions provide good tips and I’m now able to do uninterrupted straight lines.  The liner was designed with Humbrol in mind but I’m using Vallejo acrylics, which I understand others have done successfully.

 

 

 
Large curves are also not that hard. The lower one illustrates how the paint can creep under the guide/ruler. Raising the guide from the surface avoids this (I used a sliver of plasticard).

 

 

I do have a problem: The lines end up too thick. Ignore the crude line and test piece, the point is to illustrate that the smallest 0.25 mm nib tends to result in 0.6 mm lines, too thick for 4mm scale. A query with the proprietor Chris was very quickly answered and he suggested that the paint might be flowing too freely and/or I am pulling the pen too slowly, in both cases leading the paint to expand.

 

 

 
So I’ve rebooted and have spent some sessions just drawing freely to get a better feel for the pen, and experimenting with the thinning/viscosity. This does seem to help – but whether I can get to 0.25mm is yet to be seen. Will report back.

 

 

 
Also a variety of figures on the go, including some Andrew Stadden ones. 

 

 

 
Andrew’s figures are all good, but I think he made an extra effort with the women. I can sympathize with that.

 

 

 

Some Modelu ones too.

 

 

 

Mr Chapman’s Amazing Leverage Machine, tested and proven at Farthing, available worldwide!

 

Anyway, this is getting long and silly, will post more in the blog later 🙂
 

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by Mikkel

[kitpw]

40 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

I’ve also purchased an Easi-liner pen

They remind me of "Leroy" lettering pens which I used in the days before computers took over drafting and inky fingers became an affliction of choice rather than a daily hazard.  I recall lettering a series of plots of dozens of depth soundings in two long lines across a chart extract of Milford Haven sound - about a week's work. Indeed, every time I read "Minories" on RM web, I am reminded of erands to the Admiralty Chart shop in Minories to collect charts and shortly thereafter, Leroy lettering pens come to mind.  Anyway, I can offer little in the way of advice about their use but the precursor - Leroy - can be found here -http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/KELeroy/3245-15L/3245-15L.htm - if you scroll down a bit.

 

Figures are getting better and better aren't they?  I do recall you putting forward the opinion that figures "in action" were to be avoided (with which I agree and advice I have followed) but I think Mr Chapman breaks the rules... unless levitation doesn't count?

[MikeOxon]

Some nice figure painting - one of those zillions of things I must get around to one day!  Blanche has completely given up asking for new dresses.

 

It's all those support structures that put me off resin printers.

 

Mike

[AlfaZagato]

Wouldn't the appropriate companion to a clerestory be a toplight?

[Mikkel]

9 hours ago, kitpw said:

They remind me of "Leroy" lettering pens which I used in the days before computers took over [snip]

 

I see what you mean. Leroy pen and Easi-liner below it:

 

 

 

Your experience with the former must be handy when lining coaches!

 

9 hours ago, kitpw said:

Figures are getting better and better aren't they?  I do recall you putting forward the opinion that figures "in action" were to be avoided (with which I agree and advice I have followed) but I think Mr Chapman breaks the rules... unless levitation doesn't count?

 

 Ha! No, I stand by the principle, it was just a bit of fun. 

 

And yes, "levitation" not "leverage" 🙂

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Mikkel

[Mikkel]

9 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

Some nice figure painting - one of those zillions of things I must get around to one day!  Blanche has completely given up asking for new dresses.

 

It's all those support structures that put me off resin printers.

 

Mike

 

Thanks Mike, I need a lot of figures for the main platforms at Farthing so have decided to do a batch every now and then. 

 

Does each support structure have to be added by the designer? Goodness, I thought the software worked that out. What a job that must be.

 

[Mikkel]

9 hours ago, AlfaZagato said:

Wouldn't the appropriate companion to a clerestory be a toplight?

 

Yes good point, the aim was to do one of those "mixed bag" trains typical of the GWR.

 

Source: Getty Images, embedding permitted. No date.

 

I suppose I'm being corrupted by man's eternal quest for order and neatness. Same internal struggle is involved in biodiversity-friendly gardening!

 

Edited July 27, 2022 by Mikkel

[Donw]

1 hour ago, Mikkel said:

 

Yes good point, the aim was to do one of those "mixed bag" trains typical of the GWR.

 

Source: Getty Images, embedding permitted. No date.

 

I suppose I'm being corrupted my man's eternal quest for order and neatness. Same internal struggle is involved in biodiversity-friendly gardening!

 

 

eternal quest for order and neatness. My wife would confirm that I am rather lacking in that.

 

Rather difficult to date  but the stock in platform 3 suggest post war to me (the great war that is)

 

Don