sleeper

Looking back at this blog it didn't get finished for some reason so here are some later photos of the finished model, every part is made from cardboard including the wheels the only parts not card are the axles , prop shaft, and windows of course

yes I've got a copy but unfortunately it doesn't explain how to make the roof out of cardboard

Pete, my condolences about the Mother in Law,

You don't do things by half do you, you certainly caste a long shadow!

To have made the decision to move to Brazil in the first place and to apply for an adopted child both take a lot of bottle.

Good luck to you all with everything.

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the compliment, I've only done the cardboard roof for the CC1 which, although I finally got the various sections sorted, didn't really work so back to the drawing board literally with that one. I'll check to see if I have enough material to do a small blog on it.

Hi Mark,

Blime mate you slipped in there a bit quick! Thanks for the kind words, The next project is already in the pipeline or should I say on Inkscape. I fancy doing a model of the CC1 ' booster' loco. I obtained a copy of the Southern Way special issue which dealt with these in considerable depth. I went to the 0 gauge society exhibition in Reading before Christmas and was really impressed with the amount of detail you can show and to the parts that are available, so I'm going to have a go at this one in plastic card to 0 gauge. Fingers crossed.

I won't be able to use the same techniques as my previous efforts due to the problems with lamination of plastic, so new techniques will have to be tried, this will be a fresh challenge as I've already found out doing a mock up of the roof in cardboard.

Roly

I like the finish on this one mark, just the right amount of weathering, well done mate.

 

If you want more interaction then try a "normal" posting in an appropriate section of the forum,

I would like to see the outcome of your roof shaping, including any mistakes (and recovery method) which the rest of us can learn from !

good luck!

Been there, done that, same result.

For details of the roof shaping read my 'class 50 blog' preceding this one , all the fun and games of roof shaping using the same methods as I'll be using here.

Thanks to those who have left feedback via the aforementioned ratings.

Nice work there Mark, nice clean job. A little bit of a problem with the roof on 47045, or is it a banana van?

I probably haven't been paying attention, but I've not seen reports of the limited life-span of the "sticky" Silhouette base mat previously.

in the early postings of 'a guide to the silhouette cutter' by JCL it was reported that the mat was extremely sticky to start off, but with repeated use it gradually became less so. Despite keeping the cover sheet over it, mine has  now lost all its sticky properties.

I can't remember off hand what product has been used by others to restore the sticky. From what I've read elsewhere there isn't any spray on 'tacky' adhesive that doesn't set. Saying that I did hear of an American product that lasts but I have my doubts about whether it is permitted in the post, being as it's in aerosol form. If anyone knows of such a product please post it up on here.

Hi Mark,

Thanks, just having a spot of bother gluing the two halves together at the moment. I think it's due to me not cleaning the plastic solvent off first and so the superglue stuck just the residues together and they've broken away from the bare plastic. At least that's what I hope it is. If this plastic won't stick it wil have to be a mechanical joint with a plate and screws, hope not.

Roly

Mike,

Thanks for the kind words they are a much valued compliment coming from you. I had to laugh at the 'rugged' look, 'ugly handsome'  is another I've heard in the past, it looks extremely 'uggied' with its filthy face. 

My thoughts on the thick card are, with hindsight, different now. The idea of the thick card was, as I said in the blog, to give it rigidity, as well as having some 'meat' to carve in to when shaping the roof and tumblehome etc. As it's turned out the sides could hve been thinner, particularly around the windows, I will try to work differently with the next model I do with the same medium

It's funny you should mention the etched bogies and Mashima motor because that's exactly what I had thought of when at the beginning, it started to look like a feasible project.

Hi Mark,

yeah I was pretty P'd off, particularly as I wasn't too happy with the quality of the work on the ends.

Although I'd designed and cut the ends from a drawing, the marker lights seem as if they're slightly too close together. The space left for the EHT lead plugs and sockets, which I suspect I've made slightly over scale as well, isn't enough. As a result the sockets are too near the lights.

My decision to use etched brass windscreen surrounds was the right one, I think, but I could have made a better job of the finishing around them. This, coupled with the repair work plus the poor preparation generally on the ends let the model down in my opinion.

I've just given the body a coat of satin varnish this afternoon ready for an attempt at weathering it.

As a little aside, I received this email notification below, some very interesting points to be noted.

Hi Mark,

As you probably know the traditional way was to use Shellac but I don't think it's available now, in it's natural form, certainly not here in France. There is probably a synthetic equivalent (knotting is an example).

I sealed the body with several spray coats of hair lacquer prior to painting, maybe not enough though as I had to save some because I was going out that night. !!

I agree, Kleer would be good Idea but as I've already found out, one of the things that  should be avoided is wetting the card too much as that causes it to expand and separate the laminations.

Some more experimentation is needed on that topic, ( homework guys). it's possible that Kleer might make a good laminating adhesive, but then again would further applications dissolve the Kleer already used as a glue? 

Roly

hiya Mark,

Thanks for the kind compliment

I'm really pleased with the way it's coming on, I just hope I don't do anything to mess it up.

The paint job is sort of ok but it could have been so much better if I'd taken more trouble and built up more paint layers. I'm finding that cardboard doesn't take paint like plastic, with plastic card the surface is almost dead flat, not so card, it has a grain and that can still be seen now. It'll have a coat of matt varnish when it's finished so hopefully that'll cover it. I've just redone the headcode and it's been successful, phew!

It will have the number 50016 which was named Barham so it might get name plates if all turns out well.with the finish

Another beautiful job Pete, the mention of the black tinted varnish is interesting. Do you buy it tinted or do it yourself with black paint? If so what proportion roughly?

yeah got your meaning now, yes, the roof does have a pronounced 'hump' along it's length. Looking square on mine has that too but not so pronounced. Because of the unfortunate loss of two of the layers when I reduced the height of the roof it's maybe not so evident as on the Hornby or Lima ones.

I've been working from rather inaccurate drawings and corner view photos and having never seen a RTR version I don't know how much 'out' my roof is compared to the prototype. The profile I made for shaping it was taken from the drawing I had and apart from the lack of depth it has followed the contour fairly accurately.

My camera isn't the best at close ups so I doubt a close up, side on, shot would be clear enough to show the roof"s profile. The body's in the paint shop at the moment but when it's done I'll see if I can get a good image. 

yes you're right, the headcode box should be deeper,  there are still a couple of layers to be added to the face so that the box face ends slightly in front of the roof front edge, this will make it look deeper.too.

I haven't got the roof quite right, it too should be slightly deeper, although from all the photos I've studied it is pretty straight along it's length, with no 'hump' in the middle.

When I was sanding it to shape I stuck two halves of a lolly stick type wooden spatula on to the face of a length of batten to butt the side of the roof blank to, the idea being that I then couldn't get carried away and take too much material off the width because the sanding block was running along the edge of the batten. Eventually though this also proved to be too wide,

I had glued hand cut spacers across the inside the body to brace the structure, I'd made these too wide, forcing the sides out slightly, so after removing them the roof was 2mm wider than the sides, it also looked too high so I cut a couple of layers away from the base of the roof, but unfortunately about four came away in the levelling up process and so the result is as you now see it.

The roof will be left as it is, it's too late to change it now, but thanks for the observations, they serve to make you sit up and think, regrettably there have been too few comments throughout this blog

don't know about ramblings from the balcony, more like pot of varnish from the balcony!

well you got there in the end Pete, well done, it looks terrific. This one has been a bvmmer all the way through with more problems to solve than the rest put together,but, you cracked it. Great stuff mate.

Thanks BG

Hi Lisa, yes you most certainly can use the Silhouette to cut thin plastic card, it's what I used for this model. If you click on the Silhouette Cutter category on the right hand column you can read the full blog.

For a comprehensive explanation go to Scenery, Structures & Transport, there is a very helpful blog pinned there.

Thanks. Yes it has had its challenges. Yes I am pleased with it especially Now it is sat on the shelf waiting for the paint to cure before I cock it up lining it.

Nah, won't happen!

I've been away for a month so just finished working my way through your posts.

I think you've had more problems to resolve with this particular build than you've had with all the others put together, but you've done it and you should be very proud of yourself, I certainly am (of you). It's turning into a very nice looking engine, well done mate.

was the boiler the wrong diameter? the bit under the smokebox looks to be an accurate fit so it seems the space between the tanks was wrong and quite a bit wrong too judging by the photo.

How could someone with the savvy to design the etches get things so wrong?

Well done Pete it looks like you've nailed this one now.

Hmm, not like you Pete, you're usually so positive so it must really be getting you down and no wonder judging by the photo of that cylinder. I'm not familiar with this particular loco but comparing the drawing behind and the cylinder from the kit it's p*ssed as a puddin' how can someone, using the accuracy of computer design get it so wrong and then have the gall to market it.

Keep your chin up mate, keep plodding, one step at a time and you'll get there. There's always better times ahead!

Roly