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TurboSnail

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Blog Entries posted by TurboSnail

  1. TurboSnail
    I love primer - it makes a model look so much more finished! It's also shown up a couple of areas I need to fill, or remains of support material I need to get rid of. The main bit being at the back, where one of the buffer holes cracked out when I was drilling it out for the buffers, leaving a big hole in the bufferbeam. I swapped to a needle file to do the rest after this!
     

     

  2. TurboSnail
    I've realised that adding handrails might be one of my least favourite modelling jobs - but at least it's over now, and I'll admit it does add a lot to the visual effect of the loco. I've also added replacement steps and buffers, which I managed to attach without gumming up the spring this time! I doubt that the springyness will survive painting though...
     

  3. TurboSnail
    Just a quick video this time, and as much of an excuse to get the P Class out as anything else!
     
    The paint on the wagon is still slightly tacky having been on there over 3 days at this point, so I can't matt coat and weather it until it's fully dry.
     
     
  4. TurboSnail
    That's that done, a few modifications I have to make now, mainly the underframe locating points were a bit too wide - still trying to work out why, as I pinched the dimensions from another kit that worked.
     
    Anyway, it's turned out rather well. I thought I would just be using this one to test the dimensions, then scrap it and make another to use on the layout, as this one has some fairly pronounced print layer lines - however, now it's painted, you can't really see them so it's earned itself a reprieve. They're still there in photos, but not visible with the naked eye (unless you get very close). Even the transfers wrapped around the strapping nicely.
     
    I will be making this kit available to buy at some point, but I'm holding off on that for a short while, as depending how various conversations go, I might be able to produce them via someone else, which could help improve the quality. 
     
    Now I just need to weather it, and make a load for it. I'm thinking it'll be delivering a couple of engine parts to the colliery, for the static engines powering the workshop or pit pumps...
     

  5. TurboSnail
    Normally when I make a loco for Hardy's Hobbies, I modify the CAD slightly and produce a unique version for myself. Usually different chimneys, buffers, riveting etc. but this time, I've printed a standard version, and am going to have a crack at modifying it the old fashioned way. As such, I've got myself some replacement buffers and steps, some detailing bits and so on. I'm also going to scratchbuild a new roof for it. This should be more fun than doing the mods in CAD!
     

  6. TurboSnail
    I live in a tiny flat, where the walls are all plain white, which coupled with the grey carpet made the place feel a little... sterile, maybe? Possibly not the right word, but certainly not very homely. So I've finally got round to getting some pictures on the walls, which of course are railway-themed. The main one is the 1907 OS map of a certain harbour (internet points available if you can ID it) - which leads me on to the point I actually wanted to make in this blog post, which is that I've found old-maps.co.uk to be a really good resource for research.
     
    Trackplans are the obvious one, but also contours, coastline, junctions and train routes can all be traced using their maps. I'm not associated with them in any way, but just found it useful for my current layout, and for a couple of others I'd like to build in the future, including potentially the one in the picture, if I ever manage to accumulate enough space and wealth to do it.
     

  7. TurboSnail
    While I fiddle around with my own controller design, I needed a conventional one to test locos with, so I'd know if any issues were down to the loco or due to my programming. So @AVS1998 very kindly sent me one (in return for a few custom 3D printed bits) and now I can see how various chassis are performing.
     
    The Manning Wardle works beautifully - though being an RTR chassis, I'd expect it to... The standard Hornby 0-4-0 regearing project runs quite nicely, nice and slow and controllable but still a bit loud. The tiny Hunslet is also a bit loud, and doesn't pick up too well, mostly down to it weighing virtually nothing, so I think I'll swap the gears for a belt drive and see how that gets on. It would also help if my test track was actually flat...
     

  8. TurboSnail
    The layout backscene has arrived! Well, actually it arrived yesterday and I was planning to get it in place straight away - however, a day later and I'm still thinking about how to do it, without making as much of a mess of it as I did with the last backscene I did. Until I decide, it's just sat on the floor, straightening itself out after being packaged in a tube.
     
    The actual design was very kindly done by @Corbs. Going for a subtle, grey cloudy effect (which looks better in person than it does on camera!), at an odd size, so the traditional backscenes would have been awkward to fit. I was originally planning to paint it, but decided eventually that it was something I wanted to get done properly, as it would have been very hard to upgrade later down the line if I wanted to. 
     

  9. TurboSnail
    I've managed to persuade my printer to make something without warping this time, though it has come out a bit stripy instead. Hopefully this disappears under a layer of paint. Anyway, the test build is going... well, not ok exactly, but it's working now. I had to adjust the solebars quite a bit to get the axle spacing right, even though I copied the dimensions off a previous kit that worked fine. Some investigation to do there. In the process of doing that, I managed to snap one of them in half, but fortunately I think it has repaired ok.
     
    And yes, that does say 'SER' on the axleboxes... in 0.1mm thick text!
     

  10. TurboSnail
    I've had a go at weathering this building on one of the non-visible sides, and none of the approaches I've used so far are really viable. I've tried a black wash (makes the mortar lines far too dark), a brown wash (ditto), black weathering powder (just turned all the bricks black, no matter how lightly I tried to apply it) and brown weathering powder (the only semi-success, as I've used it around the bottom of the building to look like rising damp).
     
    I'm happy with the roof, which was a mix of spray paint and weathering powder. The doors need repainting though, the gloss black I used hasn't given the desired effect.
     
    So the question is, does the building need any more weathering? Sometimes I look at it and think it's alright, other times it seems too light. And if it does need more weathering, what techniques might work better than what I've already tried?
     

     

  11. TurboSnail
    I only spent an hour modelling yesterday, but that's all the time it took to make this little loading platform. Just as well really, as I might have to remake it now - I think the ramps are too steep to be realistic. Oh well, that can wait for another day, this one will do for now.
     
     
  12. TurboSnail
    I'm much happier with the little storeroom now it's a bit less bright. To achieve this, I tried giving it a very light spray of dark grey from a long distance away, which served to just tone it down enough without obscuring any of the colours. Then a coat of matt varnish and it's job done for this one, ready to go on the layout. If/when I ever get round to building it...
     

  13. TurboSnail
    Did a 15 hour day at work yesterday, so not much modelling got done. Instead, a decision needs to be made! I've been trying to get away from entirely 3D printed chassis for a few of my locos, there are other materials better suited to making frames that I'd like to get into. I have a few different designs already done, but I've also got a couple of old projects that need the chassis' redoing as I'd like to have them finished and able to run...
     
    So, which of these locos should I finalise first?  We have the Furness Sharp Stewart, and the AEC Shunter. Read on for the explanation below...
     

     
    The Sharp did run, and very well at that, until it recently developed an issue with the material warping over time. This could be fixed with some adjustment, but given it took a lot of adjustment to get it running in the first place, I'm inclined to make another chassis that is easier to set up and more robust. I'd like to keep the High Level gearbox though, that works brilliantly with the high-revving motor, so it was really smooth before it developed a tight spot. 
     
    Secondly, the AEC shunter. This uses a 4-wheel drive system that I'd like to keep the concept of - however, the 3D printed gears are rubbish (used out of necessity rather than choice), and I'd like to add a flywheel. This should be a simpler project as I'd essentially just be replacing the main chassis block with something a bit more sturdy.
     

  14. TurboSnail
    I've been having lots of issues with my 3D printer again lately, namely that everything seems to be warping a lot more than it used to, despite everything sticking to the build plate better. This is the reason I haven't shown the SER brake yet, and the reason that the 3-plank isn't quite ready yet. Here's the result - not great, certainly not sale-able. I am, however, exploring a couple of options to get these produced professionally, at which point I could get more made at higher quality than I could manage on my own machine. We'll see where that leads!
     

  15. TurboSnail
    The colliery will need occasional deliveries of machinery and supplies, so I've modelled what is described as a heavy goods open. Of SER design to carry 10 tons, about 100 made, likely for paper reels and beer traffic, although given the low sides and tonnage also probably used for machinery and castings etc. Later classified as SR diagram 1346.
     
    I've got the wheels on order (Gibson 12mm Mansell, a little bit undersized but the closest available), so now it just needs printing. Let's see if I can persuade my printer to make something without warping for a change... Once I've found a way of printing these reliably, I'll make them available to buy like my other wagons.
     

  16. TurboSnail
    I didn't do any actual modelling as such yesterday (it was too hot for anything involving moving about and soldering), instead I had a think about some of the challenges I can do on my layout.
     
    The main challenge is the classic inglenook, using the headshunt at position 1 (that fits 5 wagons) and the sidings at 2 and the through line at 3. The sidings at 2 can hold up to 4 wagons, possible 5 small ones if I want to increase the difficulty that way. Then additional challenges can be added. I'm thinking at the moment, I want to add a brake, which needs to be sorted out from the incoming train at 1, stored on the run-round at 4, then re-attached to the back of the completed train. This gets a bit complicated as the loco has to run round and finish at 3 instead of at 1. The other challenge is having a certain van that needs to unload at point 5, then get sorted back into the outgoing train in the usual random order (probably to be decided with a shuffled card system). Maybe I could try both extra challenges at once, but I'm not sure that's actually possible with the brake blocking the run-round loop!
     
    Any idea for any other challenges I could try?
     

  17. TurboSnail
    More on buildings today, this time on one I built a while ago. Same construction as the other buildings I'm making for the layout though. I've modified the roof to be sloping rather than flat, as I think that makes it look a bit older, somehow. It had previously been sprayed with Humbrol desert tan to make the mortar colour, and last night it got the brick colours added. This was done using pencil crayons, in a few different reddy, browny colours, and a small amount of black. Painted the platform and the door too, although I think the door needs another going over. 

    It's ok, but I'm not 100% happy yet, so I'll try weathering it a bit with some powder and maybe a thin wash to darken the overall tone. Wish me luck!
     

  18. TurboSnail
    I stated a while back that I'd like to start showing more real-life stuff, rather than just CAD, so in an attempt to do that, I've started building some of the buildings for the eastern end of Guilford Colliery. I've mostly finished the store, the only building at the western end, so the next smallest building is this one, with just the end poking out of the backscene, shown next to the mockup I made last week.
     
    There's something very therapeutic about assembling a very sturdy little building, making sure all the edges are nice and square, sometimes literally just watching glue dry. Anyway, the building is fairly plain, with just the vent and the door in the end (I can never get completely away from 3D printing, can I?), now I'm just waiting for a delivery of plasticard so I can clad it. I've only got some plain bond stuff left, and I never thought I'd be the type of person to be picky about what brick bond I'm using, but here we are - maybe I'm just learning to do things properly now...
     

  19. TurboSnail
    It takes a very long time to get a loco ready for production... so I sped it up. Even so, this is probably about a third of the total time spent, the rest going on modifications, additional tiny details, checking, research, measuring and so on. Hopefully it'll all be worth it when we see the finished models!
     
     
  20. TurboSnail
    Erm... maybe I'm using this as an excuse to mess about with some of the toys I never had as a child? Whatever, I bought a cheap Nerf gun, with the intention of using it for weathering practice, along with a few painting techniques and trying out some new things with the Dremel, stuff that I'm too scared to try on a wagon that I care about. So what techniques have we learned so far?
     
    When cutting with the Dremel, it's worth clamping a ruler or something to the object to act as a guide. And using plenty of rotational speed for a clean cut If Dremel sanding a large area or feature, it can be useful to do a first pass at higher speed to remove the bulk of the material. However, this leaves a slightly melty surface, so it's worth turning the dial down and going over it again, constantly moving, never holding the disc in one place. Paint prep is something I've skimped on in the past, so I rubbed the shiny plastic down with scotchbrite before priming, and lo and behold it worked brilliantly. Will be re-using this in future, especially on plastic kits White primer is a bit rubbish. Grey primer was great. Light coats actually work. Everyone has been telling me this for years, but there was a part of me that would never let me put the spray can down until there were no more patches showing through. Well, this time I managed to restrain myself, and what do you know, sometimes even the majority are right.  
    You probably knew all these things already, you old clever clogs.
     
    Still to try: mainly weathering. I've got a couple of washes, which is all I normally use on railway stuff. The new bits will be inks, some dry brushing, wiping things down mid-application and whatever else takes my fancy. This is all good casual fun that I don't really have to care about the result of - it's going to look ridiculous anyway, so may as well go to town on it. I could have done the same thing with an old wagon or a failed 3D print, but that's just not as fun, is it?
     
    Before:

     
    Progress so far:

  21. TurboSnail
    Some may remember a while ago I made a kit for Hunslet 22hp 4wDM 1786, also known as 'Courage' or 'Sweet Pea'. However, the Mk1 was a bit too fast to really be usable, and eventually got broken while trying to modify it to reduce the speed. Now I've worked up the 'Courage' to have another go at it (sorry), and the Mk2 is underway, and works! The pickups are a bit crude, but work, and it's much slower than last time, although I've only managed to test it with a 9v battery so far. Time to get the controller out...
     

  22. TurboSnail
    Well, I nearly missed a day! Today's effort was trial fitting some of the SER d1553 brake bits. The solebars and underframe have come out well, and fit, but the body on this one is a little bit warped, so I'm not going to build it up into a full test. I need to check the coupling height first, then I'll reprint and have another go. Shame, but hopefully worth it for the layout. 3d printing is very frustrating at times!
     

  23. TurboSnail
    I got back from work at 3am this morning, so naturally, not a lot of modelling got done. All I really have to show is the Hunslet chassis running in. It's held upside down from a 9v battery, still a little bit noisy after about an hour each way, but considering the gears I've used, I don't think it's too bad. A couple of the wheels are a tad wonky, but I think that's mainly due to them being assembled and disassembled so many times by now, as they're re-used from the Mk1.
     
     
     
  24. TurboSnail
    A new kit for Hardy's Hobbies, announced today; I've been working on this one for a while. It's been a joy to do, as the chassis (a Hornby B2) is an almost perfect match, and none of the dimensions have needed to be compromised to make it fit. This leaves plenty of space to add strengthening, and lots of spaces to add weight - coupled with the already good chassis, this one should run beautifully.
     
    However, I always make unique versions of the Hardy's kits to run on my own layout, so the question here is - what tweaks should I make? I could play around with the sandboxes, toolboxes and ladders a bit, or maybe go for a different chimney style...
     
    (Modelling pictured by Andy Hardy, pre-production test model)
     

     

  25. TurboSnail
    Well, it sort of works...
     
    I think I've got a bit more adjustment to do on this, it runs well in one direction, but is a bit chattery and vibrate-y in the other direction (are those real words?). I don't really know the reason for this at the moment, but it might be something to do with the meshing of the gears - they're 3d printed, so nowhere near as precisely made as proper hobbed brass or plastic ones. I hope to address this once lockdown is over, and get a source of better ones.
     
     
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