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GWR Green HST Respray (Power Cars Finished!)


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Hi there!

 

As you may have already gathered, this thread is about my first major respraying project; making an HST go green. 

For those of you who haven't seen set LA15, here's a picture (not mine!) http://www.hondawanderer.com/43188_Circourt_2015.htm

 

For the project, I am using transfers from Precision Decals. 

 

post-21606-0-08184800-1445430667_thumb.jpg

 

These are superb quality, as good as you can get in my opinion. John from Precision Decals was very helpful as well, not just advising me on the transfers themselves, but also on aspects such as the pain colour and what finishes to use. I highly recommend using them. 

 

For the main paint colour, I have found that Revell number 62 seems to be a good representation, but you cant be 100% sure until it's on the model! 

 

I am going to start with the powercars. I have enough transfers for 2 class 43s and 5 Mk.3s, which would give a decent length to the model, the same as my other HSTs that I already have. Whether or not a do a full rake of 8 coaches depends on how the first 5 go. 

 

The powercars I am using are the latest spec Hornby ones in East Midlands Livery. 

 

post-21606-0-45244900-1445431108_thumb.jpg

 

I chose these powercars in particular because: 1,They were going cheap, and 2, because the way the black swoops down from the roof to the windscreen at the front is the same as the GWR one. I also am not a huge fan of the livery, and the seem to be fairly common, so I won't feel guilty stripping them down to base plastic and repainting them. 

The headlights and the cooler group fans are incorrect for either 43187 or 43188, but I'm not really bothered about that too much. Personally, I think the HSTs look a lot better with the older style headlights, so I probably won't change that on the model. I'd like to know what you all think though.

In terms of the fan on the roof, the only way I could get an HST with the correct Voith one rather than the Brush version on the EMT model would be to buy a First Great Western blue set. Since these go for 100s of pounds and are quite rare, I am not prepared to use one of them just for the roof vent! 

 

Any advise on any aspect of the project and comments/feedback would be most welcome! 

 

Watch this space!

Edited by xavsinden4
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Something that I want to do (only thing in N gauge) for show only and not to run. The light clusters are different, will you be changing those or are you going to compromise on that? If you want those light clusters then buy Hornby's Arriva Cross-Country or GNER HST.

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Fair enough, whatever works for you. It was actually whilst I was looking for paints to mix that I found one ready mixed that looked pretty good.

If you haven't got your transfers yet, I'd recomment using Precision Decals, they do 2mm and 4mm versions of the GWR HST logos.

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Hi there!

 

As you may have already gathered, this thread is about my first major respraying project; making an HST go green. 

For those of you who haven't seen set LA15, here's a picture (not mine!) http://www.hondawanderer.com/43188_Circourt_2015.htm

 

For the project, I am using transfers from Precision Decals. 

 

attachicon.gifimage2.JPG

 

These are superb quality, as good as you can get in my opinion. John from Precision Decals was very helpful as well, not just advising me on the transfers themselves, but also on aspects such as the pain colour and what finishes to use. I highly recommend using them. 

 

For the main paint colour, I have found that Revell number 62 seems to be a good representation, but you cant be 100% sure until it's on the model! 

 

I am going to start with the powercars. I have enough transfers for 2 class 43s and 5 Mk.3s, which would give a decent length to the model, the same as my other HSTs that I already have. Whether or not a do a full rake of 8 coaches depends on how the first 5 go. 

 

The powercars I am using are the latest spec Hornby ones in East Midlands Livery. 

 

attachicon.gifimage3.jpg

 

I chose these powercars in particular because: 1,They were going cheap, and 2, because the way the black swoops down from the roof to the windscreen at the front is the same as the GWR one. I also am not a huge fan of the livery, and the seem to be fairly common, so I won't feel guilty stripping them down to base plastic and repainting them. 

The headlights and the cooler group fans are incorrect for either 43187 or 43188, but I'm not really bothered about that too much. Personally, I think the HSTs look a lot better with the older style headlights, so I probably won't change that on the model. I'd like to know what you all think though.

In terms of the fan on the roof, the only way I could get an HST with the correct Voith one rather than the Brush version on the EMT model would be to buy a First Great Western blue set. Since these go for 100s of pounds and are quite rare, I am not prepared to use one of them just for the roof vent! 

 

Any advise on any aspect of the project and comments/feedback would be most welcome! 

 

Watch this space!

Hi I'm about to do a full respray into GWR

The colour used by GWR is called Teal Green a lot of people think that it's a sort of dark green like a British racing green when infact is not that dark at all it's the light that makes it look darker every now and then .

I look forward to seeing the final master piece

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Hi!

Sounds good, are you respraying the HST or are you doing a 166 or the Night Riviera? 

That can't be the same teal green used by Midland Mainline in their first livery is it? As the model is a representation of the real thing you might want to use a darker green as you won't get the same darkening effect that happens in real life, which means the model may look too light even though you've used the correct colour. Personally I'd suggest matching the colour you use to most pictures of the HST in action rather than, for example, the livery spec, as when it's on the layout you want it to look like it does when in every day service. However, thats just my opinion, you should always go with whatever you like the look of best; as the modeller it's always got to be your decision. 

Edited by xavsinden4
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Update

 

So far, not a lot to report I'm afraid. It's been fairly slow going so far as I didn't have everything I needed to get started until now. 

I've taken off all the detailing on the 43s, which was much more difficult than I expected! The glazing was the hardest to remove, as it had been fixed in with generous amounts of glue. I slid a pen knife gently between the glued part of the window and the body and scraped away some of the glue before levering the window out. 

The two power cars are all masked up now and ready to go. 

 

post-21606-0-35024300-1445778351_thumb.jpg

 

Next job: Paint stripping. 

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How are you planning on replicating the matte finish diagonal band on the coaches? Just going to use a darker colour or using a darker colour along with matte varnish whilst leaving the rest glossy?

I'm not sure yet to be honest, I may try using a slightly darker colour, even though I think in real life it's the same colour, and I think I'll then try putting a layer of matt varnish where the stripe is after the transfers have gone on, as they need gloss varnish underneath them. Although I'm not going to start on the coaches until the power cars are done, so I've got a few weeks to think about it. 

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Update

 

I have stripped all the decals/transfers from the HST, using a product called Modelstrip. Despite many people saying that it is useless and won't touch factory finishes, I found that it removed the locos number, EMT logo and the orange parts of the livery reasonably well. It didn't take away the red and yellow, however these parts were paint rather than decal, so they can stay. The Modelstrip goes on like a paste, and you leave it over night. I then scrubbed the loco with an old toothbrush, and everything just came off. 

 

post-21606-0-90572400-1446040512_thumb.jpg

 

As you can see, the number is still faintly visible. This isn't really a problem, as you can't see them now that the primer is on. 

 

That neatly brings me on to the next part of the update; the power cars have had a coat of primer. 

I used Howe's Universal Primer for this, and mixed it with enamel thinners, at around 40% thinner, 60% primer. I had huge problems however, but this was down to my airbrush. The paint was coming out in dry speckles, and nothing I did (adjust pressure etc) changed this. I took the airbrush apart, and found some unrecognisable gunk inside! Putting it back together again (MUCH easier said than done) has seemed to fix the problem and it now works well. 

 

post-21606-0-87034200-1446040261_thumb.jpg

 

I've now applied 2 coats of the primer, hopefully I should be able to start on the yellow front this evening!

 

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looking good !  N gauge for me so will see how you get on thanks for paint ref that will make life easier!

 

have fun and look forward to updates

Robert

Hi! 

Thanks, I'm quite happy with it so far! 

As for the paint ref, I'm very happy that it's come in handy! One of the reasons I decided to put this up on here is so that anyone who wants to do a project like it can cut down the research time. 

 

Green goes on tomorrow! 

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Looks good!

 

I reckon you should be ok on this project but for other bits if you can get hold of some Tamiya masking tape from somewhere like Hobbycraft, it's so good vs the household masking tape, sticks on real nice so you get super sharp joins and really low-tack so no risk of pulling off previous layers of paint, well worth a bash! Can't wait to see the first GWR livery in model form! :)

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Looks good!

 

I reckon you should be ok on this project but for other bits if you can get hold of some Tamiya masking tape from somewhere like Hobbycraft, it's so good vs the household masking tape, sticks on real nice so you get super sharp joins and really low-tack so no risk of pulling off previous layers of paint, well worth a bash! Can't wait to see the first GWR livery in model form! :)

Thanks James! Good advice, it's very frustrating having to constantly re-stick the tape when it comes apart from the plastic. 

So far so good, although I can only hope it turns out to be anywhere near the standard of your FGW 'Fag Packet' one! 

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Update

 

The first 2 coats of green have gone on! So far I think it's looking quite good, I was very worried after the first spray went on as the shade of green was far too light, however, it is now starting to look the part. One more coat I reckon, and then it'll be time for the yellow warning panels and the metal details. 

 

post-21606-0-98941800-1446207485_thumb.jpg

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Update

 

Just a quick update to say I haven't forgotten this project! It's been a week since I did anything to it, distractions in the 1:1 scale life have prevented me from continuing! 

Heres a picture of the power cars as they are now, with I think 3 coats of the green:

 

post-21606-0-25926100-1446741067_thumb.jpg

 

Overall, I'm very pleased with the finish. To my eye it looks pretty much spot on, and the picture really doesn't do it any justice. 

Tomorrow I'm going to strip the paint from the doors (which I'd completely forgotten about!), and then on Saturday I will paint the doors and apply the last (hopefully!) coat of green. The next jobs will then be painting on the yellow front and the metallic silver details such as the rail for the sliding door on the guards compartment. After all that I'll be done with the paints! Until I get my hands on some MK.3s...

 

I'm really starting to look forward to getting these done, so far I think they look pretty good! 

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Update

 

So it's been a little while now, I've got things done but in a different order to they way i described it in my last post. 

 

Instead of cracking on with the last coat of green, I've sprayed on two coats of 'Warning Yellow' (Howes Railmatch) at the front of both locos. I decided to do this because I hadn't prepared the cab doors for spraying into green yet, so I though i'd wait and do them and the rest of the green at the same time. More on the doors later.

Here's one of the power cars masked up and ready for coat number 2:

 

post-21606-0-93163700-1447361611_thumb.jpg

 

I have taken James Makin's advice (see earlier in the thread), and invested in some Tamiya masking tape, but it hasn't arrived yet. Hopefully I'll have it for the final spray of green, if not I'll put it to good use when I do the coaches! 

 

This is what the power cars look like now (I added in the headlights for the photo, they'll come back out when I do another spray):

 

post-21606-0-15875900-1447361748_thumb.jpg

 

Overall I'm pretty happy with the way they've turned out, a little bit of touching up here and there which I will probably do with a brush. If all goes to plan I only have one spray left to do on these, it will be nice to be able to move on to another stage of the project. 

 

For the cab doors, I was going to do the usual method of using Modelstrip, however as you can't remove the doors from the rest of the cab light unit I've decided to use some P240 and P1000 wet and dry sand paper on them, as Modelstrip requires running it under cold water, and I don't particularly want to run electrical components under the tap, even if there is no current being supplied to them at the time. 

 

Using the sand paper turned out to be a good call, this took about 7 seconds (not an exaggeration): 

 

post-21606-0-63404400-1447362534_thumb.jpg

 

Next job will be to add the last coat of green, then I can touch it up by hand. Then, a bit of silver on the guard's door rail, and the painting is done! (Famous last words...)

 

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Looking really smart! :)

 

You're spot on with the handpainting part as well, I often find you get bits that need touching in, or worse still and your masking peels off a dirty great layer of paint! But never worry as 9/10 any touching-in disappears under the final coat of varnish!

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Looking really smart! :)

 

You're spot on with the handpainting part as well, I often find you get bits that need touching in, or worse still and your masking peels off a dirty great layer of paint! But never worry as 9/10 any touching-in disappears under the final coat of varnish!

Thanks! I was a bit worried actually that the brush strokes would show up, so I was half considering trying to do it with the airbrush. A hand held brush will make it a lot easier and neater for tiny bits of paint. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update

 

post-21606-0-90746200-1448313497_thumb.jpg

 

I haven't done a great deal recently, but I managed to get some painting done today. I have finished with the airbrush for now, and have been using a conventional brush to do the finishing touches. 

 

For the roofs I used Humbrol 'Matte Black', however this does not look matte to me: 

 

post-21606-0-06793000-1448313510_thumb.jpg

 

Anyway, I will apply a coat of matte varnish when I get to that stage and see how it turns out. I definitely want it matte on the roof above the cab, as per the prototype, but I'm debating whether or not to leave it as it is on the section of roof above the luggage van/Guard's area. 

 

post-21606-0-36442200-1448313817_thumb.jpg

 

I have also painted the Guard's door rail silver: 

 

post-21606-0-34633500-1448313505_thumb.jpg

 

Some touching up still needs to be done as the paint has bled in some places, but it looks like one more session should do it now. Very close to moving on to the next stage now! 

 

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Fantastic work, I've yet to see a GWR HST in person but this looks superb and it suits the 43s well and you've captured it brilliantly

I found the same first time I used humbrol matte, when I investigated I found that the bottom was very thick and clumpy and shaking did nothing to solve that. I had to stir for several minutes through this goo before it started to mix and the paint went matte. if you stirred well then its probably not the same problem but that's been my experience.

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Fantastic work, I've yet to see a GWR HST in person but this looks superb and it suits the 43s well and you've captured it brilliantly

I found the same first time I used humbrol matte, when I investigated I found that the bottom was very thick and clumpy and shaking did nothing to solve that. I had to stir for several minutes through this goo before it started to mix and the paint went matte. if you stirred well then its probably not the same problem but that's been my experience.

Thanks! I also haven't managed to see LA15 in the wild yet, every time I've had the chance it's either been in the far South West somewhere or not in service!

 

To be honest I didn't stir it well at all! I stirred it once I'd mixed it with thinners in a seperate pot, so all I would have got was the top layer of paint. I guess thats why it seemed so thin even before I'd mixed in the thinners! I'll give your method a try, thanks for the advice!

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The doors are a funny colour - sort of gunmetal.  I caught this set (or another one the same, if they're cxracking on with the resprays) last week from Swindon to Bristol Parkway.  I'm still not totally convinced by it but it looks better close up and shiny.

Yes, it does seem to be a livery that divides opinions, personally I think it looks great but I can understand why you might not be so keen. You're right about the doors, I'm definitely going to have to mix my own paint for them!

This set is the only HST going green, so the one you caught would have been the one I'm modelling! 

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