Matt's kitbuilding page

Discussion in 'Kits, Kit bashes & Scratch builds' started by Matt, Jan 6, 2019.

  1. Matt

    Matt Full Member

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    So my Xmas gift went down well:

    IMG_20191227_123034.jpg

    IMG_20191227_123009.jpg

    IMG_20191227_122955.jpg

    The recipient was very pleased. So much so that I'm considering buying a few more of these in the new year, painting/weathering them and then offering them for sale. Do you think there'd be sufficient interest to make it worthwhile?

    Matt
     
  2. jakesdad13

    jakesdad13 Staff Member Moderator

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    If you can do them to a consistent quality then I don't see why not. From your previous posts you should have no problem!
    As long as you price them competitively, and don't over stretch yourself, you should have a nice little earner there. After all each one will be unique!

    Pete.
     
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  3. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Matt you should be shouting out this skill of yours from the rooftops... both Pete and I know good modeling when we see it (and I'm sure he won't mind me saying this either) and what you have demonstrated here is beyond good in fact I'd say without doubt you have natural artistic flair because you take note and observe fine detail. Oh gosh I'm sounding like an art tutor now... but really the secret if creating good modeling is observational detail and never overdoing process, in other words less is more. Modelers do sometimes fall into the trap of cramming detail into tiny spaces and enthusiastically overloading their efforts unnecessarily. See if you can track down the work of David Magill who works in Gauge O, he has just completed a series of Heljan Class 37 weathering repaints, you will find him on forums under the name of Jinty, look him up and that will show you what I mean if you study what he does. Most certainly buy in a rake of these steel minerals and weather them up in small batches at different times ... that way they won't all look the same, post pictures up on here and also somewhere like Model Railway Realism forum and get your name out there for people to see what you can do. People will ask you for commissions without a doubt, remember there are a lot of folk out there with money to burn and no creative skill set to achieve such good standards, its all about making connections. Best of luck and again superb craftmanship Matt :tophat::tophat::tophat::thumbup:
     
  4. Matt

    Matt Full Member

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    Thank you Pete and Paul for the kind words, it's something I'm still considering at the moment.

    I've got several projects on the go at the moment, and I'm struggling to muster the enthusiasm to work on any of them right now. A while ago, I uncovered a couple of old 16t minerals I'd built, probably over a decade ago. They'd been sitting, forgotten, in a bowl of Fairy Powerspray to remove the paint ever since.

    I dug them out the other night and had a look at them. One is in better nick than the other as a result of being painted with acrylics. This is the wagon in question, pre paint removal (nearest the camera):

    Screenshot_20200104_214234.jpg

    Both were missing brake gear, buffers and other bits and pieces after years in storage. After looking at the Bartlett site for inspiration, I ended up here:

    https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brmineralwestinghouse

    After rummaging through some spare parts, I came up with enough usable pieces to cobble together a fair representation (rivet counters won't be satisfied, but I'm not a rivet counter!).

    IMG_20200103_220502.jpg

    Work started by repairing damage to the end using some plastic strip:

    IMG_20200104_145628.jpg

    Holes have been cut in the sides, intentionally uneven, using a scalpel. This would have been much easier if it hadn't been assembled! I also backfilled the holes with more plastic strip as some looked a little big in hindsight.

    Here's where I'm at now:

    IMG_20200104_213534.jpg

    I'm hoping this'll be a nice quick project, and a change of scenery. Although it won't be perfect, it'll be a nice addition to the engineers fleet.

    Happy New Year!

    Matt
     
  5. Matt

    Matt Full Member

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    Now finished and ready for the paint shop:

    IMG_20200106_143731.jpg

    The clasp brakes aren't really visible at present due to the overwhelming "blackness" of the underframe. Any errors are acceptable to me given the £0 outlay and use of spares and leftovers.

    Now I need to find another interesting 16t prototype to base the other one on!

    Matt
     
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  6. Matt

    Matt Full Member

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    Still plodding along with this:

    IMG_20200107_221125.jpg

    Wire handrails are worth the effort but are a real chore to do!

    The few photos of the prototype van I've seen seem to indicate there were some kind of doors added to the verandah ends. They look to be metal and added at a later date, although there are no clear photos. I'm pondering this and have scratchbuilt my own:

    IMG_20200106_212822.jpg

    Finally, a quick pic of my current work in progress brake vans!

    IMG_20200107_221107.jpg

    Matt
     
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  7. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Congrats on the first Pic of the week for 2020, some great examples of weathering on this work bench, I've tried leaving them out, but plastic just doesn't weather that well on it's own, it just gets dusty :whatever:

    Paul
     
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  8. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Hey Matt Congratulations :cheers: on making the first 2020 slot of POTW ... very well deserved indeed and hopefully this will profile your artistic weathering skills and talent more prominently. Well done mate.:tophat::tophat::tophat::tophat::thumbup:
     
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  9. MalcT

    MalcT Full Member

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    Well done Matt on the first Pic of The Week for 2020, as the others have said. fully deserved. Really enjoy your posts, great weathering skills.:tophat::tophat::thumbs::thumbs:
    Malc
     
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  10. Gary

    Gary Wants more time for modelling.... Staff Member Administrator

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    Congratulations on PotW Matt. Well deserved ! :tophat:

    Cheers, Gary.
     
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  11. jakesdad13

    jakesdad13 Staff Member Moderator

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    Great POTW Matt, well deserved mate! :tophat::tophat:
     
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  12. Matt

    Matt Full Member

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    Thank you for the very kind comments and especially for the POTW! I appreciate the positive response!

    The brake van is at the point where I need to add the footboards and brackets but I'm weighing up whether to use the kit parts, or replace with plastic strip. Neither is a particularly fun thought right now so I've put it to one side.

    I think I'll turn the second rescued Parkside 16t wagon into another engineers wagon, as above.

    Unfortunately, all progress will now have to take an enforced break after a modelling accident involving a finger and a knife last night! Oops!

    Matt
     
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  13. danielb

    danielb Full Member

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    Well deserved POTW, Matt. Your work here is awesome.
     
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  14. Matt

    Matt Full Member

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    Hi all,

    Bit of a special one this. One of the layouts that made a lasting impression on me was Pengwynn Crossing. I remember seeing it in Railway Modeller in 1994 and it changed the way I looked at layouts. It was one of the first layouts I'd taken notice of that wasn't an urban mainline station.

    The point of this rambling is the article had a picture of a Shark brake van. Obviously nothing was available RTR then but the 15 year old me knew I must have one. Eventually I worked out it was a Cambrian kit so I saved up and bought one. At the time, it was my finest achievement but looking at it now, it was poorly built and painted.

    My initial thoughts were to maybe tidy it up and repaint it, however it literally came apart in my hands! As a result, I decided to strip the paint and rebuild it. I must've painted it with enamel mixed with concrete, because my initial attempts to remove the paint failed miserably. In the end I resorted to Dettol and had more luck.

    After all these years, the plastic is pretty brittle, and several pieces have subsequently been damaged, although nothing some plastic strip won't fix.

    IMG_20200112_195957.jpg

    I also recently bought a book about brake vans, and there's a really interesting picture within of a Shark, minus its ploughs, being used as a standard brake van. If that isn't unusual enough, it really highlights the ridiculously short wheelbase.

    So, it's another on the to-do pile, but it's being done for sentimental reasons!

    Matt
     
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  15. Mark4mm

    Mark4mm Guest

    Great POTW Matt, excellent weathering work on the wagon. I would love to own one of those.
     
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  16. Matt

    Matt Full Member

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    Thank you Bo-Bo! Watch this space, if I can get my act together, I may do a batch to sell.
     
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  17. Mark4mm

    Mark4mm Guest

    I will be watching closely Matt.
     
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  18. Matt

    Matt Full Member

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    Thanks Bo-Bo, hopefully news soon.

    Meanwhile, I've pushed on with my nostalgic project. Moulded handrails have been removed, holes drilled for replacements, the bodywork over the far door rebuilt from plastic strip, and the sides rescribed.

    IMG_20200113_221947.jpg

    It's quite messy, but that's to be expected given its age!

    Matt
     
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  19. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    That looks quite impressive still given its history you have documented! :thumbs:
     
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  20. Mark4mm

    Mark4mm Guest

    Matt it’s great to see that you are bring your van back to life again, inevitably plastic goes brittle over time but it’s amazing what can be achieved by modelling with plasticard.
     
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