Part of yet another project.

Discussion in 'Workshop Benches' started by Keith M, Feb 5, 2020.

  1. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    I was aware that the van had spent some museum time in the USA and was 'donated' back to the UK in a poor state having been used as the store room to a cafe at the museum after being removed from display. As I understand it, the van was put aside and painted in Pullman colours in late 1962 after Churchill suffered ill health and the van was then kept hidden away at Stewarts Lane in readiness with strict instruction that it was not to be used under any circumstances until the inevitable. After Churchill's death, the van was again repainted before the funeral.
    The funeral train left from Waterloo station as opposed to the expected Paddington, not an easy route from there, but there was a 'hidden' reason for this.
    Churchill apparently didn't have an easy relationship with General De Gaulle (President De Gaulle at the time of Churchills death), and had left instructions that should De Gaulle die first then the train for Churchill's funeral could leave from Paddington as expected. However, in the event of Churchill pre- deceasing De Gaulle, which was what actually happened, then Churchill insisted that his funeral train must depart from Waterloo, presumably a final "Two fingers" gesture to De Gaulle reminding him of the Battle of Waterloo which the French of course lost! A keen sense of humour to the last!:giggle:
    Keith.
     
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  2. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    I already have straight and cranked needle files and a stock of paint Paul, two Pullman coaches on their way to me presently, but doubtless there'll be a good few 'bits and bobs' needed besides three more Pullmans and probably some Plasticard too. Somehow I don't think this will be a 'quick project', but my late Dad always used to say " Make haste slowly" and I do try to remember that!:giggle::giggle::giggle:
     
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  3. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Agree totally as they say...more haste less speed. great project Keith all the same.:thumbup::tophat:
     
  4. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Congrats on POTW, just waiting to see the final result exit the paint shops

    Paul
     
  5. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Congratulations Keith on your van conversion makes POTW... nice.:tophat::tophat::thumbup:
     
  6. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    Well to say I'm surprised about being selected for POTW would be an understatement, especially as at that point, the van was only halfway to completion, but thanks anyway.
    Having had something of a break in the weather, I was able to get the top coat on the upper half and dried nicely. I did mask off the lower part, but as there are so many angle irons, doors etc on each van side, it was difficult to get the tape to seal properly, but not too important since any overlap would be covered by the lower half's brown paint. When it came to doing that, I decided I would have to hand paint it as it was impossible to seal the brown paint from getting under any tape and onto the cream, so that's what I ended up doing (carefully!). I think it's come out quite well, interior was already sprayed with the cream paint (as was the real van), the pics I have of the van show a floor that seems to be a Bauxite colour, so that was done, chassis and outer ends of the van repainted in Black, and the van number decals (S2464) applied to each end. Before fitting the roof, I masked off and painted the brown edge on each side as per the genuine article, clear varnished the decals and that completed the body itself. When it came to fitting the window bars/glazing, I re-used the originals, but having removed the pegs and ribs which originally held the glazing in place, I opted to cut up the 4 pieces into separate parts, glue them in place, and since the end windows at each side were only single ones, I was able to reduce the glazing in size thus giving me enough to glaze the 'new' windows in the centre pair of doors, which solved the question of how to match the 'bars' on each window. Finally I made up a corridor 'Bellows' and glued that to one end, each of the Pullman coaches (when I get/modify them) will also have a 'Bellows' fitted to one end. Anyway, enough 'Waffle', here's the completed van. I have to say the 'Pullman Cream' looks a bit Yellow-ish in this pic!

    IMG_1854.JPG
     
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  7. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Still find the colour scheme hard to pallette :avatar:

    Will stay pristine or will there be a little toning down (say with a couple of coats of green :avatar:

    Lovely conversion Keith

    Paul
     
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  8. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    I spent some of this morning bumbling about on one or two other projects I have on the go presently, but just before lunchtime, 'Postman Pat' landed with another parcel, this time the Hornby R4660 Pullman coach which after surgery will become Pullman car "Lydia". This is one of the 'easier' cars to modify as it only needs the end oval guards window on each side blanking off, so here's what arrived.

    IMG_1855.JPG
     
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  9. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    This coach is brand new, forty odd quids worth (I've not paid that I hasten to add!) but no matter, it's still got to go under the knife. Hornby have now it seems decided to give buyers one of their 'close-coupling' attachments which is handy, but of course I may not get those if any others I buy are 'Pre-owned, s'pose I can always get hold of more if needed, but here's the intended victim out of the box. The right hand oval window and it's opposite number on t'other side are the ones to be removed.

    IMG_1856.JPG
     
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  10. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    So with the body off, easily removed by pushing the clear plastic tabs at each side under the outer end of each bogie outwards, the body is released and chassis put to one side. The interior will be painted and passengers added before reassembly in due course, but first job is to cut the portion of glazing to be removed from it's adjoining windows, razor saw made short work of that, then gently prising the unwanted oval part away on each side. After cleaning up and removing glue residue, I cut two bits of 'Plasticard' to replace and blank off on the inside the unwanted window openings, gluing these in place, then cut 4 bits of thinner 'Plasticard' and shaped them to fit the oval window aperture, gluing two layers on top of the blanking piece, filling the holes virtually flush with the coach outer sides. At this point, the panels being worked on were masked off in preparation for filler.

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    Last edited: Feb 18, 2020
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  11. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    As can be seen from the illustration under the coach body, filling of the 2 panels and refinishing will then give me the basics of Pullman car "Lydia". Bodyside names/graphics will need removing then new decals in due course, though I may rework all 5 cars first and replace decals on all the cars in one go. A smear of 'Squadron' green putty over each blanking panel and now I'll leave it to set for 24 hours or so........plenty of other jobs to get on with!

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  12. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Lovely progress Keith :tophat: Talking of squadron Green Putty, do you have issues with the stuff going hard in the tube and is there a way to store the stuff without it setting solid when stored away ? :scratchchin:

    I came to stopper out blemishes on the Ivatt tank the other day only to discover the putty had gone like bell iron... its only about six months old.
     
  13. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    I've had the tube I'm using now for well over 3 years with no problems Paul. It's kept in my 'train room' loft which is well insulated and kept around 15 degrees minimum, but the whole tube is quite flexible and the putty is the same now as when I first used it, just as well 'cos it's not something I use a lot of or very often. I make sure that there is no air Space between the putty and the cap when I screw it back on though.
    Keith.
     
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  14. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Cheers Keith... I was surprised when the putty had to be forced out of the tube and was almost air hard, maybe I'd purchased some very old stock, but thanks for the storage advice.
     
  15. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    I’ve preferred Milliput for a number of years, mixing the two.

    is there much difference or reason for using this? (Ie better with plastic etc?)

    andy
     
  16. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    I also have Milliput Andy, but when I only need tiny amounts, it's not worth faffing about mixing two parts when all I need is a smear.
    Keith.
     
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  17. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    So after the 'Squadron' putty had hardened, I gently sanded down flush to the surrounding bodywork, followed by 2 coats of 'Vallejo' White primer, hand painted on. Slight rubbing down with a small piece of 3600 grit wet & dry, then two coats of the "Pullman Cream. Having peeled off the masking tape, all is ok, both sides blended in nicely so thats all with this body for the time being, as name/number decals will be done when all the car bodies are complete since the biggest job is getting the bodywork mods done on each coach. This is one of the easier conversions, the next one for "Carina" will need a lot more reworking to get that right.

    IMG_1859.JPG
     
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  18. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    Another parcel arrived this morning, courtesy of 'MyHerpes' courier,(MyHermes actually, but that name somehow seems to fit better, bearing in mind their reputation!:giggle:)
    It's a Hornby R4165 Pullman, which will, after considerable rework, become "Carina". There is an oval toilet window on both sides which needs conversion to rectangular, all the windows on both sides need shortening by a couple of mm as the cream paintwork continues beneath each window, so all window openings will need building up slightly, and on this car, the window frames are Cream not Brown as on "Lydia", so quite a bit of work to do. At least the roof is the right colour so won't need a repaint! Anyway, with the body off, this is it as received.

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  19. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    So I made a start by separately cutting the glazing to remove the two oval windows for alteration, but as I'm going to be 'Winging it' (making it up as I go along!) I'll do them one at a time in case I make a pigs ear of it. Having removed the glazing, I carefully filed out the window opening to rectangular, keeping the same overall width and height, just creating corners, then by judicious bending of some thin 'Plasticard', I created a window frame and glued this into place. Once set, I sanded the 'frame' flush with the surrounding bodywork and blended the edges with a thin application of the 'Squadron' putty, which is where we are now, waiting for this to set solid. I've kept the overall window size the same because I am hoping to re-use the original oval window glazing (subject to modification) because of the fancy 'stained glass' effect, but if this is not possible, I'm wondering if it might be an option to get new glazing made in 3D printing, as trying to recreate the pattern with 'Microstrip' would be way more than my 'sausage fingers' could manage......perhaps Andy Sollis could advise on the feasibility of this???
    Here's where we're at presently.

    IMG_1861.JPG
     
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  20. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    This is going to be a classic train mod when finish... well worth all your hard work Keith :thumbs::tophat: And another plus is at least your green putty is nicely workable as the pictures show... talking of My Herpes courier such a delivery came to be a few weeks ago and the nice "gentleman" wouldn't let me have my stuff unless I could prove who I was, so I said if you don't give me my goods i'll ring the depot or complain on the Herpes good service customer feedback and say you have been swearing at me in an aggressive way.:giggle::giggle: I got my parcel.
     
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