Learning by trial and error.. StanB's work messy workbench

Paul_L has thrown down the gauntlet so here it is my how (not) to thread of the projects I have underway.

 

My current projects are a set of ex - LMS single bolster wagons from the 43:1 ABS models kits from David Parkinson.

Assembly is basically complete, and they have already hit the spray booth, the metal part ( chassis and bolsters) were primed with SMS etch primer, before first coat has been applied, SMS Gloss black for the lowers, and this time, as an experiment neutral grey for the bare wood uppers. The floors were cut from 1mm evergreen V groove sheet, replacing the very think sheeting the ABS kits come with.

Ive also masked and painted a few planks with SMS sand to represent the odd plank that has been relatively recently replaced - these wagons were conversions of earlier RCH pattern mineral wagons



The frames have been painted with an approximation of LMS bauxite. The instructions state these wagons probably only got repainted when converted, so most of this will be covered with grime and muck...



Bare Timber parts given their first coat of brown, This time Outlaw SR brown.. the technique I use is a cross between dry brushing and applying a wash. Interestingly a phenomena I find using the solvent based acrylics is the tendency to merge with the previous coat ..Maybe I've been spoilt with the water based acrylics, but so far I dont mind the result


Chassis masked, time to spray the metal work


And done.. touch up will be done with a brush, and the longitudinal supports will need to be reattached, but I'll leave that until I glue the floor down

 

And this rather sad and sorry looking thing is GWR 30xx class 3006, As soon as I saw it in what I thought was humbrol Brunswick green it was always ear marked for repainting, but looking at it last week when i noticed strange little bubbles in the paint : I think you can see why here, there's much tinplate in its construction, and rust was starting to form. Into a bucket of Dettol it went.. and not much happened. Over the weekend, I put some proper paint stripper onto it... and nothing much happened.. back into the Dettol it went...after a day or so there was some lifting but the green was staying firmly attached.. So i tried some Acetone.. that made a huge difference.. Sooo I 've come to the conclusion that whoever painted this model used an epoxy based paint, and come to think of it, probably in British racing green...

Anyway I think its nearly ready for the scrapers and brushes , then I can reattach the bits that have come off, and prime with an anti rust primer .. inside and out.
I may even cut away the footplate between the frames , although that will leave the insides very visible.. might have to dummy up something that resembles Stephenson's then.

 

thanks Gormo, been pretty well making it up as I'm going along, learning skills I never thought I'd master ( soldering and machine skills - I've turned all the buffers on the new builds), and fabricated quite a few details along the way. they might not pass a rivet counters inspection, but I'm happy to call upon the 6ft rule if need be

Almost ready for lettering, Still to glue the floors down, tho I'll probably leave the bolsters loose until I've started the weathering

 

having just painted in the panels on the bolsters, I snapped a quick pic on the ROD chassis.. Houston, we have a problem...


Thankfully I have a couple of sets of slaters plungers available, and whats even better, Bunnings had a set of micro Allen keys, looks like I can drop the wheels, hopefully these were slaters pickups in the first place. I'm tempted to possibly skip one set, and put a couple of wipers on the tender ...

I'm also not convinced about the pony truck springing either...

 

more progress on the bolsters this morning, Lettering : fictional - unusually ABS provided little detail for the twins, and i dont have access to any of the references they quoted. Floors are glued down, and touched up with a mix of Lifecolor roof dirt and frame dirt. I've also used the same mix to simulate some chipping, and used it blended the timbers in. Due to durabilty issues, I'm trying to steer away from water based on the metal models, but I dont have anything similar in solvent based lacquer, and where it is shouldn't be too problematic . Next will be a matt varnish, to provide both a base for some pigments, and to protect especially the lifecolor from the Mr Hobby (Mr weathering) oil based washes I use, and I need to rig up some shackles on the end of each bolster.. Unfortunately I uended the container with all 4 in it, and have only located 3, no doubt It will show up after I've replaced them all with wire

 

While waiting for the bolsters to dry, I think i may have made a ROD for my own back ( yes that is a pun)

Unwanted footplate now cut away


which not only makes it easier to get rid of that unwanted paint..

leave me a big hole to tidy up and fill with something less model train like

 

If it wasnt for the rust forming I probably would have left it for longer, as fond as I am for ROD's ( even westernised ones) I probably would have started on an Ivatt 2MT, it has a slight identity crisis, and some damage to its smokebox so probably would have been an easier project.. next loco .. ( assuming it goes around a settrack curve ). There's also a couple of GER types that look way too ex works, and an A5 that is presented a little too early in its career.. and then there's the kits......

 

and the twins now ready for traffic. After a coat of varnish last night, today the twins had a wash in a mix of Mr Hobby /Mr weathering wash in black, ground ground and some greyish brown, followed by a dust over with a variety of dry pigments - no fixed formula here - I've a half dozen various earthy tones, and some shades of black. Metal areas that get some wear: the bolster guides etc were also treated in a few rusty shades. this was followed by yet another matte varnish and some very thin steel on the guides. the bolsters were finally assembled ( with a washer between bolster and frame so they do rotate) and the whole lot was given an overspray in very thin wash.. from below a mix of grey, sand and greyish brown, and from above a mix of grey, black and various browns, In both cases the wash was thinned 50/50

Still haven't found the missing shackle, and may yet put a load of something on at some point but here they are

 

having just received some peco set track I thought I'd try a few models to see what will go around the curve. needless to say the 8 coupled types wont, pity about that, and neither will the big 6 coupled types ( no surprises there) but thankfully after all that work the Johnson does. Anyway here a quick video of her getting around on my desk, still not too easily, but she hasn't done any running in nearly 4 decades so hopefully will loosen up in time. Theres a little click too, which i think might be the coupling rod clipping the brake rodding, not sure what, or if there's anything I can do about that

 

It would have to come out about 2.5 - 3 mm to clear the coupling rod so not sure if I can. I think The problem is the LG brake hangars are a fraction shorter than the originals that needed replacement so might just have to live with it.

 

The cleanup of the ROD continues... a little video with some more thoughts

 

about to start another wagon, or two, so thought I'd do a little unboxing video..welcome back to the 80's

 

The first instalment in making an ABS kit

 

Thank you Paul for your kind words, I'm glad you like the twins, I'm pretty happy with them, now to decide what load they should have.

Thankyou for the suggestion with the ROD, When I drop the wheels I will see if it fits that way, although I'm tending to think it may not, The builder originally put a former for the fire box in place, and cemented the white metal back head to it from there, so there may not be much room. I'm also toying with seeing if I can squeeze a flywheel into it as well, I think there is probably room, just need to experiment. The biggest decision I have to make at this stage is how far do i go with it, now that its down to bare metal, should I detail her up? The front end looks very plain, and the frames, and smokebox rivets are very prominent on the real thing.. and I've created a huge gap between the frames which needs something looking like valvegear.... The bottom can wait, but I need to decide what to do with the upper, and get it rustproofed ...

anyways, the 5 plankers will keep me distracted this week...

 

More progress on the 5 plankers today, buffers for Diag O4 done, O11 down for tomorrow ,