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

More progress on the opens today...

 

might try that next time, although I'm finding using the parting tool a tricky business

 

Had a productive day nutting out Dean-Churchward brake gear. The DC III on the o11 probably wont please the purists but with the limited references I have, and no access to a real one this is as good as representation I can do for the present.

only made one real booboo,.. put the brakes on O4 this morning, cut off the excess V's,, came back to it later, and realised I had done it upside down.. and not reversed where I put everything...
After i took these pics i realised I hadn't put the remaining links on the couplers, now done. A little clean up tonight, then its floors, priming and first coat tomorrow. I'm going to experiment with doing the unpainted planking first, mask that off, then hit them with GWR grey, the aim is to create a wagon that hasn't been repainted since before the war..



I'm also experimenting with BR wagon grey. Since precision paints are unobtainium in Australia, my choices are Lifecolor acrylic ( very green) or outlaw paints Solvent based which has come up rather blue. So looking around to find a near match to BSC C 693 I found a comparative table which listed a range of alternatives, with a closeness scale of none to three stars. The best I can get is a one star match with FS 36251 aggressor grey..available from SMS, may even try some of that...

 

Thanks Rob, I have tried rotating the 60 degree tool, I found the time to get it sorted was about the same as changing tools, tend to simply swap tools . Parting has been interesting to say the least. I've not had any real problems with the brass, but anything harder, I find tends to chatter and grab. I remembered the hacksaw lurk from school, so now I tend to cut a groove with the parting tool, and part off with the hacksaw. much of what I'm filing away in the mill is simply the raggedly bits, ( and final shaping to give a convex face)

 

Today painting on the opens began. I primed with SMS metal etch primer, and when that was dry gave the lot a base coat of light grey, in this case SMS advance pastel grey, since the aim here is to reproduce something that resembles unpainted weathered wood. A few individual planks, and one full end of the O4 , were picked out in sand as a base for newer timbers which will be brown shades rather than grey

The first image shows the wagons at the end of the next step, I've gone over with a streaky random coat of a mid grey, in this case FS 36251, no real reason other than its what I have on hand and I wanted to see what it looked like since it was supposed to be close to early BR wagon grey. I did film this bit and will post it to my Youtube channel later. I currently masking out the sand coloured planks before going over with darker greys




Pic 2 shows where I'm at at present, a streaky coat of very dark grey, in this case SMS German grey, and a light streaking of my current favourite not quite black, Outlaw tyre black. Once these are set, its time to mask them out and repeat on the replacement planks with a range of browns. I'm going to try something different on the metal work, painting some rust spots on them, and randomly applying a liquid mask when I mask out the planking for the overall GWR grey that these two will wear. BTW the black isn't quite as intense in real life , but where its too strong, I can use the GWR grey to hide it

 

Overnight progress. Last night having finished the bare wood, I added a few splotches of rust on the metalwork: a base of SMS red oxide/dark brown was hit with various rust pigments fixed with thinners, then masking with a combination of tape, and liquid mask was undertaken

This morning both were given a shot of Outlaw GWR grey. Over night, inspired by a shot of a sentinel shunting a ex LMS wagon still clearly showing the remanent of its pre 1937 livery, I decided to see if I could give the O4 the same treatment. A suitable diagram showing a 16" GW was found, scaled to 7mm, and used to cut a stencil in masking tape., and sprayed in off white. .

This is where they are at at present, Some touch-up still required, floors need fixing down and some black areas need painting. I'll probably do the lettering and varnish before various pigments, washes and such like are used to tone and blend it all together.

pic 1, not quite as happy with the G on this side




but happy with the effect on the other side

 

more progress tonight. lettering done and washes applied. i decided to experiment with doing the wash before I hit them with pigments, so will let them dry overnight, and varnish tomorrow.
Nothing very special about the technique, there's a million tutorials out there and its much the same as any other vehicle. The only thing I was mindful of was keeping the brush strokes along the grain of the unpainted timbers

They aren't quite as vivid in real life , and I did fix the thumbprint on the O11( the Mr Hobby washes are oil based so take a while to dry)

 

This morning was flat varnish, a going over with mixed pigments, dry on the underframe and metal parts, wet ( mixed with acrylic thinners) on the wood work , another coat of varnish, a final overspray from underneath with a mix of dirt/dust wash, and some black around the lower axle boxes.. And ready for traffic..

I'll leave you in peace now


ex GWR Diagram O4 10T open A of 1901



ex GWR Diag O11 of 1910

 

I mentioned that I had recorded some video of my wood grain paint method. finally posted today

 

this weeks project.. a LMS Diag 1667 5 plank of 1924, and an unfitted LNER Diag 136 12 T all steel opens.. not a bad couple of days so far... to the paint shop next

 

And done, LMS Diag 1667 5 plank of 1924, and an unfitted LNER Diag 136 13 T all steel opens ready for traffic. There was one furphy, The LNER wagon had an addendum with the details for this particular, reasonably rare variant... which of course I could not locate when it came to decal time... so the wagon number was made up.. of course I found it later, the number is only out by 80k or so

 

this time i again used various pigments in a wet state ( mixed with Tamiya lacquer thinners which doesn't seem to react as much with the SMS undercoat) for the woodwork and rust before I painted the body colour on the metalwork. Rust patches were masked with liquid mask, the planking with tape. when dry and lettering completed, dry pigments were applied, fixed with flat coat, followed by washes of browns and blacks (Mr hobby range) to tone it all down and blend it all in, A final spray of dust shade washes was done and left to dry. The frames seemed a little to shiny at this point, so another flat coat was applied before a little Tamiya gloss black was applied to the axle boxes to simulate oil spills

 

seriously think of this for my next project .. an LNER 20T brakevan.. Tho it does appear that I may be short a slab of concrete
..

I purchased this one not so much because I needed more brake vans ( there's a couple of websters, now Peco GWR Toads, an LMS 20T version, and a brace of ex GCR 6 wheel 15t types) but more as a guide to construction of a series of these: another LMS 20T and LNER/BR 20T long wheel base types, and this, and LNER 19' 20T type. There's also a pair of 6 wheeler milk tanks and what appears to be a LNER 12 t box van, sans instructions


and yes this kit is that old that that is a thermal photocopy!!

 

so after much ado, I tidied up the work bench, started messing around with the GWR 6 wheeler Toad(it needs handrails), broke my 0.6mm drill bit, then decided I really should stop procrastinating with the ROD

Wheels and motor now off, the old pickups are out and the frames are now soaking in my favourite bucket of Dettol... hopefully the paint on the frames will prove easier to dislodge than it was on the body. once its clean Ill check clearances again, but I'm 99 % sure the motor will fit vertically, which will allow both a flywheel, and to fill in the firebox throatplate.. debating whether I should try a resin print for that area, and the rear of the smokebox which is also open...

 

today I learned that large lumps of brass hold their heat for a very long time, a micro flame burner is an awesome method of soldering and sometimes my late father's hoarding is a useful thing.

3006 originally came with some pretty ordinary cast white metal steps midway along the footplate, one had broken off completely and another had broken in 2, so replacements were necessary. I remembered seeing a box of bits labels ROD in the stash, so went hunting in the hope of finding a set of replacement steps., and sure enough located a box labelled Leinster models ROD body and frames. Therein wwas a assembled chassis with a very nice sagami motor, gear box and flywheel, and a bunch of very familiar parts, at least I now know the origins of 3006. There weren't any steps, but given a box of what is basically a scratch building parts, and the existence of far better ROD/O4 kits today , and a bunch of other kits to build, I felt that I would be unlikely to actually get to put this one together in the foreseeable future, so the lovely turned dome was appropriated, and replaced the somewhat undersized white metal one originally used. I resisted the temptation to apply the beautifully turned Robinson chimney, because that would mean backdating the model to its 1920's appearance.

So new steps were fabricated using some scrap from some etched kits, and buoyed by my success there, I proceeded to replace the dome ( the burner is awesome at breaking epoxy btw) , impatience was was my big issue there as being solid, not only did it take a while to heat, it also took a quite while to cool !

Anyway, after about 3 attempts to solder it down I finally resisted the temptation to move the model until it had properly cooled... then proceeded to consider the chimney.
the chimney itself was not totally hollow, and I had intended to both hollow it , and the smokebox out and use a 9/32 tube to secure them together. realising how secure the dome was I decide to not wait until the tube arrived later this week, and summoned up the courage to but the chimney in the 3 jaw of the lathe.. thats when I dscovered my biggest centre drill was actually 7.93 mm, way over size for 9/32 ( 7.14mm) oh well.. 8mm looks better...

anyway, here she is so far... need to workout throat plates now...

 

Thanks Keith, Not sure if it was you or someone else here who mentioned it but I thought I'd give it a try. The little electrics might be good for many things, but I realised that there was going to be times I needed more heat than they can give... I haven't started a fire .. yet , nor melted anything I shouldn't, tho I think its going to be a while before I'm game to try it on whitemetal..