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

I've been busy putting mostly books on ebay.. quite a slow process I've found, so little bit slower with the production this week, but the mogo's are ready for priming



I'm toying with idea leaving the G43 in GWR grey (it would have been built post war, and I can assume the paint was quite good for a few years into the early 50's), and the G31 in bauxite, will see what they look like when primed. I've cut a couple of braces for the roofs, and will do them after painting, will be one less thing to mask

 

I have to admit, I've been procrastinating with the Mogos this week, somehow my newfound enthusiasm for etched brass was not matched by the thought of forming a rather thin sheet of plasticard for the roof. I also woosed out of the g43, bauxite she is...

Anyway, roofs are done, not as good as I would have liked ( maybe if I get stuck with another van like this I may be more prototypical and do it out of strips), but here they are. Not looking forward to decals as I have to put MOGO on with individual letters..


Anyways while entertaining my procrastination, I was suitably entertained building something that resembles a shelf..

I Think Morning st yard might be an appropriate name for my new extended test track

 

ya, I shouldn't be too daunted, I've done more than a few serial numbers of late, and the fox transfers at best only give 3 digits at a time... but of all the wagon codes they gave MOGO wasn't on the sheet...

 

thats what I like about O gauge.. only Tares are 1mm, the rest are taller.. just

 

And just on done! will probably give them another coat of flat to even up the finish, but reasonably happy how the weathering came out: gave them the usual dusting with dry pigments then washes with the Mr weathering range, but didn't spray this time

 

Its been a while since an update ... been busy packaging up stuff and sending it out.. anyways I have managed to do some modelling:

today I dropped a chip in the Ixion, only a lokpilot so she's mute.. for now. I will get a sound chip, soon, so she can make noises like her little stable mate. Anyways decided it was time to make both a little less out of the box , so while I'm waiting for paint to dry heres what they look like for now:


Yes the builders plate on the Hudswell is slightly skewed.. as is the name plate.. tho not quite as bad.. Cyano set before I could get the spot on



Still got the windows masked btw, It will come off once weathering and varnishing has been finished.. they are much much too clean for my liking at present, but at least they dont have that almost garish red everywhere

Also received the final 2 points needed to complete the trackwork on the shelf , point motors are on their way so wont be long before it all gets fixed down. so far runs ok, but the curved point in the foreground isnt proving a reliable contact, so the sooner I get the blades hardwired, and frog switched the better.. Ive also painted the foam core.. only had one cat walk over it while the paint was wet (the white one of course) so not a total disaster

 

And basically done, time to get the crews out of the pub...maybe they should be doing less drinking and a bit more cleaning ....

There may have been an oops or two that may need revisiting.. be very care filling your bunkers with coal.. and diluted PVA.. they may not be watertight







And looks like I'll be doing something else for a little bit... beats messing around washing a J94 with acetone.. (Still will but not this week)

 

Thankyou Gary for your kind words. weathering is always a bit of a difficult subject, some like it, some dont, and making a realistic representation of how these machines looked in their later, unkempt days is a subtle task ( its part of why I'm planning on stripping the J94 back to bare metal, I have to resolder the front end down anyway, and someone simply sprayed some track colour on it, and that weathered) .

I'm reasonably happy with the way these two came out ( furphies aside) I think I'm finally getting on top of using dry pigments and the oil bashed washes to create that dusty gritty look that was often the case when these old girls hadnt seen an oily rag for a long time.. I'm also getting better at not blowing it all off with the airbrush when fixing it with varnish after too

anyways after all that the cobalt's seem relaxing lol

 

Its been a while between posts, taking a break from wrestling with Cobalts I did a quick makeover on this:



I wasnt really planning a full makeover, just to replace the missing bits and giver her a service ready to convert to DCC. I had previously repaired the pickups, and added a block to stop the motor flapping around , but discovered the smokebox was separating from the footplate

Time to strip her back.... I couldnt see anyway to open up the cab, so the body was carefully stripped back with paint stripper and acetone with as little damage to the cab as possible

first task was to resolder the smokebox.. initial attempts weren't successful, although there was a wonderful plume of smoke from the chimney...
when the smokebox side detached I found out why...
Araldite..


once that was cleaned out, things went more smoothly



A few extra handrails and lamp irons were fabricated from some nickel silver wire, and 1/16 brass strip, steps were from some spare etch scraps, everything was soldered down and it was time for priming

 

At this point it was time to work out how tho replace the missing sandbox and then I realised the model lacked injectors. A quick troll of the usual suppliers didn't find either part, and I wasn't keen on a 3-4 week delay waiting for the parts to be sent out, so, despite the cold I figured I may as well use the Saturn to print up the parts... while the sandbox wasn't hard to draw up, the injectors were more involved, and eventually I found on Flickr the perfect shot of one of them from none other than out own Rod Pulham!
the results are passable, although I realised after I installed them, the injectors are a little on the large side


In my travels I realised that I was going to need a bracket for the injectors, and that there was a small step added to the saddle to aid climbing. These were fabricated from more scrap etch, and nickel silver wire , the primer in their locations sanded back and soldered on. Those areas were reprimed, and the painting commenced.
I've been finding that the SMS lacquers rarely need a second coat,, so I gave the whole thing given a shot of home brew off-black ..


I also became aware that most J94's acquired a third set of steps midway down the footplate during the early 50's and there was only one low bunkered J94 that didnt until the end of the decade : 68043 so her number was chosen..

Injectors were painted in brass, feeds and overflows were bent up from more nickel silver wire, painted copper, and everything was attached. A couple of lubricator lines were made from some 25 thou brass wire and transfers were done. the cab was also retouched, and details picked out as required

I had supervision during the numbering process..


A quick shot of clear flat and weathering was applied, I used my usual mix if pigments, mostly applied dry, with misting coat of flat afterwards, with various brown/black/earth and sand washes to complete the process

I'm fairly happy with the result, producing a not too , but still used , dirty look, far better than the overspray with track colour she originally had..

 

the end result,. Of course one of the injector feeds had to disappear into the never never just as I finished her.. still hoping to find it, but no doubt, that'll happen after I fabricate its replacement. Also kicking myself about the positioning of the extra tank step and grab rail.. the grab rail is a little too far rearwards but again its one of those booboos you notice when its too late to repair without major undoing. I wont tell anyone if you don't

Have ordered a DCC sound chip/file and speaker from digitrains, so she will get a voice in a few weeks, I'll replace the glazing and missing feed pipe at that point so here is how she stands at the moment..

 

Its been quite a while since I have updated my thread. I haven't been totally idle, gradually developing my shunting yard, learning how to wire and install point motors. I've also started to convert some of my models to DCC, with the Ixion Hudswell, J94 and J69 sound fitted with Zimo cards and sound files from Digitrains, and the E4 and ROD converted with Lokpilots pending acquisition of appropriate sound cards. Sadly the Johnson is throwing occasional shorts from the pickups so will need some TLC before it gets converted. I'm tempted to swap out the open frame motor for an 1833 can while I'm at it.

My process is to fit an 8 pin plug to the existing circuit , then use that to fit the card, makes fitting/moving or servicing much easier, and I have already had to m,ake use of that facility!

In the meantime, I've started the strip down of the Ivatt 2MT ... The rebuild is getting bigger by the day, and the temptation to begin one of the loco kits is getting stronger . there's a rather nice O7 kit for an N8 or 9 that once complete that would look just as good on the layout (and start making it look a little more North Eastern to boot)... Whenever I need a little more break from these, I have been quietly weathering a few RTR wagons and putting together some Parkside kits :

To the (not so) pretty stuff then :

An overview of layout and new wagons


some Dapol 16t's (2 each of diag 108 and 109) and a Parkside slope sided . I bought 2 Dapol blue greens and couldn't stand the colour, so they very quickly were repainted with Lifecolors rendition of early BR grey, Rust was acheived with mixed pigments on a wet base then a second coat of grey applied. Chipping by the "feature" of the lifecolor acrylic to lift even with Tamiya masking tape.. The Parkside was painted with Outlaw paints bluish early BR wagon grey over the same rust mix, the stronger solvent based acrylic providing a much more subtle effect, needing to be physically chipped at to achieve the desired result. The final 2 Dapols were painted with SMS FS36251 aggressor grey and I intentionally left the paint in better, but not perfect condition, with dirt road and coal dust being a mix of various pigments


The 2 Dapol BR standard 12 t vans were weathered with the usual mix of washes and pigments, as was the Parkside ex LMS van, It too painted with the SMS grey


and Finally, a Minerva GWR Diag V12 and a Dapol Sheepbridge 8 plank Private owner, were also given the treatment.. The V12 probably looks a little more beaten up than it maybe should be in BR grey ( Outlaw this time) but I'm happy with the result. Finished today, Sheepbridge certainly looks like it was last painted well before the war, with minimal maintenance since. From what I've been reading, many ex Private owners showed the faded remnants of their private life well into the 50's, some even into the 60's so the effect works, and it'll break up the monotony of the mineral rake ... definitely will need to get a few more I think Spares from The slope sided Parkside provided the lettering

 

Thanks Rob, I was wondering if the current Gladiator range was any relation, that answers my question. I also have the O7 J25 kit sans tender - my brother remembers making it many years ago, and may have located it.. if not, I may have to fork out another 140 quid at some point...I too have been contemplating a new set of rods- I picked up a LG models NE chimney ( more for the Connoisseur G5 I have, but equally suitable for either the N8 or J25) and have been looking at Lauries sets of coupling rods as well.. (Theoretically I should be able to merge the 4 sets to get one pair of jointed rods for either, so might have an option to save a bit there)

I've also 3 Maygib/Alan Gibson kits in the stash.. a 2P ( a MR 383 no less) , a 3F , a 4F, a DJB Maunsell W , a MTK Q1, a B16 and a few Pacific's, I am seriously thinking the Pacific's may go to ebay, but hope to be able to build the Midland and NER types over the next few years. I'm undecided about the W and Q1, since the North East has more than enough to pique my interest for many years to come. I'm also stuck with a half dozen or so DJP diesels that were begun many many years ago, a couple are close to being assembled, but with plenty of the parts being mixed, I am definitely not looking forward to sorting them out and have no hope of selling them on ebay! Then theres a few Metal models and Colin Waite kits.. not sure how GWR 4 wheelers are going to fit in, but the siphon looks intriguing... With its triple layer etched louvre vents, I'm sure its why solder paste was invented !