Atlantic's works: Portable layout - Scenic details next

[Atlantic 3279]

Supply of castings building up nicely, you'll presumably be glad to know.

[Woodcock29]

Terrific

[Woodcock29]

Deleted repeat post

[Atlantic 3279]

A brief reversion to the test build of the self-trimming GC tender etch, from the turn of the year, now equipped with a set of resin castings for some of the details. The otherwise highly breakable brake column has a twin-wire insert in the main part of the column, one wire branching out into each end of the handle. The water scoop wheel is deliberately omitted here to reveal the cast representation of the forward part of the cover for the shaft.

[Horsetan]

^^
That looks excellent

[iainkirk]

[LNER4479]

Best not mention that the first batch of B7 etches have arrived then ...

[Woodcock29]

I like the sound of that!

[iainkirk]

'Tis fortunate that I am laying down on discovery of this...

[Mark Tatlow]

I hadn't found time at that stage for one or two additional details, but I have subsequently added door handles and grab handles, window crests in lieu of plain white backings,

Hi there

What are the origins of the window crests? I have one of these to finish and they do look rather nice!

[Atlantic 3279]

Hello Mark,

I tried to scan a window with crest from published pictures, getting at best only a very faint and grainy print, so I enlarged it, strengthened such features of the design as I could make out using a pencil, then re-scanned and re-sized it to scale for printing. I tried it on thin plain white paper, on proper tissue paper, and on tracing paper. I thought the version on thin white paper made the windows look too opaque. I've tried the two translucent versions both as single layers and with additional layers behind the printed layer, and I can't say I've made my mind up about which looks best yet!
Feel free to make use if this helps at all:

File1185 ECJS etched window.jpg (21.55 KiB) Viewed 5595 times

[Mark Tatlow]

Thanks for this, I will take a bit of a look at this.

I would be a bit concerned that the paper would yellow over time; even if sealed in varnish.

I have seen these done by the laser cutters on perspex. This one is for a Highland Railway coach so is a thistle design and was done by York Modelmaking.

[Atlantic 3279]

With my carriage under frames and floors being separable from the body shell for no more effort than the releasing of four small screws, I can easily replace the paper prints taped to the inside of the glazing, so yellowing or fading isn't a grave concern.

Those HR etched windows are exquisite. Authentically detailed miniature ECJS crests might be of interest to me, as a little luxury, if any accurate record of the original etched design survives, but only if the price was right and if the detail could actually be seen in 4mm scale from a realistic viewing distance.

[Atlantic 3279]

I haven't forgotten entirely about my Bill Bedford / Mousa Models 3D printed GNR 6 wheeled carriage kits, in fact I've been doing something about the matter of Mansell wheels, and I've been preparing the bodysides in particular for application of the multi-layer painted teak finish. That preparation has consisted of drawing a well-sharpened flat-ended scraper across those panels that it would actually fit, in the intended grain direction, to take the peaks off the fine printing ridges, followed by a rub with a fibreglass pencil, also in the grain direction, then a scrub with a dry toothbrush to remove any clinging "snow".

I've noticed in the process that while one side of the D.245 third has, as I would expect, hit & miss vertical ventilation slots above each door, the other side simply has plain panels. I suspect that is a design oversight, but I can't say I'm too upset....

[Atlantic 3279]

Long overdue images of progress so far with those six-wheelers. Body panels and roofs relieved of printing ridges by means of a scraper and a fibreglass pencil, two coats of grey primer to the roofs, a coat of red primer to reveal surface quality and then a mixture of Humbrol 113 and matt white sprayed onto the bodies as a base for teaking. Grab rails and alarm-gear cross shafts made up from 0.45mm N/S wire and fitted to the ends and roof ends, one brittle printed bracket for the alarm shaft having to be re-made from bent wire. Wheels Mansellized using some inserts. Most of underframe sprayed satin black, and even a reasonably thin coat of that without a primer seems to have been enough to make some of the features down there a bit rounded and blobby. I wonder if the printing could have been sharper? The horizontal control rod for the gas lighting on the end of one carriage looks a bit serrated at present, I shall have to smooth its printing ridges before further paint goes on.
In the process of general handling, including easing wheel sets in and out, I've managed to break one brake yoke, which I have patched up using plastic rod. I have also found that the lower extremities of the W-irons, mainly the keeps, where they project below the lower stepboards, can be brittle/fragile. I've made a replacement for the section I broke off one of them. It is not quite as detailed as the original printed part, but good enough for its relatively hidden location I think. I must remember when inserting or removing wheel sets to use a slim lever to push back a large area of the W-iron, and NOT to just use a thumb nail against the lower edge!