West End Workbench

[mick b]

Thanks my one used the Plastic roof supplied , the gapping idea sounds a real pain and wasnt on the instructions on mine from memory

[Atlantic 3279]

Welcome back comrade.

I remember a few years ago scratching my head somewhat when reading Dan's instructions regarding the clerestory roof for my ECJS luggage brake, not for the first time trying to work out what on earth he was telling me to do, whether it was possible to do most of it anyway, and particularly wondering how I was meant to make a flat strip of plastic curve correctly along both its length and its width to produce the (in this case) domed ends of the clerestory. I also didn't think the supplied heat-formed plastic lower roof would produce an acceptable result.
I think in the end I built the roof on a flat plastikard ceiling as a base, and carved the lower roof profiles in softwood (two halves, leaving a void between, as I suspect the supplied clerestory sides extended below roof-line level, the instruction being to fold the lower extension to 90 degrees, which I started to try and immediately realised that the fold would wander off into the glazing apeartures , so I left it straight). I roofed the straight part of the clerestory with the plastikard strip, curved across its width, but did the domed ends using pieces cut from the domed ends of a scrap old-style Hornby Gresley coach, trimming and filing these to fit!
I can't remember if I went as far as to perforate the midddle section of the ceiling at intervals to allow light and line of sight into the coach through the clerestory windows.

[jwealleans]

Horsebox is now in primer - there are an awful lot of fiddly details on this model which are a nuisance to put on but make for a satisfyingly busy looking model when it's all done.



The roof was a bit of a challenge - I ended up gluing it securely to the body then filling the eaves at each end with Milliput and filing/sanding back the shoulders to get the right shape. Now it's in primer I can see some minor tidying up to do on there. This one will be finished in early BR for use on Thurston.

The coach has had a few days to harden off before I apply transfers, which I will probably do tonight.



Lamps have been attended to following Nick's comment about their colour on a thread earlier in the week.

Finally I found some more-or-less right size Evergreen square section at Middlesbrough Show, so set to last night and knocked up these for the Toad D. I'll see how they look when painted, but so far I'm pleased. They're about 4mm high.

Well, a bit of a stumbling week this week as things seemed to take a step forward and then another one back again. I painted the coach in the usual fashion but yesterday noticed that the varnish I use (Games Workshop Satin) was reacting with the paint. Now funnily enough the last time I had this happen was with the GE Clerestory I built which I painted the same colour. The paint is Precision Track Dirt (977, I think) which was Larry's recommendation.

I'm thinking at the moment that it hadn't dried properly as the reaction was sparse and patchy (but definitely there). I'd left it 3 days after painting, but not in a heated environment. Anyway, I wondered a bit about stripping it and finally decided to try gently smoothing the crazed effect with a burnishing pencil and applying more varnish to even out the surface. When I get round to building my layout it will be set around 1930, so this will be a 35 year old coach and you'd expect some deterioration in the panels. If it doesn't come up to scratch then I can always strip it.



I've also been making up Bill's springing units for some ferry vans and adding brakes to them, which is quite dull and I haven't bothered illustrating it. No. 2 son has started his much-requested wagon, though, now No. 1 son's aircraft has left the bench:



This has turned into a saga in itself; on laying out the parts, one solebar was broken. One side was bent as well, so after we'd glued one end and left it to dry I was showing him how to clamp the other end to straighten it. The clamp slipped and snapped a W iron clean off. So last night it's had one of Mike Trice's very handy RTR wagon compensation units added and been levelled up before he can resume building. He wants it to run on Thurston so it will be having the full Geoff Kent treatment. I have to say I was again unimpressed with the quality of the Dapol plastic, though.

As a reward for not having cut any of his fingers off he was allowed to choose the next build and here it is. I shall be perusing Mick's notes on it later as he did one a couple of years ago.

[mick b]

I have had the same problem with Games Satin. It is aggresive on most enamels I have tried it on , I think thats a polite description Precision Paint seems very vulnerable

As a result I now seal anything with a coat of Vallejo Acrylic Gloss. No problems since fingers crossed.
Good luck with the Horsebox the Roof needs careful cutting

[Atlantic 3279]

Regarding the Dapol plastic, I think I noticed in recent publicity that they now "boast" that they are kind to the environment because they use re-ground plastic waste. I'm not sure of the implications, but was interested to hear a friend of mine with some years in the petro-chemical industry describe re-ground plastic in UN-glowing terms........

I'll stick to Railmatch varnish when I can get it, or the annoying Humbrol stuff that often irreversibly "jellifies" after a while halfway down the opened tin when I can't get get Railmatch then......

[jwealleans]

Funny, that, I've used 'Purity Seal' on everything I've built for years and never had a problem. I painted a 7mm GWR wagon with the appropriate Precision colour within the last fortnight and that certainly hasn't had any sort of reaction. I might just have to be more careful with this particular colour. I did used to use thinned Ronseal varnish before I discovered the Games Workshop cans, so I can always go back to that.

The roof does look to be a bit of a challenge. I will probably use Danny's prerolled one rather than try rolling up my own.

I'll see how we get on with this wagon. I have another one for him to do in case this one messed up but then that may be it for Dapol kits. Except the Lowmac, of course, which can be backdated to GE very easily, I'm told...

Graeme - is it the matt Humbrol varnish which sets like that? I thought I'd just left my jar unused for too long while the gloss, which is older, is still fine.

[mick b]

Games stuff has crazed a B1 Tender as well as Precision Paint


My horsebox has a plastic roof . I presume the one you have is a new release with a brass roof? That will be a real fun to do

[Atlantic 3279]

As JW says the Humbrol gloss varnish doesn't seem to be so susceptible to partially going off in the tin in the same way as the satin and matt. I'm not, by the way, referring to the settling out of the flatting agent, which can with persistence be stirred back in even when it has formed a firm cake at the bottom of the tin. Jellifying of the nearly transparent "bright" liquid varnish portion of the mixture, in a way that is totally resistent to the action of thinners and agitation (save to break the jelly into smaller lumps) is my pet hate.

[jwealleans]

Horsebox is now in primer - there are an awful lot of fiddly details on this model which are a nuisance to put on but make for a satisfyingly busy looking model when it's all done.



The roof was a bit of a challenge - I ended up gluing it securely to the body then filling the eaves at each end with Milliput and filing/sanding back the shoulders to get the right shape. Now it's in primer I can see some minor tidying up to do on there. This one will be finished in early BR for use on Thurston.

The coach has had a few days to harden off before I apply transfers, which I will probably do tonight.



Lamps have been attended to following Nick's comment about their colour on a thread earlier in the week.

Finally I found some more-or-less right size Evergreen square section at Middlesbrough Show, so set to last night and knocked up these for the Toad D. I'll see how they look when painted, but so far I'm pleased. They're about 4mm high.

[Blink Bonny]

jwealleans said

I have to say I was again unimpressed with the quality of the Dapol plastic, though.

They can be like that because they use recycled plastic from the RTR range. I've had a few meself...

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Nice work there with the horse box and coach.

I worked in the plastic industry for 11 years, making irrigation pipe, anything over 15-20% regrind and the plastic is a very poor product.

manna

[scottiedog]

Horse Box is looking good. If you finnish it in LNER livery and pop some EM gauge wheels in it, I might let you run it on Stainsby at the Hartlepool Show in July!!!!

[jwealleans]

Thanks, Dave. It will be (is, in fact) brown but with early BR lettering. I may have some EM stock by July, though.....

[jwealleans]

A few pics of what's been over the bench tonight; feels like it's been a productive evening.

First we had to paint the 16 tonner before bedtime.



I'll tidy that up tomorrow but he didn't do a bad job in all honesty.

This is a job I've had in mind for a while and the mood just took me at lunchtime. It's the Bachmann open, this one I bought at Glasgow. It's been modified as per Paul Gallon's thread on RMWeb here except that I didn't bother scribing in the planks for fairly obvious reasons. The container came from a Bachmann conflat.



It's a very quick and easy set of mods and the buffers make quite a difference.

Horsebox is now lettered and has had a first coat of varnish.



The coach is also lettered and has had four or five more coats of Games Workshop varnish with no ill effects. I can only conclude that the paint - which was quite thick - hadn't dried thoroughly enough when it was varnished the first time. I'll keep that in mind. I've run out of Coopercraft seats so there may be a hiatus before the interior goes in.



I finally made up the last set of Bill's W irons for the French vans and added brake gear to them so I can crack on with these now. Doing four sets of everything seems to take ages - I must have had some patience when I built 6 Italian ones at once.

[Atlantic 3279]

All looking good. I especially like the clerestory coach, not that I lack admiration for the continuing scratch-building of exotic ferry vans.