My workbench - Experiments in Resin Casting

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45609
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Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by 45609 »

The latest loco to be put through the paint shops has been a Craftsman A5 4-6-2 tank engine. Now finished in LNER lined black livery and numbered correctly the loco body as received was carrying a rather peculiar number and a poor paint job. The brief was to improve and repaint. The model was thrown in jar of paint stripper which also dispensed with a few of the plastic items. I found that whilst it appeared to be largely soldered together quite a few parts had be glued on. What had been soldered really needed to be re-done as it was only tacked instead of properly seam soldered. The best approach was to attack the stripped and cleaned model with a small blow torch and watch it fall apart before my eyes. When all the component parts had been cleaned up as much as possible the kit was reassembled. Dome, snifting valve, footsteps and handrails were replaced for better and appropriate items for the early LNER period.

Painting followed my normal procedure with one additional step. The re-use of parts meant that one or two had a few scrapes and gouges which needed to be covered up. After etch priming the model received three successive coats of a high build cellulose grey primer. This has been very effective and the application of the gloss black resulted in a very smooth finish. Lining was done with a bow pen directly on to the model with a few pieces lined on black decal sheet (boiler bands and a couple of small inaccessible areas). Transfers are HMRS pressfix and a final coat of Ronseal gloss varnish, let down with a little matting agent, finishes it all off.

All in all quite a satisfying restoration job. It is surprising what can be done with brass kits. However, I'm not sure I'd want to tackle this with a whitemetal kit. It will be off in the post back to it's owner tomorrow morning.

Cheers....Morgan
Finished
Finished
Rebuilt
Rebuilt
The starting point
The starting point
Last edited by 45609 on Wed May 30, 2012 10:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mick b
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by mick b »

Very nice job, especially the lining.
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60800
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by 60800 »

mlgilbert30 wrote:All in all quite a satisfying restoration job
Quite satisfying? That finish shames quite a few (if not all) RTR manufactures! :D
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davidwest
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by davidwest »

In a word Morgan.

Wow.

A stunning bit of work.
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2002EarlMarischal
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by 2002EarlMarischal »

One of the most striking "before and afters" I have seen - congratulations on a super job! :)
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Atlantic 3279
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by Atlantic 3279 »

An exceedingly neat result Sir! Did the owner really save anything compared to buying the still available Craftsman kit and having you build it properly in the first place? Dismantling and renovating the parts must have taken some time.
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by jukebox »

Very nice result, Morgan.

I've got three of those kits to build for Northmoor... I hope I can get them half as tidy as you have!

Well done.
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by 60800 »

What liveries did the A5's carry in GCR days?
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45609
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by 45609 »

Erm....GCR livery..... :wink:

The non flippant answer is full GCR passanger livery which consisted of dark green boiler, tank sides and bunker with white/black/white lining panels. The green was also edged with vermillion and black. Front frames above the running plate were claret again with vermillion and black edging. Running plate, cab roof and smokebox were black with selected parts being polished steel. The livery on the Sam Fay I built would give you a good immpression of how a class 9N (LNER A5) would look. I'd like someone to ask me to build and finish one in this livery because the paint job was the most enjoyable bit of doing the Sam Fay.

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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by Atlantic 3279 »

Lovely to see Sam again!
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Robpulham
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by Robpulham »

Super jobs on both Morgan. I have a Sam Fay kit in 7mm and I am tempted with doing it in GCR livery after seeing your build in the flesh and seeing Butler Henderson recently at Barrowhill.
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Blink Bonny
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by Blink Bonny »

Cor!

As for white metal bodies, it depends on how they're assembled. I like 2nd hand glued together kits because the various paint stripper potions also remove the glues. If it's soldered then it handles like a brass model.

If its glued, its a cheap way of getting yerself a kit! :lol:
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by CVR1865 »

Morgan,
That GCR livery looks awesome.

thank you
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by Coboman »

blackout60800 wrote:
mlgilbert30 wrote:All in all quite a satisfying restoration job
Quite satisfying? That finish shames quite a few (if not all) RTR manufactures! :D
I've got it infront of me now, and its a superb job Morgan has done I must say. When I've finished fitting out the chassis and putting the body on it I'll post up some pictures. Believe me when I say that that picture that Morgan put up does not do it justice. Its truely sublime.
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Re: Morgan's workbench - Craftsman A5 body restoration

Post by Coboman »

I hope Morgan doesn't mind, I thought I'd post an update picture of the A5. I've now got it sitting on its chassis correctly, I'm waiting on front bogie (dont like the ones on at the moment) and rear pony wheels, and Alan Gibson coupling rods to arrive. I've the brake gear to install too, and that about the end of my abilities unfortunately!
Image
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