West End Workbench

[jwealleans]

Hi Morgan,

I'll do you some photos tonight. The D10C is fairly well on, the D27A has just had a rough slap of Squadron Green prior to a first smoothing down. I know what you mean about the roof castings, none of them were a good fit but they were all differently out. On the D27A I put a light chamfer on the end of the aluminium roof as well just to help the start of the transition into the dome. It's probably the least satisfactory part of what are otherwise excellent kits.

[jwealleans]

Right - this isn't quite watching paint dry, but filler, which is about as exciting.





Above two pictures of the D27A when I started work on it yesterday evening. Having built up the body, I evo-stuck the ends onto the shell, then cut down the roof extrusion to a very snug fit and used evostick to apply that as well. As you can see, the fit of the end castings was not great anywhere, although the first pair I used were better. The width was pretty well spot on, which discouraged me from trying to squeeze them in to get a closer fit over the transverse arc of the roof. Trial fitting showed there was a distinct step down from the aluminium to the casting, so I shaved some off the aluminium before sticking it in place to help the final forming of the shape. Once you're there, it's just a matter of fill, smooth, repeat.... until you're happy.



The D10C was a better fit at the start as I said but with two or three applications of filler (I've been doing this while building up the open) and a waft of primer to show up the flaws it's not looking too bad now.

Finally after an evening of fiddling on with bogie steps and the final bits of trussing, here's one end of the D27A having been smoothed and filled again. Hopefully you'll agree that it already looks a great deal better.

[Atlantic 3279]

Waiting for filler to set? That's why I use a car filler such as Isopon P38 or one of the many alternative brands. Polyester based, hard but slightly flexible when set, adheres well, hard within about 15 minutes at most, easy to file, carve(with care) or sand. Big tub for the price a piffling little tube of rip-off "gunge" for model makers......

[jwealleans]

Waiting for filler to dry is slightly misleading as it always dries well before I can find the motivation to go and sand it again. This Squadron Green stuff isn't bad IMHO and the tube I have has lasted a couple of years already with plenty more to go.

[LNER4479]

Looks pretty good to me Jonathan; can't wait to see them in the flesh

[Dave]

I spent several hours on my 3 roofs and many coats of primer, it's the one area that lets the kits down, we really do need a decent roof.

Looking good so far, are you going to model the frigidaire box ?.

[jwealleans]

are you going to model the frigidaire box ?.

I am, but not until I've finished waving the soldering iron about. The wine box is probably a step too far - it's not visible from the side, is it?

[Dave]

No it's not, I only found that out when I fixed it, so having made it I decided to use it.

[Dave]

I've sent you some info.....check your email.

[Dave]

Jonathan

Check your email I've just sent you the location of the vac pipe.

[JASd17]

I am sure a full sized under-floor wine box is useful. Not sure about 4mm scale.

Thanks for the drawings Dave. As you will have noted no progress on the 4mm version, or indeed the rest of the D10C!

We still agree about a decent Gresley carriage roof.

Cheers anyway,

John

[45609]

Thanks for those pictures Jonathan. That was the approach I was planning to take but using some epoxy or polyester based car body filler as suggested by Graeme. It's just a long laborious job.

Out of interest, Graeme, what would be your thoughts on trying to cast a one piece roof from a very well prepared MJT assembly?

[jwealleans]

Dave's has been more than generous with drawings, but I still haven't located a photo of a D10C showing which side the solebar vacuum pipe ran. Can anyone point me to such a picture, if there is one? All I can find are different diagrams and under BR, by which time they might have been altered.

For the moment I'm holding off adding it until something surfaces although my suspicion is that it ran along the kitchen side.

[Dave]

I would be interested to see what turns up, I hope it confirms the side I put it on is correct, but I will not change it at this stage as the model is nearly finished.

I can't see that there is a route under the carriage with all that equipment, plus the 2 vac cyl's end to end in the middle and the double pullies on the special heavy bogie I feel
would foul the pipe on bends.

One thing I found was that the drawings don't always match the built item, on the plan GA and the Doncaster picture of a D!0C the steps were different, I think it's in my thread.

Fingers crossed.

[Atlantic 3279]

One piece roof casting should not be a problem. Steps on the domed ends and standard pivot points for the alarm gear could easily be cast-in, rainstrips too, possibly even roof-board holders.

What are the one piece moulded plastic ones like, from suppliers such as Wizard Models or Phoenix Paints?