7mm AdamF's Scale7 Western Workbench

[AdamF]

Some more paintwork this weekend.

Having primed the wheels, it was time to apply the Indian Red to the spokes. For this, the equivalent colour I had found is a GW acrylic called Mechrite Red. The paint is very thick so I wanted to test how GW acrylics spray. Over to another colour (Calthan Brown) to test. To get a decent consistency, I mixed it 50/50 with Vallejo airbrush thinners and added a couple of drops of Vallejo drying retarder. Spraying it at about 25psi, it came out of the brush very well indeed (ignore the green for now, we'll come back to that )


Looks a pretty good representation of LBSCR brown! (Maybe... )

So, having established that GW acrylics spray well, I mixed up the Mechrite Red and test sprayed a primed piece of spare etch (again, we'll come back to the green!):



Once again, the paint sprayed very well, so I moved on to the wheels, spraying them by quarter-turns. Having removed the masking, I was pretty happy with the result:





There are a couple of takeaways:

1) Using a maskol fluid can leave a pretty unstable edge to the paint which is supposed to stay behind when it is peeled away. I suspect that the cure for this is to ensure a well cleaned surface for the paint to key into, otherwise there is a danger that lifting the maskol can lift the remaining paint as well.

2) Don't forget to paint the axle ends and fixing nuts (I have ). They will have to be painted at the same time as I spray the outer frames and the valances etc. otherwise I will waste paint mixed a sufficient amount to spay. Hand painting is the other option, I guess...

With the wheels finished, I started thinking about spraying the body of the loco and testing the Lifecolor BR Standard Green I have lined up for the job. I think the match is pretty good, as I think shows in this pic of a (harlequin-esque) chassis test spray piece



But I found the Lifecolor acrylic difficult to calibrate. I think I overthinned this batch - the paint is already quite thin in the pot and I am wondering whether it is best sprayed neat, or the pressure turned up for this paint. I didn't feel the same level of control which I had with the GW paints and ended up with a sort of orange peel effect but which did not feel as if it was caused by quick drying



Next test, I think I will try a higher pressure to try and get more atomisation. Has anyone used Lifecolor acrylics and got any tips which have worked for them? I think it is great paint and has a good finish to it so I am keen to learn how to use it.

More soon. (How am I going to line all of this?? )

A

 

[AdamF]

Nigh on ten years since my last post on my workbench seems like a good time to pick things up again

It's good to be back! Long story as to what went happened - in summary, the family and job grew and the time available shrank!

The 517 is no more unfortunately - sold when I thought I would not be coming back to modelling, along with a bunch of my kit, and much to my dismay I have returned to the hobby to find that JLTRT appears to have been wound up!

Oh well - on the bench for the time being is a Slaters GW Cattle Wagon kit, which I am building in S7 to get the feet moving again.

The idea would be to follow that with some track and then a loco, and kind of go from there.

Today I spent a first happy hour back at the bench working up the wire bars, drilled, fitted glued.



More to follow.

 

[AdamF]

More work on the wagon today.

Fitting the door locks on the side - these parts seem to me to be very fragile and I managed to shatter both trying to remove them from the sprues! I had to reconstruct what I could salvage with Mek-Pak on the doors.

Having done that and fit the buffer bodies, I moved on to constructing the sides, using a square and piece of plate glass (the black strip around the side is gaffer's tape to prevent cuts and scratches from the sharp edges) to keep everything square and without twist. I am sure I have seen the plate glass tip here somewhere but cannot for the life of me remember where, so whoever it was, thank you!



That's one side.



Number two.

Then mocked up as a whole unit whilst the sides dry.



Finally, cemented and with the floor in place.



Lovely kit so far - there is quite a bit of rigidity in the structure once the floor is in. I suspect that the divider and then the roof will also help (albeit I think I will put the roof on once the painting and detailing has been done).

 

[AdamF]

A lightening session at the bench today saw the solebars go in.



Next come the W-irons - hopefully this weekend.

By the way, the Mel-Pak with brush and stand from Slaters is a wonderful set up - it sets super fast and seems to flash into the joints really well. Highly recommended.

 

[AdamF]

W-irons today.

First, the rivets were punched out gently using a blunted screw and hammer - rivet press needed for the future!

Then a lot of folding of brass, which was not straightforward as I do not yet have a vice - one is on the way but I did not want to wait to carry on with my wagon! I ended up using an adjustable flat jawed wrench as a makeshift vice jaws and folding down against that - it basically worked. It left a couple of marks on the brass, but nothing the paint job won't fix.

The rocking compensation for the wagon took a LOT of fettling to get to fit - the slots to connect the rocking plate with the W-iron were etched but not opened, so that all needed doing with a hand drill. It took me about half an hour to work the slots open sufficiently to have it all fit together accurately but with the rocking motion.

Bearings fitted and wheels sprung into place to judge play in the axle.

Here they are - mocked up and ready for soldering tight. Starting to look like a wagon now!





Next will be soldering tight the W-iron assemblies and gluing them to the base of the wagon.