4mm An EM Workbench: Mini-Signwriting (rough)

[AJC]

No change on the NBL, but the weather has been good enough for dad to (very kindly), spray my Clayliner tank. The original colour these were painted was Bowaters' corporate scheme of the time, a pale blue that, so far as I can tell from contemporary lorry pictures and dad's recollection of the rake, was near enough BR Ice Blue, as applied to fish vans and refrigerated containers. So that's what has been used. The two pictures, below, show how different the same colour can appear in two different lights.





I reckon that's come out quite well though I can see a small repair job at the bottom of that ladder. Thanks dad. In the background can be seen the other denizens of the paintshop, a pair of Judith Edge kits. Little and large, these. My brutish Thomas Hill 0-6-0 and dad's 48DS, now a fetching shade of green.



Adam

 

[Steph Dale]

Nice stuff!
Oh, and it's 'Technicolor'; you'll have my dad spitting feathers...!
Steph

 

[AJC]

Thanks Steph, duly altered, I should have remembered that it was a US coinage!

Adam

 

[oldravendale]

Yep!! And I'll have a word with the lawyers to keep them off your back for using a registered trade mark.

B

 

[AJC]

A couple more steps along the way; frames basically assembled, gearbox fitted to the motor and offered up to see that all fits as I'd hoped and, next up, the hornguides and bearings.



Coming on.

Adam

 

[AJC]

My NBL/MAN diesel has progressed to the stage where the first layers of paint have been applied and no major problems have bee identified. OK, so I realised that I'd forgotten to install the rear sand pipes or front sand boxes but that was easily resolved. The footplate assembly was due another coat of primer in any case since I'd also missed a small handle on the battery box and found some stray solder that needed removal. I've also added some lead shot encased in Miliput inside the battery box to give it some bulk and give the loco some extra weight.





The last shot in this update shows my approach to chassis painting. I've never understood why many modellers take endless trouble to make a loco work and then take the whole thing to bits in order to do basic painting and thus start all over again. In 7mm, with all the extra detail I guess that this makes some sort of sense but for something as simple as this there's absolutely no need so I get the basic paint on as soon as practical.



The brake gear is a different colour because this is a removable sub-assembly. I was just testing it for fit post-paint (it was assembled with reference to a wheel). With a CAD-designed kit like this, there should be no real difficulties, but I did check that the rods matched the axle-centres first! Next it's time to assemble the flycranks and to make the thing run.

Adam

 

[AJC]

I've had the paintbrushes out for a change over the last couple of evenings and among the results, here's a fully painted SR high, on the way to being ready for transfers.





Now, back to marking...

Adam

 

[AJC]

Painted, lettered, semi-weathered:



Adam

 

[AJC]

Cycling through as far as the paintshop are another couple of detailed RTR vehicles noted earlier. The LNER van should have got there a long time ago (and did, actually) but a slightly heavy-handed dose of Dullcote took out some of the lettering and now I've reinstated it, here we are, along with the now completed Covhop.





The covhop, in particular, will need a heavy dose of weathering in due course, but both are quite satisfying little projects.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Back in 2012 I started a pair of wagons... and in the intervening period they have actually gone backwards before, in the last week or so, having suddenly shot forwards. The pair of wagons in question were Coil S, one of many ways in which BR turned various bits of its open wagon fleet into wagons more or less suitable for carrying various types of coil. In the case of Coil S, these were open highs from various constituent companies and BR itself heavily knocked about to ship rod coil that had previously been transported in said opens, pipes or tubes. They did much the same thing to plate wagons. I think this happened in the very late '60s when lots of other things were tried.




I had come to the realisation that plastic wasn't going to work so obviously brass angle work was required and for that reason these wagons have been sat at the bottom of the 'in progress box'. There are still lots of fiddly little details to do but this is the state of play this evening.



There are quite a few detail differences between the pair indicating their origins. the top is based on an SR-designed open built in the early days of BR and an LNER version below. The LNER version will be modelled loaded, the SR empty. The various raves and stanchions are all heavily pinned into solebars so should remain where I've put them. The boltheads, however, can wait until another time.



Adam

 

[AJC]

While I had the camera out, here's another long term box resident that has come on lately, a Conflat A that started life as an Airfix body and a good intention to add 8-shoe brakegear from Red Panda. A change of plan following experience with the etched Rumney Models chassis has seen it become a Morton-fitted version and, as soon as I can face making two dozen of the things, a set of chain rings are required before I can paint it. There's a batch of containers in a box somewhere too...



Adam

 

[AJC]

The pair of Coil S have now seen primer and, because these are meant to be newly converted wagons, a coat of black on the underframe. I would normally just apply matt chocolate over primer (as I have to the wheels). In this case, I'll apply a little bit of weathering over the top when the time comes but first, there's the wood to paint and, eventually, the livery colour - Precision Paints Freight Brown - to add over the top.



The LNER version of the Coil S will run loaded, probably with a tarp on so I could go easy on some of the detail and add a strengthening beam to support the ends. No bolt heads here!



The ex-SR wagon, however, will run empty so this got the bolt heads on the inner ends and the wooden liner to the angle iron. A day or two hardening off awaits.



Adam

 

[AJC]

And while the sun is shining and I was in the mood, the Morton-braked Conflat A has had a coat of primer/livery. Those little rings are a fiddle and note that two on each side are positioned above the curb rail so as to allow the container to be chained down. More on the container itself, later...



...thinking of which, where did I put that batch of containers?

Adam

 

[iak63]

Mmmmmm one has been busy mon.
Very agreeable creations they are too!

 

[AJC]

Found the containers, all from Parkside who, in 4mm, will do you BD and FM types. Nice mouldings but they can be improved. As supplied the door catches and various lifting lugs are not nearly prominent enough so I've replaced them with brass strip and wire. The strapping that holds the lifting lugs on the roof should extend over the eaves and be double thickness. The lifting lugs should also be well proud of the roof so here's my attempt. I've just flashed some primer over it and I'm pleased. I have done the same to the FMs, but being moulded in white plastic, you can't really see!





This one will end up in Freight Brown with the "flying crate" graphics which should contrast nicely with the Bauxite/Red Oxide of the conflat. The downside of building containers and conflats, of course, is that you have to chain the wretched things down. Something to worry about later...

Adam

 

[Steph Dale]

The downside of building containers and conflats, of course, is that you have to chain the wretched things down. Something to worry about later...

Exactoscale perhaps? I seem to recall making a pattern some umpty-ump years ago...

Steph

 

[Jon Gwinnett]

IIRC, Roxey do appropriate turnbuckles too.

 

[AJC]

Thanks for the steers chaps. I've checked all the online Exactoscale lists I can find and there doesn't seem to be anything like that. Pity. No matter, my plan was to get some of the Roxey etches at Wells in a few weeks since that's what I did last time. Admittedly, I'm about to undo what I did last time, but that's another story and you'll have to watch this space...

Adam

 

[AJC]

Being too hot to do much else, in between popping into the garden with a book enough paint and several coats of Klear have been applied to allow transfers to be applied to the container.



Of course, I haven't any transfers to do the Conflat right at this moment so it will stay like this for the foreseeable.

While the paint was out I made some initial passes at my Covhop. There's some way to go with this but I think it's promising so far.



Meanwhile, the pair of Coil esses are also getting there:



Note the red painted vac' pipe and the subtle shaping of the lamp iron, both of which follow the real thing. A bit of weathering and then I shall have to get a load sorted. To get a sense of how I'm going to tackle this, can anyone lay their hands on the standard dimensions for a wagon sheet?

Adam

 

[AJC]

While all of you lot have been at Telford and after a bit of a workbench hiatus (books don't edit themselves), I've managed to make some progress on a pair of Rumney Models 8 shoe, clasp braked underframes. The first has gone under a plywood bodied BR shocvan while the second... you'll have to wait and see. As with the mineral wagon chassis described earlier this is an all etched kit which builds up very nicely, providing all the detail that would be an absolute swine to do from scratch in a way that is unavoidably a bit fiddly - this is a 4mm wagon after all - but good design makes it about as easy as it gets. The body is from Red Panda, tooled by Parkside and is excellent.





The point of all that fiddly soldering:



Oh, and a confession: I've built this rigid rather than using the supplied springing...

Adam