4mm An EM Workbench: Tank tribulations
- Thread starter AJC
- Start date
AJC
Western Thunderer
First passes of weathering on two of the LNER opens. This is simply based on washes of the base colour (Humbrol 67), let down with matt white in varying proportions.
I did an overall wash a week ago and have just worked back into that with slightly darker versions. It’s all a bit grey, right now, more toning and browns needed.
Adam
I did an overall wash a week ago and have just worked back into that with slightly darker versions. It’s all a bit grey, right now, more toning and browns needed.
Adam
Suffolk Dave
Western Thunderer
They're looking great - nice work!
SR Vanfit
New
AJC
Western Thunderer
And one more, the SR design, BR built ply’ van which exhibits patch painting, including a characteristic feature of SR vans in the BR period - overpainting the roof edges in livery colour. I’ve added a couple of labels: one worn and weathered (carpets) and another fresh (BOCM - animal feed). I rather like this one.
Adam
Adam
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Lyndhurstman
Western Thunderer
Hello Adam,
As ever with your work, so do I. I'm particularly enamoured with your triptych of Opens. And the close ups of your wagons reminds me that I must pay more attention to the colouration of the underpinnings. The ply van exhibits a spectrum of hue and shade which speaks of your mastery of application, observance, and understanding.
Cheers
Jan
AJC
Western Thunderer
Thanks Jan - the colouration has taken a long time for me to reproduce in a way I like and that is easy and quick. The game changer - and I thank Ian Fleming for this - was abandoning painting the underframes black: Humbrol matt chocolate (98) makes the subsequent stages a case of adding washes and a spot of dry brushing. Of course, some wagons do start out with black underframes if I want a fresher finish, but that makes them more obvious, as the real thing was. I'll bang on about this: the real world mixes brand new and ancient, so should our models.
Adam
LNER moderns - vac’ braked standards
New
AJC
Western Thunderer
A pair of kits from the drawer, these two were picked up at EXPO EM last year, both LNER standards from Parkside retrofitted with a purchase from this year’s edition, ABS brakegear.
The van will be modelled as new, and despatched to the ‘30s, the conflat, well, the container is a clue.
Adam
The van will be modelled as new, and despatched to the ‘30s, the conflat, well, the container is a clue.
Adam
LNER moderns - vac’ braked standards
New
AJC
Western Thunderer
Late night line up:
It doesn’t look a lot, but advances have been made. I’m going to try to keep the pair of LNER vehicles going in parallel so both have all the ABS bits in place and now buffers. Meanwhile the SECR brake has had its handrails straightened and the chassis painted. Handrails will be whitened before bed.
Adam
It doesn’t look a lot, but advances have been made. I’m going to try to keep the pair of LNER vehicles going in parallel so both have all the ABS bits in place and now buffers. Meanwhile the SECR brake has had its handrails straightened and the chassis painted. Handrails will be whitened before bed.
Adam
AJC
Western Thunderer
I thought it might be worth showing how I do the between frame details, representations of linkages, safety loops and so on.
These are necessarily simplified, but accurate and repeatable location is important, hence the bits of plasticard (40 thou’ in this instance, though 60 thou’ is probably the ideal). The white bits are for tails of the operating linkages, the tumbler has been drilled for the other ends.
The black are locations for the safety loops and are drilled with a pair of 0.5mm holes, 13mm apart, positioned under where the yokes go. The loops themselves will be bent up from 0.3mm wire - I’ll open out the holes to suit.
This set up applies to pretty much all the AVB I do, it’s simple, allows you to get the wheels out and looks pretty good from all valid angles.
Adam
These are necessarily simplified, but accurate and repeatable location is important, hence the bits of plasticard (40 thou’ in this instance, though 60 thou’ is probably the ideal). The white bits are for tails of the operating linkages, the tumbler has been drilled for the other ends.
The black are locations for the safety loops and are drilled with a pair of 0.5mm holes, 13mm apart, positioned under where the yokes go. The loops themselves will be bent up from 0.3mm wire - I’ll open out the holes to suit.
This set up applies to pretty much all the AVB I do, it’s simple, allows you to get the wheels out and looks pretty good from all valid angles.
Adam
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Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
Do you ever put suspension units in wagons, vans, etc or just have a degree of movement in the wheel axle bearings to take up any minor irregularities?
Herb Garden
Western Thunderer
AJC
Western Thunderer
Ha! No. Though that includes a fair number of intractable projects, which have been hanging around forever. That said I have a method for most things - especially painting - which saves thinking too hard. The latter is quite important with two children under five and a day job that has a lot of screen time. That and I do keep buying things…
Very rarely. For longer wheelbases - anything over 12’ - I’ll definitely consider it, and if springing is designed in I might well, but a combination of mostly short wheelbases and variation in bearings, together with some of the slop in EM standards means that you can get away with a lot.
Adam
LNER moderns - vac’ braked standards
New
AJC
Western Thunderer
One of the intractable projects noted above is this PMK LNER tube, first seen here: 4mm - An EM Workbench: NE Moderns. One of the problems with buying part-built models is the bits that are missing. For this one it was 2/3 of the vee hangers and half the brake shoes, so I’ve had to improvise. The brake shoes are simply cut up ABS castings soldered in place (a very deep breath needed there), while the vees were fretted out of scrap etch.
I’ve been putting both of these off for months, but it took an evening. NB, @Yorkshire Dave, this one does have a rocking axle with an internal bearing. The downside is that traps one of the wheels, but for the length of wheelbase it's a sensible precaution.
Adam
I’ve been putting both of these off for months, but it took an evening. NB, @Yorkshire Dave, this one does have a rocking axle with an internal bearing. The downside is that traps one of the wheels, but for the length of wheelbase it's a sensible precaution.
Adam
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AJC
Western Thunderer
A small diversion, occasioned by the LNER van (the roof was too small for purpose). A BR plywood BK container - one of the ones with end doors only - to diagram 3/125. The carcass has been knocking around for years, and now I’ve popped the lid on, it’s been marked out for details, which will mostly have to be 5 thou’, which is a bit of a trial, but essential. Of course, having done this, I’m looking at other diagrams and pre-Nationalisation designs… I really shouldn’t.
Adam
Adam
timbowales
Western Thunderer
AJC
Western Thunderer
Especially, in this case, because most modellers stick by what they can get: Parkside's excellent BD and FM, or Bachmann's nicely made accessories (again, BDs and various A types), or the various Airfix/Mainline ones. Why not knock up some proper LNER or SR RCH spec' types which were relatively distinctive? Of course you have to chain the wretched things down...
Adam
Lyndhurstman
Western Thunderer
AJC
Western Thunderer
With the Unipower tractor? Yes - I think someone reckoned the container was Southern? I don't have the appropriate reference material to hand. I generally use superglue for strips and Humbrol liquid poly for sheets (Limonene seems to be the weapon of choice, but I keep forgetting to buy any when I see it!). The advantage of superglue, of course, is that you can built up details quite fast.
Adam