Matt's workbench - current project: a Mk1 BG

M

matto21

Western Thunderer
Hi all,

Been a very long time since I last posted.

Been a difficult year, made worse by personal losses but, in the background, I have been meandering along with a variety of half finished projects in my limited spare time.

I'm still working on my micro layout, and I will update the thread periodically, however I thought a workbench thread may be more appropriate given the random nature of a lot of what I'm doing.

Where to start?

I've been detailing some old Lima PWA fertilizer vans. These actually are for the layout and this one actually is almost finished. I know the bogies are not the correct type, but these are a good compromise as far as I'm concerned:

A few months ago, I also developed an interest in Izal Palvan's - I know there are kits available, and I have absolutely no need for one of these, but I fancied building my own from plastic sheet just because. This is structurally complete, but I've run out of steam so it remains unpainted:

I also decided to scrap the building that was in the foreground on the layout and replace it with a Post Office - this is 90% complete. I just need to finish the rear roof section and some of the details (this is very loosely based on a real building):


Most recently I've been working on a Bachmann High Sided Open Wagon. I don't usually use RTR freight stock, but this is a pretty nice model. I just couldn't stand the factory weathering so it's being repainted:



Last but not least is a 7mm Austin K8 Three-Way Van:





I'll endeavour to post progress with these things as I go but nothing will be quick.

Matt
 
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NHY 581

NHY 581

Western Thunderer
Hi Matt,

Good to see you back on here. As ever, excellent stuff but in particular, that little post office is fab. Great finish. Can you expand on how you've done such a cracking job on the render ?

Rob
 
M

matto21

Western Thunderer
NHY 581 said:
Hi Matt,

Good to see you back on here. As ever, excellent stuff but in particular, that little post office is fab. Great finish. Can you expand on how you've done such a cracking job on the render ?

Rob
Click to expand...
Hi Rob,

Couple of years ago when we moved into our house, and I was trying to cut some DIY corners, I bought a tube of "filler" from a pound shop.

I quickly realised it cost £1 for a reason - useless for a good finish inside my house but great for representing model concrete. It's too gritty as it comes, but once sanded down, looks reasonable in 4mm scale.

Matt
 
M

matto21

Western Thunderer
Very slow progress with this one. Since my last post, I decided I didn't like the colour I'd repainted it, so I re-repainted it again!



Still not finished - the underframe has barely been touched yet.

I'm pretty pleased with it though, especially seeing as it was an RTR wagon. Just a shame it's taking so long!



Matt
 
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M

matto21

Western Thunderer
One wagon is now two!

Bachmann on the right, old Parkside on the left.



I had an ancient Parkside PC01 kit that I bought ages ago and thought I'd build it as a companion.

There are many detail compromises on both, but everything on the Parkside model was done with bits from the spares box and a bit of scratchbuilding using offcuts.




They'll look ok together once they're both painted - good enough for me anyway.

Matt
 
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M

matto21

Western Thunderer
Hello all,

Very slow progress from me recently. I'm unlucky enough to have caught Covid, however gone are the days of being able to stay at home and do other things - now I have to work from home instead!

I've started painting my Parkside wagon using a combination of brushes and the lottery that is chipping fluid.





This side looks reasonable as a starting point. The other side is absolute cack so will have to be repainted!

I've also taken possession of this lovely, and very tiny, loco:





Certainly not a sign of things to come - it's far too small, but a nice loco to look at and admire from time to time!

Matt
 
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M

matto21

Western Thunderer
I first started this over five years ago and it's made a reappearance on the workbench.





Most of the details are guesswork and applied to cover holes and gaps in the framework rather than to be entirely accurate.

A lot of the original bits have gone brittle while it's been stored so have been reapplied.

Not sure how far it'll progress as I'm likely to get bored quite quickly!

Matt
 
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M

matto21

Western Thunderer
Despite my prediction, I've actually made rapid progress with this and it's not far from being ready for paint.



Lots of speculative details have been added to make it a bit more interesting. Since the photos the other day, I've replaced and repositioned the buffers.



Notable omissions:

There should be a small handwheel above each axle box. I could use some 2mm scale handwheels (possibly) but attaching them to the cast chassis will be very difficult and I'm not sure how robust they'd be.

Also, the jib should be secured to the solebar with chains. My jib is pretty fragile so I'll probably omit these completely to avoid damage.

There's a photo online of one of these cranes with a BR 13t open wagon presumably acting as a match truck. I had one of these, part assembled, already - started several years ago and decided to use it. Annoyingly, in the intervening years, I'd misplaced all the parts I hadn't fitted so it's been finished off with a range of parts including some primitive scratchbuilt items.



Matt
 
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GWRfan

GWRfan

Member
Morning Matt you can see some of the underframe detail you have added and it does look great.
I think it's great that oo gauge wagons are starting to get very good detailing underneath.
 
M

matto21

Western Thunderer
Bit more progress to share. The open wagon has had its first coat of paint, markings and weathering applied, although please note the underframe is yet to be touched:



I've also dug out another old, unfinished project. I first started building a Gannet during lockdown, based on a single photo I came across in a book.

It's been hidden away in storage since then, because I lacked the interest to carry on with it. Lots of speculative details and measurements, and the underframe and w-irons are incorrect because I used a spare Parkside chassis, but I decided to finish it off while in the mood to work on old stuff.




It looks ok so long as you don't study the details too hard.

Matt
 
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Lyndhurstman

Lyndhurstman

Western Thunderer
matto21 said:
Bit more progress to share. The open wagon has had its first coat of paint, markings and weathering applied, although please note the underframe is yet to be touched:

View attachment 200077

I've also dug out another old, unfinished project. I first started building a Gannet during lockdown, based on a single photo I came across in a book.

It's been hidden away in storage since then, because I lacked the interest to carry on with it. Lots of speculative details and measurements, and the underframe and w-irons are incorrect because I used a spare Parkside chassis, but I decided to finish it off while in the mood to work on old stuff.

View attachment 200080

View attachment 200079
It looks ok so long as you don't study the details too hard.

Matt
Click to expand...
Hello @matto21
Lovely work as always.

Cheers

Jan
 
M

matto21

Western Thunderer
Hi all,

Started painting the crane, not as much progress as I'd like and neither is it looking how I intended either.



The wasp stripes are by Fox - incidentally getting other brands of transfers to conform around the details would not be possible in my humble opinion.



I've also started rebuilding a Bachmann Limpet - I bought this with a broken underframe so will be replacing the parts.

This is one of those wagons I'm building just because I fancy it rather than for any purpose or layout use.





Matt
 
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paulc

paulc

Western Thunderer
matto21 said:
Hi all,

Started painting the crane, not as much progress as I'd like and neither is it looking how I intended either.

View attachment 201194

The wasp stripes are by Fox - incidentally getting other brands of transfers to conform around the details would not be possible in my humble opinion.

View attachment 201193

I've also started rebuilding a Bachmann Limpet - I bought this with a broken underframe so will be replacing the parts.

This is one of those wagons I'm building just because I fancy it rather than for any purpose or layout use.

View attachment 201195

View attachment 201196

Matt
Click to expand...
Just because you fancy it , the story of my model train buying / building /scratchbuilding life . To my mind restricting yourself to certain things and not being able to have others because it didn't run on that line / that time / a Friday night at 6.28 pm is not for me .
So Matt keep building it because you like it , you may even enjoy it more .
 
simond

simond

Western Thunderer
If I didn’t have some sense of a given time and place, I’d have an awful lot more random stuff, just because I fancied it…

it’s obviously a personal choice, but I think it helps, though I’ve not got to a given time on a given day, more a season in an era.
 
M

matto21

Western Thunderer
Soldering has always been an achilles heel for me, so this year I've really tried to improve this aspect of my modelling.





One of the reasons I bought this wagon was the opportunity to replace the broken underframe. I've made several mistakes, mainly because I misread or misunderstood the instructions, but I'm very pleased with the etched (and soldered) replacements.

Matt
 
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M

matto21

Western Thunderer
Hi everyone,

When I was younger, I used to spend practically no time painting my wagons. In fact, sometimes, I'd only paint the bits I could see (i.e one outer and one inner side only)!

Nowadays I can easily spend days and even weeks painting a four wheeled wagon.

The crane match wagon has taken time to come together but I'm starting to feel happier with how it's now looking.



Note that I'm yet to touch the underframe. Wagon interiors are always tricky due to a lack of reference photos. My attempt is a work in progress but certainly more speculative than accurate at this stage.

Matt
 
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M

matto21

Western Thunderer
Just to keep this thread up to date:

The open wagon is now complete (both sides!)




I've also been fiddling around trying to add some small details to the crane, namely the handwheels above each w-iron - these are some 2mm scale wheels.



I'm a bit bored with this now though, so thoughts are moving to the next project already.

Matt
 
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