Mike Trice's 4mm Workbench

Mike Trice

Western Thunderer
I am sure at some point in the past I have come across etched lettering but cannot recall where. Regarding bogies these are much finer in detail and adhere to my rule of being as self sufficient as possible. Fair point with regard to the window recesses.
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
Some years ago, I bought some 3D bogies (LMS) from Shapeways and they were 'cut' in one piece. All I had to do was spring in bearings and wheels. The material was springy so the bogies were effective compensated once the weight of a coach was on them.
 

Mike Trice

Western Thunderer
Sometimes it feels like 1 step forward and 2 back.

I decided I really wanted to remodel those chairs, however trying to cut the old mouldings off of the underframe I decided it would be easier, effort wise, just to reprint the underframe without the seats in place. This would then leave me free to rework them to my heart's content:
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Part of me thinks I should populate the model with some passengers and using MakeHuman generated basic male and femail forms and resized accordingly. I have finally got them to sit properly on the chairs:
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Now I have reached a dilemma. There was a photo posted some time ago showing the inside of the observation car before the BR rebuild with people sitting in the chairs (I have tried to find it so I can link to it to no avail). The problem is they are sitting far lower in the chairs than mine. Now in real life if you sit in a padded seat the seat gives to a degree and you end up sitting lower in it. Certainly in later years the padding had lost its bounce and that might be reflected in the interior photo. I suspect the people are also slouching a bit more as well.

So what I am considering is doing some special versions of the chairs in a depressed state and reconfigure my passengers accordingly. When I finally get to join the chairs to the underframe I will then have to decide which ones are going to be sat in.
 

Rob R

Western Thunderer
Mike,

The seat height seems lower in that photo, (or the arms are higher...) look at the the chair in bottom right corner.

Rob
 

simond

Western Thunderer
hypothetical;

if following Larry's approach, could the lettering be done as full thickness, as the window frames, on a half-thickness ground, which could be painted, thus the lettering would also be bare metal?

and if so, would nickel silver be "chrome" enough?

I think it's pretty damn impressive anyway.

Simon
 

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
Hi Mike. This might just be three months or so too late, but.......

The latest "Main Line" mag dropped on my doorstep with some nice photos of the Observation Car near the end of restoration via Railway Vehicle Preservations/GCR at Nemesis Rail. Here are the relevant bits. Copyright remains with Brian Hallett, Scott Manley and Main Line mag and are published here as an aid to research. Bear in mind, which I'm sure you will anyway, that this is "as restored" and may have differences from the original but RVP are always good on the research and the quality of their restorations so it'll be as close to the original as is possible with current knowledge and info.

Brian

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Mike Trice

Western Thunderer
It seems ages since I posted anything on the LNER Observation Car. To be honest I have not been in the mood and been diverted doing other things, not model related.

Going back a few months Tim Watson cheekily asked if I was prepared to produce another print but to 2mm scale. Well, if you don't ask, you don't get and the challenge rather appealed so a print was produced and sent to him. He then asked how I intended to do the end observation window? Good question. To cut a long story short he made me an offer I could not refuse, if I 3D printed some patterns he would ask a friend of his to vac form me some.

So some while back these arrived:
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Yesterday I finally drummed up the enthusiasm to give them a go.

Here one is roughly cut out and still needs final trimming/sanding:
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I have seen online references to dipping clear items in Klear to make them nice and shiney. Seamed like a good idea so the final trimmed items were dunked in some clear and put aside to dry.

OK problem. There is no obvious way to hold the mouldings whilst the Klear dries and with the shallow angle the windows had when put aside ended up forming a skin on the visible part of the window. I think I managed to wash this off with water and tried again. This time I propped the moulding against each other to dry which was more successful:
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How to fix them to the model? I had tucked away a new bottle of Deluxe Glue 'n' Glaze. On opening it the nozzle was blocked with dried product that I had to dig out with a scriber before I was able to use it. Glue was applied around the window apertures and the glazing positioned. Well I ended up getting the glue on my fingers and the glazing wanted to stick to me rather than the model. In the end I finally got them in place. I decided to run the product around the glazing to fill any gaps and ended up in an even bigger mess. In the end I took the windows out and ran everything under water to attempt a clean up.

Worryingly I now have smear marks on the glazing that rather ruins the parts:
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I may be being impatient and it might be that the clouding disappears in time but I am not filled with confidence. So the question is what to use next? I should have been warned off of the Glue 'n' Glaze as I could find very little in the way of reviews/videos for it.

Might give Microsol Micro Krystal Klear ago next. Any ideas?
 

Mike Trice

Western Thunderer
A quick update to the above. When applied with the supplied fine applicator the Glue 'n' Glaze came out quite runny so I thought I would remove the top and try stirring it with a stirrer. Much thicker, so I suspect part of the problem was the bottle had been standing and the contents separated.

I have managed to clean up the original glazing with IPA and water followed by a polish using T-Cut so might try the GnG again but be more cautious in my approach.
 

Tim Watson

Western Thunderer
I haven’t yet fixed mine, Mike, but the glazing is a very good fit in the surrounds.

I will probably attach by simply running some varnish around the seams. Unfortunately, all this is at the back of the queue at the moment as I am working full bore on the KX GY prior to our Mini Exhibition for CF on 10-11th July.

Tim
 

Mike Trice

Western Thunderer
Second attempt was much more successful. Made sure I stirred the GnG well then applied it sparingly with a cocktail stick but only for the half of the window down the central divider and partway along the horizontal surfaces. The glazing could then be manoeuvred into place without getting it all over my fingers. Given time to let that dry more was applied around the rest of the window using the cocktail stick then the surplus removed with a damp cotton bud:
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