7mm On Heather's Workbench - 37 Varieties

[Eastsidepilot]

I did try that. Made no difference. I think the particular batch of alloy's crystalline structure wasn’t happy with bending.

that's a shame, it has worked occasionally for me in the past but cast stuff can be difficult.

 

[Heather Kay]

In between battening down hatches, chasing the odd errant waste bin, and watching - like almost everyone else, apparently - passenger jets landing in extreme crosswinds on Heathrow Runway L27, I got the front sanding gear installed.





The fun bit was ensuring the bent wire didn’t cause issues with bogie swing, but still generally pointed in the right direction. As you can see, they don’t come down close to the rails, but my excuse is it’s hard to gauge with the loco inverted! A little tweaking here and there will improve things.

I think that really is all the detailing sorted out, so it is time to get the painting head on.

 

[Heather Kay]

Repainting begins. My favourite Halfords' red oxide rattle can takes the body shell back to one colour. When it’s dried off a bit, I’ll inspect for any remedial work around the areas I’ve modified. If no further work is needed, I think I’ll mask for the yellow ends, spraying some white primer on as a base coat to give the yellow a head start.

 

[Heather Kay]

Remedial work required. Palimpsest. It’s a great word. It's usually used when referring to faint visible traces of previous inked marks on parchment documents, where the scribes have scratched the original copy away to reuse the material. The vaguest hint of the original double arrow logos and OHLE warning plates was evident through the primer. Only under strong oblique light, but enough to be annoying if I failed to hit the mark with new transfers. The filling work on the sides was also not quite there, so some wet'n'dry, and a smear or two or filler has been needed. I’ll give it another red oxide squirt when that bit is cleared up.

This is why I always like to apply a primer, or even just a brushed coat of another paint, on worked surfaces. Things that may appear perfect generally reveal problems when there’s a single colour on top of everything.

 

[Heather Kay]

Rattlecan matt black covers the new brass and copper on the bogies and tanks. These will be weathered later, as well as the axle bearing covers picked out in yellow with a red stripe.

Things are starting to come together now. Tomorrow, I shall be all over the place as I have an eye test (while you wait, of course), and we need to get some groceries in before world war three breaks out.

 

[Heather Kay]

Schnozzes masked up and white primer applied. The warning yellow can go on once that’s hardened a bit.

 

[Heather Kay]

Mmm, yellow. The Precision enamel has pretty good coverage. I will give it a good look over later, and a second coat if I think it needs it.

 

[Heather Kay]

First stages of the blue going on. At this stage, I try to concentrate on the fiddly bits like grilles and stuff. I set the airbrush to a fine small spray and use a low pressure so I can get in fairly close. The biggest issue I really need to sort out is lighting. The single spot lamp throws shadows, as does the airbrush around raised detail. Turning the model in many directions helps to eliminate spray shadows, but doesn’t catch all of them.

Anyway, I’ll let this dry - I got a mild run in a cab side which really ought to be dealt with before I get too far further. I think it may be wise to leave this alone for a day before I do anything else. No need to rush.

 

[Mike Garwood]

Did you give the nose a second coat? Second question...is that ordinary masking tape you're using?

regards

Mike

 

[Heather Kay]

Did you give the nose a second coat? Second question...is that ordinary masking tape you're using?

Second coat, yes. Just filling in bits that hadn’t quite covered first time.

The demarcation line is Tamiya yellow tape, and I’ve used a brand called Mammoth for the large areas. I keep contact to the underlying paint to a minimum where I can, but I’ve found it very good.

 

[Heather Kay]

Actually, for safety's sake, I’ve removed the masking. The blue was just dry enough to be handled, and there are enough unpainted areas to let me do it. I’ll leave it alone now until tomorrow.

 

[Paul Cheffings]

Hi

I use one of these at the front of my spray booth to light the work up

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VWY9JJ6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cheers

Paul

 

[Heather Kay]

Thanks Paul. I need to think about something like that. I actually have some decent video LEDs which I should use, but I will need to experiment with the setup. Ideally, I need a strip of LEDs inside the hood of the extractor.

 

[michael080]

Heather,

I am using one of these: Andoer Portable RGB Handheld LED Video Light Wand 10W 9 Colors CRI95+ K9B2 | eBay
Battery driven and recharchable.
My extractor hood is semi transparent, so I can clamp it to the outside to protect the lamp from the mist. I like it, because it doesn't produce hard shadows and it helps to get a reflection on the wet paint to control the spray pattern.
Michael

 

[TheSnapper]

Hi Heather

Just as a matter of interest, would you use Red Oxide Primer as a base for painting Green Diesels as well as Blue, ones.
I've always used Grey Primer in the past.

Tim

 

[Heather Kay]

Just as a matter of interest, would you use Red Oxide Primer as a base for painting Green Diesels as well as Blue, ones.
I've always used Grey Primer in the past.

I would, Tim. I know some companies, like Brush, used a pale pink primer coat, but I always assume a red oxide primer was fairly common on the real thing. If paint gets chipped on the model the primer will show, theoretically at least.

 

[Lancastrian]

IIRC, BR also used a green undercoat for yellow and pink undercoat for blue.

Ian

 

[Heather Kay]

Lots of blue going on today. I’ll leave that drying and probably do a further general coat tomorrow.

 

[Heather Kay]

More of the same. Some specks and hairs had got in the paint, so they were dealt with and I think this will be the final coat of blue before transfers.

 

[Heather Kay]

Folks, I need a little blue expertise heading my way.

I'm about to embark on the transfers (we got a Railtec set made up for this loco). I have all the various logos and markings, some in triplicate, which is nice in case of disaster. My question is about shed codes. From what I can make out, on one image of 106 I have, the code box is stuck on to the right of the data panel under the loco number. Ordinarily, I believe the shed code should be below the data panel.

I guess I should work to the photo, rather than what is technically correct. What does the team think?