7mm On Heather's Workbench - 37 Varieties

[Heather Kay]

Of course, the satin bits I’d had to rub down to remove dust and stuff have ended up gloss, while everywhere else has gone a lovely satin. I foresee many, many coats of gloss to get a decent finish.

What else is in the queue? Might as well get on with that for a bit.

 

[paulc]

View attachment 158943

Of course, the satin bits I’d had to rub down to remove dust and stuff have ended up gloss, while everywhere else has gone a lovely satin. I foresee many, many coats of gloss to get a decent finish.

What else is in the queue? Might as well get on with that for a bit.

Weathering covers a multitude of sins Heather .

 

[Heather Kay]

Weathering covers a multitude of sins Heather .

Oh, it does indeed. Sadly, we are heading for mildly grubby, and that means a reasonable finish to start with.

 

[Heather Kay]

I have lost count of the gloss coats! There were some odd scratch marks, left from accidental damage to the satin coat, which were persistent through the glossing. I let the last coat dry till this morning, then attacked the marks - gently - with some 1200 wet'n'dry wet. This is after another gloss coat. I think I’m nearly there, and hopefully a final satin coat can go on this afternoon.

 

[Jordan]

Apt headline in the newspaper, there.

 

[Heather Kay]

Some marks still showing. Tomorrow will see a further bout of rubbing down and gloss.

One day, this will be finished. One day.

 

[paulc]

Some marks still showing. Tomorrow will see a further bout of rubbing down and gloss.

One day, this will be finished. One day.

Remember that bloke called Percy Veering ?

 

[Heather Kay]

Quite right, Paul.

As it turned out, I inspected under strong light and made the executive decision no further remedial work was required. The marks are not noticeable unless you know where to look, and look very carefully. I didn’t do anything else because yesterday was "one of those days", not helped by a poor night's sleep and some minor health issues. Today, a satin/semi-gloss top coat was applied. It looks (fingers crossed) okay, so I’ll leave that to harden properly before whatever the next stage ought to be.

I think i should apply the brain cell to working out underframe weathering and detail paint.

 

[Heather Kay]

My head space has not been right at all for a lot of this year so far. I can’t settle to simple tasks, I get easily distracted, and a lot of other cr@p, too. I think I may have to try and seek professional help, because I’m not "working it out by myself" by any means. Anyway, enough of my travails.

I did actually get something done this afternoon.



Not obvious, but the multiple unit (or is it electrical train heating) plugs on the noses became orange. The buffers need another coat of black, too. I think I should get a black pin wash into nooks, crannies, crevices and grilles.



Obviously, while I had the paints out, the drawbar hoses were also painted. The ends, at least. The hoses will be given a coat of dark grey later. Did anyone tell you how heavy these Heljan cast chassis are? Blimey, it's given me an upper body workout!

Anyway, with the pipework painted, I can begin to attempt weathering. If my brain will let me.

 

[Jordan]

Did anyone tell you how heavy these Heljan cast chassis are?

The original Hymek is the worst, about 3kg if I remember properly!!

 

[Heather Kay]

The original Hymek is the worst, about 3kg if I remember properly!!

I'll have to stick it on the scales to see what it comes out at. It fair nigh on pulled a muscle or two trying to hold it at various angles while dabbing the paint brush here and there!

 

[Heather Kay]

Apologies for the glacial pace. Life, you know? I also have this odd mental block about paintwork and weathering. I spend ages thinking out various strategies instead of just piling in and doing it!

A black wash was applied to grilles and various areas to give a little depth. Handrails have been refitted, and the radiator grilles blanked off. I may also blank the body side windows, as there’s nothing to see inside save massive brass flywheels and some wiring. I need to glue that roof panel in, too. No idea why I’m leaving it loose!

Weathering will commence this week. Definitely.

 

[michael mott]

I also have this odd mental block about paintwork and weathering. I spend ages thinking out various strategies instead of just piling in and doing it!

I am glad that I am not the only one who suffers from this affliction.

The loco is looking rather smart.
Michael

 

[BrushType4]

Cracking job. You sure you don’t want the next four?

 

[Heather Kay]

Cracking job. You sure you don’t want the next four?

*sfx of a dozen booted feet scarpering into the distance*

 

[Heather Kay]

And so the grubbifying begins. I’m using enamels, although I’m sure acrylics would work just as well. A lot of Humbrol 62 Matt Leather mixed with a little Matt Black (Precision, because it’s what I have a large tin of), thinned right down and applied via airbrush at low pressure. The idea is to build up a patina or orangey-brownish muck overall, then get some denser muck into the nooks and crannies. Later, I’ll do some dry brushing and various powders.

I've already dislodged one etched step, and a sanding pipe. It seems superglue really isn’t ideal for attaching things without extra pins and suchlike. Who knew?

 

[Heather Kay]

That was fun. The aim, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, was a loco that looks clean and fairly tidy at first glance, but really shows the dirt close to.







I'm not sure anything really shows in this light. Anyway, I made up a mucky brownish-black, thinned it a lot, and sprayed at low pressure and small needle size on the sides. I started at the skirt and applied a general light coat to represent road dirt and grime. I then worked around all the grilles and openings, wiping off the paint with a thinners-dampened cotton bud, always wiping downwards in the direction rainwater flows, followed by a quick wipe downwards with a clean bit of paper kitchen towel. The idea was to leave grime around the bits that stuck out from the body sides, but also to leave a very light dusting over the sides. Easier to do than say.

The roof I wanted the classic mucky strip down the centre where the carriage washing plant never quite cleans properly. I ended up wiping a fair amount off. This serendipitously left grot in all the nooks and crannies and looked quite pleasing to my eye. I followed up with a gentle blow over of matt black, with plenty of clag round the exhausts.

It's knowing when to stop. I’ve stopped. I’ll leave it alone and review things later. Muckying the nose ends is a bit more of a chore, but I’ll get there. As for the chassis, I’m going to let it stand until tomorrow, then see how I feel about it.

So, a fairly pleasing day's work.

 

[Heather Kay]

Right at the start of this odyssey I looked at the head code boxes. 106 is being modelled at the time when the boxes were blanked off with single "domino" spots. I’ve been puzzling over how to make this work, because the real thing was glazed flush with the outside front of the box, where a Heljan have created a slightly recessed panel.



I had a brainwave. At least, I hope it works. The idea is to mask the front of the glazed parts with a spot, then blatt the whole thing with black paint. The rear can be obscured with tracing paper or similar, so while not being pure white like the real things it will at least allow the light source behind to show through. So, first act, punch some dots from masking tape.



After cleaning the front surfaces of the glazing pieces, the dots were applied, and the pieces carefully stuck down to mask the rear faces and sprayed with acrylic aerosol black. I only had matt in stock, so I’ll have to gloss coat once dry.

More later, if this works. If it doesn’t work, it’ll get messy.

The loco body still seems okay in daylight. I’m quite pleased with the weathering. Better pictures later, I hope.

 

[Heather Kay]

While I wait on the proverbial paint to dry, I thought I should tackle the driver.



On advice, I acquired a Modelu seated driver at 1/48th scale. Perhaps it might have better to head for 1/64th! Matey will have to lose both legs below the knee, and go on a drastic slimming programme round his behind, before he might fit the tiny Heljan seat. Even then he will apparently working the controls by telekinesis.

 

[OzzyO]

It may have been better to get a driver at 1/43th scale, the driver at 1/64th may just be a tad small.

OzzyO.