7mm On Heather's Workbench - Aintree Iron: an Austerity adventure

Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Heather Kay said:
View attachment 47122

The driver is on the short side, so I've had to give him an old apple crate for his feet to rest on. If I feel up to it I will sketch in some marks on the gauges.
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I shall beat Jordan to the comment... please stop using photos of the real thing when discussing your model. Ok, maybe you did arrange for the cab floor to be swept of coal dust... and for the driver to put on a clean jacket...

The hair is just so, brilliant.
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
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While I ponder weathering, here we see 90643 paired with its tender once more, ex-works.

Things to do: spectacle glazing; cinder screen glazing; fit the crew; tone down the motion; dry brush the smokebox number plate; weather loco and tender to match the photos I have; half fill the tender with coal.

Apart from the weathering, most of that should be done in time for Telford. As last year, I have been offered an end of a table as part of the JLTRT Road Show, so I will be there all weekend, fettling some kits and bits.
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
First steps in weathering.

Back in the earliest days of this thread, some images of an empty preserved tender were posted.

http://www.westernthunder.co.uk/ind...-iron-an-austerity-adventure.3628/#post-95529

Using those as a guide, I set about trying to replicate a similar appearance. Coal is nasty stuff, with sharp edges, and lots of dust. I wanted to try and give a similar impression.

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Not too bad. The client has requested a bunker half empty, so the lower parts haven't had quite as much attention. What I did was take my preferred Humbrol enamels matt black 33, brown 110 and leather 62. I mixed a slightly orangey-brown shade and painted it most of the surfaces. I was surprised at how even the finish was on the prototype bunker, but wanted to try and match it.

Next, an experiment. I added some baby talc to the mix, and splodged it on where wet coal dust might have collected and solidified. In a way it also helped replicate the welded join between the top of the bunker and the chute part. Finally, neat 62 and talc was stippled on the front, side and rear upright panels.

I am fairly pleased with the outcome. Knowing when to stop is hard, but I wanted it relatively understated.
 
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Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
The task of coaling the tender has been going on for a few days.

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I had considered forming the underlying shape in the bunker before applying the coal. Various ideas were thrown about, but eventually rejected in favour of simply pouring in some coal and glue. One rejection was caused because I didn't have/couldn't find my stock of Miliput, which might have been an ideal former.

Anyway, what I've done is make a thinnish layer of coal, douse with the traditional diluted PVA and leave to set for a day or so. Another thinnish layer, more glue, more setting. So far, three layers is what you see. Remember, the client has requested a bunker half full.

I think one further layer will do the business. Then, thoughts turn to how to fix random lumps and dust around the inside and outside of the bunker. Most of my previous coaling attempts have been tank engines, where overspill has been fairly limited. I have searched my library shelves and wandered the Internet, but can't find a definitive method of letting fine coal dust settle and stay put on a model. Any ideas?
 
oldravendale

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
A while back someone suggested aluminium foil, screwed up and moulded to shape inside the tender space. When shape looks OK fix with dilute PVA Paint mat black. Then apply coal of the grade you need with more PVA. When dry add more coal to form to final shape and more PVA.

I've done this on my last three or four builds and it works fine, uses less coal and allows for shaping the coal load more quickly than applying many layers of real coal.

I guess others will have pet methods, but this one works for me.

Brian
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Brian, belated thanks for that idea. It's been filed for future use!

Meanwhile, I worked a variant on Richard's diluted PVA, and dabbed some matt enamel varnish about, followed by gentle sprinkling of small coal lumps and near dust.

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There will be further weathering, mainly grime, but I found a video of a tender engine being coaled up and the fireman spent a fair deal of time tidying larger overshot lumps into the bunker where they'd be of more use. I've tried to concentrate small pieces and dust into the bunker's bottom edges and behind the tank vents.

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Meanwhile, at the business end, the fireman has his shovel loaded for the next session. This is based on a photo of the preserved loco from way back in this thread. I can't believe it never happened back in the day.

I still need to glaze the cab, fit the crew and weather the oily bits.
 
dibateg

dibateg

Western Thunderer
I'm looking forward to seeing at Telford Heather, we could do a line up with my Snow Hill and Oakville versions!
 
OzzyO

OzzyO

Western Thunderer
Too much gap between loco and tender.

What has happened to the tender drag beam in post #351, as it looks bent to a funny shape (or is it just the angle that the photo has been taken?).
I also see that you did not change the length of the intermediate buffer bodies.

OzzyO.
 
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Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Hi Mr O!

The last few paired images I have posted are where I've just pushed the tender up against the loco. While I'm still faffing about with them it's easier while they are separated. It all looks wrong at the moment.

When I've paired the tender and loco properly, it all looks much better. In fact, if the kit fall plate is correct, the gap isn't a million miles out - at least, the fall plate might have clobbered the brake stand without the modification! While it's not perfect, and I'd prefer no compromise with the gap, it actually worked in this case.

The next tender loco will be better. Every build I do is better than the last. It's all down to the advice and encouragement of people like you! Thank you!
 
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Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
The basic paint has hardened enough I can begin contemplating weathering. The model has survived handling and being prodded occasionally while on display at Telford!

The client sent me photos of 90643, which have appeared earlier in this thread. The loco looks scruffy, but not filthy. Considering the image must date from the mid-to-late 1960s, the apparent cleanliness is somewhat surprising. Nonetheless, I plan to make it scruffy, and hope to document the process. Bear in mind I am not an expert, and there are plenty out there far better at weathering than me.

First, some research. Over to Flickr, and colour images from the photostream of Barking Bill.

2138038933_da23dd4434_o.jpgR0275 - Wakefield Kirkgate by Bill Wright, on Flickr

12148682125_b1d4120652_b.jpgHi-Res R0403 by Bill Wright, on Flickr

5283177652_3759f5ff9a_b.jpgHi-Res R0272 by Bill Wright, on Flickr

Where would we be if photographers like Bill hadn't been diligently recording the railway scene in colour for us?

Note there's a characteristic orangey-brown around the front of the cylinders of 90081 and 90642. I have speculated to myself what might cause this pattern of weathering, and it would be fun to recreate. However, 90112 is actually going to be easier to replicate. I suspect I shall end up somewhere between all three and the original photos.

To begin with, I have finally found a matt varnish that dries matt and can be airbrushed. It's the Precision ready mixed stuff, and for once it does what it says on the tin. Having matted the model finish down somewhat, the next stage will be a few very light coats of a brownish grey to give the brake dust and overall grime. A darker variation may be added from the top down and on horizontal surfaces, to show soot and ash deposits. Finally, some dry brushing of things, with some final matt varnish should see it completed.

Hopefully I will remember to document the process.
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I generally like to procrastinate over finishing models. I think I worry too much about blundering in and making a complete hash of things at a late stage. Anyway, I bit the bullet today, printed out Bill's images for handy reference, selected some suitable Humbrol enamel colours, and decamped to the paint shop.

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Here's what I started with, perched precariously close on the turntable. It's not totally matt but it still looks like it's ex-works.

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After about an hour this is the result. Doesn't look a lot different, does it!

I mixed 62 leather, 33 black and a dash of 34 white to give a sort of pale orangey colour. This was copiously thinned so it barely left any paint after a gentle waft with the airbrush pressure set about as low as the compressor will go. After a couple of wafts to get a little colour over the whole model, I narrowed the beam - I haven't mastered double-action airbrushes yet, so I'm using my trusty Badger 120 single-action - and went in a little closer to apply a slightly more dense colour around the cylinders, buffer beams, along the bottom and frames of the tender, and up the cab sides.

I mixed a slightly greyer shade - more white and spot of black - and then wafted down along the boiler, cab roof, tender top and so on.

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This angle gives a slightly better impression. Note the prints taped to the back of the "booth" for reference. The white line through them is a fault on the laser print drum, which I have to live with until it's time to buy a new printer. I am trying to aim for something between the two images. For now I am letting the first few wafts dry, and I'll assess the damage tomorrow.

Once I feel happy with the overall base grime, I shall retrieve the loco and set about it with dry brushing and powders. I think the secret is knowing when to stop. I already made a bit of a boob on the driver's side cab, so that will need a little remedial work. It's not a disaster, but not quite the direction I wanted to head.

The rest of the day will be spent considering the next build to hog my workbench!
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
More gentle airbrushing today, along with bit of error correction. Apologies for the image heaviness.

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The loco is now a sort of grey brown rather than pure black. This was what I was trying to achieve, so I've stopped work now - at least for airbrush activities.

The technique this time was some more of the brownish mix from yesterday to build up a little more brake dust grime along the sides and footplate. A spot more black and dash of gunmetal 53 was drifted over the top of the boiler, cab roof, and horizontal surfaces. Towards the end of the process a darker brown/grey on the lowest pressure and finest setting into various corners and crevices. I finished up with a slightly lighter mix to sort of represent ash, and also gently drifted down from handrail knobs and the tool tunnel.

I shall let things dry for a day or so, then bring the model down again for some dry brushing and weathering powders.
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Well, the loco has been on some travels this past week or so. I've acquired a quality carry box, and the test was to see how much damage might be sustained in transit - or, in my case, back of a Škoda…

The result was quite good. Minor damage occurred, where the front vac pipe bracket came away, where it hadn't been adequately fixed. I've repaired that now, and I've spent this morning dry brushing and applying some weathering powders.

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I have aimed for the "not long out of works" appearance that the black and white photos of the real thing at Cheadle Heath show.

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I reckon if the client wants more dirt, he can always hire a better weathering expert. ;)

And with that, apart from the cinder screens and the official portraits, I think we are done. Time to move on to another build.
 
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