Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
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That’s all the green done on both sides of each coach now. I shall let them sit for as long as I don’t need the bench and do the old inspection, rubbing down and respray routine as required.

Getting the paint into the windows and drop lights proved interesting. In the end, found a narrow spray setting close in around all the apertures did the trick. Then the fatter spray setting for the main panels. Either way, I always find it hard to ensure an even coating of paint. I expect some extra work will be needed tomorrow.

Now, while the bench is occupied, perhaps it’s time to go and learn more about some new software I’ve got. I do tend to neglect my photographic hobby, and I have had to make some decisions regarding the digital darkroom.
 
Photographic distraction!

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
So what new software have you gone for Heather ?

Being a Mac user, and very ardently anti-Adobe for numerous reasons that go back to the company killing Macromedia FreeHand, I’ve been holding out using Apple Aperture. I shoot in RAW, and the software acts as processing and a digital asset management system (DAM). Think of Lightroom, only not by Adobe! Anyway, Apple announced some years ago they were stopping development. There’s a fair few of us hold-outs that have been lucky that the software has kept working reasonably well through a couple of OS updates, but it is comprehensively broken by the last but one. While Apple has continued to support the OS version I’m stuck on with security updates, it won’t last forever. Aperture has also become a little unstable, usually when doing dust spotting and minor retouching. I would like to be running a newer OS, as other software I use may well in time require features my current OS doesn’t support.

Now, my processing needs are not huge. I generally only do some white balance correction, mild sharpening and exposure, cropping and straightening. I mostly use Aperture to manage all the files, sort things into albums and so on. In theory, Apple's free Photos app can handle all that, so I’m starting to move some of the modelling library over there. For new RAW editing and DAM work, I’ve got a program called RAW Power, which cost me the princely sum of thirty quid. It’s developed by someone who actually used to work for Apple on their imaging software, and it’s the nearest I’ve found to Aperture in all the looking I’ve been doing this past couple of years. Like the best software, it uses the operating system for all the heavy lifting - Apple has comprehensive support for dozens of digital cameras and all their myriad file formats. I’ll use RAW Power for processing images, and handling my landscape photo libraries from now on.

I've also been pointed at an open source software called Dark Table. That’s free, and does look very powerful. I may have a play at some point, but for now, I’m starting on moving various libraries about, clearing out cruft and tidying things up. That may well take me some time, so I’ll do a bit every evening. I will retain the Aperture libraries as a kind of backup, and luckily I’ve got a couple of elderly Mac laptops that will run Aperture well enough to find a photo archived somewhere.

That was a bit long-winded, and quite off topic!
 

simond

Western Thunderer
I’m not sure if it’s relevant or helpful, but GIMP is an open source image editor that may have some useful features. Martyn Wynne of Templot fame has done a couple of show & tells on some features in the Templot website.

atb
Simon
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I’m not sure if it’s relevant or helpful

It's all helpful, Simon. It's also a bit of a minefield!

I use a Canon DSLR. Canon provide software which does the processing and basic DAM stuff. It's very powerful, optimised for their own hardware and file format, but as clunky as hell and dog slow. I've tried it, and it's okay for the odd photo, but hard graft for any serious work. One useful feature is the ability to connect the camera and drive it from your computer.

Affinity Photo will open and process the RAW files, but I then have to manage the filing system myself - plus I end up with duplicated images: RAW file (negative) and processed/edited file (enprint). I imagine the same situation pertains with GIMP (and Photoshop, and any other image editing software for that matter). Aperture, Photos, Lightroom, RAW Power and Dark Table are non-destructive editors. They write the instructions of what you've done to the image (the processing) alongside the original file, and apply those instructions to the image each time it is opened for viewing or editing. The edits can be removed or updated or added to at any time, and the original image file remains untouched throughout.

What I liked about Aperture, and to a lesser degree Photos (yes, and Lightroom), is the computer can be left to do what it does best, managing the filing and organising while I do the fun bit of manipulating the image to my heart's content!

As you can probably tell, when you've invested money and time in a system, it's hard work having to rearrange everything and learn new ways of doing things.
 

richard carr

Western Thunderer
Hi Heather

I decided to move away from Lightroom when Adobe moved it to a subscription only programme, I wasn't going to pay them £10 a month for the rest of my life !.

I have moved to Capture 1 which isn't cheap but at least you can buy a perpetual licence and decide if and when you want to spend any money on it. It did take a while to get used to it but as you say the key part is the organising the choosing images when we have just so many these days. It has been worth it though and I now prefer it to Lightroom, I find it much easier to edit multiple images at the same time.
I did try Skylum's Luminar 4 for a while but didn't really get on with it, it almost tried to do too much for you.

Richard
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I have considered Capture 1. While I don’t object to spending big money when necessary, I also take into consideration what I need from the software. If I was a pro photographer, I wouldn’t think twice, but I'm a keen amateur with modest needs. My processing needs are tiny, really.

I think, once I’m over the hurdle of learning a new workflow, I shall be fairly happy with the setup I’ve chosen.
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Back at the paint shop, and the cold light of day revealed a not all that shabby job from yesterday. All the coaches have been treated to a second blast of green, which I’ll leave to harden for a bit. Words will have be had with our cat, though, because one of his fine hairs arrived in one coach side. I think that will need some careful sanding before another squirt of paint. Best to leave that to dry properly before tackling it.

I suppose I could paint the roofs, and begin to think about the interiors.

It’s all happening a bit fast. I should slow down before I catch myself up coming back the other way!
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I spent this evening exporting original RAW images from various libraries onto an external drive.

I like to set my camera to shoot black and white occasionally, knowing the RAW file captures all the data and I can recall colour later if I want. I was pleasantly surprised to find RAW Power read the B&W setting when I opened the exported files. I may well find I enjoy revisiting and rediscovering some of my older images, though I’m not one for reprocessing stuff.

I think I have a workflow that I can live with.
 

2-Bil

Western Thunderer
HK Ive tried three times without success to upload a pdf that should answer your questions re non smoking/first class totem applications/other stuff etc.....but if you go to www.barrowmoremrg .co.uk look for British Railways Coach Lettering....etc........ From memory and from photos of Maunsell stock the corridor panels are painted "cream" above the waistline and not below it....same goes for the WC door.Hope you don't mind the observation..........respects BrianW
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Brian, thank you for your observations. You have saved me from a faux pas. :thumbs:

I had photos at hand for the colour I was aiming for, but my short term memory decided it didn’t want to retain which panels were which.
 

2-Bil

Western Thunderer
Heather..happy to be of use....Have you given any thought to replicating the "dimpled"glazing on the WC windows? From my variable memory the gifted modeller who's building/built? the 4mm High Wycombe layout used pieces of plastic document wallets for the station's "frosted"glazing.....very convincing...... Anyway look forward to viewing the rest of the build.....respects BW
 
Interior decorating

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Painting the interiors.

I made a slightly better effort with the compartment dividers. They are fairly obvious through the windows. For the insides of the sides, if that makes sense, I didn’t need to take quite as much care. A suitable colour will be adequate.

I came across the colour combination as a happy accident, really. You can see preserved coaches on this web site, and I’ve used this as inspiration and a guide.

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Having already painted (and repainted!) the compartments, here is sort of how I went about the basic colours. I used Humbrol acrylics, because I had them to hand and wanted to see how they fared. A rough base coat of 71 Oak was applied. I followed this with 93 Desert Yellow, applied with a ratty nylon brush on the light panels as a grain effect. It barely shows, to be honest. Of course, with care, it would make sense to draw the brush along the real grain pattern directions, but I’m too hasty for that!

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No 186 Brown seemed to be a suitable shade for the orangey appearance of the varnished wood. Happily, brushing it on it is translucent on the first coat or two, and let’s the lighter Oak shade show. Painted directly on the grey primer, it much darker and flatter. Having almost exhausted my pot, I switched to 62 Leather, which I ended up using on all the sides where the precise colour was less important.

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As you can see, I haven’t been particularly careful with application of the orange coat. I hope it is enough to give an impression of the grain patterns of the veneers used. Once the paint has hardened, I will apply a satin varnish coat. This will have the effect of slightly darkening the paint and hopefully giving an appearance of some depth. We shall see.

Having given the luggage ends a coat of green paint, it was too dull. I’ve rediscovered a brighter green shade in my paint box. I’ll have to go over them again in time.
 
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