7mm On Heather's Workbench - small and perfectly formed

[warren haywood]

Had some flying Scotsman plates from Fox, they aren't too bad although not perfect, the small lettering on the Australia tour crest was poor, also the plates were etched from stainless steel not much thicker than tin foil so distorted very easily, I remember bending one just sticking it in place.

 

[Heather Kay]

Hi guys. Thankfully, this loco doesn't have smokebox door number plates. The cab number plates I have from Guilplates are pretty good, and I am now waiting on the caution plate and North British works plates from Severn Mill.

I have some rivet transfers arriving tomorrow. Not quite sure when would be the best time to apply them, though I'm leaning towards before I squirt the etch primer about. On the understanding waterslide decals prefer a gloss surface, perhaps a quick coat of varnish where they'll go, after priming, but before top coats begin.

Just another reason why I'm putting off getting started with the painting!

The overall plan is like this: clean and prime, then leave for a couple of days for the primer to do its magic. While that's going on I can be painting the backhead and the crew, and perhaps even getting back into that coach that's been lurking at the back of the bench. Once the primer is nice and firm, the green will go on, and allowed to dry for some time. Then some masking, followed by the black bits. Varnish, lettering, plates, then assembly and weathering.

Well, it's a plan, at least.

 

[warren haywood]

Hi Heather, I would be inclined to sticking them onto the brass then primer over them. That's assuming you are using your airbrush for the primer and it's not a filler primer.

 

[oldravendale]

Hi Heather, I would be inclined to sticking them onto the brass then primer over them. That's assuming you are using your airbrush for the primer and it's not a filler primer.

I'll defer to Warren on this for very obvious reasons. However, on my Maunsells I applied the rivets on the primer. They adhered to the primer coat OK and covered with top coat OK too.

Brian

 

[Steph Dale]

Heather,
The rivets are printed on Microscale paper, so it'll stick much better (near invisibly) to paint than bare metal. That's why I suggested to Dad he put them between primer and paint.
Steph

 

[Dikitriki]

I have tried Archer's rivets both on brass - utter failure, they dropped off once dry - and on a painted surface - no problems at all.

Richard

 

[warren haywood]

I will store that info for future reference. I had it in my head that they would react like scotch tape boiler bands which go onto brass without any problems, but then I suppose it's adhesive tape.
Warren

 

[Heather Kay]

Excellent. Thanks for that info. Prime, then rivets it is, then.

 

[Heather Kay]

This morning, so far, I have been doing serious research and refreshing of the brain cell as to exactly the finish I'm looking for on this model.

The livery is the standard early 1930s GWR one for such locos: mid-chrome green, unlined, black horizontal surfaces, Venetian red inside the frames, Chinese red buffer planks and headstocks, "GREAT WESTERN" on the tank sides. Pretty much as these two photos, in fact, including the level of weathering:



(Linky for copyright reasons.)



(Linky for copyright reasons.)

For reference as to details, Ian Rathbone's excellent web site gives chapter and verse.

So, my plan is slightly more complicated than originally outlined. Essentially, once the priming has been done I plan to get a preliminary coat of green on the bunker areas that need the rivet detail restored. The transfers will then go on, followed by more green until I'm happy.

Rathbone gives good detail information on where black and green are applied. I was all set to paint the roof green, but it seems it would be black. There seems to be some argument about the cab back sheet above the bunker. Some say it should be black, others it should be green. Looking at the preserved locos, it's essentially matt black, but whether that's from coal dust or paint it's hard to say! Cab handrails I read as being left as bare steel, and I can see the reasoning for this when you look at the wear pattern on 5764 in preservation. All the green paint is wearing off, so it would have made sense to leave it unpainted.

Anyway, enough displacement behaviour. I need to clean up the paint shop!

 

[D G Williams]

Perhaps the black of the cab back sheet above the bunker looks too uniform to be rampant coal dust?

 

[Heather Kay]

Perhaps the black of the cab back sheet above the bunker looks too uniform to be rampant coal dust?

Could be. Considering it would subject to lumps of best Welsh steam coal on a regular basis, I suspect it was painted to survive.

Meanwhile, final checks for fit and finish on the workbench, prior to (finally!) heading to the paintshop.

 

[Heather Kay]

It's all happening here. Yesterday we'd planned a trip over to Staplehurst to visit a model engineering supplies stockist. I had a mind to stock up with metal strips, fasteners and such like. Sadly, my car decided it wasn't happy leaving the comfort of Maidstone, and emptied its coolant all over the Loose Road. Yay for Green Flag and a reasonably prompt tow back to somewhere things might be fixed.

So the Red Terror is being poked and prodded by a local grease monkey. As I typed that, the phone rang and the news is they can't find anything wrong with it. That's good, then. However, I digress.

For some reason I can't explain, I have been finding any excuse to avoid getting the airbrush sullied with etch primer. However, I did sit down and sully my hands with paint all over the frames and wheels.



First coats drying. A second coat will go on later.

For those that want to know, the outside of the frames and wheels have been painted with Humbrol 85 with a dash of gunmetal, while the inside visible bits are 153.

 

[Heather Kay]

Well, that's it. Sh*t or bust, as they say. My first attempts with self-etch primer.

No piccies, I'm afraid. I wasn't about to take valuable and delicate equipment anywhere near that lot!

Anyway, I followed the instructions. 50/50 mix of thinners and primer. I mixed it in the airbrush paint cup, and I took the precaution of using the old cup, old head and old needle. The compressor was set at about 15psi, but I was getting spatter, so I pushed it up to about 20 to get a better flow. A light dusting around all the vulnerable areas (edges, particularly the running plate), but leaving the base metal showing through.

I shall return on Monday to see how it all dried off. If I like what I see, I shall throw a coat of acrylic primer on top as a base coat for the paint itself.

Now, back to painting the crew, backhead and frames.

 

[Compton castle]

Looking great Heather.
I'm Cardiff canton Ranelagh Bridge if you haven't already guessed on Facebook
Steve

 

[Heather Kay]

Hi Steve. Yes, I had guessed who you were on FB.

 

[ZiderHead]

I shall return on Monday to see how it all dried off. If I like what I see, I shall throw a coat of acrylic primer on top as a base coat for the paint itself.

Can I ask why use acrylic on top rather than just using one overall coat of the etch primer?

 

[Heather Kay]

Can I ask why use acrylic on top rather than just using one overall coat of the etch primer?

The etch primer is not supposed to cover, according to the manufacturer. I'm following their guidance in this. The short sheet of instructions does say you can coat with another primer once the self-etch is fully dry. As there are large-ish areas of almost bare metalwork, I want a fairly even base coat for the final colour to go on.

I could, I suppose, do many coats of top coat to give the final depth and coverage.

 

[warren haywood]

Heather, I would go straight on with the top coat. The etch primer through an airbrush only needs a wet misting this in turn will give you an ultra flat finish. Remember, your top coat will only be as good as what's underneath, the only time I put anything other than the top coats over primer is an undercoat for reds. I do have some celly filler primer but only use this as a last resort to help blend locos thar are badly scratched when the builder has scraped excess solder off too harshly.
Reading how you put your primer on, I would go a bit wetter next time if I were you. You shouldn't have to turn the pressure up to stop spattering, that's because the mix is too thick. Ideally you should be turning the pressure down to stop the primer been blown int waves.
The mix I use is 1 part primer to 2 parts activator to 1 part cellulose thinner, it works and is also the same mix used by Bracks and Ian Rathbone.
Hope this is of help to you
Warren

 

[warren haywood]

Just to add, you could paint the whole lot black first then go on with the green, green is a very dense pigment and covers black without any problems, probably much easier to mask aswell. This is how I do all my green locos.
Warren

 

[alcazar]

As regards the car: had ANY work done on it recently? What you describe sounds like an air-locked coolant system, and needs to be sorted.

If not already done, get a "sniff test" done to rule out head-gasket failure.