And we're back in the room!
There has been a slight hiatus with the workbench. Domestic duties, visiting an air show, and acquiring a new pooter which has taken me the best part of two days to set up to my satisfaction, can all be blamed.
I have completed the D94's ends now. While I contemplate the graft of getting the remaining two pairs of gangways sorted out, I thought I'd turn my attention to the droplights.
As you may remember, the client thought it would be nice to have a couple of dropped lights to bring some life to the coaches. We also agreed to use microscope slide glass as the glazing material. I bought some CPL etched droplights at the ALSRM Reading show, and I sat down yesterday to figure out the best way to fit them into the moulded bodysides.
Here an example of a prepared window, filed and trimmed out to accept the brass droplight insert. How I hate such close-ups. They show such nastiness to the finish.
On the left, the raw material. On the right, a droplight about halfway to completion. Let me explain. The CPL etches are designed to fit into etched coaches, where the body sides are much thinner. The JLTRT sides are quite thick, and if I simply stuck the etch flat to the back of the door it would look horribly wrong. I therefore have to file back to slide the 'light into the frame, so it's about where the real thing would be as the window drops into the door itself.
To perform the miracle of slimming, I slapped black marker pen all over the etch. I carefully aligned it behind the door aperture, and scribed down the sides. This gave me the point to which I should trim. A sharp pair of Rolson scissors (which never seem to be blunted by cutting brass of this thickness) allowed me to carefully trim away - allowing for the slight curvature such trimming causes - with the final stretch done by filing and offering up to the aperture for a good interference fit. The visible top edge is likewise treated to represent the real top edge width. The final step is to trim off level to the height I want the droplight to be set at.
And here's the result. The first shot shows, hopefully, how the droplight is rebated in the door window aperture. The second shot compares it with an unmolested door window.
Thankfully, I only have a one or two droplights per side, and since I have worked out the method it doesn't take as long as I thought it might.
Once the sides are given there coats of paint, the glazing will be hopefully be a simple trim to fit into the space behind the droplight itself.
Livery note: The GWR livery of brown and cream shows droplights painted in brown - or varnished wood, depending on your interpretation. As these coaches will be in the BR "blood and custard" livery, the droplights are painted in cream.
Now back to the workbench!
