Sunday, June 04, 2006

Big, fat, wire.


Curved handrails
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
How about this for a jump. When I fit handrails to model locomotives they are 0.45mm thick - 0.35mm in 3mm scale. On my boat the “wire” is 2.5mm wide !

The problems are no longer keeping the stuff straight – now bending rails requires the use of a pair of pliers and some serious force.

What I had to produce was a bit of a 3D puzzle. The rails have to curve around the back of the boat AND the rise of the sides. Worst of all the rail, while supported by stanchions, needs to bend down to finish in the top rail. This is the bit I messed up. Not a huge amount but enough for me to notice. The parts quickly became permanent fixtures thanks to the efficiency of the glue (Zap-a-Gap super glue). A minor dilemma is whether the damage done to remove them would be worse than the errors. I’ve taken the easy way out and left well alone. To my eyes there is a problem but I doubt others will spot it. If I think they will then they will only see the better side of the model !

Painting was fun. Can’t spray the brass with primer as it has to be glued to the model and the masking would be a nightmare. Handily it’s possible to buy touch up paint from Halfords and the range includes primer. This is the only paint I use which needs regular shaking while you are using it. On a hot day this is before dipping the brush in each time. It dries very, very fast. A smoother result would come from a slower dry but never mind. I did get the satin white on in a short space of time and the results look much better. Actually once the final colour was on I even managed to over look the imperfect bending.

One final problem was lack of material. In the box there is enough for the rear rail and one front one. Happily the K&S metal rack in the local model shop makes up for the deficiency. How else do you think I knew the size of the metal !?

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