The title says it all. You are looking at a finished model railway locomotive.
I’m very pleased with it.
Showing posts with label Merchant Navy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Merchant Navy. Show all posts
Monday, September 11, 2006
Friday, September 08, 2006
Axle Box
Just when I thought I might be finished I remember that the Merchant Navy is missing an axlebox.
Early in the project I had noticed that the rear pony wheels were more exposed than they should be. At the time I hoped to get a replacement casting from the kit manufacturer so the missing part would be easy to replace. No sign of it though so I had to improvise.
Luckily there was only one missing box and I could use that to base my replacement on. If I had the stuff available a mould would have been taken and a new part cast in polyester resin. As it wasn’t a crude plasticard facsimile was knocked up instead.
As the model is destined to be a layout locomotive and not a glass case example my version will look fine. It’s not far off the quality of the real casting and will certainly past muster as the model rushes past at the head of a train. Even standing still the eye won’t see it – just the whole model. If the wheel was still naked then you’d spot it though !
Early in the project I had noticed that the rear pony wheels were more exposed than they should be. At the time I hoped to get a replacement casting from the kit manufacturer so the missing part would be easy to replace. No sign of it though so I had to improvise.
Luckily there was only one missing box and I could use that to base my replacement on. If I had the stuff available a mould would have been taken and a new part cast in polyester resin. As it wasn’t a crude plasticard facsimile was knocked up instead.
As the model is destined to be a layout locomotive and not a glass case example my version will look fine. It’s not far off the quality of the real casting and will certainly past muster as the model rushes past at the head of a train. Even standing still the eye won’t see it – just the whole model. If the wheel was still naked then you’d spot it though !
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Tail lights
Last job – paint the lights on the back of the Merchant Navy. Despite the model being in 7mm scale, they don’t work (Steam loco people are less keen on this sort of thing than their diesel comrades) being whitemetal castings. A touch of colour on the lens makes them look more like they could work.
Ideally a dark but imperceptibly red paint is required. I find gunmetal looks OK once it has a bit of gloss varnish on it as well. Mind you the camera makes them look matt which is most annoying. Never mind, at least this is another project finished and ready for the rails.
Ideally a dark but imperceptibly red paint is required. I find gunmetal looks OK once it has a bit of gloss varnish on it as well. Mind you the camera makes them look matt which is most annoying. Never mind, at least this is another project finished and ready for the rails.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Locomotive crew
All model railway locomotives must have a crew on the footplate. I don’t care whether there are any people on the rest of the model, bare footplates are wrong. Actually bare footplates, bridges and cockpits are wrong but I’m only concerned with railways here.
After a bit (OK, a lot) of digging in the maturing cupboard I extracted this Nu-cast whitemetal crew from a box of O gauge stuff. Just the job to man the Merchant Navy. The cab will cover their shortcomings as neither is exactly the greatest example of the figure sculptors art !
Handily, both figures have pegs on one foot so they can be supported in a big blob of Blu-Tack for painting. I use a mix of greys and grey-blues with off white (Humbrol 147) for the shirts. The flesh colour is Revell as it looks (to me) more natural than the Humbrol equivalent.
Once the basic painting is properly dry, the figure is washed with matt black to highlight the crevasses. This is a really weak mix to give a subtle effect. Since the crew would be pretty grimy from coal dust and general footplate grime the models mustn’t be pristine. All except their boots which are properly shiny thanks to some satin paint.
After a bit (OK, a lot) of digging in the maturing cupboard I extracted this Nu-cast whitemetal crew from a box of O gauge stuff. Just the job to man the Merchant Navy. The cab will cover their shortcomings as neither is exactly the greatest example of the figure sculptors art !
Handily, both figures have pegs on one foot so they can be supported in a big blob of Blu-Tack for painting. I use a mix of greys and grey-blues with off white (Humbrol 147) for the shirts. The flesh colour is Revell as it looks (to me) more natural than the Humbrol equivalent.
Once the basic painting is properly dry, the figure is washed with matt black to highlight the crevasses. This is a really weak mix to give a subtle effect. Since the crew would be pretty grimy from coal dust and general footplate grime the models mustn’t be pristine. All except their boots which are properly shiny thanks to some satin paint.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Pretty face
The Merchant Navy Locomotive is very, very nearly finished with only a couple of minor details to attend to. On the tender the light lenses need painting in and the model has to go through its paces again on the club layout. It certainly looks better than the slightly battered example I started with.
The front coupling is good and strong although I doubt it needs to be as I express locomotives never hauled much in reverse. Behind the buffer beam the hook is held on with a spring and bit of wire through the shank. Since the spring had long since vanished I had to replace it with one from a ballpoint pen suitably shortened. You would get a full locomotive set from one pen, which is probably cheaper than buying them from coupling manufacturers !
The front coupling is good and strong although I doubt it needs to be as I express locomotives never hauled much in reverse. Behind the buffer beam the hook is held on with a spring and bit of wire through the shank. Since the spring had long since vanished I had to replace it with one from a ballpoint pen suitably shortened. You would get a full locomotive set from one pen, which is probably cheaper than buying them from coupling manufacturers !
Monday, August 21, 2006
Plates
Heading toward the finishing post with the MN, I need to refurbish the nameplates.
The plates are etched brass and had tarnished over the years. Rubbing the surface with a very fine jewellers sanding stick – a pink one if this helps – burnished the brass. Using the stick means that I didn’t remove the paint that is a danger if you just use your finger. Also the abrasive is very, very fine, rough paper feels bumpier to the finger.
A quick coat of gloss varnish should seal the shine in for a while now. I touched up the blue centre s as well. These should have a pair of flags in but I haven’t a clue where to source the transfers. If I could find a good clear colour picture I might be tempted to paint them in by hand but for the moment I leave them blank. Sometimes not doing a job is better than doing it badly.
The front numberplates were more fun. They had the wrong background and had to be painted black. Then the numerals were picked out in white. The black was touched up where the white had spilled over. The white was re-done in places where it wasn’t quite right. Then the black was touched up again. I wish they were brass colour – I could “paint” this with sandpaper !
The plates are etched brass and had tarnished over the years. Rubbing the surface with a very fine jewellers sanding stick – a pink one if this helps – burnished the brass. Using the stick means that I didn’t remove the paint that is a danger if you just use your finger. Also the abrasive is very, very fine, rough paper feels bumpier to the finger.
A quick coat of gloss varnish should seal the shine in for a while now. I touched up the blue centre s as well. These should have a pair of flags in but I haven’t a clue where to source the transfers. If I could find a good clear colour picture I might be tempted to paint them in by hand but for the moment I leave them blank. Sometimes not doing a job is better than doing it badly.
The front numberplates were more fun. They had the wrong background and had to be painted black. Then the numerals were picked out in white. The black was touched up where the white had spilled over. The white was re-done in places where it wasn’t quite right. Then the black was touched up again. I wish they were brass colour – I could “paint” this with sandpaper !
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Satin
Paint can make or break a model. The Merchant Navy has reached the stage where it needs the paint tidying up. I’ve had to patch a few green bits but the black parts were the worst.
Fortunately black takes patching well and you can’t see all of the joins – Humbrol satin black goes on really nicely with a brush. Once this was done I cleaned the loco up and gave it a quick spray of satin varnish to brighten things up. It was a real transformation with the colour coming alive again.
Time to touch up the chassis matt black and then screw the thing together properly now.
Fortunately black takes patching well and you can’t see all of the joins – Humbrol satin black goes on really nicely with a brush. Once this was done I cleaned the loco up and gave it a quick spray of satin varnish to brighten things up. It was a real transformation with the colour coming alive again.
Time to touch up the chassis matt black and then screw the thing together properly now.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Twelve wheels on my ..er.. loco.
The biggest problem with the Merchant Navy Locomotive was that the front bogie wasn’t attached to the chassis. What was worse was that it appeared never to have been attached to the chassis.
This has puzzled me for a while. Why finish the model as far as painting and not complete the chassis so it can run on your model railway ? The answer wouldn’t have helped of course. What I needed to do was rectify the problem.
Now there is a hole above the place the bogie should be but it’s very high and too small for anything that you’d want controlling O gauge wheels. After a bit of playing around I worked out that a largish (M4 I think) bolt would fit reasonably well. Since the bogie stretcher has a slot in it I needed to bush this. Digging in the bush pot I found what may be a 7mm scale axle bush. This fitted the bolt and was slightly too large for the slot. Opening out the later with a file cured this.
The plate the nut is attached to came from some leftover brass from the G2. Always hang on to useful bits left over from kits as they are very handy. Just don’t forget to turn those empty frets into strips or you will quickly find your work area taken over by them !
Yet again I couldn’t solder to the frames. They are 2mm thick brass and despite my best efforts with a mini blowtorch, no solder will stick as I couldn’t get the metal hot enough. If the whitemetal cylinders weren’t attached I might have been more courageous but I really didn’t want to have to replace these. Because of this, some nice thick Araldite hold it in place. Unfashionable though this method is – it works.
After letting the glue dry I was able to run the model on the test track – a 6ft straight. The fireworks (sparks caused by short circuits) showed I needed to cut the frames away a bit or the loco wasn’t going around corners. More work with the big file, no good using needle files on this stuff, and the sparks stopped. I might find myself insulating the back of the front brake shoes with superglue just be extra sure.
This has puzzled me for a while. Why finish the model as far as painting and not complete the chassis so it can run on your model railway ? The answer wouldn’t have helped of course. What I needed to do was rectify the problem.
Now there is a hole above the place the bogie should be but it’s very high and too small for anything that you’d want controlling O gauge wheels. After a bit of playing around I worked out that a largish (M4 I think) bolt would fit reasonably well. Since the bogie stretcher has a slot in it I needed to bush this. Digging in the bush pot I found what may be a 7mm scale axle bush. This fitted the bolt and was slightly too large for the slot. Opening out the later with a file cured this.
The plate the nut is attached to came from some leftover brass from the G2. Always hang on to useful bits left over from kits as they are very handy. Just don’t forget to turn those empty frets into strips or you will quickly find your work area taken over by them !
Yet again I couldn’t solder to the frames. They are 2mm thick brass and despite my best efforts with a mini blowtorch, no solder will stick as I couldn’t get the metal hot enough. If the whitemetal cylinders weren’t attached I might have been more courageous but I really didn’t want to have to replace these. Because of this, some nice thick Araldite hold it in place. Unfashionable though this method is – it works.
After letting the glue dry I was able to run the model on the test track – a 6ft straight. The fireworks (sparks caused by short circuits) showed I needed to cut the frames away a bit or the loco wasn’t going around corners. More work with the big file, no good using needle files on this stuff, and the sparks stopped. I might find myself insulating the back of the front brake shoes with superglue just be extra sure.
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