Alan's Workbench

[Tullygrainey]

Little Things Sent To Try Us Department: Bending handrails. And pipes. 

Trying to thread handrail knobs, I’m convinced each time that the little brat doesn’t have a hole in it. But they always do. 

Onwards with eyestrain,

Alan

[Galteemore]

Fabulous. I always find bending the ejector pipe one of the most trying parts of a build: yours looks very neat. 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Galteemore

[Tullygrainey]

19 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

I always find bending the ejector pipe one of the most trying parts of a build: yours looks very neat. 

Three attempts 

[Mayner]

Fair play Alan for forming the skirts where the chimney/dome sit on the smokebox/boiler, its something I haven't been able to get my head around physically using a lathe or in CAD work for 3D printing.

You appear to be able to build a loco from scratch than I can assemble a kit.

Interestingly I originally though the BCDR 0-6-4T was based on the "Large Leitrim Tank" design and did not realise it was a completely different design until I noticed the longer distance between the driving and trailing axle on your model than on the Leitrim (& South Australian) locos and realised the BCDR loco was not a "Long Boiler' type with the firebox placed behind the rear driving axle. 

[Tullygrainey]

10 hours ago, Mayner said:

Fair play Alan for forming the skirts where the chimney/dome sit on the smokebox/boiler, its something I haven't been able to get my head around physically using a lathe or in CAD work for 3D printing.

Thanks John. I can understand the difficulties in achieving that and I suspect making them by hand may be easier in some respects. It's a case of bend a bit, file a bit, fill a bit, bend it some more, start again. No maths or geometry involved!

[Tullygrainey]

Last chance to see: No.29 in all its brassy brassiness before the great Halfords coverup. Or should that be the great Halfords show-up-all-the-flaws-I-didn't-notice? Bit of both I think.

Onwards with rattle cans

Alan

[David Holman]

Very pretty, VERY neat and tidy, while am certain Bachmann, Hornby or anyone else are not going to bring out a rtr version either.

 Looks a real treat Alan and hope your cans rattle better than mine!

[Patrick Davey]

Such a masterpiece Alan - especially the chimney!!!

[Galteemore]

What a fabulous looking little engine! Real beauty. Fine workmanship on show here. 

[Killian Keane]

An absolute masterclass in traditional brass modelling, very heartening to see

[Mayner]

On 2/6/2023 at 10:18 AM, Mayner said:

Fair play Alan for forming the skirts where the chimney/dome sit on the smokebox/boiler, its something I haven't been able to get my head around physically using a lathe or in CAD work for 3D printing.

You appear to be able to build a loco from scratch quicker than I can assemble a kit.

Interestingly I originally though the BCDR 0-6-4T was based on the "Large Leitrim Tank" design and did not realise it was a completely different design until I noticed the longer distance between the driving and trailing axle on your model than on the Leitrim (& South Australian) locos and realised the BCDR loco was not a "Long Boiler' type with the firebox placed behind the rear driving axle. 

 

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Brilliant 

[Tullygrainey]

Bye bye brass

Managed to get away with not too much filling. It's very grey isn't it! Actually it's now black to give a good dark base for the green topcoats when we get to them. But before that....

 

More Little Things Sent To Try Us: Rivet transfers

My first use of Railtec's 3D rivet waterslide transfers. They come in a range of sizes and spacings and are beautifully crisp but extremely delicate so they need very careful handling. Moulded in white, they're easy to see against a dark background. By the same token, any irregularities in applying them are horribly apparent in photographs, especially in long runs. Witness some of the wobbly lines above. This should be less apparent once the paint goes on and the rivets are the same colour as the background. I hope. The larger black rivets on the smokebox are from my remaining stock of Archer transfers. Putting black rivets onto a black base was a laugh.

Alan

 

[Patrick Davey]

If I was wearing a hat, Alan, I would be taking it off!!

There is literally no way on earth I would have the ability to do that….

Another great update. Thank you!

[Tullygrainey]

Never say never Patrick. We’re all on learning curves here. That’s part of the pleasure

Edited June 10, 2023 by Tullygrainey
Typo

[Galteemore]

Totally agree Alan. The basic skills are accessible to pretty much anyone. Five years or so ago I had never even touched a brass kit….That said, you do show how far they can be developed.

[Tullygrainey]

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

Totally agree Alan. The basic skills are accessible to pretty much anyone. Five years or so ago I had never even touched a brass kit…

I think my learning curve mirrors yours David. I can remember not that long ago thinking that, even though the idea really appealed, building etched kits would be beyond me. And I still have the first Branchlines chassis I ever assembled. It never ran properly, and has defied subsequent attempts to make it work, but I learned a lot from it, not least that it was worth trying again. 
So Patrick, I have a spare soldering iron if you want to borrow it

 

Postscript: Reading this back, I need to add that the failure of my Branchlines chassis was nothing to do with the design of the chassis and all to do with the cack- handed actions of a beginner-builder!

Alan

Edited June 10, 2023 by Tullygrainey

[leslie10646]

29 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Totally agree Alan. The basic skills are accessible to pretty much anyone. Five years or so ago I had never even touched a brass kit….That said, you do show how far they can be developed.

Hold on, David, your Dad told me what your grandfather did as his trade. You've benefited from the not-uncommon generation jump of skills!

Now, I don't dabble in this stuff, for obvious reasons - not least: shaky hands and one eye ....   BUT, I have learned that buying the right tools for the job makes everything a lot easier?

Money spent on the best tools and material that you can afford usually pays off.

[Tullygrainey]

1 hour ago, leslie10646 said:

Money spent on the best tools and material that you can afford usually pays off.

It does Leslie but it leaves you with nothing to blame

[leslie10646]

Ah, yes, that's the downside!

Alan, I didn't commend you for the lovely little loco. The late "Mac" Arnold and Des Coakham would have wept to see such a lovely model from a favourite railway.

Edited June 10, 2023 by leslie10646

[Tullygrainey]

That’s praise indeed! Thank you Leslie

[Tullygrainey]

Finally got all the rivets in place. Then another coat of black to blend them in….

Put the first green top coat on. Then, while examining the finish (and this is going to sound familiar David) I dropped it. On the carpet. Before the paint was dry. Enter the BCDR’s first fluffy locomotive. 

No photos. It’s too depressing. I picked the worst bits off with tweezers but I’m not sure it’s saveable. The disadvantage of rivet transfers is that they can’t be sanded and it’s difficult to sand round them. Stripping the paint will remove them. Bu**er!
 

Seeking counselling

Alan

[David Holman]

I feel your pain!

Hopefully only one side affected? Really looking the business too...

And never mind the counselling, where's the drinks cupboard?!

[Tullygrainey]

It was just the cab/tank/bunker section David but when it hit the carpet it rolled! Nice even coverage

[popeye]

Sometimes a little bit of thinners on a brush will wipe them off, just keep away from the rivets.

Loco looks great, good job. 

[David Holman]

That's not a bad idea. Ian Rathbone's book on painting and lining suggests something similar to remove bits of over painting or small errors with a bow pen. Wait until the paint is nearly dry and then use a fine brush, dipped in thinners on the area concerned. The paint comes away like magic. Wipe the brush on tissue and repeat until the area is cleared.

 Worth a try?

[popeye]

3 hours ago, David Holman said:

That's not a bad idea. Ian Rathbone's book on painting and lining suggests something similar to remove bits of over painting or small errors with a bow pen. Wait until the paint is nearly dry and then use a fine brush, dipped in thinners on the area concerned. The paint comes away like magic. Wipe the brush on tissue and repeat until the area is cleared.

 Worth a try?

I do it like that all the time, it's great for tidying edges and mistakes.

[Patrick Davey]

Just catching up on this Alan, the locomotive looks absolutely stunning, especially in the black with the rivets blended in - I am 100% certain you will get over the slight mishap!

[Tullygrainey]

Well I fiddled and faffed with the fluffy loco, even tried another coat of green,  but I knew I’d never be happy with it so out came the cellulose thinners. 
Hello again brass. Thought we’d seen the last of you!

 

Must remember not to have my muesli from that bowl again. 

Onwards with nary a backward glance

Alan

[David Holman]

That will certainly paint well. Sure it's not 7mm (and you have very big hands)?

[Mayner]

Been there dropped models, made a mess of the paintwork, one of the greatest advantages of brass or other metals unlike plastics and card is that you can almost always save the model.

[Tullygrainey]

Very true John. I was able to just scrub away at it till all the paint was gone. Amazingly, a lot of the rivet transfers clung on longer than the paint before finally peeling off.

[David Holman]

Rightly or wrongly, I plastered my E class in Nitromores paint stripper. Wouldn't recommend it on plastic though...

[Tullygrainey]

Some progress with former fluffy loco No.29, at last. I considered trying to build an anti-gravity device in case I dropped it again but decided in the end to just be more careful.

Another black base coat sealed the brass, then the rivets were added. Again. 

 

Two coats of green enamel blended the rivets in. The boiler didn't get intimate with the carpet during the Butterfingers Affair so it wasn't stripped back. 

 

Next, the lining transfers (from Fox Transfers). As I've said before, the lining is over-scale but I can live with that.

Challenging stuff, this. Frustrating and satisfying in equal measure. The little jig made of card and cocktail sticks suspends the thing above the work surface so the transfers on one side one don't get accidentally abraded or rubbed off whilst working on the other side. Another lesson learned the hard way.

 

Lining finished and sealed with a coat of enamel satin varnish. 

 

I'll give the finish a few days to harden before re-fitting all the detail bits and re-uniting body and chassis. 

Onwards with a great sense of relief

Alan

 

 

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Beautiful work