David's Workbench

[Mayner]

Atkinson Walker built 25 geared steam locos mainly standard gauge for use in industry. The CVR tractor appears to have been the only one considered to be a failure, possibly CVR  loco crew lack of familiarity with firing vertical boilers rather than any inherent failings with the loco itself. http://glostransporthistory.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/ROD_Universal Works_British steam.html.

Atkinson-Walker appears to have gone out of production as a result of the Depression and competition from Sentinel. The Atkinson-Walker business re-emerged in 1933 as Atkinson Lorries a successful British heavy vehicle manufacture, not sure if there was a connection with Walker Bros of Wigan who built diesel railcars from the 1930s onwards.

[David Holman]

AW  Steam Tractor

 Progress thus far on the model. Not that many etches to play with, so the loco body went together in fairly quick time. The main issues were working out what went where, as Worsley Works does not provide any instructions, or even a drawing. Hence found myself working to the photo in Patterson's book and a drawing, courtesy of Roger Cromblehome in his book on the County Donegal. The latter of course is its later incarnation, Phoenix, so a bit of guesswork required for the AW. Happily, there is a spare window frame included in the Worsley etches, so this enabled me to fabricate a different cab end from brass sheet. Being a bit of a bodger, I cut this with strong scissors - so not as troublesome as might first seem. Also cut out another piece to form the bonnet [actually a water tank] top, while the AW has much deeper buffer beams from than Phoenix, so these were cut out again from brass sheet.

 So, on to the fiddly bits! First were the steps, not included in the etches, which I made up from scrap etches, next the beading, which is 0.9mm nickel silver wire. Worsley helpful again here with etched rebates in the sides to ensure alignment. At this point, suddenly found my modelling wings severely clipped when my 100 watt iron packed up. A Weller, it has stood me in good stead for years, but has now gone in the bin.  So, all I had now was a 25 watt and a 15 watt, neither of which are powerful enough to solder anything to an already made up brass body. Redemption came in the form of my RSU, which I am guilty of not using nearly enough. 

 RSU means resistance soldering unit and can be seen in the pictures. It comprises a metal box with the electrical gubbins inside, a foot operated switch and two leads, one of which is soldered to a sheet of nickel silver, the other is a carbon probe. You might just be able to see in the picture, that depending on which sockets you put the leads in, will vary the power of the unit - from  one volt to 4.5 volts. The latter might not seem much, but this represents enough power to actually vaporise small etchings [been there, got the T-shirt], so I normally use it on 3 volts. To operate the RSU, you either need to pre-tin one or both pieces to be joined, or used solder paint. This is more like a thin paste, which [I think] is mix of flux and solder in suspension. Once applied to one of the items which are to be joined, you bring the two together, apply the carbon probe and press the foot switch. Very quickly,  heat is generated and you can see the solder flowing. Taking your foot off the switch, you can leave the probe in contact with the work until the solder joint sets, which is very useful - almost like having a third hand.

  Anyway, used the RSU to sweat together etches for the for axlebox/spring units, then changed tack and went over to adhesives. First were the two I section plastic beams for the under frames, then I had to make 8 plastic brackets to fixed the axle box units to with Gorilla glue. This morning, the wheels arrived in the post from Alan Gibson [very prompt], so after grinding off some of the chassis block, these went on the axles, though I'll need to add overlays to make them look like discs instead of spokes.

 So, there we are so far. Still a lot of detail to add, including some very awkwardly shaped sandboxes, plus the interior [cylinders and boiler], so will report again when I get a bit further.

[David Holman]

More work, and some rebuilding, for the tractor.

 If nothing else, the previous photos have showed that I was not born with a silver soldering iron in my hands! Ok, so the photos on a laptop screen make the model at least twice as big as it is, but some of that work looked decidedly scruffy. Some elements were plain wrong too. Not entirely my fault, although as ever, the old adage of measure twice, cut once, applies.

  However, photos do help with 'proof reading' and highlighted a couple of problems with the model, apart from the scruffy soldering. Firstly, one of the upper sides, with a longer window, wasn't level, so some tweaking [using the RSU to melt the solder joint] was required. Not too bad as it turned out, but more of a problem was how wrong the under frame looked. The problem boiled down to using Worsley etches for the spring/axlebox mounts. Checking with photo's and Roger's drawing showed they are too deep and too short. So, off they came, with new ones made up plasticard as before. This closed the gap between the mounts and made the whole under frame look/sit better.

 The awkwardly shaped sand boxes came next [plasticard], after which some basic brake gear was added. Unfortunately, the cast chassis is rather obvious but, along with the missing chain drive, I am going to have to live with that - at least for now. The fenders had been causing many a furrowed brow, so what I've added is more of an impression that anything accurate. It would be a major micro engineering job to fabricate them as per prototype. Look at the B&W photo to see what I mean. I've also had to make cut outs for the Kadee couplings. 

 This morning, had a go at the interior. The windows are big enough for there to require an impression of the boiler, cylinders, controls and piping. These have been cobbled together from odds and ends. Lacking any precise detail, I've simply gone with a general impression and once the roof is on, hopefully this will be ok. Other work has included adding pick ups [phosphor bronze wire] and connecting up the motor. Test running shows that with my Gaugemaster hand held controller, running is slow and smooth enough for the shunting duties the model will be required to do. 

 A bit more cleaning up, then apart from the lights, it will be off to the paint shop, about which not much to say, as it was grey. Am thinking of naming it 'Fintonagh'. The original never had name or number, so if it had survived to work my station, then that makes the name appropriate. The roof is not fixed yet, plus there is the chimney and water tank filler to add too.

Edited November 16, 2018 by David Holman

[Noel]

Sublime 

[jhb171achill]

That is (yet another) masterpiece, David!

[David Holman]

 Needed a bit of light relief from the 101, so with the AW tractor nearing completion, decided it was time I finished it off. Mostly it was painting. Started with a couple of coats of Halford's grey primer, then once that was dry, could paint the interior fittings black and the buffer beams red [both acrylic]. Glazing came next, then a single crewman, after which it was time to fit the roof.

 Lettering is my preferred method of dipping pen with white ink. The assumption is that the CVR did buy the loco, after further testing, so it became No 8 on the loco fleet. Talking to folk, there is feeling that the CVR crews might have scuppered the original deal, as the tractor was intended for one person operation - thereby doing a fireman out of a job. The unusual firebox [the door was in the floor of the cab], may have caused problems too.

 The photo in Patterson's book shows it to be a fairly grubby condition, so I've tried to replicate this with weathering powders. A word of warning here. Humbrol black weathering powder is pretty strong stuff and if anything, sticks rather too well - creating unwanted streaks when I tried dusting it on. Extensive cleaning up was required to get rid of these, using cotton buds dipped in meths & wiping off the streaks with a vertical motion, to simulate the effect of rain running down the sides. The Humbrol powder is ok on the chassis and mixes well with other tints, but will not be using it on bodywork again - indeed the roof will probably need repainting.

[David Holman]

At Warley, bought  " Locomotives of the GSR", by Jeremy Clements and Michael McMahon.

 Actually, the wife gave me the money for it as a Christmas present. Hence, only really got my hands on it yesterday, but well worth the wait.

 What a fantastic, encyclopaedic tome!

[jhb171achill]

A beauty, David - well done. I would leave the roof as in real life it would be much more filthy on a beast like that. I think it looks very realistic.

1 hour ago, David Holman said:

At Warley, bought  " Locomotives of the GSR", by Jeremy Clements and Michael McMahon.

 Actually, the wife gave me the money for it as a Christmas present. Hence, only really got my hands on it yesterday, but well worth the wait.

 What a fantastic, encyclopaedic tome!

I got a water-damaged edition a few years ago when it came out, for next to nothing. False economy; the cover keeps falling off due to the water damage! Very irritating!

Yes, a superb piece of work - though how a reference work of this stature was published with no index is beyond me!

[Glenderg]

David, 

As a relative new user when it comes to weathering powders, Humbrols powders generally get panned for being a bit "aggressive" and some times just plain wrong in certain shades. If super subtle is what you are after, ground down chalk pastels are the business. You really need to work the dust to get any real connection. Mig Ammo's weathering powders are similar to this, and work a treat on military models for subtle shading. I like to use them on areas where, say, the background is very light, and the weathering a vast difference, such as rust. 

There is another range by AK Interactive (Mig Jimenez of Mig Ammo made that range too, but there was a bit of a falling out so he made his own company.) The AK Interactive powders are a bit more aggressive, but can be soothed much easier and I'd favour them any day over the rest.

That said, the cheapo in me likes sanding down a charcoal stick on some sandpaper and using the resulting powder for roofs, shur it's the same material as the real thing for kettle work? 

Richie.  

[David Holman]

 With Arigna Town now retired from the exhibition circuit, it seemed appropriate to put some of the stock on display at home, rather than have it hidden away in boxes. Makes a nice reminder of what I've made over the last few years. 

 Left to right, we have two SLNCR Small Tanks [both North Star, now Studio Scale kits], Timoleague & Courtmacsherry 0-4-2T Lark [Tyrconnel kit], SLNCR Large Tank, Sir Henry [scratchbuilt].

The second shelf has E/J26 0-6-0T [Tyrconnel], Richard Chown's Shannon, and MGW G2 2-4-0 [Tyrconnel]

The third shelf has Deutz G class diesel [Worsley etches] and SLNCR Railcar B, with Railbus 2a [both scratchbuilt].

[Glover]

That is truly a Wall of Fame & Achievment David; you are entitled to feel a little pride in your work.

Cheers

Glover

[KMCE]

David,

That is an impressive line up of motive power, all the more special as you constructed most of them.  

Well done Sir, and you're right not to hide them away in boxes - they deserve to be on display until their next outing.

Beautiful models - you can be rightly proud of them.

Ken

[murrayec]

Treasures

 

[David Holman]

Bought a couple of new toys at the Tonbridge show this weekend. The first is a silicon soldering mat that I got from the Squires stand. Works up to 500c and contains all manner of small compartments to stop stuff disappearing, plus a couple of magnetic areas as well. Already wondering how I ever got on without it, having soldered etched brass numbers to my 101's plates without any singing or nasty smells that emanate from the bit of 12mm ply I usually use.

 Also treated myself to a basic 'bow pen'. Having heard all sorts of stories about them [few good] over the years, I found time to have a chat with Chris Heacham, proprietor of Golden Arrow Models and very helpful he was too. First experiences decidedly poor, as you can see from my much abused industrial loco body. One of these days, I ought to make a new chassis for it, as it is a fair lookalike for several Irish industrials. Will need to soak off about 1mm of paint first though, as it has been a test bed for spray painting for a while now. Anyway, though neat Humbrol is the usual go to for lining with a bow pen, recently I've found myself less happy with what is in their tinlets. Used a brand new red and ivory to try the pen, but the paint is just took thick and despite various attempts to thin it, including lighter fuel, things have not gone well, as you can see.

 Enamel paint takes ages to dry, and would then need sanding back and respraying to deal with any mistakes - something I don't want to be doing once I start on the 101. Hence have been trying acrylic and my Model Colour 'Vallejo' squeezy bottles seem much better, with the advantage of mistakes able to be wiped off with a damp cloth too. The nozzle means you can put paint directly into the jaws of the pen, rather than having to dip & then wipe. The improvement in the second photo is considerable, methinks!

 Would welcome any comments/advice on the use of bow pens - I really am a complete beginner.

[Noel]

Hi David. Thanks for the info. Your post is very timely as I have never used a bow pen but beginning to think it is something I may have bite the bullet and to use one. I would need it for lining coach resprays (eg RPSI blue'n'cream for the black linking between the cream and blue), and other coach liveries I hope to do one day. Good to know it works with Vallejo Model color as I prefer working with Acrylics to Humbrol enamels.

[murrayec]

Hi David

Grab a copy of Ian Rathbone's Book 'Painting & Lining' by Wild Swan Publications ISBN 978 1 905184 54 5 and its in colour!!

He has all manner of tips n jigs for working with enamel paint and bow pens, excellent tips on cleaning up mistakes without resorting to sandpaper

Eoin

[Noel]

13 minutes ago, murrayec said:

Hi David

Grab a copy of Ian Rathbone's Book 'Painting & Lining' by Wild Swan Publications ISBN 978 1 905184 54 5 and its in colour!!

He has all manner of tips n jigs for working with enamel paint and bow pens, excellent tips on cleaning up mistakes without resorting to sandpaper

Eoin

Thanks Eoin. Unfortunately Books and I don't get on due the after effects of lexdysia, it takes me ages to read them, but I've watched some of Ian Rathbone's superb YouTube videos on painting and lining, especially his one on the use of bow pens. 

[David Holman]

Thanks Eoin. Had forgotten about that. I have a copy and very good it is too.

[KMCE]

Hello David,

Another option you might consider are draughting pens - I picked up two Rotring Isograph pens (0,5mm & 0.2mm) for lining as I have zero experience with bow pens, but quite a bit with pens. 

Rotring & others provide different colours  so it should be possible to make a suitable mix to get the colour you want. 

The pen has a simple internal cartridge which is easy to fill & clean.  

I find the pens easy enough to use on a gloss finish, and propose to airbrush a light coat of varnish over the ink to finish it.

 

Oh - they also work very well with lettering stencils, so those hard to get transfers, may be possible with stencilling?

 

Just a thought.

Regards,

Ken

Edited February 18, 2019 by KMCE

[murrayec]

David

Another excellent book is Mr Christopher Vine's 'How (not) to paint a locomotive' ISBN 978-0-9553359-0-7

There is an excellent section on lining a loco, he more refers to RL Moore's lining pen, the Beugler Pinstriping tool, and masking film. His discussion is filled with helpful tips, things not to do, and gadgets he makes to assist in lining. The rest of the book is a mine of information for painting a loco, he's working in large scale but the paint can't tell the difference....

He is a 2004 gold medal winner in model engineering for his stunning 7 & 1/4 inch gauge LNER B1 'Bongo'

Eoin

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by murrayec

[murrayec]

David

Have a look here;-

 

[David Holman]

Was sure I'd posted that what Eoin has created is his own version of the R L Moore lining pen, but doesn't seem to be here. A clever idea, nevertheless.

First picture is of the drawing set I found on a general stall at a local antiques fair. Don't often attend these, but have been on the look out recently, just in case, as such things are not readily available anymore in these days of computer aided design. The set, in its original box [sadly no maker's name], was on sale for £28, but in best 'Bargain Hunt' tradition [you can see how I spend my lunchtimes], I offered the lady a £20 note, which was accepted. Given my second hand bow pen cost me £12 on its own, this set looks an absolute bargain and the bow pen that is part of it looks better quality too.

 The other pictures are of an Alphagraphix GSWR six wheeler. It is the 'sleeper' coach, which has a clerestory roof, but I have left this out and am building it as one of the '300' series 4 compartment firsts. I picked up the model partly finished as part of bits left over from the Richard Chown estate. He had made the body shell, but when I opened the box though all the castings were present, the sole bars, buffer beams and Cleminson chassis were missing. However, there were several other bags of bits which should prove useful [castings and etches]. Having built more than a few coaches in my time, making up solerbars, floor etc wasn't a problem, so I ordered a Cleminson unit from Alphagraphix. This is a really clever design that works just as well in standard as broad gauge. There are white metal castings for buffers, springs, etc, but you have to make the ventilators yourself and also the grab handles for the doors. These are an especially fiendish item, each requiring no less than six bends; I also need to buy some more door handles.

 Otherwise, the model is ready for the paint shops am hoping to find a car spray paint to match the GSWR 'dark lake'. Black and white photos appear to suggest that ends were the same colour as the sides - if not, am hoping JHB can put me right!

[Broithe]

8 minutes ago, David Holman said:

Was sure I'd posted that what Eoin has created is his own version of the R L Moore lining pen, but doesn't seem to be here.

You did - I thought I was going mad, too - but, it was here.
 

 

[David Holman]

Of course, a different section. Thanks Broithe.

[Broithe]

I blame @murrayec

[WaYSidE]

1 hour ago, David Holman said:

The set, in its original box [sadly no maker's name], was on sale for £28, but in best 'Bargain Hunt' tradition [you can see how I spend my lunchtimes], I offered the lady a £20 note, which was accepted. Given my second hand bow pen cost me £12 on its own, this set looks an absolute bargain and the bow pen that is part of it looks better quality too.

 

ah! something i do know about,  check out Cartographer's drawing sets, drafting tools but especially 'technical pens' - 'Cartographer's ruling pen' /ruling bow pens,  there are plenty of these old drafting tool sets about usually for same price as new ones, old sets are lovely to use and while often available very cheap with a piece or two missing from the set marked as incomplete, usually the ink nibs,.  I often see the pen in such sets, from €5 at car boot sales, your price was about right for full set. There are brass sets too. some marked sets go for more than an average loco

[Broithe]

1 hour ago, David Holman said:

First picture is of the drawing set I found on a general stall at a local antiques fair. Don't often attend these, but have been on the look out recently, just in case, as such things are not readily available anymore in these days of computer aided design. The set, in its original box [sadly no maker's name], was on sale for £28, but in best 'Bargain Hunt' tradition [you can see how I spend my lunchtimes], I offered the lady a £20 note, which was accepted. Given my second hand bow pen cost me £12 on its own, this set looks an absolute bargain and the bow pen that is part of it looks better quality too.

 

That has the look of a British Thornton style set - although Hellerman used to sell German-made unbranded sets of a very similar type. The clasp fastening, rather than the later 'sliding bar' catches, would imply an earlier date.

Sometimes, there was a bit of gold-blocked printing in the centre of the lid lining, with some sort of identification on it, but this often wore off quickly on the satin linings, more so than the 'velvet' ones.

 

I still have my original set, bought for thirty bob in 1971, and a few more, picked up at boot sales...

[WaYSidE]

Gb antique shops have heaps of them,  Irish ones not so many

[Broithe]

24 minutes ago, WaYSidE said:

Gb antique shops have heaps of them,  Irish ones not so many

Technical Drawing was a specific subject in most secondary schools on the Big Island up into the 1980s.

I still have all my old stuff, flexicurves, French curves, stencils, adjustable set square, trammels, Rotring pens, etc.

 

I finally got a planimeter a few years ago - always wanted one...

Edited March 11, 2019 by Broithe

[murrayec]

Nice find & buy @David Holman

Your post reminded me I picked up a nice find also- a Lining Wheel Bow Pen for €5.00

Comes in a neat folding case with pin lock for putting in ones top pocket, Ivory type handle and a bow type affair to load the ink. Three interchangeable wheels;- dot dot dot, -  dot dash dot, - & dash dash dash, the handle unscrews to reveal a pin! could be for loading the ink or for correcting mistakes?

I plan to make a few continuous wheels, but there is only 1mm width where the wheel goes through the bow- so .3, .5 & .7mm maybe.

Back in its box.....

Eoin

[WaYSidE]

My oldest one,

 

and then this

a planimeter, area, and FINGER Measure app,

for measuring distance on map,google map does, and FINGER Measure app, for phone, uses google map and give liner and area measurements, make your life easy .

 

or this

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinhaus_longimeter
The Steinhaus longimeter, patented by the professor Hugo Steinhaus, is an instrument used to measure the lengths of curves on maps. It is a transparent sheet of three grids, turned against each other by 30 degrees, each consisting of perpendicular lines spaced at equal distances 3.82 mm.

Edited March 12, 2019 by WaYSidE
pics, correction

[Broithe]

A planimeter is for measuring areas.

Mine is an Aristo.

[Broithe]

Distances along wiggly lines on maps were generally done with this sort of thing.

[WaYSidE]

Broithe

yes i know, i rushed the post , its on the intructions in box. bu i thought as it was for measuring planes, not trains, i just pxxss u off

Edited March 12, 2019 by WaYSidE

[WaYSidE]

oh dear, maybe this post should be moved to tip and tools, there is so many apps and tools that apply. and now there is a microscope camera to plug to phone for closeups.

but my fav tool is this, a trials plot combine,  i drive this one all summer

its 1972 german made with VW petrol engine,  maintained by Ken Graham, who runs Stradbally steam rally,

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by WaYSidE