Mike G's Workspace.

[Mike Garwood]

Freddie Derek Wallington was born 18/08 at 15:50. And a very handsome boy he is to. Things are great for Fred - who's already out grown his new born clothes - not so much for my daughter Sarah. Just wishing her a speedy recovery and hope and pray that everything goes well in the forth coming tests.

In the mean time I've stuck my head back into the coach. A visit to Rumney models HQ yesterday saw the coach body get a blasting of BR maroon in cellulose. It's gone on nice and smooth but needs a rub down, in some areas and a few more coats to finish it off. This evening the bogie sides and chassis have gone into Vallejo Nato black, which is quite a matt colour. I used an etching primer, with celly thinners and paint (black). The additive for the primer was Tetrosyl etch primer. Now the last time I used this it was, to put it mildly, a real cock up. This time I used my Iwata airgun and it went on silky smooth, very impressive.
Attention has also been brought to bear on the interior. I have drawn up and had etched the chairs for the meeting table and the observation ends. I've built all 16 chairs and the obs chairs, still have some work to be done to them to make them look like comfortable chairs that 'management' would be expecting.

Cue the boring pictures...



Not the prettiest etches you'll see, but what's the chances of seeing these when the coach is moving.



MJT sides, other than off an R-T-R there are no finer castings...in my opinion.



I really like the Vallejo colour Nato black. It almost gives a gritty feel to it and gives a really good base for future weathering. All I need know is for SWMBO to disappear for a couple of hours so I can get the extra coats on.

I cannot wait to get this done so I can get back to the Grange.

Stay safe

Mike.

 

[Mike Garwood]

It's been a busy couple of evenings/days to get the coach this far...



Bogie sides on and bounce and run well.



Rubbing down and final coat achieved and looking good with a really good gloss finish.



Roof painted and complete, Vallejo light grey mixed with matt black. And still a long way to go to completion. But looking the part. Lining and numbering next, or build the interior...

Stay safe

Mike.

 

[Mike Garwood]

Today has been a good day. Up early to take Harry to his new school, followed by coffee and cwtches with Freddie and my daughter Sarah. A quick zoom home for the usual house hold chores and by 14:30 I was sat at the bench.

I'd prepared the lining sheets a few days before. I knew this was going to be a battle as I'd opted to solder the handrails in earlier and as foul luck would have it the bottom of the handrails was bang in the middle of the lining! Plan B...split the lining into 4 sections and rejoin it. The top line wasn't a problem.
As I'd mentioned in my last post I'd managed to achieve a really good gloss finish, this has one draw back with Pressfix transfers. It makes them stick to the surface like s&&t to a blanket. Not a chance of moving the transfer if it was out of line. Something to bear in mind next time! Anyway, I'm pleased with the result.



I had to cobble the numbers of the coach together with some random numbers from a sheet from Fox transfers. This sheets is made up of 3 digit numbers, if you're lucky you can combine 2 series and get a full coach number.



Here's the finished interior, it's been a bit squashed as the chairs (from FK3D) as these should be directly in front of the windows. Exactly how you do that, I've no idea. So, I lost 10mm either end - the attaching L spacer for the body to chassis.
A quick word on the arm chairs from FK3D, they are simply superb, right down to the tack detailing on the bottom of the chairs. They do quite a range of stuff including some lovely GWR roof vents, the best I've seen, which includes the lovely cast ones from MJT. The table chairs are from my own etches and are based on my Ercol chairs in the dinning room.
The 2 rooms are a toilet and a kitchen, which has a sliding door.



It took a while to get these rooms in the right place, which is probably why I shied away from getting the job done.

Coach number transfers have been fixed in place and will dry overnight and then tomorrow evening the varnish (vallejo satin) will go on, plus putting the primer on for the interior. Once the varnish is dry, the glazing can be put in.

The end is in sight!

Tomorrow is a visit to Barrow Road territory, but not playing trains. I shall have SWMBO in tow so I shall have to watch my P's and Q's .
Have a great weekend and stay safe what ever you're doing.

Mike.

 

[Mike Garwood]

The rain disappeared by 13:00 and SWMBO went out for the PM...so

On with the satin varnish.



Then on with the primer for the interior and 20 minutes or so the interior was given a blasting of mahogany with a touch of white. And this evening the comfy chairs were coloured.





Really pleased with the etched straight back chairs. They look the part. Not sure if the blue needs a second coat or indeed whether the whole lot needs a spray of gloss?
So, that just leaves the glazing and a few handrails to be painted over black.

Stay safe

Mike.

 

[simond]

Comfy chairs, eh? I’m sure Cardinal Fang would approve

 

[Dave F.]

Nobody expected that!!!!

 

[Mike Garwood]

Glazing done, door handles in, just a bit of black paint to apply in hand rails and pipes. Unfortunately, one of the rear windows fell out so I'll have to open her back up to re-sit the glazing .





Nearly there!

In other news the roof for the Milk van has taken a step to completion. The roof vents are in, but more importantly the roof sits well on the van. This also received it's glazing this evening. I need to form the hand rails and solder those in. Then prime and paint the roof and hopefully glue the ends into the van without spoiling the paint job!

My son in law, Mike, runs the Weymouth triathlon this weekend, the weather forecast isn't pleasant, looking forward to supporting him come rain (more than likely) and shine (very unlikely). Good luck Mike.

Stay safe

Mike.

 

[Mike Garwood]

And so the inspection saloon is finished. Re-glazed and all other paint jobs completed this morning. Looking forward to seeing this one run.







The Milk van is currently at this stage. The roof is not attached as yet, hence the jaunty angle





Another couple of evenings should see me back at the Grange.

Stay safe

Mike.

 

[Mike Garwood]

The rain strips on the milk van are far too wide. They are 1 mm Tamiya masking tape. Now replaced with something far more appropriate. I’ve also sprayed the roof. Pictures after the weekend - currently freezing in Weymouth!!

 

[Mike Garwood]

This is as far as I'm going with this model. Thanks to everyone who contributed to get this over the line and if I may say so - not looking too shabby.



That lower footplate has certainly taken some bangs on the station platforms...



Now sitting comfortably in it's box waiting, waiting to be hauled by a Grange. Which shouldn't be too long as SWMBO is out friday PM to get her hair done. So she'll be gone flippin hours!
If you are going to Scale4 on Sunday, see you there.

Mike, my son in law, completed his triathlon on Sunday, came 73 out of 194 in his age class and over all finished, 322 out of 2194. Bloody impressive for a FIRST EFFORT! Well done Mike, super proud of you. Very enjoyable weekend, amazing atmosphere, but we did all get extremely wet, I mean soaking, you know squelchy wet. Still what gets wet, gets dry. Looking forward to the next one...

Onwards!

Stay safe

Mike.

 

[Dave Holt]

Hope to see you on Sunday, then.
Dave.

 

[Dangerous Davies]

Are you going to have a go at doing a triathlon Mike?

Cheers
Dave

 

[simond]

we did all get extremely wet, I mean soaking, you know squelchy wet

Reminds me of motorcycling in Switzerland some years back. I did not realise that my waterproofs after many years of disuse had simply ceased to be so.

The last time my nethers were that wet, I was swimming…


love the van, btw

 

[ullypug]

very nice too. Must get mine painted.
Hope to see you at S4um on Sunday

 

[Mike Garwood]

Only if I were 20 years younger!!

Hope your well mate.

Mike

 

[Phil O]

Mike, I won't see you this year, I'm going on Saturday.

 

[Mike Garwood]

Mike, I won't see you this year, I'm going on Saturday.

Ok Phil. Hope you enjoy the show - see you soon
Mike

 

[Bulldog3444]

Mike
As you are coming to Scaleforum on Sunday why not bring your inspection saloon and put it in the Society Showcase for the day?

I think that David Brandreth is still looking for items - he was suggesting the same to me earlier today - I am also going on Sunday.
Ian

 

[Mike Garwood]

Mike
As you are coming to Scaleforum on Sunday why not bring your inspection saloon and put it in the Society Showcase for the day?

I think that David Brandreth is still looking for items - he was suggesting the same to me earlier today - I am also going on Sunday.
Ian

Ian

Having seen some of the wonderful offerings - over the years - mine would not be a patch on those. But thanks for the idea, much appreciated.

And in other news...work has recommenced on the Grange, last night I re-did the pick ups.



That's about as good as it gets from me. I've tried wire wound sprung pick-ups, which turn into a horrible mess. The brakes have been painted and work is now focused on the front connecting rods and coupling rods. I have wondered over the years why these aren't etched with the differing widths already there so that the locking nuts will fit into the top part of the etch, save a huge amount of effort.

Mike

 

[Phil O]

Having seen some of the wonderful offerings - over the years - mine would not be a patch on those. But thanks for the idea, much appreciated.

Mike,

You're much to modest. I would have loved to have had a look at it, if I'd been around on Sunday!