7mm On Heather's Workbench - North Western Commuter Power

[P A D]

It’s running a lot smoother now, so we’ll see what the test track at Donnie uncovers. Must remember to pack some basic tools.

Absolutely Heather.
I recall one of my models all shiny and beautiful running like a dog on the test track. Finally spotted one of the driving wheels was loose and wobbling, but fortunately I had a few tools including a Slaters allen key. With that I was able to remove copious quantities of egg from my face. Hope it runs well for you.

Cheers,
Peter

 

[Heather Kay]

Finally spotted one of the driving wheels was loose and wobbling

It’s always the obvious things, isn’t it! Anyway, basic toolkit stashed in the carrying case with the loco. I have a sneaking suspicion there’s an intermittent short with one of the motor wires touching part of the body, but that’ll have to wait until I’m back home and can be bothered to disassemble the beastie again!

Right, packing under way, loading the car, and heading past that there London to South Yorkshire!

 

[lankytank]

And very nice it looked, in the flesh, see you can make a silk purse..... Thanks for stopping by & opening the box. Did it behave on the test track?

 

[Heather Kay]

Did it behave on the test track?

It did, mostly. It did about four circuits forwards. I think there’s an intermittent short which I have to deal with when I get home, which just happened to stall the loco at the same points on the track, but otherwise it was okay.

Then I turned it round. It got halfway and stopped in an expected place. However, it had shed a crankpin nut, so it rather disgraced itself a little at the end! Happily, no damage caused to anything other than pride! We couldn’t find the missing bits, but I’ve got plenty of spares around the bench.

Sitting in the hotel at Grantham, just off the A1, as the final stop on the way home. As ever, we’ve enjoyed our brief stay in South Yorkshire, and rather regret having to get round London again.

 

[Heather Kay]

Snagging list stuff before I set to with lining and lettering with this loco.



First, I disassembled the thing to rewire the motor and pickups. This was to correct the polarity , and also to incorporate a plug and socket for DCC-ifying later. I also carefully ran a big file across the chassis ends to make it a little easier to slip it in between the buffer beams.

I also rectified some sticky buffers, which now compress nicely.



The bunker ballast was extricated, after some choice words and slightly chipped paint on the rails, and made to fit into the floor better. A dollop of Copydex will hopefully prevent it rattling. Next job will be to make some kind of tray to hold the coal load. I am aware of the dangers of mixing lead and PVA, so want to avoid contact if I can.

The Modelu crew are being test fitted. I’ve not found names for them yet. Still to do is the glazing and some detail painting and weathering in the cab.

If I feel strong enough I shall attempt lining the tanks and cab sides tomorrow.

 

[Heather Kay]

Wibble.

Having a think about how to support the model so I can line the back of the bunker - let alone getting the line behind all the embuggerances I elected to fit before painting…

 

[Dan Randall]

Hand lining? Respect!


Regards

Dan

 

[Heather Kay]

Hand lining? Respect!

Thanks Dan. I’m not perfect, I’ll be first to admit. If I did this more often I’d invest in better tools, too. However, once the first couple of lines went, it turned out adequately. A bit of careful tidying and it’s presentable.

The bunker, I think, will benefit from transfers. Good job I did plenty of red lines on transfer material earlier!

 

[LarryG]

Fair do's, that lining looks fine. I mixed artists red paste colour into Humbrol red enamel to make it more opaque.

 

[P A D]

I agree with Dan and Larry.

I have dozens of ruling pens and spring bow pens but don't have the bottle to use them. Apart from that I know that I can achieve a better result with transfers than I could with the pens.

"Embuggerances", now that is a good word. Must be from down sarf though.

Cheers,
Peter

 

[warren haywood]

Looking good Heather,
I have found the newest concoction of Humbrol red is quite dense although it does need the lid off and a daily stir for about a week or so to be close to useable.
The only poor lining paint in the Humbrol range is the yellow which I mix 50-50 with precission signal yellow and then add a bit of red to get a sort of duck egg yolk colour which looks spot on, to me anyway
The precission on its own dries too quickly.

 

[Heather Kay]

"Embuggerances", now that is a good word. Must be from down sarf though.

I believe it was coined by Terry Pratchett, of the Discworld novels. He was diagnosed, I think, with Parkinson's, and used the word to encompass all the irritations and annoyances such a debilitating disease throws in one’s path.

Looking good Heather,

Thanks Warren! It’s not so clever close to, but it’ll do.

 

[John K]

Hi Heather,
Pratchett used embuggerance to describe how things in the physical world felt when he had early dementia.
The origin is probably a bit earlier:
An obstacle (natural or artificial) that inhibits progress. Comes from military slang, sometimes used as ‘embuggerance factor’ to describe how much of a problem is caused by something. Probably dates to the British military in the early fifties.
JK

 

[Heather Kay]

That’s the main transfers done. I’ll let those dry off, as it’s best not to handle the model for a while now, and then think about the water slide lining bits.

 

[Heather Kay]

I know nobody's picked it up, but you’ll note the bunker number is slightly high. Officially, I believe it should align centrally with the company letters on the tank sides, but the photo of this loco I’m working to shows the numbers aligned pretty much as I’ve applied them.

Meanwhile…



Boiler band lining done.



And the tricksy bunker lining done. Just a spot of retouching to do here and there to fill in the red bits, then I can get some varnish on the bodywork.

I’ve not seen any photographic evidence of there being a black line around the buffer beams, so I’m leaving them with just the plain lipstick.

 

[Heather Kay]

Vic and Wilf ready to start their shift.

 

[Heather Kay]

Two steps forward, one back. I did the satin varnish coat yesterday, but managed to get some spots of spatter in the finish. I put it down to my lack of experience with a double action airbrush. Therefore, I shall let this sit on the bench for a week or so, then carefully rub down the errors and recoat. We’ll get there in the end.

 

[spikey faz]

Hand lining? Respect!


Regards

Dan

Respect +1!

Mike

 

[Heather Kay]

Nearly there. I fitted the glazing and some final cab details. Still to do: fit the crew; make a tray for the bunker to hold some coal; refit the chassis.

 

[Heather Kay]

A little tray in the bunker. This performs two functions: it avoids wasting coal, and it keeps PVA away from the lead ballast. At a pinch it might also be removable, but that would prove a struggle.