Cookie's G3 Workbench

jamiepage

Western Thunderer
Steve,
That really is a shame, but thank you very much for showing it as an education to the rest of us.
At the risk of appearing rather too insensitive, could I ask a quick question- I've gone back through the thread but can't see whether you had sprayed on any kind of varnish layer (or similar) over the top of everything?. If you did, what exactly? If not, would a fixative layer of some kind have worked do you think?
Anyway, it's a crying shame.
Jamie
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Hi Jamie
Thanks for your thoughts, I have no problem with you asking questions about it :)
I did not do anything to the base coat of Tamiya paint before applying the lettering - my reasoning was based on the fact that a matt finish would provide more of a 'grab' than a gloss finish - I was waiting for it all to dry before adding a coat of matt varnish over the top. The black was taking a very long time to dry, hence the wait - I was trying to ensure that the risk of the varnish having an impact on the paint was minimised.
I wouldn't want to say whether the coat of varnish would have helped the current situation, I think it would be possible to argue for both a positive and a negative effect so it would just be guesswork on my side. I do have the test piece with white lettering and black shading on it - well, it did have white lettering, they all slid straight off with little provocation....
I'll stick some varnish over the black to see what happens, but think I shall shy away from watercolours in this environment again.
Steve
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
The thing that most caught my eye at Peterborough yesterday was a Williams Models G3 Tar Tank kit (assuming we ignore the coal fired Garrett of ELR Engineering). I remember watching Mike gradually adding all the rivets to the brass tank master last year and thinking that'll be alright when its done. It has turned out lovely so after a couple of 'nearly moments' I bought one with a view to just building it straight out of the box.

All the bits laid out

TW1 Kit Components.jpg

The cast name plates are excellent (choose a pair)

TW2 Name Plates.jpg

The tank (210mm long) is covered in lots of rivets. I can only find one rivet which hasn't come out properly which I think is excellent given the number of the things present.

TW3 The Tank.jpg

Prototype wise, the best photo I have found so far of them in BR days is this one, they do look nice running as a pair, especially with a couple of subtle differences.

I started by cleaning up the underframe, a one piece resin casting. This is a Flexi-kit from Mike which I have not built before, all the other kits I have built have been one piece body / underframe units so this is a new approach for me.

TW4 Cleaning Flash off resin underframe.jpg

Its a fair bit messier when you get going, especially when it comes to just tidying up the lower edge of the tank on a sheet of emery cloth.

TW5 Squaring up tank base.jpg

I guess I spent a couple of hours removing flash, squaring edges and rubbing over the solebar and ends with a fibreglass brush to smooth out the odd surface blemish. Everything was also washed using soapy water and a toothbrush.

TW6 Resin Bits done.jpg

I worked my way through the metal parts next, cleaning off the nib left from laser cutting on the W irons and otherwise just removing flash from the cast components. The wheels and buffers (quick sand to remove turning marks) were rubbed over with scotchbrite whilst spinning on the lathe, then chemically blackened. The holes in the axleboxes needed drilling out requiring some convoluted mounting on a set of parallels, on top of a vice, mounted on a milling table. There was just enough of the axlebox rear face to be able to clamp in this position without damaging any of the detail.

TW7 Drilling out axleboxes.jpg

All four were drilled down to the same depth, then a pair of W irons were clamped into the chassis. Axleboxes were put onto one of the axles and it was lowered into place. With one axlebox correctly mounted, I could measure the distance between the W iron and the slot of the other axlebox, divide that by two and increase the depth of each drilling in the axleboxes by that amount. After another quick check and an extra 0.5mm added for clearance, they dropped in nicely (sitting just above the solebars to get the most accurate reading as nothing is properly mounted yet).

TW8 Axle length check.jpg

A quick photo of all the metal bits done for the chassis, I'll leave the etched brass bits for the tank for another time.

TW9 Chassis metal bits ready.jpg

Time to start putting it together :)
Steve
 
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Steve Cook

Flying Squad
I've been here before :)

D1 01 Box Label.jpg

The first time round it was the last kit of the D1 that Mike had in stock, it might even have been the last kit out of the mould. Rather stupidly, and despite being very pleased with the finished wagon, I sold it to fund some other G3 purchases. Having regretted that decision pretty much ever since, I mentioned it to Mike at a show and he responded with 'Would you like another one?' :) Its a slightly unfortunate story in that an early customer of Mike bought a kit, but didn't build it before passing away. Mike kindly bought it back from the estate and then sold it to me, thus I get to have a second go, this time for keeps. The first one ended up like this:

Wagon4_G3F.jpg

As always, the first job with a second hand kit is to check it contents - I'm pleased to say this one looks to have been untouched and all is present and correct.

D1 03 Kit Components.jpg

I've had to tweak the resin body slightly to straighten it out - a slight warp on one side was corrected by immersion in hot water, straightening, then soaking in cold water. All the remaining components need preparing now, as I note just a few posts above, thats about where I got to on the tank wagon :oops:

At least I get to choose a different prototype this time, I guess its time to look through the LNWR Wagon Vol 1 book that Mike also had a hand in - diamonds or letters is the big question...

D1 02 Research Book.jpg

Steve
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
I'm inclined to agree with you Trevor, the masking up and painting will certainly be easier :)

Progress is slow as I keep getting distracted, but the wagon is at least mocked up on its running gear now

D1 04 Basic Running Gear Mock Up.jpg

Whilst looking for a set of spacers that Williams Models do (they bolt to the bottom of the W irons to ensure a correct and parallel wheelbase) I came across an LNWR Boundary post kit (Williams Models again) I had assembled and primed. Speaking to Mike, I found I could paint it either with black letters on a white background, or white letters on a black background. I chose the former, using Vallejo Air for the white and Lifecolour weathered black for the letters. The letters weren't too bad, a little paint on the brush and almost wiping with the side of the bristles meant I could pick out the etched letters OK.

LNWR Boundary Post Lettered.jpg

It seemed a good opportunity to use some washes to weather it down, I've been trying out some Army Painter washes which are ready mixed and come in a useful variety of shades. A bit of shopping around secured all 11 for less than £22 so they are pretty good value.

Army Painter Washes.jpg
I know its a little bit lazy, but having them pre-mixed and ready to use certainly makes more use of 10 minutes sessions then mixing your own.

Working through a few of the colours, they were applied in random patterns, then gently pulled off by dabbing with some kitchen roll. That step was repeated for each colour until I got the effect I was after (5p just to give an indication of size).

LNWR Boundary Post Weathered.jpg

I have a 'Beware Of The Trains' sign to do as well, I think a very small diorama is on the cards :)

Steve
 
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