Then There Were Two

I won't pretend that batch building isn't a little boring sometimes - I'm always itching to get started on the next project - but building identical models back to back does mean that subsequent ones come together a lot faster than the first one.

So, in the space of a few days, I have a second resin Super Barn which has reached the same point in construction.

The plan is that these will both be models of 108 - one for me and one for a client.

Still sitting on the shelf above the workbench are the castings for a model of 103  - the prototype Super Barn - for the same customer and I have learned in the last couple of days that he would like a 121 as well.

I shall have to decide on my construction strategy now.

The question is whether to bring these two to a finish and then put the other two through as a pair or if I pause work on these and start working on the remaining couple until I have four carriages all at the same point?

The advantage of starting the other two right away is that I can capitalise on having 'got the knack' of making the particular design of chassis and roofs for these carriages rather than having to get back up to speed a few weeks down the line.

On the other hand, having to repeat all the remaining processes - such as underframes and interiors - four times over would be, frankly, extremely tedious.

Peckett Painting

A trial run of top coat has been brushed onto our Harrogate Pecket, primarily for the purposes of approving the colour.

Colours are a moot subject among the Bron Hebog team on account of the fact I'm the only one of the three of us who can see them properly!

Despite this I find myself at a disadvantage on account of a) being in a minority and b) being 400 miles away from where the painting is being done.

And so I get sent snaps like this and expected to say yay or nay to the colour which has been chosen, or on other occasions a selection of samples to pick from.

Sometimes this goes a little wrong, as it did with our model of the Double Fairlie Daffyd Lloyd George. What I was supposed to be choosing - and indeed thought I had done - was a concoction resembling Heinz Tomato Soup (the nearest anyone has ever come to accurately describing the shade of the locomotive) but what we ended up with was a Fairlie that looks more like its been outshopped in the Strathclyde PTE Orange livery of the 1980's.

Our DLG is not so much a Soup Dragon as A Clockwork Orange.

So you will appreciate why I am naturally a little hesitant about passing judgement on this shade of green for the Peckett. But I have compared it, exhaustively, with all the pictures I took of the actual locomotive on the WHR in September and I'm pretty sure it's close enough.

I think I shall give Himself permission to proceed.

White Out

There's been some dramatic progress in the last couple of days on the extension to the layout.

Himself has started laying the mod roc (plaster soaked bandages for those not familiar with the brand name) over the chicken wire which forms the landscape.

I've always found this to be one of the most fun parts of the process of building scenery. Lovely and messy and tactile giving a real childish sense of delight.

It also makes it appear that the project has taken a huge leap forward which is mostly an illusion.

Here you can see a close up of one of the culverts in a bit more context now...

And an eye level view around the big 180 degree bend - that's quite an embankment, eh?

Super Barn Progress

There's quite a bit of work gone into the first of the resin Super Barns although you might not notice at first glance, so let me take you through what's been done.

As you can see it now has a false ceiling which has had its central supporting rib glued on.

What you can't see in the picture is that the flat part of the roof is a four layer laminate.

The first layer fits in between the top of the carriage sides (the wide central section) and when it's glued on will hold them firmly in position ensuring they neither bulge out or become squeezed in.

The second layer sits on top and is slightly wider and its outer edges will be fixed to the curved brass roof skin eventually.

Next there is a thicker piece of sheet (but much less wide) which acts as a step up for the final layer which extends all the way along the length of the carriage including the vestibules.

This arrangement is necessary because of those windows above the entrance doors which are positioned higher than the top row of windows along the side and so the ceiling must have a step up at each end to avoid being seen.

Below the carriage the removable chassis has received its downward extension which represents the frame the carriage body sits on, and although you can't see them there are also lots of wee lugs (brackets in reality I think) which are in line with all the ribs on the bodyside.

Finally, I have fabricated and glued on the corridor connections on each end.

So, as you can see, there's been quite a lot done to it. I think I may set it to one side for now and set about assembling numbers 2 and 3 on the production line,,,

Primed Peckett

Himself has picked up the Peckett again and finished it off with the final detailing and it's looking pretty good to me.

The RT Models kit really has the squat, purposeful look of the prototype, even if it does rather flatter to deceive being designed for short bursts of power rather than sustained output.

Himself tells me that although the smoke box door looks crooked in the photo but isn't really.

He also reports that all the holes around the front of the tank have been pre-drilled or cast slightly off centre.  Oops.

It's now been given a first coat of primer to show up any faults of blemishes that need to be fixed before it is sprayed with a top coat.

I think it's going to make a nice little model - a shame it's only been a special event performer on the FR & WHR but I suspect we may find a few more excuses to run it.

Super Barn Assembly

With enough parts cast for a whole Super Barn carriage now I suppose it's time to try to put one together.

The first job was to clear the flash out of all the windows which was quite a boring task but an inevitable consequence of making them in an open mould.

Once that was done I wasn't sure whether to begin by making up the end vestibule sections as and them joining them up with the 2 side pieces or to do what I've always done with my scratch built styrene models of these carriages and attach the doors to the sides first and then add on the ends.

Eventually I settled on the latter option, as you can see below.

Before gluing the ends into place I turned the sides over and added these blocks of styrene.

Just like with my scratch built carriages I am planning to have the floor / chassis as a removable unit. So as it's not glued into place these blocks - and gravity - will keep the floor in the right place and maintain the carriage's ride height.

As I have learnt to my cost previously it is much easier to position these on a flat piece rather than attempting to fix them in place inside a built-up bodyshell.

This is where I got to at the end of the evening session - the sides and ends all glued up and the basic outline of the chassis hacked out of a sheet of 60 thou styrene to keep it all square.

One of the disadvantage of using resin parts is that it is a lot more difficult to glue the carriage together. You have a choice of instant bond super glue or epoxy resin - which can take anything up to 10 minutes to set, even with the supposedly rapid stuff - and neither are as user-friendly and adjustable as liquid solvent on styrene.

On the other hand once a resin carriage gets to this stage it is much more robust than a styrene fabrication and you don't have to handle it like a fragile relic for fear of bits breaking off.

Also - and this is the big plus with resin castings - once they are fully cured they more inclined to stay straight rather than bend like bananas as the styrene sides too.

So far so satisfied....

T'other Side

I'm delighted to report that the second Super Barn side has turned out as well as the first with a 100% success rate in the early castings from the new mould.

As you can see below each side is a mirror image of the other

So here we have gathered together the parts required for the basis of a Super Barn bodyshell.

There's quite a lot of flash to be removed from all those windows - especially the letter box ones which run along the top - but it won't be too long before I can attempt to glue it together and see how successful my first attempt at resin casting a carriage has been.