Andy's Modelmaking Misadventures

[Andy in Germany]

The track has arrived: only needed one set of points thankfully, and a few metres of flexible track.

The company making track seem to be going for retro packaging, or these have been sitting in Munich for a very long time...

Meanwhile, the workbench is in use, or being buried, depending on your point of view...

 

[classic33]

It's old packaging.

 

[Andy in Germany]

This looks better than it is:

Those little brass bits next to the bottom of the pointy bits are based on a number of pictures of prototype wagons: the pointy bits are supposed to fold down so they are out of the way when loading and unloading and I assume this provides a bit more support or helps them stay straight when this happens.

A real model maker would doubtless make these movable on a model but as I am so far from being a “proper” model maker I couldn’t find one with a telescope, mine are firmly glued to the wagon.

In my usual style, I them managed to put the little curvy bits on backwards…

The vertical bits should fold down within the length of the wagon, which is why they are slightly offset. In the picture above they should all fold to the right.

Now I’m sure you see the problem.

Somehow your correspondent managed to make both sides of the wagon before noticing this, and now an inability to see the mistake has been replaced by an inability to not see the result, so the next model making sessions will involve pulling bits out and turning them around…

 

[Andy in Germany]

Dearie me, I've been very sloppy about posting here...

On the off chance that anyone still remembers the project, here are the two wood wagons, competed and with all the bits facing the right direction:

Also a pair sliding door vans:

These are part of a vague project that has been in my head for some time, known as the ERAG, or “Entirely Random Arbitrary Goal”. In this case my ERAG is eight freight wagons, three locomotives (Large freight loco, railcar, and shunter) and one or two carriages before making any serious moves on building a layout.

As the name suggests, there’s no real reason for these numbers, they just seemed a good idea at the time.

I’m still moving at a speed that would make a glacier complain bitterly at the hold up, so this years goal is essentially to complete the ERAG. So far we have:

• Big freight Loco (complete)
• Railcar (Complete)
• Shunter (Drawing board stage)
• Wood wagons x 3 (One complete, two ready to paint)
• Vans x 3 (One complete, ready to paint as well)
• Other wagons x 2 (Drawing board)
• Coaches x 2 (Thinking hard about these, occasionally.)

It’ll keep me busy in the long lock-down evenings…

 

[Andy in Germany]

I've been busy with the primer:

 

[Andy in Germany]

I've been thinking...

A while back I made a "mock up" of the possible colour schemes on the two railway vans I'm making, partly to see how this looks, and partly to kick me back into gear and keep the project going.


I started wondering if I could take it a step further and use paper on the final model. There is some logic to this: the transfers for the van sides will have to cover the whole of the van, partly because I want white writing which can be hard to achieve with transfers, and partly because of those big pictures on one of them. Transfers that big could get a bit unwieldy but a piece of paper would hold its shape much better, and it would be cheaper. Also, as I don’t currently have a printer at my apartment, it wouldn’t risk gumming up the one at work.


On the other hand, would they be realistic, or would they look like a piece of paper stuck on a plastic model?

To answer this question I made a mock-up of the van sides with all the features of the final model like the “gaps” in the doors and the holes for the handles, cut one of the door “sides”, applied glue and stuck it down.

When this failed to cause an apocalypse I tried weathering powder which promptly stuck in the grain of the paper and looked a mess. I thought a bit, then sprayed the lot with matt varnish, and after a slight panic as the paper bubbled up in the wet varnish, weathered it again and added a final layer of varnish to seal it.

So far, so good, so I've reprinted the sides with a few changes and try them on the vans...

 

[Andy in Germany]

I've been neglecting this thread again...

Sticking copier paper on the models to give the side panels worked remarkably well:

Although it would have been better if the builder had concentrated and got the "dirt streaks" straight. I'll have to work on that:

 

[Reynard]

Actually, chances are the grubby streaks wouldn't be straight, as the airflow at working speed would be enough to pull them off vertical anyway. Mud streaks on a car that's been on wet mucky roads is a classic case in point.

It's the same principle F1 teams use with the paint they daub on the cars during testing / practice in order to map the airflow over the bodywork and wings.

So I wouldn't be to anal about it, it looks perfectly fine.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Actually, chances are the grubby streaks wouldn't be straight, as the airflow at working speed would be enough to pull them off vertical anyway. Mud streaks on a car that's been on wet mucky roads is a classic case in point.

It's the same principle F1 teams use with the paint they daub on the cars during testing / practice in order to map the airflow over the bodywork and wings.

So I wouldn't be to anal about it, it looks perfectly fine.

This is a narrow gauge railway, not an F1 racing car: the maximum speed I can reasonably imagine it moving is about 100km/h or 60 mph, and that would be very limited.

Also, streaks would be pushed in both directions.

 

[Reynard]

This is a narrow gauge railway, not an F1 racing car: the maximum speed I can reasonably imagine it moving is about 100km/h or 60 mph, and that would be very limited.

Also, streaks would be pushed in both directions.

Indeed, but the principle is still the same. Just look at the airflow on an ordinary car pootling about town on a wet day. Or if you're sat on the train / bus / tram, you can see the effect it has on the rain on the windows. You don't need to be going a gazillion miles an hour to see the effects of fluid mechanics

 

[Andy in Germany]

I finished another two wagons:

I’m already thinking about what I want to change so they can carry different loads. I’d like to claim this is because the Körschtalbahn is becoming a living railway in my imagination and I’m already anticipating new traffic flows but we all know it’s because I didn’t plan and research enough before I starting gluing stuff together.

The main point I’ve been thinking about is the “twistlock” fittings, those pointy bits sticking up from the base of the wagons so they can take containers. Unfortunately I later realised that swap bodies, which are used a lot in domestic European transport, have slightly different spacing for twistlocks, so I’m now dithering about adding extras.

Ouch; that's a cruel enlargement...

I’m also curious that I used the same method to make “rust” as on previous projects but the paint seemed to hold on rather better than usual.

I’m wondering if there’s a more reliable method: I know some people prime over the “rust” layer then use sandpaper and cocktail sticks to scrape the paint off, and I’ve also found some ways of making real rust to apply to the more exposed parts of the wagon where dirt and dampness would collect and corrode the paint, so more experimentation is likely.

Am I getting obsessive about this? Tell me if I’m getting obsessive…

 

[Reynard]

Those look fabulous to me

Only thing that's missing is a guard's van and one of those railway lanterns with the red blinky light hanging off the back...

 

[Profpointy]

I finished another two wagons:

View attachment 581974

I’m already thinking about what I want to change so they can carry different loads. I’d like to claim this is because the Körschtalbahn is becoming a living railway in my imagination and I’m already anticipating new traffic flows but we all know it’s because I didn’t plan and research enough before I starting gluing stuff together.

View attachment 581975

The main point I’ve been thinking about is the “twistlock” fittings, those pointy bits sticking up from the base of the wagons so they can take containers. Unfortunately I later realised that swap bodies, which are used a lot in domestic European transport, have slightly different spacing for twistlocks, so I’m now dithering about adding extras.

View attachment 581976

Ouch; that's a cruel enlargement...

I’m also curious that I used the same method to make “rust” as on previous projects but the paint seemed to hold on rather better than usual.

I’m wondering if there’s a more reliable method: I know some people prime over the “rust” layer then use sandpaper and cocktail sticks to scrape the paint off, and I’ve also found some ways of making real rust to apply to the more exposed parts of the wagon where dirt and dampness would collect and corrode the paint, so more experimentation is likely.

View attachment 581977

Am I getting obsessive about this? Tell me if I’m getting obsessive…

You're saying " getting obsessive" as if it were a somehow a bad thing. We're all geeks from planet geek in the constellation of sad and lonely on this thread

Teasing aside, very impressive work indeed !

 

[Reynard]

You're saying " getting obsessive" as if it were a somehow a bad thing. We're all geeks from planet geek in the constellation of sad and lonely on this thread

Yup, I can totally relate to that.

Geekette par excellence, and damn bloody proud of it

 

[Andy in Germany]

Had a bit of a misadventure this week. I've been working on a new project:

However, I think I needed to make them a bit more solid, as one is starting to look suspiciously banana shaped:

If it's not obvious, here's what a straight line looks like in comparison:

Maybe I could say it was used to carry something really heavy...