Mike Trice's 4mm Workbench

Mike Trice

Western Thunderer
There is an additional benefit in that it is easier to rub the sides down to get a smooth finish.

Estimate for the test print came out at 20hrs so I thought blow that for a game of soldiers and went straight for the actual print, all 46hrs of it!
 
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Mike Trice

Western Thunderer
Well, the print finally finished. With the toplights being thinner I managed to break a few removing the supports but have managed to fix them with superglue. Parts have now been cured and primed and I am fixing small imperfections, much easier with little detail on the sides. Hopefully will be ready to start spraying tomorrow. Revised chrome trim has been cut in readiness.
 

Mike Trice

Western Thunderer
After some careful rubbing down and making good I was ready to progress.

Previously I had painted the model in the following order:
1) Sprayed Marlborough Blue on the upper panels
2) Masked up and sprayed Garter Blue on the lower panels
3) Masked up and sprayed silver on the roof
4) Handpainted window insides Garter Blue
5) Handpainted window toplight insides silver

For this model I thought I would change the sequence of painting and do the silver first as this would also do the window toplights at the same time. Here is the model looking more like the Silver Jubilee than the Coronation:
IMG_3759.JPG
What was interesting was it showed up still more flaws in the surface preparation which were not visible using matt primer, necessitating further remedial work and respraying. Onwards and upwards.
 

Tim Watson

Western Thunderer
That is looking pretty smooth to me, Mike. The adhesive foil will also lay down much better.

Tim
 
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Mike Trice

Western Thunderer
Senior moment for today. Applied Deluxe Materials Perfect Putty and let it dry then tried sanding down with wet and dry used wet. :D

For any you who have never used it, it remains water soluble after drying. Doh!
 

Mike Trice

Western Thunderer
Not a lot to report at the moment although quite a lot has been happening behind the scenes.

First off I need to fill in some background. To the best of my knowledge there is no 100% accurate GA drawing of the Coronation Observation Cars in existance. There exists a partial GA showing the front of the vehicle as shown here:
IMG_9390.JPG

The official diagram book drawing follows that form but does add the back of the vehicle:
232.jpg

Note that in both drawings the width of the vehicle over observation window in plan view tapers inwards. This appears to differ from how the original was physically built (and coincidentally how the recently announced restoration has been carried out). The problem is that it is thought that it was impractical to curve the cornice in two planes as specified resulting in Doncaster building them curving in one plane only. Unfortunately the Isinglass drawing largely copies the incorrect diagram so is not a lot of help.

When I do a 3D model I like to work from as accurate drawings as I can obtain. With none available I set out to produce my own drawings using Inkscape, yes I know Inkscape is not a CAD program but I tend to use it as one anyway, even using it to produce etching artwork. Having never visited or measured the restored 1729 I had to rely heavily on photographs and try and scale the various elements from there. I did hit a few issues and had great difficulty envisaging how to represent the complex curves on the prototype in 2D. To resolve those I produced some 3D models on the way then chopped them in slices to see how they would be represented on a drawing. I eventually arrived at a drawing I felt I could use and started the modelling process which resulted in the model you have seen previously. At various stages the 3D models were printed then compared against official photographs of the prototype.

Attempting to do the lettering identified something I had avoided on the drawing and that was lettering sizes and positions. We know the size of the "CORONATION" from the official drawings but not the size of the "LNER" and "3". Back to the drawing board (or more accurately Inkscape) and I added all the lettering.

This is the drawing I produced:IMG_3784.JPG
First off the test lettering has been applied to an earlier body and I am reasonably happy with the result however it is clear I can get away with the lettering being finer especially have since determined the correct sizes. Not very accurately located here:
IMG_3786.JPG

IMG_3788.JPG

I have tried printing some 4mm passengers and tried them in the moulded seats. The original seats were based on the diagram and comparing with photographs do not appear to be correct. I have since reworked these on my drawing and trying to decide if I can be bothered to print a new refined set or go with the originals:
IMG_3790.JPG

I did try and print a revised set but ended up printing them undersized and my 3D printer needs some maintenance work done before I use it again. I did however manage to print off a set of 8'6" Heavy Duty Gresley bogies ready to use:
IMG_3791.JPG
 
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LarryG

Western Thunderer
This is really exciting to me and the coach is coming on well. I would still go down the road of etched sides married to the roof if I had to build some for customers. The floor pod with seats is also interesting.
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
Please tell us why...
I want scale depth window frames, not plastic thickness. Etched sides with raised panelling on nickel silver means the raised panelling can be scraped clean after painting. Metal = is strength and perfect surface.

Its simply the route I personally would take if I had his roof and end.
 
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Mick LNER

Western Thunderer
Lovely work Mike.

Minor comments

Personally I think a etched set of lettering would look be much better . Sadly the cutter leaves a noticeable cut line on the lettering outline. The other option is Fox Transfers do a decals set for the Coronation set. I have never seen a etched set.
Bogies would be much better from the MJT range to give low down weight, or is just a exercise to see how they turn out ?
 
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