Skyblue's April 2015 Competition Thread - GWR AA7 Toad

[skyblue]

I've done a little bit more on the brakevan. I've done all the cutting (I think) and I'm in the process of putting it back together. I've also put a coat of grey paint on the inside of the veranda and the floor.









Thanks for looking.

[skyblue]

I thought I'd better say how much I've spent on everything:

Costs so far:

Bachmann Toad Body (factory seconds): £1.90
Parkside Dundas Chassis: £1.78
Paint: £0.00 (May need more GWR Grey so that will be an extra £2.00-£3.00).
Glue: £0.00
Transfers: £0.00
Wheels: £0.00
Bearings: £3.00-£4.00 for 40, but I only need 4 (not yet purchased).

Current total: £3.68 (+£4.00 P&P).

Projected total (assuming maximum costs for paint and bearings): £10.68 (+£4.00 P&P).

[PinkNosedPenguin]

A great (and prompt!) start skyblue - good luck with this build, and I will be following with interest

[VerdevaleRailway]

Sorry Skyblue, I gotta ask, how did you cut the van so accurately?

Thanks, V.R.

[skyblue]

With a saw! I just measured out the scale lengths from the plans and marked the cut lines onto the roof with pencil then cut along them. The plastic is quite soft so it comes apart quite nicely. The main problem is that because the saw is not infinitesimally thin itself there is about 1mm of the roof 'missing'. This will be replaced with plastic filler once I glue the two parts together. I also need to sand down the roof completely to redo the rain strips because currently they don't match up.

[VerdevaleRailway]

Duh, sometimes I am so dumb, hmmm pencil and a ruler and guidelines....

[skyblue]

Basically yes, that's how I did it. I'm not sure you'd think it was so accurate if you could see it up close!

[skyblue]

The two parts of the body are now joined together, filler has been applied to the roof and I've sanded down part of the rainstrips so I can rebuild them to match over the join. Every time I look at it I see how long the list of things to do still is:

- Rebuild the rainstrips.
- Sort out the handrails and metal bracing/framework (i.e. move them to the correct positions for this type of brakevan).
- Fabricate/find a buffer beam and buffers.
- Paint it.
- Put transfers on.
- Build the chassis.

Here are some pictures:

A really bad photo before adding filler:



And after adding filler and sanding down:



Thanks for looking.

[skyblue]

After mentioning elsewhere that I was struggling to think of a way to sort out the difference in the bodyside stanchions (is this the correct word?) I decided to sort out the problem today. I made 6 new stanchions from plastic sheet (one strip 1.5mm wide and another 0.5mm wide glued at right angles to make a 'T') and chose the best 4 to replace the existing ones. I cut the old ones off with a pair of side snips and then filled them down with a needle file until flat. The new ones were put into the correct places, with gaps in the handrail cut out and filed down to suit. I will restore the planking effect at a later date.

Pictures:



I then put a coat of paint on to see whether they looked right and so I would know if they needed more work.



(The two new stanchions are the two on the left of this photo, the right hand one is Bachmann's existing moulded on one).

I have since added the missing door.

Thanks for looking.

[carnehan]

To my untrained eye it looks pretty darn perfect to me Skyblue. You are motoring on well with this project. Great work.

Paul

[skyblue]

Thanks Paul. I have since got rid of the raised line between two of the stanchions just visible in that last photo.

[flying scotsman123]

To my untrained eye it looks pretty darn perfect to me Skyblue. You are motoring on well with this project. Great work.

Paul

Agreed. Only thing I'd say is the edges of the roof look a little rough, although noting either a file could sort out or some careful weathering could hide I'm sure - perhaps some algae growing there, for some reason algae likes railway wagons a lot, depending on how urgent the job is sometimes it is just painted over!

[Admin4]

brilliant updates really interesting

at this rate you will finish before the end of this month!

[skyblue]

brilliant updates really interesting

at this rate you will finish before the end of this month!

No chance of that as I still need the bearings.

[skyblue]

Only thing I'd say is the edges of the roof look a little rough

That's actually an illusion of the photograph - I think it's because the edges of the roof are a slightly different colour. The roof is however quite rough around the rainstrips.