Tinwald workbench

[Phat Controller]

I found a couple of disused, abandoned, HO Interfrigo Refrigerated bogie wagons, in a box with some bits n pieces. I took them to my table and placed them to one side, to think what I should do with them.

Both of them were yellowing, and the decals were fading, so instead of trying to "save" them, I thought I would transform them.....

They looked like any other HO Interfrigo Refrigerated bogie wagon,

Lima-HO-bogie-refrigerator-wagon-Inter-Frigo.jpg (33.14 KiB) Viewed 3098 times

so I turned them into these......

I used a matt Red Oxide under coat spray can, then picked out the door fitments in grey acrylic.

I'm quite pleased the way they turned out, I reckon they look far better than the plain white offerings.

[Phat Controller]

......... late at night I've been ressurecting some second hand wagons I purchased over the past few weeks and I did some research on some of them for weathering purposes, and came across some tantalising wagons that I have decided to replicate.

I have bought 4 of these early release Hornby TEA 102T Tanker wagons in various states of repair, some better than others as you will see.

these two came together and were the worst of them all!

The bottom one will be painted black, to represent a BP wagon, and the Shell wagon will get cleaned up with decal remover, and a good sudsy wash over the sink, and then new ladders!

new ladders ready to be fitted

The shell one came up very well, and will look practically brand new once I've fitted the ladders, and new 3 hole wheels to replace the old fat, squat, plastic hornby ones.

What I want to replicate barrier tank wagons, like this..........

KBA (ex TTA) Barrier wagon

from these .........

Shell TTA - my prospective victims!

that's my next project, unless I can get some already made, where I don't have to pay 3rd party postage rates! (Pitney Bowes is killing me!)

[Dad-1]

Saving money is always a good driving force.
Getting some paint over those yellow plastic tanks overdue !!

Geoff T.

[Phat Controller]

I've cleaned, and surveyed the yellow shell TTA wagons, and have decided to place them aside, as the "SHELL" printing is actually etched into the plastic, so if I paint over it, the printing will be prominent and stand out!

Maybe a couple of Grey "Total" or "Gulf" TTA tankers are what is required as they are only graphics and not etched signage.

Back to the drawing board, but the idea is still on course

[Phat Controller]

Now, harking back to the VERY over painted TEA wagon (a few pics above) it has been transformed into a totally different beast.

I give you "messed up shell tanker" Mk2 .........................

I removed ALL the old congealed paint, and started from scratch. Ordered new ladders, fitted 2nd hand, but bigger wheels, on the bogies, and detailed the bogies as well, for good measure - then added some random bits of sprue, that looked like piping underneath, and fitted some "hand brake wheels", for fuel line valve handles, waste not etc etc .....

It came out quite well. I just need to decide if its a BP tanker, or a Fina! Then get the water slide decals to finish it off. Not sure I'm gonna keep those wheels on it tho they're not looking right .............

[Phat Controller]

Well I found a replacement for the Shell wagons to convert into a Barrier wagon.

this Texaco TTA will do nicely, but first taking off the transfers to get a bare base to spray onto, don't want that Texaco logo pushing through the paint!!

after one application the transfer is starting to break up!

second application will get more dissolved and we're ready for painting!

Presto!

after a couple of layers of grey primer it looks almost perfect.

Now to find some bespoke waterslide decals to make it "whole", where the hell am I gonna find them???

Ok interweb here I come!!

[Lysander]

Good stuff there. A vision and a few hours work can transform the most toy-like items into something worthwhile.

Tony

[Mountain]

You are good at that. Making them look real. Very impressive. And... I alway thought that using cheaply obtained secondhand stock which is improved actually looks better to me then somw of the new items. Doing all the weathering yourself brings consistency. Somehow, if one buys ready weathered items from various sources, it does not quite look right, but doing it all yourself does.
I have rarely weathered anything, but with my narrow gauge stock, I have been experimenting. For me it is easier as I tend to weather the stock which are made from the natural materials. For me it is a light hearted approach and I use some rather unconventional ways... Like fading paint while it is drying using my fingers! It seems unconventional but it works! But I must admit that I am less bothered about detail. To me, I am representing a scene rather then trying to accurately model a scene so I do have a slightly different approach. But I can see the difficulties where one is trying to weather an item to get just the right look. Is too easy to over do things and end up in a mess. Practice brings experience and we all need to start somewhere!

I am very impressed with your results. I used to watch those UKF pallet vans pass here. They always looked dirty, but nit quite as dirty and old as you modelled them. But they did have a hard life as towards the mid 1980's I saw they mixed BR with UKF and the occasional single blue ex. removals company pallet van was seen in the rake. There were always passing in sets of 14 at a time due to the siding length at Carmarthen Junction where the fertilizer was offloaded.

Years later when I worked on the railway I asked an older guard who did the rostering. He has an amazing memory. He was not only saying how many used to pass at a time but where they went and even remembered the times and the turn numbers for the shifts... And the headcodes etc.. And it had been some 20-25 years later when he last worked them that I asked him. He gave so much information that all I could remember aas there were 14 of them in a rake, whichis the information I needed to know.
Surprizingly, though it seems like 14 is not a lot, both when watching the real thing pass, and also representing them in model form, 14 of those vans do take a while to pass. They were passing through at speed when I used to watch them as a child, and they still took a while to pass. A sight I remember to this day!

[Phat Controller]

thanks for the feedback guys

I'm impressed that YOU"RE impressed with my work!!

It's a great feeling seeing a project coming into fruition, that little spark of an idea, and then the mulling over of what could be, to the first definitive move of stripping back paint/decals or whatever to begin the transformation.

After a few days of messing with my project I tried to make it look like the RTR model (without signage) so here it is in it's current form ......

A dab more Green on the axle boxes (which didn't show up very well) and maybe some weathering, but that will come after I find somewhere that custom makes decals!!

[Phat Controller]

Yesterday I found an old friend I thought I hadn't seen in along time', to be honest I didn't realise I still had it!
So I got busy and gave it some TLC with the paint brush, and this is the result ...............

Quite happy with the results, but maybe I'll readdress it after a while and put a splash of colour in it somewhere .........
but atm I'm happy with it

[Phat Controller]

I bought a lot of TTA and PCA tankers off Facebook Market Place for a reasonable amount.

The 2 PCA Vee Tankers were already slightly weathered but not to were I wanted them.

I took them to another level, being the pedantic weathering nut that I am.

With a bit of imagination and just a smidge of research they ended up like this ...............

A nice twin rake of grubby Cement Tankers that I just might add too if the price is right

[Phat Controller]

Ive bought a few bits of rolling stock that I wanted but they had minor damage to them, mainly the buffers missing or broken in half.

I thought I'd give them a go and repair them as best I could.

It was easier than I expected, but it took a while to imagine up some donor plastic that was close to the thickness of the buffers, and good enough to be attached to the broken buffer to be shaped accordingly.

Well this this is how it went .....

The offending buffer

File it down straight so I can fit the donor plastic

Superglued the plastic on with the help of tweezers. Donor plastic was a bread bag tag - you know, the ones that keep the bread bag sealed.

Filed into shape, after trimming a rough shape with cutters

Painted and finished!!

I reckon it came out pretty good, considering. I've repaired a few buffers this way, and I'm hard pressed to see which where the repaired ones.

[Phat Controller]

I've noticed on Ebay (where some of my painted stock will end up) there are a few people selling their weathered offerings online, however, they are in Mother England, and their work is really good (Ive taken inspiration from them), but by the time I factor in the cost of the weathered item, and postage (damned Pitney Bowes &%^$#%@!^&#'s) from the UK to OZ, it's not really worth it, unless it's a rare item.

That's a bugbear of mine, this "3rd Party" postage malarkey. I see lots of items I would love to purchase, but the range of postage from a very healthy AUD$12.50 shipping, to an exorbitant AUD$80.00 ,on some items.

The lower end doesn't always mean you're getting crap, one User who does an excellent job weathering his stock, charges minimum postage rate to OZ, but alas his items are a little pricey, and I've had to "cherry pick" what I get from him.

As an aside, can someone please explain why Pitney Bowes are being used to ship items overseas from the UK? Can you not wander down to your local Post Office (as we can here in OZ), and post it over the counter, at a very much reduced rate, than these extortionate prices??

Anyways, this is where I started thinking about weathering my own stock and loco's.

I decided to have a go at the airbrush, dust it off, fire up the compressor, and to my surprise it's easier than I thought, but a lot messier when things go wrong!

My first attempts was not too bad, just a basic grubby browny black over a few vented vans etc, nothing fancy. They came out alright, considering.

Trick was "slow wins the race", lots of as small "dustings" of paint, let it dry, then another, building up the layers, then scrutinising the finished product, making changes, or leaving it at that!

I'm still having trouble stopping when I should!! It's a failing of the image in my head not being transferred into whats in front of me!! lol

Anyways I persevered, and after a while I got to an acceptable level, which I could live with. Then I added detail! THIS is the difference, "it's all in the detail", making that extra effort to make your products stand out and be one of a kind, marking your own stamp on things.

I like grubby, the dirtier the better, but then sometimes it can be a good idea to hold back and just create an image of a slightly soiled loco or carriage.

This Gulf TTA Wagon got some oil stained detailing and a general overall "dirty wash". The warning notice was wiped clean before the last dusting of dirty spray

The Shell TTA got the same treatment

These 6 wheelers got a grubby layered paint job. They also had a lot of spillage due to sloppy handling.

now the big boys ...........

Esso TEA got a light coating of grime with oil streaks form over filling and spillage from the hoses.

Shell BP TEA got the same treatment

Ive already put some of my earlier efforts up for sale and I'm watching with baited breath to see if I actually get a bite.

The airbrush isn't as scarey as I thought and I'm actually having fun with it.

The sky is the limit now!!

Lemme at 'em!!

[Phat Controller]

Hi there Guys n gals, hope we are all having a merry new year!!

well over the Xmas NYE break I decided to get some more weathering done, considering I couldn't go anywhere, as the fires have me hemmed in.
so I purchased this ugly duckling (it really is hideous)

I like a challenge, and this was my Xmas present to myself, to make it look something passable as an acceptable piece of rolling stock on my layout.

It's a Frateschi HO Cement Hopper (made in Brazil) cost me AU$38.00 with postage - enough for me to take a risk.

It sat on the table for a few days, as I dealt with other rolling stock, but I was always looking for things to do to it.

* frame is plain - no etching or moulding
* no buffers
* handbrake wheel looks odd
* small plastic wheels
*Lima type moulded couplings
* oversize ladder

I was definitely weathering this! It was a given from the start, reason being it may hide some of the imperfections I didn't like, such as the plain frame, and the bland grey colour. Weathering may also make the oversize ladder look better, something I wouldn't know until I actually did it.

So i took to it with gusto over a couple of days, deciding what to do next.

* added 4 new buffers from my bits jar
* removed odd looking brake wheel
* added bigger wheels
* converted old couplings to NEM pockets
* and of course weathered it - heavily!

and here it is now ...............

I reckon it turned out quite well considering what it looked like straight out of the box. Might even get another one, once this one has grown on me

[Phat Controller]

OK it's been a while since I even looked at Tinwald, let alone did anything!

Funnily enough, I've been going into work, more or less fulltime, as we have had to "down size" our warehouse and condense our operation, due to this Covid19 marlarkey. So we've gone from 3 warehouse to two, all props and excess production equipment has either been "smashed & trashed", sold, or condensed into one of our two warehouses, and I've been there trying my best to help out as much as I can, whilst still dealing with the side effects of the long ago chemo and operations.

I found out now, (after my GP sending me in for X-rays and Ultrasound) that I have "severe advanced degenerative osteophytosis" in my hips, which explains why I've been limping and having trouble getting up and out of my car, and lounges! Anyways, I can still get around, and am doing my best to keep active.

so, this brings me to my workbench. Whilst rummaging around in the mess that was our defunct warehouse, I found these little beauty's .....

I'm going to utilise them in lighting up my biggest building - the Grand Parcels Station by Metcalfe.

I'm using some hollow "cottonbuds" to sleeve the bulb & wires through, so I can reach the upstairs floors, then glue them in situ.

I shall keep the battery "pod" and use it to power the lights, until I decide whether my layout will become DCC or not.

Other buildings may get this treatment too, as I have several of these units (with attached bulbs) and I'm contemplating ways to make the hollow "stalks" and bulbs into street lighting! That will keep my mind busy for a few weeks.

Well hope you all like the progress (such as it is)............

cheers for now