Tuesday 21 April 2020

Damned lies and the French

Well now that the PPE has now arrived from Torquay after not leaving on the day before we'd first ordered it. What was it? Lies, damned lies and statistics? Well we're all living that now.

Back to reality. This appeared quite some time ago in a box brought over by our Mr. Hill. It stayed on the shelf for a goodly while and is a conversion from the body of the Liliput HOe loco of about 30 years past. I took a few bits away and added hinges, one of those faintly ridiculous Gallic chimney caps, some beading and then threw some paint at it. It needs crewing, works plates and some Greenwich couplings and runs on the expected Kato 103. It may be the first loco on the long planned French 60cm layout, but don't hold your breath.

Red Update: FYI the bufferbeams here are a special red mix of the usual Humbrol 60 and about 30% of the cheap Craftsman paint that comes from The Works in shite brown. Darkens slightly (no surprises there) but improves the coverage. The quest continues.

5 comments:

  1. looks like a red to me. If it covers so much the better, could always be a red undercoat?
    Andrew K

    ReplyDelete
  2. The story would have been so much more amusing if it really had been ordered from Torquay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Red is entirely dependant on what undercoat is used as red is transparent! For reasons lost in the mists of time I generally use Tamiya XF7 (I think that is the number) which is a matt acrylic, and then matt or silk varnish on top depanding on whether I want it shiny or not.......... For undercoat, a bright red can be got with matt yellow underneath (don't ever use white, you will end up with a watery red or pink). Red Oxide of whatever make, Humbrol hull red, Humbrol grot and even a pale blue will produce a good shade of red - think Midland Rly with their 17 coats of paint to end up with Midland Red where the final undercoat before the gloss crimson went on was a shade of purple which in turn was over a blue hue if I remember correctly. Alternatively, black buffer beams seem to offer an easier solution!
      MickT

      Delete
  3. Isn't Torquay in Turkey then?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Talking to a professional model builder and painter many years ago his answer to the relatively poor coverage of red paint was to mix in a tiny amount of white. Having seen some of his work, I can only say his answer seemed to work fine.

    John Bruce.

    ReplyDelete