Getting Closer

The new spray booth has worked out well with the 10 MLV's getting a coat of etch grey and then top coats of Floquil Grimy Black. And no dust problems either. The booth made a big difference in keeping the fumes down in the train cave so it's been a success I would say. I tried to use the Paasche airbrush again and it failed entirely this time, no paint flow at all so I used the Badger single action and it worked fine first time. I think it might be time to ditch the Paasche and look at something else as it just doesn't seem to want to work.

So here's the louvre vans as they look today.

Before the decals

After the decals

This week I'll finish them off with some weathering and then it'll be on to the next project. I probably should finish off the N cars, horse boxes, GT, EHO's and BKD that I started painting a while back which will mean getting the decals printed for them and working out how to do the lining.

Then again, I might do something else, maybe lay some track for a change. We'll see what turns out.

Off to the Paintshop

The MLV's are done now so they'll be off to the painters over the next week or so to get a coat of gunmetal grey and muck. I'm reasonably happy with them except for the wagon code panel on the side. For the '30's, it should be on the louvres closest to the corner pillar but unfortunately, it's too difficult to remedy so I'll just have to live with it.

One of the MLV's

Here's all 11 of them

I've been contemplating how to scratch build the earlier 28 ton cantilever framed MLV's but haven't come up with a solution yet to replicate the louvres. I've got some spare LV van sides left over from converting some Lima vans to the short LV's so I might get some plans soon and see if I can use them instead. If that fails, then it's scratch build for sure. If anyone has some ideas or techniques, I'm all ears as I've been looking around for methods but nothing has turned up. Also, there's the Andian Models BLV coming plus I've got a couple of the Redfern Models BCV's.....shudder. I love what James McInerney did with his, turning a sows ear into a silk purse as he describes it, but the louvre panels are wrong for my era so it may be better to scratch build some of these as well.

Since building the layout, I had to get rid of the cardboard spray booth as it wouldn't fit under the bench work. So I splashed out on a proper spray booth from Runway 13 that vents outside the train cave.

I reckon it might get a work out soon.

More on the MLV's

Still working on the MLV's with some progress being made during the week. I've added the air tanks to all of them and have started fabricating the truss rods with 2 wagons completed so far. Here's how they look

It's slow progress that's for sure but worth it in the end I think. Well that's what I keep telling myself as each post for the truss rods, has 3 parts which equals 240 pieces for all 10 wagons. Also, I See that Andian models will have the BLV's ready for the Epping exhibition so it looks like I'll have to make tracks to Epping this year. Just in time for my birthday as well!
I also managed to add some fascia to the layout as well as plug some of the holes in the back drops and build some shelves....not very interesting but necessary all the same.
More work to do this week on the MLV's and we have a long weekend next weekend so who knows how much will get done.
Hopefully, lots!

No 179 Fruit Express

Since the house renovations, I haven't felt like building things which means I didn't much feel like working on the bench work. There's not a lot to do to finish and like all good modellers, I decided to leave it unfinished and move on to another previously started project, my No 179 Fruit Express. This train was a regular D57 class roster in the '30's and being a regular runner, just had to be modelled. When loading was high, they even ran multiple trains, 179a, 179b, etc.

As a project, I'd bought 10 A&R MLV kits to match the one I'd built about 10 years ago.

Here's the one I finished about 10 years ago

Photo's of 179 in the early '30's usually show a delightfully mixed train of various types of MLV's and BLV's. Hopefully, Andian Models will release their BLV kit soon but in the meantime, I'll have to be content with the A&R MLV's plus the truly horrible Redfern MLV's of which I have 2. More on these later. I'll have to scratch build the other variants but that will be in the future.

For the moment, I've removed all the detail from underneath the A&R MLV's in preparation for building all of the underframe detail from scratch as the truss rods etc were not to my liking. I also removed the buffers, removed the cast on hand rails on the sides and drilled all the hand rail and lamp bracket holes. I wish the model makers wouldn't cast detail like hand rails onto models and would instead just leave them off. I guess these days with the quality of the models being produced, we won't see cast on details on the RTR models. That being said, I find it difficult not to change things and improve them.
Anyway, I've removed the detail and begun build up the various detail items on the underframe. I've added Evergreen I beams for the bottoms of the queen posts and have cut and drilled sections of 3/64" rod and glued Detail Associates .019" wire in the ends. To these will be added some Evergreen channel and then brass flat bar to make the truss rods. I've built up the brake gear using brass wire and flat bar as well as Evergreen channel for the brake cylinder mounts. I've also built up the bolster gussets out of 10 thou styrene and the hand brake using styrene, brass wire, Ian Lindsay etched brass brake wheels plus some chain.

Here's how it looks so far

A bit closer for detail

Just have to finish off all of them to this point after which I'll tackle the truss rods, fabricate the hand rails and lamp brackets, build up the  extended buffers and I'll be done. Then a trip to the paint and decal shop, a dunk in some mud and job done.

Easy Peasy........I wish!

Emo Whinge Fest #1

Right, it's time to vent the spleen. You may have noticed a lack of posts since Christmas which is due to the ongoing work on the house that has taken up all my spare time. That, plus most of our belongings have been stored in the train cave meant that there was no train time for Mr Picton. I started the work on repairing the floors hoping that only 1 bedroom was needing repair but oh no, it had to be all 3 bedrooms plus the hallway that needed replacing, bearers and joists included. This included all the tiles that the previous owners had laid down so 1 x 9 metre and 1 x 4 meter skip later, we had removed all the floors. New floors were laid and the carpet went down yesterday and all the stuff in the garage is now back where it belongs so I can actually get into my cave again. Woohoo!! It's funny how the absence of trains causes other activities to gain in popularity...like drinking!
So here's the whiny bit. We tried to get the insurance to cough up for it...silly us. The excuse for non-payment was that there was no single defined event that caused it. Slimy @#$%s!!!! Now I know how the flood victims feel like when they try and claim. Additional angst was caused when we claimed for some water damage on a ceiling. They'd pay for fixing the ceiling but not the leak that caused it. Brilliant!!!
Anyway, we're a lot poorer now but the upside is we have carpet in the bedrooms instead of the tiles the previous owner had put in which is much more comfortable.
I see I've picked up a few extra followers since Christmas which is nice to see. Don't worry, I don't normally carry on like this and most posts are about what's going on at Picton, not whining and whinging.

Back to the trains....hurrah!!

Stuff

I guess it's about time I post an update seeing as its about 6 weeks since I last posted anything. The trip to study new methods of salt mining went well except for the trip home. 36 hours straight in planes and airports and 2 hours sleep does not make Mr Picton a happy chappy but at least I went to some places I hadn't been before. Tried to get some train action in but my colleagues are not what you'd call "enthusiasts" so I was limited to watching what went past close to the hotel. Here's some suburban train action in Stockholm

Modern Stock and no Graffiti

Stockholm was a blast with fine food and lots of history except for a bit of salt mining thrown in to ruin everything.
When I got back, I was supposed to begin doing the house repairs but unfortunately our builder got delayed on his current job so now, this isn't going to happen until January 9. Which wasn't a bad thing seeing I came down with 2 'flu's in row and would have been totally useless. Anyway, what all this means is that not a lot has been happening at Picton. I've finished off the L girders for the lower deck and am now in the process of attaching the bearers and backdrops.

Slowly bit Surely

A Certain Viaduct will be located here

Hopefully, I'll have all the bench work done soon and can move back on to track laying and wiring and hopefully running some trains one day.

There's one other thing that's also happened recently that just goes to show you what resourcefull, helpful modellers are out there and the value of the Internet. My fellow Pictonite, Linton, posted a question in the Yahoo Group, Aus_Model_Rail regarding obtaining bullhead rail so he could build the road over bridge at the Sydney end of Picton Station. I replied and we had a bit of banter then the next thing I know, Linton and I get an email asking about what information we're after for the bridge. Anyway, I'm not going to go into too much detail but the information we've received from this gentleman is pure gold and we're both extremely grateful for his help on this. He wished to remain anonymous and I respect that but I'd like to thank him for the information he's shared with us as it will go along way for Linton and I to build some accurate models. Thanks heaps!!!!

This maybe the last post before Christmas so I'd like to wish a very Merry Christmas to you all and your families and hope Santa brings you lots of railway goodness. I know there's a little boy in my family who's getting some LNER 4472 love. Have a good one!!

More Progress

I've been beavering away in the Train Cave laying the grade for the Loopline from the junction round the reverse loop up to Thirlmere. Also done is Thirlmere and the beginning of the grade up to Hill Top as well as some of the hidden sidings. I plan to finish off the top deck and then do the bottom deck followed by the track work. While thinking about the track work, I thought I'd do some research on flex track prices as I certainly won't be hand laying the track in the hidden sidings. I began by looking locally for pricing on Shinohara Code 70 flex track and the best price I could get was $15.70 per metre. A quick check on the net yielded $6.70 from Walthers!! Add in the exchange rate and it's a no-brainer where I will be buying the track from. I've read around the various groups that people are often getting far better prices overseas for supplies and now I see what they are talking about. Up until now, I've had no need to purchase things overseas that could be purchased here. All the stuff I need is either only available here or overseas exclusively. People also mention about the price mark up from the wholesaler / importer and if that's the case, then I can see why people are complaining and buying overseas. I hope the wholesalers wake up soon otherwise the local hobby shop will find it difficult to compete. Anyway, here's some pic's of the current progress.

What a mess

1 in 40 all the way

Still some work to do

I'll be having a bit of a break for a couple of weeks as the salt mine is sending me away for a bit and when I get back, I'll be into some major repairs on the house that needs attention so I don't know how much work I'll be getting done in the next month. You never know.