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Airfix (actually MPC) 1:12 Christie Steam Fire Engine


Kallisti

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I do all sorts, whatever takes my fancy and this has been in the stash for a while...

Gauges? I thought that was wire thickness ;)

Okay so I am further corrected by the honourable steam lady ;)

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Gauges? I thought that was wire thickness

Also Go no go & railway lines.

We knew what you meant though.

Just be careful what you call the push/pull switches.

(Think WW2 Pilot terminology here)

Oh, And ones that you twist. Good job there's no radio.

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And there was me thinking it was the flux capacitor.

This thing always reminds me of the Goon Show mobile NAAFI with that big tea-urn on the back. I nearly bought one at a show a couple of years ago, but you're doing a far better job of it than I coulld.

Nice work on the shiny bits.

PJ

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Thanks guys - its slow going - EVERY piece has to be sanded and many of them polished to get rid of sink marks, mould lines, ejector pin marks and general crappy casting/moulding. Lots of painting of bits being done and not so much assembly now. I'll try to post some photos of whats happened so far...

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As promised here are some photos of the progress...

First off the chim-chimeny has been reassembled after the brass and copper painting...

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and I've added the mesh in the top which is sources from a plastic sieve I picked up from a hardware store for £2

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I think it looks quite effective and it means you can't see the blank plate in the top of the chimney anymore! I think I'll be adding some soot blackening around the top of the funnel to give it more authenticity.

Next is the suspension sub-assembly for the front wheels, sadly a bit out of focus. These have been painted red with black oils to give the leaf springs greater defintion. next are the rear cart wheels

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The tyres have been painted with Tamiya Nato black which give a nice matt finish. I'll probably be applying some lighter pigments to the tyre surface as it would be in contact with dusty roads.

Next is main chassis all put together which gives an appreciation of just how big this model is.

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On the left is the egine with the "fake" radiator panel at the front, with the internal combustion engine directly behind. I'm going to paint this up with metallic grey/steel colours, but this will be hidden anyway. In the middle is the radiator I spent a while fixing before and tot he left is where the boiler will be supported.

Next is the driver's chair and "cockpit". The actual seat of the chair is being worked on as its padded leather so its being weathered to look more used. This whole sub-assembly will be mounded on the main chassis, just forward of the square tank and behind the engine. The foot pedals will be weathered to show usage.

Finally is my growing accumulation of completed brass, copper and chrome components.

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There are a load more out in the shed in various stages of prep, priming, painting and curing. This won't be completed for the December club meet on Monday week, so it will have to be held over until January :(

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Lots of progress this week, including a lot more actual assembly!!!

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The boiler had been attached to the chassis and this then allowed the pimp to be built - close up below

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Engine has had its pipework fitted

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I've been tempted to add more detailing to the engine but frankly I think I'll be closing up the bonnet so whats the point?

More pics of the pump

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Need to tidy up the joint of the supporting bracket to the boiler once its fully dry and cured,

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In the end I used X10 gun metal paint on the pump rather than alcad it. This appears in photos to be cast iron or some such so I left it Tamiya paint to give it that cast roughness look.

This is the drive chain from the engine to the front wheels

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Need to put more oil and grease on it.

In the first pic you can see the rear suspension springs, but these have just been dry fitted. They will be sorted out soon and added, along witht he rear axle, all ready for the wheels. Lots more other bits have been painted ready for use, including all the bonnet sections and the drivers seat and cockpit.

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For your delectation (and possibly frustration), as well as adding to your edumacation and furthering your modelling skills, I present...

http://italianhorses.net/Tutorials/FlexHose/flexhose.htm

Say thank you after they let you out of the Mental Health Unit. :)

I recall seeing something like this in a Scale Auto Enthusiast many, many years ago, but using diluted white glue instead of the PTFE tape. Rather than a lot of writing in an attempt to explain it, I thought I'd look for a tutorial, with pictures. Hope it helps.

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This appears in photos to be cast iron or some such so I left it Tamiya paint to give it that cast roughness look.

Most (if not all) traction engine 'casings' would be made from castings - technology of the day! Good call :)

Gunmetal for bearings and steam fittings (water gauge, clack valves, etc)

Spun brass (or sometimes copper) chimney shiny bits.

The Victorians did like their machinery to look pretty :thumbsup:

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Thanks for the suggestion Rob, but don't forget I'm the loony who makes his own bar armour for modern British vehicles, so mental health is not something I need consider anymore! That said I'm not going to be partaking of that particular morsel of lunacy, but thank you for your consideration ;)

Agreed Harriet, thats my aim to make it look interesting with the different textures. Sadly this won't be ready for the club tomorrow, so next month...

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Update time: this week saw a lot of progress, finally tipped over the hump of painting individual components and was abel to indulge in some proper assembly, including the wheels!

No photos as it so close to completion that they would be a bit of a giveaway :D

Been adding decals - omg how awful they are. Thick, fragile and no decal solution I own seemed to touch the buggers! This meant that some of the decals had to get chopped up to avoid having to form them over lumps and bumps. A couple of them even got left off as it would have been impossible to get them to conform. However, they aren't that noticable (I hope)!!

Just finished sanding the last few small pieces ready for painting - this has been the theme for EVERY piece, sanding mould lines and ejector pin marks, filling sink holes and polishing. Its been the most intensive task of the whole build.

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<Victor Meldrew Mode on>

I don't believe it!!! Look what has happened to the decals...

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AGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!

These are going to have to be stripped off and the bonnet will have to be bare of markings... very very very frustrating! >(

Edited by Kallisti
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This kit is so long out of production... Airfix released it in the early 80s but the kit originates from the early 70s. Sadly there was no way to recover the decals - I thought about scanning but they were so badly damaged by the decal solution and frankly being so rubbish, that I think I'm better off without them.

What worse is I ran out of white primer so had to resort to grey primer which means the red overcoat has come up darker on the bonnet and mudguard components and its only when the whole thing is assembled can you see how different they are :(

DSC_2138.JPG

Its ALMOST there...

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I thought about trying to make my own decals but to be brutally honest, I couldn't be bothered! I added some real coal pieces to the back tray and some washes to the wheels and other areas to emphasis some of the details.

The "brass" nameplate has been attached to the base but there was a little bit of overspill from the cyano which has had to be cleaned up.

It just needs the lamps attached to the front bumper and the oil laps hung from the hooks on the boiler, plus some extra valves attached to the top of the pump that have had to go back into the sanding department after being sprayed for the mould lines that were missed first time round to be fixed. Should be completed tomorrow I reckon, but it'll take until the weekend before I can photograph it properly...

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