Scratch Build of 1951 Pullman Carriage

[hendie]

Okay folks.  Sabbatical is now over, and I'm back on the rails so to speak.   It took me a few days to get back into the swing of things after my work trip, but I think my mind is now back in the general area.

Quick warning - this post is dotted with lots of photo's with not really much progress.  I'm at that stage where I am really starting to figure out how all this internal stuff fits together, and it's taking a lot more thought and planning than I had originally anticipated.

 

Anyways, onto the build.... still working on the bathroom - this time the towel rail.  I turned an aluminum rod on the lathe and approximated something that sort of looks like a stanchion (if that's the right word) for a towel rail. All done by eye of course, since I haven't quite gotten that au fait with the lathe yet - well, that and laziness !  Once the stanchion was turned, it was out with the drill

 

 

which then allowed me to fit the rail

 

 

The problem with doing it by eye is that my eyesight changes quality from day to day, hour to hour.  Eventually, I produced two parts that could pass as close cousins. 

The rail has still to be cut to size, but I have to build the bathroom first to ensure I get the rail cut to the right length. Once that's done, the towel rail will get a coat of alclad chrome

 

 

Here we have standard issue hands (Large) as a scale reference.  Oh yes, I lost a few of these towel rail parts while using the cut off tool on the lathe. They do tend to fly off at the most inopportune moment.

 

 

Moving on.... started a dry fit of some of the bathroom pieces.  It looks as though the cistern will only just fit - but that's good enough for me.  It's sitting offset from the wall at the moment as I want to get some more parts in place before I commit to drilling into the wall. The cistern will also sit a tad lower so that those two pipes will disappear into the wall near the top.   The vent on the side wall was made by cutting a rectangle from the thinnest styrene I had - then painted flat aluminum.  The mesh was also painted in the same color, but I followed up by using an old toothbrush to "clean" the mesh ensuring that the mesh was open and not all clogged up.  The frame around the mesh looks a bit heavy duty.... should I retry using some other material ?

 

 

'cos when it's all fitted together, this is about as much as you are likely to see.  Those are 1-2-3 blocks in case you were wondering - so again, a nice scale reference.

 

 

I was a bit perplexed initially when I saw the tiled pattern arrangement on the bathroom floor, but all the drawings I have show the star pattern disappearing under the wall to the left of the WC.  (Dunno what Suzie was thinking back then, but as that's the original plan, and I've got proof, that's what I'm sticking to)

 

Does that floor look any better now Bill ?   I'll be giving the floor a quick coat of semi gloss later to tone down the shininess and reflection.

Another, slightly better view below. Still lots to be added, built, lost, and otherwise constructed before this is finished.  Door handles, hinges, flush button, aluminum trim strips, toilet roll, mirror, light fittings etc.   It's a thankless job at times.

 

 

But before I get to that, I need to construct the outer wall of the bathroom, which isn't made any easier by the fact that the wall includes a small window. 

 

 

Some paint arrived during my away trip, so at some point in the very near future, I will be doing some paint tests to see if I can get a decent Pullman looking coach.  Thankfully, I kept all the not quite so good side frames to use as paint mules.  I don't think I have any danger of running out of them any time soon.

 

 

[Max Headroom]

Hendie! This is wonderful stuff. All these tiny details deserve to be seen when finished and I agree that a removable roof is the way to go.

 

One question if I may - how will you replicate the bristles on the *ahem* bog brush?

 

Looking on in wonderment.

 

Trevor

[longshanks]

Love the attention to detail...

 

Kev

[TheBaron]

I'm sorry for not getting across here more frequently hendie, though the pleasure of catching up with developments is more concetrated. 

 

The 'facilities' are looking very finely-wrought indeed. I can,'t help reflecting on the disparity between the level of fascination in looking at your miniature version, and the lesser fasciation I'd have with the actual fixture!

 

Bravo.

Tony

 

[Whofan]

On 15/03/2017 at 4:21 PM, hendie said:

Another one of those great under-rated bands.  I got to see them at Parkhead, which I think was one of the first ever stadium gigs in the UK. They were supporting the Who.  I was a big Who fan back then (pre-1976!), and SAHB absolutely blew the Who off the stage. I've never seen anyone control a crowd like Alex Harvey did that day. 

 

Mr Harvey was one of those "true" performers.  It was a sad day when he passed.

 

Ahem - "blew the Who off the stage"  ?? 

 

You'll no doubt notice where my allegiance lies ...... but even the greatest rock n roll band in the world can have an off day!

 

I confess I never saw the SAHB, except on tv, and I wasn't at Parkhead for that show, but my younger brother saw them at Swansea on that short tour, and he said that SAHB were .... well, sensational. As well. 

 

 

 

[hendie]

9 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

One question if I may - how will you replicate the bristles on the *ahem* bog brush?

 

we are not heading down that path again - not on this build anyway.

 

 

8 hours ago, Whofan said:

Ahem - "blew the Who off the stage"  ?? 

 

'fraid so.  I was a huge Who fan back then too.  I'd seen them at the Apollo two years (I think) previously and they were great. So Parkhead was a bit of a let down. In fact, I've avoided stadium concerts ever since as I'm convinced that had a lot to do with it.  I think I still have the program somewhere with Mr Moon doing his Penthouse style spread over the middle pages.

 

8 hours ago, Whofan said:

and he said that SAHB were .... well, sensational. As well. 

 

Mr Harvey did have the home advantage that day, being a native soap dodger, oops... Weegie himself.  

 

9 hours ago, TheBaron said:

I can,'t help reflecting on the disparity between the level of fascination in looking at your miniature version, and the lesser fasciation I'd have with the actual fixture!

 

I must admit that it is a bit off the beaten track as far as model building goes.  But it is interesting and providing some challenges in figuring out how to replicate some of these components in small scale

[Whofan]

5 hours ago, hendie said:

 

 

'fraid so.  I was a huge Who fan back then too.  I'd seen them at the Apollo two years (I think) previously and they were great. So Parkhead was a bit of a let down. In fact, I've avoided stadium concerts ever since as I'm convinced that had a lot to do with it.  I think I still have the program somewhere with Mr Moon doing his Penthouse style spread over the middle pages.

 

Mr Harvey did have the home advantage that day, being a native soap dodger, oops... Weegie himself. 

 

Hendie, I've only been to one stadum concert featuring the Who, that was in August 1979 when they re commenced live shows after keith Moon died. I hate this sort of show, to be honest, the only other outdoor concert I've ever been to was a day at reading Festival, but I had back stage passes which made a big difference.

 

The interesting thing is among the various books, programmes, etc I have about the Who, the Glasgow concert in 1976 is the least referenced. I found one reference which suggested the Who were intense, at their best and beyond superlative. it was written by a critic, not a fan!

 

I have that programme too, from the Swansea show, which my younger brother went to and subsequently gave to me. And as you say, home advantage is a powerful thing.

 

[larchiefeng]

As long as we're taking a little trip down memory lane and I'm afraid that it's going to show my age but, I first saw The Who in concert back on December 1971 at the Forum in Los Angeles. Great show!

[hendie]

I'll bet it was - that was the year of Who's Next wasn't it

[larchiefeng]

Yeah, it was released a few months prior to the concert and they played a lot of songs from that album. Baba O'Reilly, Pinball Wizard etc

[perdu]

Hendie that looks the bizzzzzz!

 

The grille frame looks ideal for a scale item, I would not change it at all

 

Weird floor tile pattern but hey, I'm no carriage designer and it looks 'believable' to me

 

I can just see the headlines in the 'Trade Papers'

 

Hendie et Co, bathroomistas to the stars

 

Ready to see the paint mules in action now then, I'll just pull up a footstool (almost wrote pouffé but envisaged more fun off at a tangent if I did) crack open another can of cold lager and sit enjoying the revisit to a huge crowd pleasing thread

Edited March 30, 2017 by perdu

[hendie]

thanks Bill.   Things are moving incredibly slowly at the moment though I'm still concentrating on the bathroom.  I've cut all the paneling, the wood has been stained, and a coupe of pieces made up. A difficult piece was the wall between the end vestibule and the bathroom.  It has the "laminate" on one side and wood paneling on the other. However the corridor/bathroom wall is set back slightly so I had to wrap the paneling around the edge leaving a 2mm strip of paneling - and the vestibule side has a nice rounded edge to it.  

Then tonight I fired up the lathe, and made the little "vacant/in use" fittings for the bathroom door and a ferrule for where the cistern pipe disappears into the laminate cistern cover.  Now I'm working on the door handles and scratch plate - and having to remember which ones were chromed and which ones were brass.  Nothing particularly photogenic just yet, but it is all coming together .... slowly

 

 

[perdu]

I remember when it was all fields round here, now it's wideband industry

 

 

 

 

 

You are having almost obscene fun with that lathe, great innit!

 

I think you are handling the interface between wood and laminate properly too

 

Cant wait to see the two coming together

[Brandy]

Crackin' bog mate!

Oops, sorry, this is a Pullman.........a very fine lavatory old chap!

 

Ian

[hendie]

9 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

Oops, sorry, this is a Pullman.........a very fine lavatory old chap!

 

I know !   I'm actually surprised there is a toilet in this.  I thought those type of customers didn't do that sort of thing!

[perdu]

rarely but only after caviare

 

and sorbet

 

and horses douvers

 

[hendie]

5 minutes ago, perdu said:

rarely but only after caviare

 

nope, I don't think they do.... here's some proof.....

 

 

well, she's heading in the right direction - looks like she's just come out of the dinette - the toilet is just down the corridor to the left. 

 

 

and here's a few folks enjoying a good chin wag in the private dinette

 

 

Yes - this is the real akchul train, (re)designed by muggins here.   Apparently she got a freebie on the day she became the longest reigning monarch.   - and if I ever get the chance to get on it again, I'll have to pay - even though my name is stamped in the steel shear plate just above the end vestibule

 

I think I'll be attempting the dinette next.

Now how I'm going to replicate that carpet and that fabric on the chairs is something I am trying very hard not to think about

 

 

 

[TheBaron]

21 hours ago, hendie said:

and here's a few folks enjoying a good chin wag in the private dinette

 

Prince Phil seems to be savouring a private joke about Sturgeon and caviare...

21 hours ago, hendie said:

I think I'll be attempting the dinette next.

Now how I'm going to replicate that carpet and that fabric on the chairs is something I am trying very hard not to think about

Have the pattern dye-sub printed onto thin fabric, and then upholster?

Tony

 

[Brandy]

Hopefully it wasn't the one about Indian electrical wiring....

 

Ian

[perdu]

The dinette and carpet?

 

Easy as big transfer sheets to cut and shape,  then lay down

 

 

Or

 

Steady handed steely eyed hand painting covered with two coats of matt varnish to flatten it down

 

🚈🚈🚈🚈🚈🚈🚈🚈🚋🚈🚈

[Drift]

I cant compute what I just witnessed. I think I must pack all my stuff away and quit the hobby.

[hendie]

12 hours ago, limeypilot said:

Hopefully it wasn't the one about Indian electrical wiring....

 

you got me there... care to clarify Ian ?    (and forgive me if I'm having one of my more frequent senior moments)

 

 

15 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Have the pattern dye-sub printed onto thin fabric, and then upholster?

 

I had seriously considered that option at one point, however, sanity (or some semblance of something posing as it) prevailed and I realized that I could never make a decent job of upholstery on such a small scale - especially with those big bulgingly ribbed cushions.

 

 

3 hours ago, perdu said:

Easy as big transfer sheets to cut and shape,  then lay down

 

 

I think that will work for the carpet.  I have the bitmap that Suzie came up with for the carpet pattern so another day or so of frustration with CorelWon'tDraw should help knock that into shape.  I also have some textured paper which I think will help.

 

If I could have found a copy of the exact pattern being used for the upholstery I may have persevered with the decal option but I've spent many hours searching and can't find anything even close to that one. (even with the part reference number)

My last chance is to contact the manufacturer and see if they have a photo of it from back in '99 or 2000. A very small chance if any....          But !  I have a plan (of sorts) to try and achieve a decent looking chair.  I just need to try it and see how it works out.

 

I went into this build with the approach that I wanted to make it as accurate as I could, but also with the knowledge that there would have to be some concessions and compromises to accuracy somewhere along the line.  Scale effect dictates that there are some things which just will not scale down to 1/32 in any humanly manageable form. 

 

 

4 hours ago, Drift said:

I think I must pack all my stuff away and quit the hobby.

 

Yeah.... I get many days like that too !  

 

 

[perdu]

Forget it

 

I had thirty years of 'quit the hobby' and still had to come back to it

 

So save yourself a long boring time, and get whittling painting and generally being of of the 'boyzngirlz'

 

Lost time? = time wasted 

[Brandy]

The Indian wiring was one of his well known not-quite-pc moments, although I see nothing wrong...he was calling it as he saw it.....

 

On being shown a newly completed  (something, I forget what) with wires everywhere, he simply commented "it looks as though it was wired by an Indian"...if you've ever seen electrical wiring in India, or Guyana, you'll know exactly what he meant. Of course the media jumped on it saying it was insulting.....

 

Ian

[Bigdave22014]

HRH said something that wasn't politically correct? surely not

 

Wonderful work as always Hendie. Who knew a train toilet could look so good?