Scratch Build of 1951 Pullman Carriage

[CedB]

Wow, really stepping up the pace now hendie  

 

A cunning plan eh? One that cannot fail?  

[hendie]

21 hours ago, CedB said:

Wow, really stepping up the pace now hendie  

 

A cunning plan eh? One that cannot fail?  

 

Well so far It looks like it's not failing

Fingers crossed...

 

 

[larchiefeng]

Here’s a little trick with the rattle can paint to get the paint to flow better before shaking the can. I put the cans in warm water about half way and let them sit for a couple minutes before shaking the cans. It gets the so it mixes better and then hopefully eliminate the sputtering when it is spraying. It also helps to have a clean nozzle. I’m probably not telling you anything that you don’t already know. I’m also guilty of being in a hurry and not always doing it but, if it’s something important I always do it.

[hendie]

On 4/5/2020 at 5:51 PM, CedB said:

Wow, really stepping up the pace now hendie  

 

A cunning plan eh? One that cannot fail?  

 

I don't want to jinx myself but...it looks like it worked!

 

4 hours ago, larchiefeng said:

Here’s a little trick with the rattle can paint to get the paint to flow better before shaking the can. I put the cans in warm water about half way and let them sit for a couple minutes before shaking the cans. It gets the so it mixes better and then hopefully eliminate the sputtering when it is spraying. It also helps to have a clean nozzle. I’m probably not telling you anything that you don’t already know. I’m also guilty of being in a hurry and not always doing it but, if it’s something important I always do it.

 

I did that before when I was clear coating the side frames, but in my haste to get things done, omitted to do it this time around.  I'm very guilty of rushing (and royally mucking things up) when it looks like something is nearing completion.  The bar front is a perfect example.  I rushed the last slice of decal, then wasn't happy with it - then tried to adjust it and had to remove it and start again.  Then when I clear coated the wood decal, I noticed a run on one end - so rather than wait for the clear to harden then polish it out, I tried to wipe it off with IPA.  Guess what happened?  Then I had to sand it all back, repaint some of it (not very well I might add) then use the last segment of decal to try and make it all work.  I'm not proud of that bit of work, but since it was the last piece of decal sheet and it'll take weeks to get more, I'm moving on.  Luckily the hand rail and foot rails will cover the worst of it.

 

However, let's move on to something that was a little more successful.  The bar top. 

This particular item has been gnawing at me for months, if not years.  Just how do you replicate granite sheet at such a small scale?   In this case, Uba Tuba.  For those that are not aware, Uba Tuba is a very dark green, almost black granite with a predominant gold fleck running through it.  Sidebar:  I used to design, manufacture & fit marble & granite furniture many years ago and I remember when Uba Tuba first started making it's way into the UK. It was a very exotic looking material, very rich looking, and at that time was ridiculously inexpensive.  I thought it would look cool in Pegasus and that was why I proposed it - and Suzie (our interior designer) loved it.  Hence the reason Pegasus has an Uba Tuba bar top.

If I had know I was going to build a model of it, I'd have proposed something easy to model, like a stainless steel top, and be done with it.  if wishes were horses...

 

Anyway, here's what a chunk of Uba Tuba looks like in it's natural surroundings.

 

 

So, just how on earth do you go about trying to imitate that then?

For a long time I struggled and couldn't make my mind up.  I considered many options: 

• Just go with a plain colored bar top
• Print out a photograph and stick it on the bar top.
• Get a tile of Uba Tuba and cut it to shape!
• Try and make a decal of Uba Tuba and use that.
• a bunch of other ideas I discarded very quickly

None of those seemed likely to have a successful outcome.  Then I had a brainwave.  At least I think it was a brainwave. (I'm not entirely sure). 

The gold fleck was the key. Well, that and the black/dark green. Oh, and the overall green tinge. And the shiny surface.

 

What if I...

 

 

Yup, you guessed it.  What if I

Painted the bar top black.

What if I then randomly sprayed some thinned down dark green on top to give a slightly mottled effect?

What if I then sprayed some clear green and...

While the clear green was still wet... took some brass, a file and then started filing over the top of the wet green layer in a random pattern.

let it all dry

then sprayed some clear green and...

took some brass, a file and then started filing over the top of the wet green layer in a random pattern

Then when I had performed this routine 4 or 5 times, let it all dry

Clear coat the lot

micromesh to remove the worst of the sticky up lumps

and clear coat again

 

Just what would that look like then?

 

Maybe something like this?

 

 

To say I was happy with the result is something of an understatement.

Astounded I was.

 

The layering has worked wonders - those brass filings laid down first have a slightly deeper tinge of green over them and the different layers reflect differently giving it all a bit of depth.

Did I say I was astounded?

You'll have to indulge me as I show a couple of dry fit shots just to keep the mojo flowing

 

 

Once the rest of the fittings are in and the mirrors fitted, that is going to look very cool

 

 

 

So, it may not have been a massive step forward in terms of the amount of 'physical' progress, this is a HUGE leap forward and a real mojo enhancer to have had such success with a part that I was convinced would never be anything other than average at best.

 

did I say I was astounded?

 

 

 

 

 

[larchiefeng]

Small victories like this make all the repetitive things like doing the same windows over 40 times, worth while. When you get bored with all the windows just look at the whole bar area with the cabinets, bar top, bar itself and the cool map on the wall! That ought to keep you going for a while! Great work!

 

[JeroenS]

Woooow that is a nice looking piece of granite! The whole bar is amazing! Brilliantly thought out and worked out. 

[Pete in Lincs]

8 hours ago, hendie said:

did I say I was astounded?

Ye Gods and little fishes! By George he's done it. A definite thing of beauty. Sometimes things just work out right. Genius technique.

[CedB]

Absolutely blooming marvellous hendie, that looks superb.

 

I'm astounded!  

[bentwaters81tfw]

That is inspired! It's that sort of detail that makes this build stand out from the rest of our feeble offerings.

[NickD]

21 hours ago, hendie said:

I'm very guilty of rushing (and royally mucking things up) when it looks like something is nearing completion.  The bar front is a perfect example.  I rushed the last slice of decal, then wasn't happy with it - then tried to adjust it and had to remove it and start again.  Then when I clear coated the wood decal, I noticed a run on one end - so rather than wait for the clear to harden then polish it out, I tried to wipe it off with IPA.  Guess what happened?  Then I had to sand it all back, repaint some of it (not very well I might add) then use the last segment of decal to try and make it all work.  I'm not proud of that bit of work, but since it was the last piece of decal sheet and it'll take weeks to get more, I'm moving on. 

I have long enjoyed your threads though never achieve your level largely through impatience and rushing. Your recent post gives me hope. Though if even you can struggle like this maybe the rest of us should just give up!

 

Hope you're keeping safe

 

Nick

[NickD]

21 hours ago, hendie said:

Painted the bar top black.

What if I then randomly sprayed some thinned down dark green on top to give a slightly mottled effect?

What if I then sprayed some clear green and...

While the clear green was still wet... took some brass, a file and then started filing over the top of the wet green layer in a random pattern.

let it all dry

then sprayed some clear green and...

took some brass, a file and then started filing over the top of the wet green layer in a random pattern

Then when I had performed this routine 4 or 5 times, let it all dry

Clear coat the lot

micromesh to remove the worst of the sticky up lumps

and clear coat again

And then I read this. Outrageous.

 

Bravo.

 

Definitely going to take up knitting.

 

Nick

[hendie]

18 hours ago, larchiefeng said:

Small victories like this make all the repetitive things like doing the same windows over 40 times, worth while. When you get bored with all the windows just look at the whole bar area with the cabinets, bar top, bar itself and the cool map on the wall! That ought to keep you going for a while! Great work!

 

I just keep looking at that granite. I'm still amazed the finish came out so well.  That bar top may end up being one of my favorite items in the build

 

13 hours ago, JeroenS said:

Woooow that is a nice looking piece of granite! The whole bar is amazing! Brilliantly thought out and worked out. 

 

more stumbled upon than thought out - but it worked!

 

13 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Ye Gods and little fishes! By George he's done it. A definite thing of beauty. Sometimes things just work out right. Genius technique.

 

Genius?  yes that's it. Spot on Pete. Genius!    

 

13 hours ago, CedB said:

Absolutely blooming marvellous hendie, that looks superb.

I'm astounded!  

 

ta Ced.  astounding isn't it?

 

12 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

That is inspired! It's that sort of detail that makes this build stand out from the rest of our feeble offerings.

 

thanks.  We all started somewhere though.  When I look back at some of my past builds I cringe at some parts I see now.  In every build I try and challenge myself at least once to see what I can do  better.

This build may have eaten up all my challenges for the next 10 m years though.

 

30 minutes ago, NickD said:

I have long enjoyed your threads though never achieve your level largely through impatience and rushing. Your recent post gives me hope. Though if even you can struggle like this maybe the rest of us should just give up!

 

what you don't see is all the bits I got wrong or really messed up on.  

I'm no different from you or anyone else on this forum - there's a number of folks who's posts I follow and at times I just sit back and let the envy wallow over me. Then kick the dog.

But looking at those posts - it makes me want to try harder and see if I can do  better with my own builds... sometimes I do, sometimes I don't

 

22 minutes ago, NickD said:

And then I read this. Outrageous.

 

 

 

 

[harveyb258]

 

14 hours ago, hendie said:

more stumbled upon than thought out - but it worked!

Crackin' stumble there, Gromit.....

[perdu]

The bar is, well what can we say?

 

Hendie's bar raised the bar.

 

 

Again...

[Gorby]

I'm damn impressed with the build in general, but that bar top is WOW! Great idea.

[hendie]

thanks guys - glad you like the bar top as much as I do.

 

I spent most of today thinking this was Saturday before the realization dawned on me that it was only Friday.  The upside of this stupidity is that I now have an extra day to my weekend and will hopefully get some more things done on Pegasus.

I've been tied up with a lot of small odds and ends - nothing really major, but a lot of those tedious little tasks that take an age but you'd spot them (or rather not spot them) a mile away if they weren't there.

The windows, those damn windows, got a second coat of clear this morning and I spent about an hour just cutting and trimming lots of little windows to go into the frames.  Then I got bored. So I made up the threshold plate that sits betwixt car and diaphragm and stops you falling through the gap. I had made some up in styrene and covered in textured foil - then remembered I had bought a sheet of tread-plate some years ago.  It's a little bit over-scale but works for me.  I also fitted the drop down shelf inside the vestibule - you can just see it hiding out of focus in this shot.

 

 

The replacement mirror tiles finally arrived, so the bar got a mirror fitted.  The tiles are 1mm styrene and the quality of the mirror is very good - the down side is that being styrene, the surface scratches VERY easily - hence why I'm leaving the protective cover on for now.  The mirror was cut with a razor saw, then I filed the edges to give that beveled look.

 

 

Now it was time to tackle another of those jobs that I had been avoiding - with no real defense as to why.  The center partition.

I've been mulling over whether to fit the second side so that I can really start tying things together - but am a bit hesitant.  I know there's some things that will be made really difficult if that second side is in the way. However, the center partition needs to go in so I can continue paneling so... cut a bit of 1.5mm styrene

 

 

Then realize that by the time I cut the door in there, there's going to be no strength left in the structure - and I feel that I need some rigidity over that length so - I found some square brass tube , trimmed the top of the styrene and glued the tube in place - making sure I had clearly marked out the door section which was going to be removed.

 

 

Once I had removed the door section, it was a straightforward job to add the paneling.

 

 

In cases like this, I often find it easier to make things oversize then trim back as opposed to trying to get exact sizes first time around. The door jambs as a classic example.  I just glued in some big chunks, then butted the paneling up to that.

Then to get a nice even lip I placed another piece of basswood on top of the paneling and sanded the door jambs down to that height. The piece of basswood prevented any damage to the paneling and set a nice 1mm lip all round the door frame

 

 

Constant dry fitting

 

 

When I had all the edges finished I also realized that I did not have the edging inside the door frame that the door closes up to - I'm not sure what those are called but I'm sure someone will chime in.

 

 

another dry fit - with some window dressing this time (sorry - it keeps me happy!)

 

 

So now the partition is almost complete,  (I always say 'almost complete' then within hours realize there's a whole bunch of other bits still to get done), it was time for the door.

This part of the door was simple - just cut a door sized rectangle, then cut a window sized rectangle out of the door.  So far so good...

 

 

However, that piece of door is only one piece of basswood sheet - 1 mm thick, and somehow I have to fit a window into it.

Well, I have a plan.  That plan is to butt join two lengths of thicker basswood, mainly because one piece wasn't wide enough - but I was also hoping that having multiple pieces of wood joined here will help resist warping (which I have found happening on some of the pieces I made years ago)

Since this basswood was much thicker - I could also hog out some of the inside face and place the 'glass' in there - and while I was at it, I hogged out some more and threw/glued in a chunk of brass plate

 

 

Then when the twp faces of the door are placed together, there's no gaps.  The chunk of brass should stop any twisting of the door in future.

 

 

The door is now glued together and curing.  Tomorrow the partition and the door will get some clear coat to add a bit of shine.

One thing that needs added to the partition are the mirrors.  There's 4 on the center partition alone.  Dammit.  And they're not just simple rectangular mirrors.. Oh no.  They're fancy schmancy shaped mirrors they are.

With 4 on the center partition and a number of those same mirrors stuck elsewhere throughout the car, I thought it only prudent to make up a template.  Here is my first attempt in brass.

Complete fail!  - trying to trace around that shape even with a sharp blade was just asking for trouble.  Another approach was needed.

 

 

Template number two.  Yes, this is the finished template, believe it or not.  While it may look like a piece of crap, my first test worked quite well.

The mirror has a double curved profile on each side - those 4 holes allow me to pilot drill the mirror, then open the holes out to form the double curve.  The bottom section of the brass is the same width as the mirror - so this is going back to my 'make it oversize then trim it back' statement from earlier.  It's much easier to form those double curves, then remove excess material, than to try and form those curves directly on an edge

 

This is my first attempt with the new template.  I've lost most of the double curve I was trying to create - I used a drill that was too large.  I'll drop the drill size down for the next version

Beveling was done by scraping the back edge of a blade along the edge of the mirror

 

 

Then provided I can make a bunch of them that look half decent, they get fitted either side of the doorway on the center partition

 

 

Stay safe and enjoy the weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

Wow... That's nice work. And the weekend has only now taken off! Imagine what we'll be looking at on Monday...

[Pete in Lincs]

6 hours ago, hendie said:

fancy schmancy

Indeed. Shame you can't print clear and add a foil backing. Or can you....

[CedB]

More great stuff hendie - those mirrors look great (on reflection)

 

7 hours ago, hendie said:

…the edging inside the door frame that the door closes up to - I'm not sure what those are called but I'm sure someone will chime in.

Stops, they're called stops. Not as interesting as the stuff that hides the joins between the frame and the wall - called architrave.

 

How do I know this? When I left school I had a gap between the end of term and my first real job so I got a summer job on a building site.

The foreman decided I was under-utilised as a labourer and put me in charge of the stores.

We were modernising a council estate, six houses at a time, so I decided that (with the stirrings of my system design career) that I could cut 'packs' of wood for the chippies.

The foreman and chippies loved the idea as it saved them time cutting the wood themselves.

I measured the inside of the door and cut the stops and architrave to size.

About seven or eight doors per house for six houses. Took me ages.

You guessed it - the stops were the right length but the angle on the architrave was cut to the inside measurement rather than the outside - too short

Measure twice, cut once they say.

But it also helps if you know what you're doing - the difference between educated and experienced  

[perdu]

The Pullman is coming alive minute by minute H, looks brilliant

[harveyb258]

1 hour ago, CedB said:

 

…the edging inside the door frame that the door closes up to - I'm not sure what those are called but I'm sure someone will chime in.

It's the rebate.

Nice work Hendie.

[Brandy]

I'll join the rest of the astoundeds re the bar top. Unbelievable look you've achieved there!

The mirrors look pretty damn good too, just as well as they'd be horribly out of place if they weren't!

 

Stay safe!

 

Ian

[hendie]

 

15 hours ago, JeroenS said:

Wow... That's nice work. And the weekend has only now taken off! Imagine what we'll be looking at on Monday...

 

I have a good idea...

 

 

14 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Indeed. Shame you can't print clear and add a foil backing. Or can you....

 

I can print clear, but apparently it yellows under UV which ain't very good.  I've tried foil and other stuff Pete, and nothing looks like a mirror better than a mirror

 

13 hours ago, CedB said:

More great stuff hendie - those mirrors look great (on reflection)

 

Stops, they're called stops. Not as interesting as the stuff that hides the joins between the frame and the wall - called architrave.

 

How do I know this? When I left school I had a gap between the end of term and my first real job so I got a summer job on a building site.

The foreman decided I was under-utilised as a labourer and put me in charge of the stores.

We were modernising a council estate, six houses at a time, so I decided that (with the stirrings of my system design career) that I could cut 'packs' of wood for the chippies.

The foreman and chippies loved the idea as it saved them time cutting the wood themselves.

I measured the inside of the door and cut the stops and architrave to size.

About seven or eight doors per house for six houses. Took me ages.

You guessed it - the stops were the right length but the angle on the architrave was cut to the inside measurement rather than the outside - too short

Measure twice, cut once they say.

But it also helps if you know what you're doing - the difference between educated and experienced  

 

Ta Ced, architrave, cornice, and dado I understand, it was just the minutiae of door geometry where I fell asleep in class

 

12 hours ago, perdu said:

The Pullman is coming alive minute by minute H, looks brilliant

 

Ta muchly Bill. Another minute added today - but why did it take me hours?

 

12 hours ago, harveyb258 said:

It's the rebate.

Nice work Hendie.

 

Rebate. Stops. Tomato. no wait...

 

3 hours ago, limeypilot said:

I'll join the rest of the astoundeds re the bar top. Unbelievable look you've achieved there!

The mirrors look pretty damn good too, just as well as they'd be horribly out of place if they weren't!

Stay safe!

Ian

 

Ta Ian - hopefully these mirrors look better.  Damn things took me most of the day fettling

 

For those of you who are just dying to try this at home, and I know there are many... Here's hendie's guide to mirror making.  Use the template to mark the 4 pilot holes, and scribe two lines.

 

 

Enlarge the 4 holes slightly, cut along the two guide lines, then just remove anything not mirror shaped.  Easy wasn't it?

Well, it was 'cept it took me most of the day to get two that I was happy with.

 

So here we are - the bar side of the partition is 99% there. Some skirting was added, along with a heater control on the skirting. (and now found out I need another heater control for the opposite side skirting)

The door was finished off, chrome handle added, and two of those damn mirrors stuck in place.

 

 

and can you see that double curvature that I was trying so damn hard to capture?  Can you heck as like.

Oh well, that's modeling for you.  I also (very fortuitously as it happens) found out today that I can't fit the center partition now or I won't be able to put the second side frame on later - at least not without slight modification.  I need to fit both at the same time.

 

 

 

at least the two mirrors on this side look close enough to being identical.

 

I'm not sure whether to model it with the door closed or with the door open to the dining area. 

Until next time....

 

 

 

 

[JeroenS]

I think "door open" will give it a bit of extra life. 

[CedB]

Open, I vote open, otherwise you could have glued the door in and wouldn't have needed the strengthening brass bit.

 

Just sayin'