Scratch Build of 1951 Pullman Carriage

[gunzo]

Hi Hendie

 

Could you tell us what you used to 'guild' the lamps- most convincing.

 

Les

[TheBaron]

21 hours ago, hendie said:

photo makes it look yellower than it does to the MkI eyeball.

 

Something quite melancholy about this image Alan, like a de Chirico painting. Are these the souls of lost lamps trying to find their way back to the Heavenly Carriage? 😁

 

I like that slightly yellowed appearrance to the glass very much - don't pretend you weren't going for a scale nicotine stain effect... 

 

More bravura detailing. 👏

 

 

[hendie]

On 6/29/2020 at 12:53 AM, Pete in Lincs said:

So, it is all done with mirrors! I suspected as much. Good idea though. And those roof vents wouldn't look out of place on my Sci Fi builds. Great shape.

Doors and the display cabinet getting fitted, we must be getting close to the terminus. And the lights look splendid. A nice update, shame about the paint!

 

Paint should be here in a day or so.  the more pressing issue is the decals transfers for the seats which I hope to have sorted out sometime next week.

 

On 6/29/2020 at 1:03 AM, Brandy said:

Yes, it's still me. decided to change to my long-time nickname. My last name being Brand, my mates have called me Brandy for years. Somewhat similar situation to you I'm guessing!

Big improvement on the lights. 

Ian

 

Thanks Ian.  That's the great thing about having one of these printers - if you don't like the result, just make some changes and try it again.  it's so darn cheap and I  can be doing other things while  it's churning away doing its thing.

 

On 6/29/2020 at 1:30 AM, CedB said:

Another great update hendie - those lights look much crisper  

 

Phew. I'm with you, again.

 

Mirror under the roof - great idea. It should allow you to go mad on the 'ceiling' without detracting from the rest.

Reminds me of an old Bob Monkhouse joke that may be a bit risqué for some:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

When I make love to my wife I like to have a mirror in the bedroom.

I hold it over her nose to make sure she's still breathing.

 

 

 

Heh heh.  I think I can actually remember old Bob telling that one.  At least it wasn't down a bit, ... left a bit, ... left a bit, ... down a bit, ... up a bit, ... right a bit... FIRE!

 

On 6/29/2020 at 2:03 AM, Noel Smith said:

Incredible modelling demonstrating may different skill sets.

 

thanks Noel. it's always good to try new things - that way if one thing doesn't quite work out, you have other options

 

On 6/29/2020 at 5:30 AM, gunzo said:

Hi Hendie

Could you tell us what you used to 'guild' the lamps- most convincing.

Les

 

Les,  I just used Model Master Brass enamel paint applied with a 0 sized brush.  I had used the acrylic version of their brass before but it looked a bit weak.  The  enamel version comes up lovely - that's the same paint I used on the luggage racks

 

20 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Something quite melancholy about this image Alan, like a de Chirico painting. Are these the souls of lost lamps trying to find their way back to the Heavenly Carriage? 😁

I like that slightly yellowed appearance to the glass very much - don't pretend you weren't going for a scale nicotine stain effect... 

More bravura detailing. 👏

 

Scale nicotine eh?           Thanks Tony.

 

 

 

 

Throwing some ideas around in my head regarding the display case.

 

Just a few inches short of a meter in length.  Or roughly 100 or so barleycorns for those that still work in old units. Approx. 375 mm tall and around 300 mm in depth

My first draft of this had an arch topped display case, but I wasn't sure if that was going  to introduce distortion into the picture, so opted to go with flat surfaces to e on the safe side.  It's also quite difficult to gauge just how much distance/space you need between the case and the model.  Too close and everything is just going to look cramped and uncomfortable, and too far, and you won't be able to see the detail inside

 

Top'ish view.  I haven't spent any time on the carriage mock up - its just to gauge the overall dimensions I'm going to need for the case. As I'd already modeled the roof for printing, I just used that model here.

 

 

Side'ish view - showing how the separate roof will be in front of, and below the car itself.  There will be a mirror (not modeled) underneath the roof so you can see up into the ceiling cavity

I'll make up a frame to hold the mirror when I work out where the display case is going and what angle the mirror needs to be positioned at.

 

 

Front'ish view.  From this vantage point you will be able to see the entire shebang, kit, and caboodle.  

 

 

I did consider a small diorama but discarded that idea as I wanted the car to be the star of the show and thought I'll keep everything else basic so that the model itself stands out, and that's what will catch your attention

 

Thoughts and suggestions gratefully received...

 

[Brandy]

Is this going to be viewable from just one side? It doesn't quite look right to me with the roof in front and below. Maybe the carriage could sit front and center, with the roof above and behind. The mirror could be mounted to the back of the case (or the bottom) between the top of the carriage and bottom of the roof section, and tilted to show the underside of the roof. It would then be on a more logical position as though the roof had been lifted off.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

Ian

[hendie]

11 minutes ago, Brandy said:

Just my thoughts.

 

Thanks Ian.   My hope is that I can locate this somewhere where it can be viewed from all sides.  Because the two sides are different, I'd like to be able to view them both independently.   Raising the roof above the carriage is going to  block off the view of one side of the interior no matter how its arranged (I think?) - that's why I ended up putting it front of, and below the car.

I'll give your ideas some thought though - I'm not committed to anything just yet

[bentwaters81tfw]

Fish tank. You could have one of those things that blows bubbles as well.

[Pete in Lincs]

A drunken Glaswegian?

[TheBaron]

53 minutes ago, hendie said:

My hope is that I can locate this somewhere where it can be viewed from all sides

Arrange two rectangular forms inside a larger rectangular form. A spatial puzzle indeed....

[Brandy]

52 minutes ago, hendie said:

 

Thanks Ian.   My hope is that I can locate this somewhere where it can be viewed from all sides.  Because the two sides are different, I'd like to be able to view them both independently.   Raising the roof above the carriage is going to  block off the view of one side of the interior no matter how its arranged (I think?) - that's why I ended up putting it front of, and below the car.

I'll give your ideas some thought though - I'm not committed to anything just yet

In that case,  how about mounting the roof quite high above the carriage but tilted. You won't need a mirror, and you'll be able to see both sides of both carriage and roof.

 

Ian

[Pete in Lincs]

I wondered when someone else would think of that.

[Noel Smith]

Looking yet again at the pictures of 'Pegasus' reminded me of a wonderful trip I had a number of years ago on the Orient Express...….Pullmans to Folkestone and onward to Venice on the VSOE blue carriages. The Pullman carriage that I travelled in to Folkestone was named 'Vera' I think. I walked through to the bar carriage during the trip but do not know the name of it. Could it have been Pegasus?

Edited July 3, 2020 by Noel Smith

[Paul821]

Will be sorry to see this saga ending - I only pop in every now and then but at each visit I continue to be amazed at the quality of this build.

 

One thing about the display I would encourage some thought about is lighting. Shadows and reflections can play havoc with the best of displays.

 

 

[hendie]

On 6/30/2020 at 1:01 PM, bentwaters81tfw said:

Fish tank. You could have one of those things that blows bubbles as well.

 

It would look pretty cool surrounded by rocks, seaweed, and weird looking fishes swimming in and out of out wouldn't it?

 

but NO!

 

On 6/30/2020 at 1:36 PM, Pete in Lincs said:

A drunken Glaswegian?

 

I'm sure the citizens of that fair town would take umbrage to that statement... or raise a glass to it

 

On 6/30/2020 at 1:51 PM, TheBaron said:

Arrange two rectangular forms inside a larger rectangular form. A spatial puzzle indeed....

 

I'm no good at puzzles

 

On 6/30/2020 at 1:52 PM, Brandy said:

In that case,  how about mounting the roof quite high above the carriage but tilted. You won't need a mirror, and you'll be able to see both sides of both carriage and roof.

Ian

 

Initial thought are for that to work, the roof will need to be at least 6 or 7 inches above the car to prevent the roof blocking the view.  I may model it up to see how it looks. Thanks Ian.

 

On 6/30/2020 at 2:52 PM, Pete in Lincs said:

I wondered when someone else would think of that.

 

something beginning with..... ?

 

On 7/3/2020 at 1:34 PM, Noel Smith said:

Looking yet again at the pictures of 'Pegasus' reminded me of a wonderful trip I had a number of years ago on the Orient Express...….Pullmans to Folkestone and onward to Venice on the VSOE blue carriages. The Pullman carriage that I travelled in to Folkestone was named 'Vera' I think. I walked through to the bar carriage during the trip but do not know the name of it. Could it have been Pegasus?

 

As far as I am aware, Pegasus was leased to the VSOE.  I've no idea how many bar cars are on the VSOE but the bar in Pegasus is pretty unique so if you don't remember it, it must have been a different car?

 

On 7/3/2020 at 2:19 PM, Paul821 said:

Will be sorry to see this saga ending - I only pop in every now and then but at each visit I continue to be amazed at the quality of this build.

One thing about the display I would encourage some thought about is lighting. Shadows and reflections can play havoc with the best of displays.

 

duly noted Paul, thanks

 

 

As I get closer and closer to the finish line with this penance, I keep spotting more bits that need added.  As I was zooming about photos during the week I spotted a small reddish thing mounted on the wall. Upon zooming in further, I discovered it was one of these... an emergency hammer to break the window in event of having to get out quickly.

 

 

There were 4 of them in total.  For the first time in what seems like ages, I resorted to scratch building - Shock! Horror!   What - no 3D printing?   Well, I did consider it but it was actually easier just to go ahead and scratch 4 of these little blighters and paint them up.  According to my references, they are mounted directly to the wall, though I'm sure there's some kind of bracket there - I just can't see it due to the resolution of the photo.

 

 

I did carry on with some easy things though.

The roof structure got fitted over the bar area -then remembered somehow I have to set up a few bottles and glasses in there later.  Gulp.

 

 

Brass lamps got fitted to the dining area

 

 

with chromed lamps being fitted to the bar area.

 

 

After that there was pretty much no easy things left - at least nothing that can be done now.  It was time to start the colossal task of upholstering the chairs.

This was not a task that I had been looking forward to. 

For one - I hate doing decals, transfers whatever you want to call them.  I hate 'em almost as much as I hate painting... Two... I wasn't even sure this was going to work.

Just to make things easy - I have no copy of the original swatches that were used to specify the fabric.  All I have to go on is a few photos of the interior showing the blue fabric covered chairs.

After searching online for some time I found something that seemed as if it would work - though it was the wrong color.   That would have been too easy wouldn't it?  I sampled the color on a Pegasus chair then replaced the original color in the print to match.   I then scaled it and mirrored/repeated it over and over a few times.  Unfortunately it was not a seamless pattern I had used so it ended up looking a bit regimented and geometric.

 

 

This was what I was aiming for.

 

 

It's more stylized than the pattern I have but what the heck - lets give it a go and see what happens

I had a sort of plan though.  Due to the shape of the chairs there was no way I could cover a chair with just one piece of decal.  I was gong to have to cut individually shaped pieces of decal for different areas of the chair.  I was hoping that this chopping and rearranging would break up the pattern.

Each chair took 12 individual sections of decal. Some of the template pieces shown here were reversed to provide right and left handed versions.

 

 

Rather than bore you with gazillions of individual photos showing the process I stitched a few together to try and lessen the pain for you.

From left to right, top then bottom....  (I was trying to do it clockwise but apparently I'm not good at getting things in a clockwise order!)

The first wing goes on, followed by it's opposite number on the other side.  The seat back (lower) piece was slapped into place, then the lower side panel

 

 

Lower side panel on opposite side, followed by the small front section.

The seat pan was a real pig to fit though not as troublesome as those arm rests.  I couldn't believe how bloody awkward they were to fit.

 

 

After that, the head rest area was added, and finally the back piece was slid into place.

 

 

That was one of those tasks I never ever want to repeat. EVER.  That effort took me two full days   of nothing but cutting and slicing decals and fitting them, over, and over, and over.

16 chairs with 12 separately cut sections of decal = 192 pieces of torment

They're not perfect by any means but I did my best and its a result I think I can live with.

After all that, the decals were gloss coated to seal them, followed by a matt coat to remove the shininess and to try and make them look more like fabric.

Italian Dark Brown was used to simulate the wooden legs - they'll get a satin coat later

 

 

Now just for the hell-of-it. Here's a chair, just cos I took the photo

 

 

Then no sooner had I believed I had finished than I turned around and there on one of my drying blocks at the back of the bench was these two sitting there, grinning at me...

 

 

AAAaaarghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  

Shoot me now.  Please!

 

 

 

 

I did try and take a photo of a few chairs in place with tables etc, but broke off one of the luggage racks while trying to fit the table.   That decided it - I was calling it a night.  That can wait for another day

 

I'm off for a beer!

 

 

 

 

[roginoz]

The English language does not contain enough superlatives with which to praise this marathon effort !!

 

Those chairs look absolutely stunning [as we would expect, given the rest of the build] and will set off the interior magnificently.

I, too, will be very sorry to see your build reach its final conclusion as, without much comment, I have nevertheless watch each development with awe !!

Thanks, Hendie,

Rog

[Brandy]

Two days of torment maybe, ok 2 and a half with the extra 2 to be done! But the result is well worth it.

 

Ian

[Pete in Lincs]

Marvelous. Though I can see a pattern of repitition developing here. It only remains for me to ask, 'Wot, no fluffy cushions?'

I too will be sorry, but delighted (if only for the sake of your patience/sanity), to see this one finished.

[Heather Kay]

Wow! Those chairs look the absolute business! 
 

I have something similar planned to reproduce the moquette on some coaches I have lurking around the bench. Thankfully, the seats In those are somewhat plainer and don’t have backs or arms, but I definitely think it’s worth the repetitive and tedious work for the final effect.

[TheBaron]

6 hours ago, hendie said:

They're not perfect by any means but I did my best and its a result I think I can live with.

You make a lovely seamstress.

Surely the next  build has to be a three-piece suit?

[CedB]

Superb upholstery hendie - you have the patience of Job  

[JeroenS]

What they said! Those chairs look absolutely gorgeous. One's sanity is a small price to pay for this result.

[MR2Don]

Echo all of the above and then some. Magnificent work and workmanship!

[Aeronut]

What no monogrammed lace edged antimakassas for the seat backs? You’ve been let easy. 😉

[Bandsaw Steve]

Deep-button them I say! 🤔
 

My dad was an upholsterer for more than 40 years! He would have deep-buttoned these! 🤪

 

 

[bentwaters81tfw]

Next time, get a colour 3D printer, that would have saved some work.

[larchiefeng]

I’m probably a little late to the party as regards the display but, after looking at your proposed case set up, I have an observation. I like the car above and the roof below because as you say the car is the star of the show. The only thing that, I would do is, slightly tilt the roof section forward so that everything on top is also visible and then put a mirror on the wall behind the roof and one below it. This way it should reveal everything inside reflecting from two different angles. The top is fully visible as is the car. So, I think with some creative tilt and mirrors you should be able to show everything underneath. 

I know how much work decals on seats and interiors can be having done a fair bit of carbon fiber on model cars and these look great. I was looking at your reference pictures of the actual Pegasus and it struck me at just how accurate your build is, great work Alan!!