HO/OO Scammell Scarab

[Grandboof]

Love your work . Just remembered one of these tucked away with the " train stuff" waiting the time when I get to indulge my other weakness once again . I will now go for a bit of a look around What can of worms might get opened  Thanks for sharing 

Martin H

[Heather Kay]

Thank you Martin!

 

 

A little further work putting off the glazing a little longer.  I found an unlikely pair of ex-RAF drivers, who appear to be identical twins. They’ll need some paint soon. PE door mirrors and number plates are from Langley Models. I’ve made a start at bodging the Scammell badges, but what I managed two decades ago isn’t something I appear to able to manage today. I can’t use the transfer versions because they’re the wrong colour for a start. We’ll get there. 

 

Speaking of transfers, I compared the Watneys ones with the video I linked to. They’re all the wrong colours, too. I’ll use them anyway, as I really don’t fancy attempting to hand paint the door crests… 

[nimrod54]

Fabulous work on both of these Heather. The uncoupled tractor unit coupling detail work looks superb, and the weathered look on the boards of the trailer is nice and subtle.

[AdrianMF]

They are looking very nice! I had always thought of that scheme as “plum and custard” so “blood and custard” sounds rather grim. Anything and cream invokes something in the past for me: Sky and cream for old Fiat 500s, and dark blue and cream for 1970s buses in Brum, to name but two.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Heather Kay]

28 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

I had always thought of that scheme as “plum and custard” so “blood and custard” sounds rather grim.

It does, doesn't it. The official form was "crimson and cream". Shortly after nationalisation of the railways in 1948, various locos and coaches were painted up in suggested livery schemes and displayed at Marylebone station. One of the coach liveries was indeed plum and cream. In the end, the crimson won out, and lasted until 1956 or so, when an overall maroon was chosen for the coach liveries (apart from the Western Region, who always did do their own thing of course!).

 

Time to tackle the windows. Deep breath, and here we go.

 

 

Tools and materials. Some tracing paper, upon which I have traced the outline of the cab windscreen, sewing needle in a pin vice (being the household authority, I gave myself permission to do this ), a pair of small scissors, and a black marker pen. Some clear plastic sheet is also required, but you can see what I made in the picture anyway. 

 

I had puzzled over how to replicated the prominent black rubber seals on the windscreen for ages. Last time I did it, I made them from tiny scraps of thin styrene strip and painstakingly painted them. I toyed with the idea of fretting them out of thin black styrene sheet, or making them up using Slater's microrod, but I decided my sanity had suffered enough recently that I would simply draw the seals on with the marker pen.

 

 

You want technique as well? Oh, alright then. This time I'm making individual windscreen panels for the Watneys Scarab. I wanted the driver's panel cracked open, as it was hinged at the top to allow the screen to be opened for ventilation.  Anyway, placing the traced windscreen under the clear styrene, I carefully scratched the shape using the needle. 

 

 

Using the scissors rather than a scalpel, I cut the shape out as near as possible. Even a sharp scalpel can cause tiny fractures along the edges of the Slater's clear material I am using, where scissors give a clean cut. I tend to err to the outside of marked lines in these circumstances. It's easier to take material off with another snip or pass with a file than to add it back, after all. Once the shape is roughly cut, it is offered up to the model to check for size. Adjustments are made as required, followed by a careful run round the edge with the fine point marker pen.

 

 

A drop or two of canopy glue settles the finished items in place. I glazed the cab rear windows with Humbrol Clearfix. I'm still a bit dubious about the stuff, if I'm honest. It looked like my efforts would end up like the bottom of a proverbial jam jar, but once it had dried properly it actually looked okay. The cab doors, happily, had a moulded recess inside, and it was a quick job to snip out some clear material to fit. No open driver's windows on these models, for a change.

 

 

A trio of three-wheelers for comparison. On the left, my effort of some 20-odd years ago. The two new models show the intervening decades have not been kind to my steadiness of hand or clarity of eyesight. The Scarab plates were outlined using a very fine brush and white designer's gouache. I prefer water-based paint for this job because it can easily be wiped away with a cotton bud for another go. I won't tell you how many goes I had to get it as good as it is now, and I'm not entirely pleased with the end results this time. If you've ever wondered why modellers tend to move up scales as they get older, here's your answer! 🔬

 

Time to dig out the transfers, I think. Let's get these wee beasties finished and in the gallery.

[Heather Kay]

Transfer time.

 

 

I take serious issue with the kit transfers. There’s something out of scale somewhere. 🤔 I have spares in my stash, so I ended up replacing all of the BR Scarab transfers. Sadly, the decent transfers are the same age as the original Scarab I updated, and don’t really work any more. They were "pressfix", where they’d have a tacky surface which you’d press down onto the model, then apply water and let the backing paper soak off. The stickiness is gone, so while the transfers still work, they often float off with the backing sheet! I ended up using Dapol's for the BR transfers. Two trailers with the same number, but who's going to see at normal exhibition distances? 

 

 

Similar issues with the Watneys ones. The Scarab transfers were more or less okay, apart from the fiddly ones that go on the roof barrel. I’m hoping some MicroSol will settle them, followed by a decent coat of varnish to hold them in place. The classics on the ends of the trailer barrels, though, are too big. They fit, after trimming the carrier film away as close as I dared, but even then the W and S of the name is squished into the corners. Oh well, it’s done now.

 

I will let things dry off before attempting to varnish. The BR cab door transfers have silvered horribly, in spite of a nice gloss surface. Dapol didn’t even provide numbers for this machine. 

 

If if all goes well, these will be photosnapticated and in the gallery later today.

[Mancunian airman]

Great effort Heather.

Things never quite seem to go to plan and its frustrating to say the least but you have shown great patients with the decals, I hope for you, that a varnish will bring them up to your satisfaction . .

 

Ian

[Heather Kay]

That's it. All done, and RFI in the gallery thread.

 

 

I'm pleased these little critters are done. They're not quite as perfect as I'd like, but they abide by the three foot rule! Although it's like famous last words from me, I don't expect to be adding another classic Airfix kit to this build. I've got some more recent kits that are calling to me from the stash!