Model Engine Works

Monday, 3 January 2022

M.E.W. Island Lighthouse

A lighthouse may seem a relatively easy building to make but to get the cone shape right is deceptively tricky since the proportions of the column have to look correct.
Also, forming a glazed housing for the lamp lens with a suitably shaped roof and balcony around it can be a difficult task to pull together. To this end, I had the idea of fashioning a set of parts that could be used to make many different shapes and sizes of the lighthouse.

For my prototype samples, I made a short cone and medium sized cone-shaped tower with which we all associate a lighthouse. I also did a building-style lighthouse with a cylinder shaped tower structure attached, as a comparison to the others. The main materials used in the construction of these buildings was 2mm, foam board, for the base, straight walls and flat shaped formers where required, thin flexible cardboard for anything that needed to be curved, and 50mm wide brown gum paper tape to reinforce the structure (not the reinforced packing type but the smooth art and framing tape). The glazing was a combination of recycled clear acetate and 30mm diameter clear acrylic tubing. I tried both on the lamp lens housing and found the acrylic tubing the best. Doors and windows I obtained from a set of Wills building accessory parts.

The basic cone shape is easiest to form as a flat shape on paper round a skeleton former. This is then reinforced with further layers of paper or gum paper tape which although relativity thin is very strong, and when slotted into the base and balcony is a very robust structure. I have shown a link to a document describing how I formed the cone shape. These can be made to any height that you may think suitable for your particular model. Of course, you can work with a straight cylinder if you wish although this will not fit into the slot in the base. If so a card ring can be cut and added to the bottom of this to do the same job. This is also the case if you wish to make a building with the light fitted to the roof.

The plinth is a cylinder which I have formed with a round disc made to the inner rim diameter of the printed base. I found that 2 or 3mm foam board was a good material to form this in as it is easy to cut for this disc. Two or three layers should be bonded together create a solid base, then thin card cut into a strip 15 to 25 mm high will form the wall. This should be overlapped three or four times to give strength and thickness. It is then possible to add an inner core of a height suitable to hold the LED just under the lens tube. I have found that this gives the best lighting effect with the lens.

The lens tube is a clear “Bic” pen outer casing that is cut to a length of between 40mm and 60mm. The top 20mm is grooved with a small round file forming between 4 and 6 equal rings in the top 20mm section. I found that turning the tube in a drill chuck made this much easier to do. I have allowed clearance in the balcony floor hole to wrap the middle section of this tube in gum paper tape which allows the forming of a stop at the bottom to position the lens at the correct height.

Forming the Lamp housing is done using a short section of 30mm diameter x 2mm wall clear acrylic tube. The height of this is not fixed and can be to suit your particular model. I would suggest that the lower section is covered in paper gum tape or similar material to stop light bleeding, which also gives a good line to form the windowsill ring around the top of this. This windowsill ring needs to be the same thickness as the proposed vertical glazing bars( I made my version 2mm height x 1mm deep).
The glazing bars can be made in many different ways. For my prototype models, I used 8 vertical bars 1mm x 1mm white plasticard bonded with super glue. It just needs an overlay fitting to the upper part of the outer clear acrylic cylinder which will give the impression of glazing bars. This could be as I have done vertical glazing bars or diamond pattern bars, offset glazing bars were also used in some lighthouses to allow for flat glazing panels.
To guide the installation of these glazing bars, I made a small cylinder of paper to fit inside the acrylic tube and marked the 8 vertical lines equally spaced on this.
I also used a paper ring to form the inner finish of the lower lens housing which is much easier than painting the inside of the tube and gives a nice crisp line at the top.

Doors and windows
I used doors from a Wills set of parts, and also windows and outer frames on the lighthouse building prototype. The openings in towers are formed with just a cutout and some acetate sheet bonded straight to the inner wall surface. The cutouts in the paper for both doors and windows have the edges sealed with PVA before painting.

The printed parts are a roof, balcony, and base ring.

The roof is an eight segment metal clad dome with a ball finial cap. The cap itself has a pilot hole for the addition of a weather vane or lighting conductor to be added. Under the roof, a rim is formed to accept a 30mm diameter clear acrylic tube which forms the lamp housing.
A balcony with railings around the outer edge has a trough formed in the top surface to take the bottom of the 30mm diameter clear acrylic tube. It also has a slot to take the cone formed at the base, with corbels on the outside of the cone for supports to the balcony.
The base ring is designed to allow the cone to sit within a rim in the top surface, and the bottom has a rebate around the outer edge to locate it onto the separate plinth. This plinth is useful to allow the removal of the structure when in place on a layout or diorama making it easier for the permanent fitting of an LED lighthouse lamp fitting.

Painting and finishing sprayed the printed parts and paper parts with a grey primer and then applied the render or paint finishes.
To achieve a render finish on the main tower I have come up with a mix of one part acrylic white paint, one part white powder filler and one part PVA glue, with a spot of washing up liquid to break the surface tension of the PVA. When mixed together a small amount of water is needed to create a smooth paste like texture, this is then stippled in place with a stiff brush. Once dry it can be over-coated with acrylic paints and then weathered.
Weathering was achieved with a mix of acrylic colours yellow ocher, sap green, Payne’s grey, and white. These were applied in thin washes and by dry brushing There is also a rust wash and staining in areas around the railings and balcony, which was done with enamels thinned and dry-brushed.

Lighting unit
The lighthouse simulated rotating lamp effect unit by Mini Lights can be purchased in several different versions and they give a very realistic flash to a static light source. My first sample unit was mounted on a plinth that raised it up into the core of the cone to just under the lens tube. I found it focused the light better by adding a small upstand around the lamp. It is much easier to have the base for the lighthouse separate, so this can be added to the landscape and wired in without risking damage to the lighthouse model itself.

The power for my unit was from a 9V battery. I mounted this in a switched battery box, these are quite freely available on the internet. The units are rated to run on a 7- 13 volts regulated DC power supply or 9 volts battery. To further aid the changing of the battery I added a pair of low voltage plug connectors between the light unit and the battery box.

List of suppliers:

Mini Lights Lighthouse simulated rotating lamp effect unit by
https://www.mini-lights.co.uk/mlshop/lighthouse-lighting-effect-unit.html

4D Model shop London 30 mm dia Clear acrylic round tube 330mm
https://modelshop.co.uk/Shop/Item/Clear-acrylic-round-tube-330mm/ITM2040

Any good art shop supplier.
Gummed Paper Brown Paper Tape Picture Framing Canvas / Gum Wet 200m x 50mm roll
(note not the reinforced packing tape).

3D Printed Parts
Model Engine Works on Shapeways
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/model-engine-works

Cone pattern development document.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/155N8zx6Zl3zm1o4C4EalgVkWx7qNqEor/view?usp=sharing

Sunday, 7 February 2021

0-16.5 Engines

Updated 2022

It was at the Halifax 2019 model railway show that I was tempted by an old Hornby “Smoky Joe” style 0-4-0 engine sitting in one of the second-hand boxes. I had seen some ideas on YouTube about add simple cylinders and coupling rods to these which looked convincing when completed. Little did I think it would lead me into an interest in a new scale of 7mm.

It was some weeks later when I came round to see what I could do with the old Hornby chassis, my first thoughts were the type of engine I could build from the existing bodywork. I found a very good source of inspiration at the Smallbrook Studios web site. They do resin body conversions for the 00 chassis in a 7mm scale, there is also a good catalog of rolling stock and detailed parts.

I found one saddle tank conversion from a Hornby “Thomas The Tank Engine” Bill Loco just what I liked. I look on eBay and was lucky enough to find a body for the Bachmman version of the Bill engine. My plan was to scratch build a new cab and smokebox door, then buy a cast resin dome and water tank lid. Other details I could get from various other sources.

My next thoughts were on the cylinder conversion, I looked up the You Tube video I had seen previously. The parts used on that were spares form a Hornby Class 28XX 2-8-0 Loco Valve gear, I got a set of these from Peters Spares. Only the crossheads and slide bars would be needed for this job so the other bits would be saved for something in the future. To attach the crossheads and the coupling rods I required some very small 14BA machine screws nuts and washers, and eBay came up with a suitable supplier of these.

I would need to build some simple cylinders to fit onto the existing chassis, and remove the existing moulded ones. To do this I laminated together a couple of Placticard blocks and a bridge between them to form a cylinder arrangement. Holes were drilled to give a clearance fit to the crossheads and a tight fit for the slid bars. The chassis was cut to allow the cylinders to sit in the correct place.

The next job was to alter the coupling rods, these needed to be cut in front of the dummy cross heads, and a clearance hole made in the centre of the rod for the 14BA screws. Once done the screws can be passed through from the back of the coupling rods, a washer placed between them and the crosshead, then a couple of nuts used on the outside of the crossheads will lock them in place. It all needs to be a loose fit to work. Once all is fitted together a quick test run will let you know if any adjustments are required for smooth running.

Once the chassis was running, I started thinking, could I 3D print a version of the cylinders and crossheads. So off I went to the computer and came up with a version that used 0.7mm brass wire for the slide rods and cylinder rod. I used White Versatile Plastic to create the prototype print and after a couple of attempts, I got them working. So I added these to the loco I was building.

There came a point when I had to add the Bachmman body to the Hornby chassis, This was not a straight forward fit, but with a little cutting and a bit of Milliput Putty, it went together. By removing some plastic from the bottom of the footplate around the front and rear couplings and infilling a small section to the front of the footplate, where an 8 BA nut could be bonded to the underside. The chassis in turn needed a slot cutting at the back to allow it to fit the rear bodywork. A hole was drilled through the front of the chassis in the centre of the cylinder bridge to allow an 8 BA screw to pass through, this is to hold the chassis and body together. NEM Coupling pockets were fitted in place encased in Milliput putty at both ends of the chassis,

Once I had completed the scratch-built body the natural progression was to see if I could produce a 3D printed version of a body. The only thing to decide what engine to have a go with. In the end, I worked on two types the Skylark style and Peckett style engines which I had already done in 009. These were scaled up and reworked around the new chassis. The idea being, to create a body shell with the cylinders already attached. These could be used as simple conversion to the Hornby chassis by removing the cylinders and couplings from the Hornby chassis, then the chassis would simply push into place under the new body.

If you wanted to go further you removed the cylinders from the printed body also and add the additional printed cylinder block and crossheads to the chassis to create a more detailed version of the engine. They would also have pockets in the buffer beams to accommodate NEM coupling pockets at the correct height. Well, it all seemed like a good idea.

I had two prototype prints done in White Versatile Plastic to try these out, they both fitted the chassis as expected and work well as simple conversions.

I have also done a third body now, this one is a quarry Hunslet style with a cap that can be built in three versions, one open, one with no back, and a fully enclosed version. I just could not make my mind up which I liked best.

I Have now added a Sharp Stewart Tattoo Saddel tank to the ranks of the 0 gauge fleet of small engines. It is printed with some alternative parts such as funnels. This one is designed to run on the 0-6-0 Electrotren chassis with the rear wheels swaped for a 10mm solid disk type to form a pony wheel.

I have added a list of additional fitting that I used and the supplier below. The three printed bodies and cylinders conversion are available on Shapeways at:

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/model-engine-works?section=0-

16.5+Engines&s=0

List of Parts:

Hornby 0-4-0 Chassis or Electrotren 0-6-0 Chassis

Printed or scratch-built chassis blocks

Brass 0.7mm brass wires

Parts from Peters Spares

Hornby X8834W Class 28XX 2-8-0 Loco Valve Gear Set Weathered.

Couplings and NEM pockets

sales@petersspares.com

8BA Screws nuts and washers

14 BA screws nuts and washers

Sunday, 24 January 2021

009 Atlas Tram and Coach Conversion

There is a really nicely modelled Atlas Editions Bern steam tram and coach out on sale at the minute, which with a little careful conversion makes a very detailed steam tram engine and coach set for 009 modellers. The main additions are a Kato 11-110 chassis to motorise the steam tram engine and a set of Peco G-106 bogies. There are also a set of Peco GR-103 NEM pockets and some 1mm Plasticard to form some new interface parts to put it all together. The good thing about this is, if done carefully no intricate painting would be needed to get a really detailed pair of models.

The main difficulty with this conversion is the dismantling of the two models. I found that some parts were glued together more affectivity than others. This can cause some breakages as the plastic used is quite delicate. I found that the worst areas were the railings on both the tram and coach, which broke in several places.

I will start with the coach as that is the simplest and a good starting point to get a feel of the conversion. I removed the wheels, dummy bogies and couplings. The metal used to form the floor of the coach is quite soft and can be cut with a razor saw. The couplings are held on two small metal tabs under the end beams. These need to be cut off in line with the underside of the floor.

The steps are formed in quite thick plastic and to allow enough swing on the couplings it is a good idea to reduce these on the backside, and soften the inner edges. I ended up having to re-fix one of these as it was not glued on well.

To fit the bogies, I created a new subfloor in 1mm plasticard which fitted between the steps and the break gear in the centre of the coach. I left the original threaded lugs used to fix the coach to the display base in place and drilled two holes in the new base to allow for these. The other two lugs to fix the dummy bogies in place I had to remove. This was done by drilling, using progressively larger drills. Once at the bottom face of the floor I formed a countersink to allow clearance for the free moment of the new bogies.

To mount the Peco G-106 bogies all that is needed is a hole of the correct size, and they will just clip in place. These were formed by drilling a clearance hole larger than the bogies require in the subfloor. A packer is then made to sit below this which has a smaller hole suited to the bogie's clips. This needs to be fairly small and inbound of the wheels which need to swing freely. I glued this in place under the hole in the subfloor, lining it up the two holes, which formed a small rebate above the hole in the packer.

The bogies were adapted to suit the steps, by using a set of the Peco GR-103 NEM coupling pockets and cutting these and refitting them to form a long bar type mount instead of the moulded L shaped arrangement. I then glued this to the opposite end of the bogie to the existing NEM pocket. By doing this it had a long enough reach to work with the steps. It was then just a case of fitting my preferred coupling in place.

With this arrangement the coach should be able to negotiate track curves around 200 to 230mm (8 to 9”) and it is a really nicely detailed coach.

The steam tram takes a little more work to dismantle it. The boiler, funnel and pipework are all glued in place then fitted to the base which has to be removed at the bottom, and the side railings are very awkward to get off without breakage. In the end, I removed the roof and windows above the waistline. This allowed me much better access to the bits, but I still had to carefully break the funnel off the boiler. I carefully saved all the bits for re-assembly later, then using the existing base as a template I marked a piece of 1mm plasticard with its shape. I then marked some centre lines on the new base and added a template of the Kato 11-110 cut out.

Once this is cut out and fits in place OK, some stops to position it is needed on the front and back of the cab. It sits 1mm below the original base and there are a couple of ridges on the ends of the bodywork which gives you a good guide to position the stops. A new floor needs adding above the chassis to make it easier to fit the boiler and pipework back in place. This needs to be a fraction smaller than the original base and is supported on a couple of strips fitted to each side, which are about 5mm wide so the whole floor will be raised up by 6mm. The boiler will need to be reduced by this 6mm also. This is just about level with the existing body sides so does not look much different from the original arrangement.

The one item I could nor repair was the side railings, they were just too brittle small and fiddly to work with. A new pair of railings were made from brass wire soldered together. To make these easier to assemble I formed notches in the 1.5mm poles to allow the 0.7mm handrails to sit in, which were all held in place by Blue tack on a cutting mat, then soldered in place.

Removing the roof first makes the fitting of the internal pieces much easier. I assembled it dry then painted the floor and fitted everything back in place before putting it in the body. The railings I had reformed in brass wire and painted silver before adding to the body. This meant that there were four poles to locate in the holes on the underside of the roof and the funnel to glue back in place with the cab ends.

The couplings are a bit tricky to fit, I decided to add NEM coupling pockets. These need a hole making in the correct place, so I sat the body on the chassis and lined up the coach bogie with the skirts to mark the hole position, drilled a hole and filed it out to suit. The pockets can then be pushed in from the back and glued in place.

The body is a little lightweight with the original base removed, so a couple of strips of lead were added to the new floor and also a bit in the boiler for good measure, which seemed to make a difference.

It makes a really nicely detailed set, and the steam tram goes well with other bits of rolling stock.

Tuesday, 8 December 2020

4mm-3mm Scale Photographic Diorama

An important part of displaying and photographing my models is the Diorama backdrops they are shown on. I have found that something with a raised track on an embankment or over a small bridge is useful as it allows for eye level shots.

They do not need to be large and are also a good way to display items of stock at home or at shows, a very good way of practising scenic techniques without committing to a full layout. They can be formed from any light and rigid material such as polystyrene or Polyboard. For my recent ones, I have been using 25 mm polystyrene bonded between outer skins of 4 mm plywood. This gives an extremely light and rigid block which may be shaped with a sharp blade. A sharp short pointed kitchen knife if you are allowed one of these.

I have left the base plywood as a rectangular piece and the upper skin has been pre-cut to the shape of the track bead, this makes it much easier to work the profiles of the surrounding landscape into the polystyrene core block.

I usually, work from a plan sketched on a piece of wallpaper lining paper; this gives me the position and scale of the main elements of the scene, roads, rivers, rocks, structures, walls, fences, gates and trees. For my latest scene, I have used a small stone bridge, the kind that would be used on an embankment to allow for a small lane or river. This has given me an excuse to add a kink in the track plan, always more interesting than a straight piece of line.

After cutting out and gluing the plywood and polystyrene together with PVA the glue they were cramped together using a workmate vice, it is best to leave this overnight as the PVA takes some time to dry between the polystyrene.

While this is drying the stone bridge was formed so the landscape could be carved out around it and make sure we get a snug fit. Other elements like fencing and trees can also be pre-made at this time. For this scene, I have used a combination of stone walls, wire fence, and hedges.

The bridge and parapets have been formed in Wills embossed plastic sheet random stone with corbel sheet forming the coping's, the bridge was made in two halves so it could be glued back together again under the trackbed when fully painted and weathered. A base coat of a dark buff colour was used, then further thinned and dry brushed coats of grey, charcoal and earth brown were added, further thinned and dry brushed coats of grey and olive green finished the paintwork off. This should not look uniform but also be in the right areas. The dark charcoal staining on the upper parts of the stones, the green staining around the base and some run down from the coping’s, some areas of buff should still show through the other thin layers of paint.

When the base has dried, I used a sharp short pointed kitchen knife to carve the polystyrene to shape following the profile of the plywood trackbed as a guide. I then used the pre-made bridge to gauge the hole needed under the track for it to fit correctly with the capping’s level with the top of the track.

A rasp file was then used to take all of the sharp edges of the plywood and blend it in with the polystyrene. The edges of the block were then smoothed with some 240 grid sandpaper.

The next stage was to give the whole diorama a durable shell to apply the decorative finishes too. I have used a brown gum paper tape; this is available form art materials suppliers. I use this for lots of cold moulds forming in my projects, and by building up multiple crossed layers on a former, it is very strong and durable when dried. I used about 6 layers on this diorama, formed in two stages, letting each application of about 3 layers dry before applying the next. Ones it dries it contracts and tightens on the mould.

Next I added the track, Using Peco 009 rustic flexible track formed into the shape I required, this was bonded to the upper plywood surface with PVA glue and held in place with small clamps overnight till the glue dried. Once dried a couple of check rails were added to the curved sections each side of the bridge, these also extending over the bridge and were held in place with some track pins. The sleepers were predrilled before these pines were pushed in place with some pliers. It was necessary to bend the check rails to shape before fitting them. I painted the sides of the rails with a dark grey & brown mix of revel oil paints to take the shine off the new track work.

The bridge could now be fitted in place ready for the landscape base material to be added around it. The two halves were bonded together with polystyrene cement and then glued in the correct position on the diorama using some contact adhesive.

For the landscape base I used a mix of plaster filler, PVA glue, and mixed brown powder paint into the mix. This gives a pre-coloured base paste which does save painting the landscape before applying scenic materials such as static grass and scatter materials. It also has the advantage of a stronger plaster that can be applied in a thinner layer which is there for lighter, and if you work it after you have finished the scenery it does not show white through, just a soil colour. The more PVA you add the smoother the mixes surface will become and the longer it takes to dry. Add as little water as possible to form a thick paste, as a dryer mix is easier to apply.

After letting the base landscape mix dry my thoughts turned to add the track ballast. I wanted a fine stone for this and came up with fine dry building sand which has been sieved. I then added some grey powder paint to this and mixed it dry. Because of the colour of the sand, this did give me a darker coloured ballast, this was not a problem as I wanted to dry brush a lighter grey over some areas and other parts will be covered with static grass. The powder was added round and between the track dry and a medium sized paintbrush used to spread the ballast in and around the sleepers. This was then fixed with a glue mix off 50% PVA and 50% water; a small drop of liquid soap (washing up liquid) is also added to allow the glue to flow through the powder. The glue mix was applied with a syringe; two lots of glue were applied, leaving the first to dry overnight.

The landscape materials were a mix of 3mm late summer dry grass and 2 and 3mm mid tones of green static grass, I used some sponge scatter in patches to give depth to the landscape colour. A rock outcrop and banking was formed using some small sandstone shards crushed up into 4mm scale rocks and bedded in the plaster before it set.

Trees were formed with wire armatures which I painted with a plaster mix similar to the landscape. A mixture of landscape material ware used to form the foliage, these included Woodland Scenics foliage and sponge scatter added to the armatures with contact adhesive and PVA glue. Some small trees ware formed with a bamboo trunk and lichen sprinkled with sponge scatter applied over the top. This method was also used to form gorse bushes with the yellow flowers being added by using a yellow acrylic paint dabbed over the top and upper sides of the bush.

For the fencing I used lollypop sticks cut to a suitable section and length and drill with some fine holes through which I threaded a grey cotton thread, leaving this long to allow the fitting of the fence posts before drawing the thread tight and sealing it with PVA glue.

Tuesday, 8 September 2020

Peckett Style Tram Engine

2024 Update to the model.

To celebrate the 009 Society’s 50th anniversary,

I redesigned the model to suit the new Kato-Peco 057-201 chassis.

see my later post.

This engine was inspired by an article in the 009 News September 2019 by Ben Powell, who had accomplished a fantastic scratch version of a Peckett saddle tank shunter, on a Ndrive chassis with special outside cranks. Hornby has also brought out a standard gauge 0-6-0 version of a Pickett shunter which is super detailed, and I love the colour selected for that model. So, taking this style of the small engine as a guide I drew up a tram version to run on the newer Kato 11-110 chassis, more of a challenge to myself to come up with something that looked similar as a 009-tram engine.

The result of the drawing is a 3D printed version, which is printed as one piece to be split into roof, body, footplate and couplings. This can be printed in White Versatile Plastic or Fine Detailed Plastic. With the addition of small handrail knobs, brass wire and smokebox door darts looks like a passable resemblance to a Peckett style tram engine.

I had a sample printed by Shapeways in Fine Detailed Plastic. When this arrived with me, I soaked it in Petroleum organic solvent – paint thinners (“White Sprits” in the UK) in order to remove the wax support residue left from printing, then a wash in warm soapy water should leave the surface ready for painting after it is fully dried. I use a grey or white spray primer to prep the model for finishing. In some areas, it will be necessary to remove print lines from the surface, and this can be done with a burnishing tool - I use a hardwood stick with a rounded point to get in the tight spaces. Do these processes before separating the print into its component parts so you will be less likely to lose any of the small pieces.

Wirework and details

The next job was to add the handrails to the saddle tank and at the side of the cab. I obtained these from a supplier on eBay for both the wire and the small brass handrail knobs. I have used Alan Gibson versions in the past, but these turned out every bit as good. The cab side handrails I formed as small staples bent with pliers to the right size and fitted into the pilot holes supplied in the model. I did have to drill out the holes for the small handrail knobs to give them a clearance fit. The handrails were then glued in place with Cyanoacrylate (super) glue.

The smokebox door dart I ordered from RT Models who supply a good range of 4mm detailing parts, the darts come in white metal or cast brass. I used the brass version in this model.

The new Kato 11-110 chassis is a welcome improvement on the later version of the 11-104 which they replace, having more weight, different gearing, a brass flywheel and much smother electric motor. They fit within a similar opening as the original. They do not need as much ballast to run well, but adding some is a good idea for traction. I used small strips of lead fitted along the inside of the skirts, as low as possible to keep the engine balanced.

The couplings I used on this model were the printed ones, but others could be fitted such as Greenwich or NEM couplings. The aperture in the buffer beams will take the Peco 103 NEM pockets and couplings.

Painting and finishing

Once all the additional bits and details were added I gave the model a final coat of grey spray primer and made sure all was ready of the final paint finish. For this model, I was trying some Tamiya acrylic paints, for the body XF-4 Yellow Green the footplate, roof Handrails, smokebox door, funnel and couplings XF-85 Rubber Black on the buffer beams XF-7 Flat Red. Using these I noticed that each colour has a different consistency, the XF-4 and XF-7 being thin and needing several coats were as the XF-85 was smother creamer and needed fewer coats. Some details like the window frames I picked out in a brass enamel paint and the cab handrails, cylinders and couplings were painted in a gunmetal metallic enamel paint.

I wanted to add an etched nameplate and number transfers to the model. I applied a coat of clear gloss enamel varnish to the areas these were to be placed, this is a better surface to apply the transfers to and allows you to adjust and position them much easier. I used “Fox” 2mm waterslide transfers in black for the cab sides and rear and white for the front buffer beam. The etched nameplate was obtained from an eBay supplier “N Brass Locos” of premade 009 industrial engine nameplates. These plates were glued in place with a small amount Cyanoacrylate (super) glue, though a contact adhesive works as well and does give time to adjust the position on the model. Once this was completed, I applied a coat of matt enamel varnish to the whole surface of the model, this also seals the transfers in place.

The final additions to the model were to add some real crushed coal to the rear bunker, by adding PVA glue to the bunker area and then tipping a small amount of the coal over this using a tube as a micro shovel to place it correctly. I have in the past made some working lamps from white Plasticard and rhinestones of clear and red plastic and I used two of these for the running lamps for this engine.

If you would like a 3D print of this model visit Shapeways at:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/SESX92UV4/009-peckett-style-tram-engine?optionId=122218125&li=shops