Pimp my Ragleth *** Now finished! ***

MuzTrem · Post by **MuzTrem** » Mon Dec 27, 2010 8:50 pm

I agree - first or last photo. And I also think your other half is right about the lining - it looks just grand as it is!

Sir Clothem Cap · Post by **Sir Clothem Cap** » Mon Dec 27, 2010 8:50 pm

Try doing the 2nd photo but the makers plate in the bottom corner.

ninge · Post by **ninge** » Mon Dec 27, 2010 11:13 pm

tried it in the bottom left.. not sure i like it though:

however, in the top left looks quite tasty - and i placed everything back together to check how it looks and that resulted in me moving the name plate down quite a bit. it looked really high once i'd put the body back on the chasis:

I think I am going to stick with the trimline - it looks a lot better than i imagined and i don't want to potentially ruin it with a bad paint lining job. Will practice with the lining pen some more for a later date!

mhlr · Post by **mhlr** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 12:00 am

WOW, that looks fantastic! Much better than what I acheived with trimline! If your other half has any clear nail varnish, you can use a dab of that on the corners if you don't have any matching paint, to hold it inplace.

Sir Clothem Cap · Post by **Sir Clothem Cap** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 10:13 am

I'm impressed with the trimline. I'm going to try that on one of the mamods. As for the makers plates where are they on real narrow gauge?

taliesin001 · Post by **taliesin001** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 9:31 pm

mhlr:45545 wrote: If your other half has any clear nail varnish, you can use a dab of that on the corners if you don't have any matching paint, to hold it inplace.

I used clear varnish, but over the nwhole lot. It's not noticeable because it's only a thin layer. This is beacause I was scsred it would move when polishing, but probably not neccessary

Sir haydn · Post by **Sir haydn** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 9:56 pm

with trimline over time the heat will perish the glue on the back of the tape meaning it will start to peel. also when it gets hot the tape will easily move when caught. if your going to keep it varnish it all. with varnish I'v known it last about 8 years without it wont last more that 3 or 4.

ninge · Post by **ninge** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 2:45 pm

Interesting to hear about the issues with heat.. It had occurred to me that the tape might be susceptible to that. It's also true that there would be concerns about the tape moving when cleaning the loco... Perhaps I should think about painting the lines after all?

Sir haydn · Post by **Sir haydn** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:40 pm

yeah there is an issue. Anything like meths will fetch it off. cool soapy water shouldnt affect it though. trim line is just fine car pin striping trap which is really a type of electrical insulation tape. not really designed for hot oily places but saying that with the right care and application will last.

ninge · Post by **ninge** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:50 pm

Well, I've been a bit quiet since the xmas holidays as work has prevented me from doing much more with the loco so far this year... but this weekend I'm planning to finish up all the spray painting and start putting everything back together!

So a quick update:

- Smoke box and chimney have been taken apart and wet'n'dried ready for spraying the same mat black that I sprayed the boiler (car exhaust high temp stuff)

- I finally got my working lamp from Chuffed-2-Bits after a quick visit to collect it. I've reshaped the lamp bracket on the smoke box and shortened it a bit ready to spray. (The original lamp had gone astray in the post before xmas - a replacement was kindly provided)

- I've prepared one more boiler band ready for acid etch (i was originally going to use 3, but 4 seems like a better idea now)

- steam dome has had the surface taken off with wet'n'dry and this will be getting acid etched and then sprayed green to match the boiler.

- all the boiler bands will get their coat of precision paints GWR green to match the boiler, as will two small lamp brackets that i've prepared to go on the back of the loco

I've also decided that i'm going to paint he lines on rather than stick with the tape. Having left the loco to rest for a few weeks since putting the tape on some of it has shrunk slightly leaving unsightly gaps at the joins in the corners. So i figure I might as well use the lining pen seeing as i already paid for it

I will be practicing on some spare platicard this weekend and will post the results!

ninge · Post by **ninge** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:40 am

well, spraying is all done

I had a few issues - this was the first time I've used gloss spray paint - and they behaved very differently to the acid etch and high heat mat black I used previously.

The green from phoenix precision paints seemed to have a much more uneven spray and tended to form blobs very easily. I ended up doing two coats on the boiler bands and steam dome and I think I might end up rubbing down the dome again with some wet and dry and do a third coat as there are two small patches on it that i'm still not happy with... but that can wait for a while - I wanna get on with putting everything back together now!

So, overall a good learning experience. I suspect that I had the spray booth a little too warm for the gloss on the first coat, second coat I turned the heater down and it went much smoother. I also have a couple of spots on the mat black smoke box that appear to be glossy. Around two of the rivets and near one of the seams. I suspect that despite cleaning with meths before painting I left some oily residue in those spots. It's probably only something I'd notice (especially after a bit of use of the loco!

) but i think next time I paint I'll be much more thorough in my cleaning and might even strip all the old paint before spraying.

Pictures to follow!

ninge · Post by **ninge** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 5:36 pm

The painted steam dome:

Boiler bands (just need some longer bolts - turns out the 1/2" 10BA ones I have are not quite large enough to secure these roundhouse boiler bands around the Ragleth boiler):

Two lamp brackets bent and sprayed to make hooks for the read of the cab to hold bucket and shovel etc:

The mat black smoke box - just needs everything fixing firmly in place:

And a bonus pic of my chuffed-2-bits working light - its ace

ninge · Post by **ninge** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:45 pm

Sadly, work (and studying) has been getting in the way of me finishing this again.. but here are some more photos to show progress!

Steam dome and boiler-bands fitted! I painted the bolts and folded tabs on the boiler-bands black to better disguise them once the boiler is in place:

I drilled the buffer beams and fitted the safety chains - secured in place with a spot of super-glue on the back and then painted over. I also painted the backs of the buffer beams at the same time. At some point in the future I'd like to add more rivet details to the buffer beams - ideas welcome!

ninge · Post by **ninge** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:57 pm

And here is everything put back together (swapped for a better pic after posting):

I also made a small wooden tool box using dolls-house hinges on the back, some bent brass rod for handles on the front, and two of my magnetic couplings glued inside as a means to keep it shut. I've drilled a hole in the bottom of it that exactly matches up with the gas tank fill valve and then glued the toolbox in place on top of the tank:

These images makes the colour-match on the boiler bands and steam dome look really bad. It's much closer "in the flesh" but I'm still a little disappointed having bought the colour that was recommended to match accucraft green (from pheonix precision paints - someone else's recommendation, not theirs i hasten to add!) perhaps if i do another coat I will look for a closer colour match - again, suggestions welcomed!

Here is the open box:

Just need to paint the inside of the cab cream, buy and fit some spectacle glass, fit my new Swift-Sixteen safety valve cover (how should i do that?) paint the controls in the cab, finish the lining and properly attach the name and works plates

Will be test steaming her again next week to make sure I've not totally knackered anything while i did all of this work!

Here's a quick look inside the new pimped-out cab:

Pendo Pilot · Post by **Pendo Pilot** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:05 pm

Thats looking lovely now, really like the colour & that tool box is really good.
Are the safety chains from Brandbright? I've been meaning to fit some myself.
The magnetic couplings, how well do they work? Is there a limit to how much stock you can pull before they let go?

ninge · Post by **ninge** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:10 pm

No idea about the magnetic couplings yet - I've had mixed reports (all good before i bought them, a bit pants since!) but as I only have 2 bits of rolling stock finished (two andel wagons) and no line to test on... guess i should really contact my local area group and find somewhere to play trains

the chains are from brandbright - they were quite fun to make and really easy to fit - definitely recommend!

90733 · Post by **90733** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:56 pm

WOW, thats one nice ragleth

, good work. Must start on my edrig

Keith S · Post by **Keith S** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 4:59 pm

I've got those little lamps too. I like them. I got a red one for the tail end too.

I've been watching this thread to get ideas for decorating "Billy". Nice work!

I expect those magnets would work fairly well, I've got some "rare earth magnets" and they will stick to the refrigerator door THROUGH my hand. They are very "sticky".

Oh, by the way about that paint, did you bake it after painting the bands and dome? If not, you might find that when you fire the engine, those parts will darken and become slightly less glossy. Take another look at it after you've steamed the engine a few times. Also try not to touch the dome the first time it gets hot until it cools off a little, when paint is baking it may get tacky again temporarily.

Anyway, I think the colour may match better after the engine has cooked it a little. As it is it still looks pretty good. I certainly wouldn't notice. I kind of like it actually. It picks out the bands slightly.

DolwyddelanLightRail · Post by **DolwyddelanLightRail** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:56 pm

What keith has said may be your solution, or it may just be that you havent put enough coats on! For the mss I applied 11! Coats before I was happy with it and on my edrig I appied 7 coats on that

I think it may be that I'm either too OCD about it or too patient!

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:25 pm

VERY NICE!!!

keep up the good work!

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