Iron Minks

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JackBlack
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Iron Minks

Postby JackBlack » Sun Aug 06, 2017 2:14 pm

I have been striving these last few months to actually finish a model. And I finally have something ready for the paint shop!

I feel slightly like I'm cheating as this was mostly built back in 2009, however this is the classic V6 Iron Mink, the etches for the body down to and including the sole bars are my own, while the underframe is the Morgan Design WN4440 with the additional single brake on the far side.

The etches I designed are horrible, forming the curved corners is difficult (and painful), all the rivets have to be tapped out, and everything has to be soldered on, strapping, hinges etc. I would do it differently if I had another go, but life is too short. With perseverance these make a nice model and I'm pretty happy with the result. In 2008/2009 I struggled with the brakes, but thankfully the Morgan Design underframe is now available, goes together great, fits perfectly between the solebars and really looks the part.

Iron-Mink-01.jpg


Iron-Mink-02.jpg


Iron-Mink-03.jpg


At the weekend I'm back to Portugal where I can do the painting.

Maybe I can look at that Mink F again now...

Thanks, Nick
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Nick Allport
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JackBlack
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby JackBlack » Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:07 pm

And another one ready for the paint shop. Mink F from etches I had made in 2009, it's taken nearly eight years to finish building it! Sadly I had a hard-drive crash in 2014 and lost all the original artwork, so this is very much a one-off.

Two-Minks.jpg


I have to say I've been very much inspired by Craig Warton's "wagon building progress" and on my next trip back to London I'll be bringing my hold'n'fold so I can tackle those Morgan solebars and possibly get a couple of cattle wagons built.

Looking forward to getting home at the weekend and having a go at painting these two...

Cheers, Nick
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Nick Allport
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JackBlack
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby JackBlack » Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:19 pm

Back home in Portugal now, and the V6 and Mink F have been cleaned and undercoated with Halfords grey plastic primer.

Undercoated-01.jpg


Undercoated-02.jpg


Undercoated-03.jpg


So now I can't avoid this any longer, it's time to break out the airbrush. I've not done any painting for probably nine or ten years so I'm a little nervous about this, and slightly concerned that my compressor will still be operational given the climate we have here...

Cheers, Nick
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Nick Allport
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John Palmer
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby John Palmer » Mon Aug 14, 2017 1:28 pm

That's looking very good. Did you find that the chosen primer (evidently acrylic-based) had as good adhesion to brass as a cellulose-based primer? You seem to have achieved a nice thin coating with little or no loss of detail, which I have sometimes found difficult to achieve with cellulose sprayed from a rattlecan.

So much variety available with the iron mink as choice of prototype! I'd like to see a model of one of those built to run in passenger trains; it would certainly stand out as something unusual.

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JackBlack
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby JackBlack » Mon Aug 14, 2017 4:14 pm

Hi John,

John Palmer wrote:That's looking very good. Did you find that the chosen primer (evidently acrylic-based) had as good adhesion to brass as a cellulose-based primer? You seem to have achieved a nice thin coating with little or no loss of detail, which I have sometimes found difficult to achieve with cellulose sprayed from a rattlecan.


I've not tried a cellulose primer, but I've always used this Halfords primer, from back in my aircraft and military modelling days. It's one of those products that would create a huge outcry should it ever be discontinued! The trick is to shake the tin really well, 60 seconds at least, and then (preferably outside when it's dry and not windy) spray with three or four swift passes of the model. It dries really quickly too.

John Palmer wrote:So much variety available with the iron mink as choice of prototype! I'd like to see a model of one of those built to run in passenger trains; it would certainly stand out as something unusual.


Yes indeed, I was thinking about that the other day. The body is the same, but it's a 10' wheelbase with clasp brakes and Morton type levers. I was looking to see if there's a Morgan underframe that could easily be adapted, but I don't see anything...

Thanks, Nick


Nick Allport
CLAG


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JackBlack
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby JackBlack » Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:04 pm

A little bit more progress today. I got my compressor out, airbrush, everything's working okay. Even the paint was still okay.

Basic-coat03.jpg


I started by pre-shading in black in areas I want to be darker (you can see on the roof), doesn't have to be perfect. I used Precision paints dull black for this, but in future I'll use an acrylic. The problem with enamels is they're generally thicker, smellier and take ages to dry, plus the clean-up is a pain. The problem with acrylics is that they dry really fast and clog up the airbrush, so you need to use a thinner/retarder that helps a bit.

Basic-coat04.jpg


After the pre-shading had dried I carefully airbrushed on a very thinned down Precision GWR freight grey. The big benefit of enamels in this situation is you can use a low pressure and really take your time, and the paint doesn't dry in the brush.

Once the basic coat was done I added a few drops of white into the cup to make a mix a couple of shades lighter and gently sprayed into the center of each panel. You can't really tell in these photos...

These need to dry well overnight so that tomorrow I can mask below the roof and then paint. They're looking very dark at the moment, but hopefully this will all lighten up a bit through the weathering process.

Cheers, Nick
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JackBlack
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby JackBlack » Wed Aug 16, 2017 10:53 am

I got up bright and early this morning to get the two models masked and roofs painted before I started work. For masking I use low-tack tape, Tamiya yellow type. You can get really thin tape to go around curves, which I've used here around the curve of the roof at the ends.

Roofs-01.jpg


Again using Precision enamel, thinned down to the consistency of skimmed milk (I read that somewhere and it seems to work...). I used a tiny amount of paint, maybe 2ml, and still had a lot left to tip back into the tin.

Roofs-02.jpg


Roofs-03.jpg


Roofs-04.jpg


Unfortunately the masking pulled away a small flake of the top coat in one place on the Mink F, so I'll have to go and carefully respray that area before proceeding to the next step....

Cheers, Nick
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Nick Allport
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RobM
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby RobM » Wed Aug 16, 2017 4:24 pm

JackBlack wrote:
Unfortunately the masking pulled away a small flake of the top coat in one place on the Mink F, so I'll have to go and carefully respray that area before proceeding to the next step....

Cheers, Nick


Rather annoying, to say the least, when that happens. All looking good though.
Rob

dal-t
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby dal-t » Thu Aug 17, 2017 9:42 am

I never mask 'raw' paint, always apply Klear first. Likewise always Klear over the tape before spraying the new colour. Combined with rubbing the tape edge down firmly with a cocktail stick that should make both runs and lifts things of the past.
David L-T

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JackBlack
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby JackBlack » Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:28 am

dal-t wrote:I never mask 'raw' paint, always apply Klear first. Likewise always Klear over the tape before spraying the new colour. Combined with rubbing the tape edge down firmly with a cocktail stick that should make both runs and lifts things of the past.


Actually I never thought of that. I use Klear but only once I've finished all the painting. Thanks, a good tip!

Nick


Nick Allport
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JackBlack
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby JackBlack » Thu Aug 17, 2017 4:29 pm

After a couple of coats of Klear, decals were applied yesterday and today, during my breaks. I'm using the HMRS transfers, they're so tiny and it takes ages because you have to piece all the numbers together, but ultimately they go on really well. I apply them with a paintbrush and a slightly blunted cocktail stick, and use Microset for guiding and settling them. Once in place I use Microsol that kind of softens and melts them into place. This works great with model aircraft where you have panel lines, the decals shrink into the panel lines. Not so effective here on plain flat surfaces, but it seems to make a bit of difference where there's five tiny number decals in a line - after drying it looks a bit more "painted on".

Decals01.jpg


Decals02.jpg


I've faded the decals slightly by airbrushing the wagon grey, slightly lightened, pointing up from the bottom of the wagon.

Next another coat of Klear, and then some oil washes.

Cheers, Nick
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PeteT
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby PeteT » Fri Aug 18, 2017 8:03 am

Looking good Nick!

I also like the tip of using Klear before masking, I'll have to give that a go. Are there times when this would not be advisable? if the klear prevents runs and stops the masking pulling off the paint, does the new paint properly adhere where it is wanted? Thinking in terms of crimson & cream coaches if the full side is painted cream first, would that then be fully covered in klear before applying the crimson?

(Other liveries are available).

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JackBlack
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby JackBlack » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:13 am

I did a dark oil wash last night, followed by some dry brush weathering again with oils. I'm moderately happy with the results, but I know I can improve and do better. A few small annoyances I suppose... The q-tips I use to the remove the excess oil wash get getting snagged on the raised rivets so I had to keep picking off little wisps of cotton wool. The thinner I'm using is Revel paint thinner, which tends to dry really fast, I need a proper thinner for oil based paint that is a bit more viscous and dries slower. And I managed to dislodge the brake lever ratchet on one side of the Iron Monk, I'll have to glue that back on now. I'll do the bogies for the Mink F later, and then a big clean-up and put these somewhere dust-free and away from curious little fingers while the oils dry...

Weathered03.jpg


Weathered02.jpg


Cheers, Nick
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Nick Allport
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John Palmer
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Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2011 11:09 pm

Re: Iron Minks

Postby John Palmer » Sun Aug 20, 2017 9:24 am

JackBlack wrote:Hi John,

John Palmer wrote:That's looking very good. Did you find that the chosen primer (evidently acrylic-based) had as good adhesion to brass as a cellulose-based primer? You seem to have achieved a nice thin coating with little or no loss of detail, which I have sometimes found difficult to achieve with cellulose sprayed from a rattlecan.


I've not tried a cellulose primer, but I've always used this Halfords primer, from back in my aircraft and military modelling days. It's one of those products that would create a huge outcry should it ever be discontinued! The trick is to shake the tin really well, 60 seconds at least, and then (preferably outside when it's dry and not windy) spray with three or four swift passes of the model. It dries really quickly too.

I've always been a dyed-in-the-wool user of enamels, but I've made a mental note to try out this Halfords primer when I give acrylics a shot - thanks

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JackBlack
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Re: Iron Minks

Postby JackBlack » Sun Aug 20, 2017 12:47 pm

Finished for now. I have the buffers but I need to fit them when I'm back in London. Ditto the couplings which are actually in London. I'm not fully happy with the weathering on the Iron Mink, mainly due to the oil wash as mentioned earlier, but I have lots of these to build so I'll get it better next time.

Weathered01.jpg


Weathered02.jpg


Weathered03.jpg


I'm back to London on Sunday for three weeks when I will attempt to finish my R/C 14xx and Clifton Downs trailer combo...

Thanks, Nick
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Nick Allport
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