Alan Keef K12 in O9 - 3D Print Manipulation

I haven't managed to get much modelling done over the last couple of weeks, but I have managed to tweak the 3D printed K12 a little to better reflect the prototype. 

Having removed the original axleboxes and smoothed away the remains I added 20 thou styrene behind the frames cut to the correct shape, and then 40 x 30 thou strip to build up the depth below the axlebox positions. The bottom of each buffer beam gained a 60 x 60 thou strip. Once set in place these items were shaped to suit and Milliput used to fill any gaps.

New axlebox and spring detail is formed using various sections of styrene strip, the springs being much thinned down rod. I did try to scribe a spring effect onto this before cutting but it remains to be seen whether this will actually show up.

The grilles caused some fun and games as I initially thought I had no suitable square pattern material in stock. In the past I have used old sections of A1 Models chain link fencing etch for this but had nothing the right size in the usual place. Thinking that I had some fresh pieces in my 4mm scale scenic stash I was stumped when I couldn't find them, it was only when locating the diamond pattern etch I'd used on my 1/24th Lister that eventually found the spare length of fence!

The coupler blocks that I created a few weeks ago by laminating together styrene sheet and strip have been located at a height to suit MicroTrains couplers. They are drilled to allow a 1015 coupler to be secured with a screw from underneath. Bolt head detail is from EDM Models

On the front end I have added slithers of Plastruct hex section to represent the bolts at the top of the bonnet front. 

At this stage rather a lot of paintwork had been rubbed back, and I did have a concern that in places the primer had not adhered to the rubbed-down factory finish. Several edges saw the paint chip away all to easily... After a good scrub down I applied a very light coat of primer as a proof coat and also in the hope that it dried better as a thin coat. After a few more adjustments another coat was added and the end result was this.

 

It's a bit rough in places but it will have to do, and hopefully painting and weathering will distract the eye a little. I've now given it a rub down with 1500 grit wet and dry in preparation for a sprayed coat of green, I've chickened out of Keef factory applied orange!

If you fancy an O9 K12 yourself, A1 Models have the print listed on eBay here...

 

Colin

Alan Keef K12 in O9 - Take 2

"I have a bodyshell I have adapted from a commission job that may be of interest." So began an email discussion from John Flower at A1 Models, in a later reply he said "The body I am sending you was done for a customer in 7mm scale for him to fit a chassis. He isn't doing O9 but it would be used in these gauges." The resultant parcel that arrived a few days later was opened with a mixture of excitement and trepidation, as John had described how the vendor he is using for printing now offers the prints ready-sprayed in a semi-gloss finish.

There it was, instantly recognisable as an Alan Keef K12. Those with long memories may well remember that I scratchbuilt one of these nearly ten years ago, then regretfully exported it to the other side of the globe! 

I'll have to admit, that on first impressions the finish didn't really grab me, but after about 3/4 hour of smoothing using 400 then 800 grit wet and dry, I had flattened off most of the finish. Certainly different from finishing raw prints with cycles of filler primer and smoothing, but with hindsight I would perhaps rather have that level of control. It is worth noting that the print is actually in a black material, apparently this is unpopular with some customers, are they conditioned by what Shapeways churns out? Personally I cannot see anything wrong with it....

Getting adventurous I marked up and scribed in the lines denoting the upper edge of the frames and buffer beams, and the panel join towards the front of the bonnet using an olfa (style) cutter. I also created some extra clearance inside to allow the body to sit on a much modified Bachmann Plymouth chassis.

When I say much modified, I mean filed and cut to within a millimetre of it's life, and converted to 4w in the process.

Compared with the drawing in the Alan Keef book, reduced to 7mm scale, the print is about 5mm too long and 3mm too wide, understandable as it was intended for a 16.5mm gauge mechanism. The other main area where the print differs visually from the drawing is in the bottom edge of the frames and the axleboxes.

A coat of grey primer allowed me to better judge the finish I had achieved. Unfortunately the printed bolt heads on the cab side panel didn't look as happy as I had hoped they would and I will be looking to reduce these considerably before going much further.

I'm also looking into modifying the bottom edge of the frames, as I would really like to add the correct shape by adding small fillets at the bottom of the frame and also to add depth to the bufferbeams. This will also mean that I need to alter the axleboxes. As printed the front one is not the same distance from the front as the back one is from the back (and they should be the same), altering this will actually make it match the power unit and better reflect the drawing.

More when some progress is made...

Colin

Humberston - 009 Micro Diorama

Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with my Micro Dioramas, 70mm deep scenes designed to fit on the shelves of a wall-mounted display unit. There's a bit of a history here: A Brief History of Microramas

'Humberston' is a representation of the platform end of the original Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway terminus at North Sea Lane, Humberston as it might have appeared before the line closed there in 1985. The line had operated at Humberston from 1960, initially on a formation a short distance to the east, before moving lock, stock and barrel to a new formation to make way for an expanding camping and caravan park.

The line was slowly reborn at Winthorpe near Skegness during the 1990s and 2000s and has become a successful heritage operation, celebrating 60 years 2020, but sadly without any public operation.

Construction and conversion of the ex-Ashover coach from the Meridian Models kit has been described on this blog in The Humberston Amendments and Next Stop South Sea Lane, as has Wilton - 009 Simplex of Deception. 

This is not a fine-scale representation by any means, I have used commercial parts where possible to represent the prototype as closely as possible, including a Wills platform kit and model boat stanchions, as described in The Road to Humberston.

I had wavered slightly on the issue of the ex-GNR somersault signal but in the end felt that it was such a distinct feature of the prototype I had to include it. It also really balances the scene out visually.

I never saw the LCLR at Humberston. Last weekend I drove past the station site and you would never know that it was ever there, under the sprawl of the current caravan park. To find out more, I always commend a visit to the LCLR Pages on Dave Enefer's Website.

Colin