Gunmetal grey!

The instructions for the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit suggest a gunmetal grey colour for the chassis. Normally the types and era of truck that I model call for a traditional solid colour to complement the cab so I was not too sure about this gunmetal but I thought I would give it a try and see how it came out.

Being a metallic colour, the gunmetal paint is best applied over a black undercoat so that it reflects. The chassis was given that black undercoat and then the Vallejo paint was applied. At first I thought that it was a disaster as it looked washed out but it just needed three applications to build up some depth to the colour.

Now I have got used to the colour I think it looks good. The chassis needs a number of parts painted in different colours, such as black for the rubber airbags in the rear suspension, so that will take some time but at least it looks more like a truck chassis!

It can steer!

It can steer! Well to the right anyway! The steering beam axel has now been fitted to the main chassis of the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit. The linkages have been added as per the instructions and the stub axels turn to the right but not the left! The design of the parts just does not allow the axels to steer to he left but this is something I have come across on Italeri kits truck kits before so I am not overly surprised. The important thing is that it turns in one direction at least!

The chassis is just about ready for paint. I just need some warmer weather!

The cab interior takes shape!

 With the underside of the cab sorted, my attention now turned the the upper side cab interior of the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4. Temporarily putting the parts together I can get an idea of what needs painting and what is the best way of doing that.

As truck cabs go in the UK, this cab is rather spacious for the driver hence, no doubt, why Mercedes term it as a Giga cab.

The moulding for the bunk has that strange hollow pillow from underneath! A thin piece of plastic card will solve that though.

Just need to wait for the glue to dry before cutting it to size around the original moulding.

Its 'wheely' great to get the wheels started on the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4!

Its 'wheely' great to get the wheels started on the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4! These are slightly different to the wheels which usually come in these kits in that the drive hub is a separate part which actually is a lot better for detail and painting.

So far I have just assembled the wheel rims which are now ready for the paint shop.

Also getting ready for paint is the cab starting with the cab base.

Whilst the upper side is nicely detailed, the underside suffers from both ejector pin marks and holes where there should be a solid base. The ejector pin marks were filled with a plastic filler and smoothed off.

The holes were 'plated' over with some thin plastic card which will at least prevent the 1/25th scale drivers belongings falling on the engine when he puts them in the storage lockers above!

Given the current state of the loco, the cosmetic surgeons are going to have their skills well and truly tested!

Things are getting back to normal, if indeed there is a normal, after the Christmas and New Year break at the Rocks By rail Museum.

This pallet load of loco parts has appeared in the Exhibition Hall which apparently are part of steam loco Uppingham.

Uppingham will be subject of a cosmetic restoration this year.

Given the current state of the loco, the cosmetic surgeons are going to have their skills well and truly tested!

Meanwhile, in the restoration shed, things are moving on with steam loco 1931with more cosmetic work being done whilst the return of the retubed and ready to go boiler are awaited.

Andy, shares the secret of his cosmetic skills or he is trying to live up to the Gunk name with its ultimate performance!

Cosmetically challenged I went onto continue my clearance of the Bone Yard with Sammy Strimmer and also assisted by Alex. The finds were less than in previous sessions but we have just about freed this length of water pipe.

We also found this metal racking support which may come in useful if we find the rest of the racking or it may become something completely different like a fence post or it may just go in the scrap bin!

We did however make a major breakthrough - literally! We have got through to the far side of the undergrowth and can now see the rear of the cafe!

It was raining by this time and I think that Alex was trying to tell me that having achieved this monumental moment it was time to pack up and get in the dry!

As we sought some dry undercover shelter I di look back and think that it may still look a mess but over the past few weeks there has been  a lot of vegetational butchery and a lot of junk treasure uncovered!

Not sure when it will happen but I am going for this year which only leaves me eleven and a half months!

I had a break from building the Mercedes MP4 kit,. Not that I am fed up with it just that something and I am not even sure what, jolted my mind into thinking about 0n30 which is not some form of code but is the notation for 7mm scale stock running on 00 gauge track. I have talked about it on the blog before as in this post and also this post. In addition to those two items I also have this....

I have to admit, I do have a very soft spot for this loco and indeed the others I have in this scale.. They are just so characterful! 

So having got this out again what id the plan? Well, they have been in their boxes for far too long. Because of their physical size though, they will not go around my 00 gauge layout especially over the viaducts.  However. I really need to build something for them to run on so I can enjoy the spectacle, even if it is just an oval of track on  a plain board.  So that is a job for me to do on my [personal chore list rather then the one Mrs. Woody has drawn up and updates or me! Not sure when it will happen but I am going for this year which only leaves me eleven and a half months!

Power plant altogether now!

The power plan to the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit is now altogether and splendid it looks too! Well I would say that as I built it!

 I think that looks quite realistic too, especially from this angle. The addition of the cooling fan and radiator certainly add to the illusion

It even fits into the chassis frame. Just temporarily for now as I still need to finish the chassis build and paint it.

Things are moving on!

A bit of colour!

Time to bring some life and interest to the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 power plant in the form of some detail painting. The fan is in light grey with a black centre and the various hoses and fan belts are mainly black with a few red parts. I have no idea why they are red apart from the instructions and online photos of real engines show them in that colour! I will be putting a coat of varnish over the various parts before gluing them together.

Painted in aluminium and very shiny it looks too!

The engine block and gearbox are now painted in aluminium and very shiny it looks too! Once the paint has dried it will be time to paint some of the detail such as the fan belts and hoses which will bring a bit of contrast to it.

Looking sinisterly almost somewhat mushroom in shape I can only presume that it is a man made cloud from a fire or similar or as Mrs. W enquired, did I leave the cooker on?

With things a little warmer and the Man cave warmed with the heater on it was time to add some paint to the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 engine and gearbox as well as the other associated parts. As described before a black undercoat was applied. Once dry, this will be the ideal colour to overpaint with the required aluminium coloured paint.

Whilst I am waiting for the undercoat to dry I got back to some kit construction with the front steering beam axle. 

Not too complex, just a few fiddly parts and I had to watch where the glue went as the stub axles turn so you can pose the wheels. As you can imagine, once this kit is built I will be sitting on the floor pushing it along going 'broom, broom' so steering is important! Now that would draw a comment from Mrs. Woody!

What did bring comment from Mrs. W. was the rather strange looking sky as we drove back from the Rocks By rail Members Day. 

Looking sinisterly almost somewhat mushroom in shape I can only presume that it is a man made cloud from a fire or similar or as Mrs. W enquired, did I leave the cooker on?

It would certainly make a good restoration project for someone, not me though as pointed out by Mrs. W.

Whilst out and about with Mrs. Woody the other day we came across this parked in a farm yard.

I am no expert on vintage plant but I am guessing 1950s for this tracked tractor which still looks solid despite seemingly living outside with no cover. It would certainly make a good restoration project for someone, not me though as pointed out by Mrs. W.

Back in the Man Cave at WMD its still been too cold to get the airbrush out so I have added the last of the engine block parts which required the radiator to be temporarily added so that placement of the parts on the engine block matched those on the radiator. Not an easy task but a couple of blobs of Blu Tack assisted in the temporary attachment of said radiator.

The reason I cannot add the radiator permanently at the moment is that I need to leave the parts with the various fan belts and fan itself separate as it will make painting these parts a lot easier. 

In the meantime I have also started putting together other parts of the build where two parts are joined and will need smoothing of the joints such as the fuel tanks.

Hopefully I can get painting soon as the weather forecast says storms but warmer than the last ones!

Treasure Hunt or should that Junk Hunt?

In anticipation of the bad weather to come I returned to the Rocks By Rail Museum on Wednesday of this week which was a decision which actually worked out for the best which is unusual for Woody! Just like the end of last year, the start of the this year saw Sammy strimmer coming out for another session of Junk Treasure Hunt in the Boneyard!

I and in fact even most of the longer serving volunteers,  just don't know what is under the undergrowth but first off was the discovery of these ten slabs in good condition.

Next up were these two curiously shaped steel plates. Similar to what you might find on a steam loco but not boiler parts that anyone can recognise at the moment. No doubt they will have a use at some point even if only as some form of playground slide!

Then there were various metal parts including point rodding A three link coupling, a boiler strap, several hooks for a crane and amazingly for a railway museum, two lengths of motorway crash barrier! It is now all corralled together with the thirty or so sheets of corrugated iron that no one can recall having! 

John kindly gave me a hand moving those crash barriers which are not exactly lightweight in nature!

Though the crash barrier was unusual, the prize for the most unusual item has to go to this roll of digger track links which I am guessing has something to do with the drag line or face shovel that the Museum has. However, another item no one can recall having seen!

I am about a third of the way through this clearance project so there could be more to find on my next Junk Hunt!

Meanwhile, back at the trackside, Steve and Derek are investigating the catch point and talking about relays and switches for colour light signals. All very interesting so I will await to see what comes about. Just hope theu are not expecting me to find a colour light signal in the Boneyard!

Almost ready for paint!

Some more parts added to the Actros MP4 engine lock and gearbox which is almost at the point of being ready for paint. Ironically, given that Italeri moulded the parts in silver, I will need to undercoat it in black so that I can then paint it the aluminium colour that it needs to be! It will look a lot better then the moulded silver colour though!

With working couplers, free running wheels and stability restored this hopper wagon was ready to roll!

Buying second hand/pre-owned/pre-loved or what ever your preferred description is, is always a little bit of a gamble but usually and with experience you can see if something has major issues like the wheels fall out or there is a crack in the body. However, even if the item looks new it is always best, for reliable running, to take a closer look once back in the comfort of your home to carry out a little bit of miniatous. That is what I have done with the USA rolling stock that I bought at the Newark Toy and Train Fair.

The usual suspects to look at are the couplers and wheels. Having already tested the couplers it was time to look at the wheels. The problem is that the naked eye, good as it is, cannot precisely tell you distances. For reliable running the gap between the two wheels on an axle needs to be 14.5mm. Now I could try using a rule but am I really going to see 14.5mm accurately? There is another option which is a back to back gauge. This one cost about £10 is well made and easy to use. You can use it whilst the wheel is on the wagon or as I have done take the wheel out and use it. 

The idea is that you should just be able to slide the gauge between the wheels with just the slightest of resistance. If it is tight or loose you need to slide one of the wheels along the axle. Whilst the wheels were out they were also cleaned with some IPA and a cotton bud and the little bit of what seems like rust on the axle was sanded and polished off..

Next is to make sure the pinpoint axle can freely rotate in the bogie housing. This tool is slid into place and by rotating it, it cuts out any rough areas in the housing.

This is where experience plays its part. This particular hopper can rattled and was unstable. I could tell that when I looked at it before buying but knowing what was wrong and that it was a simple fix gave me the confidence to buy. The problem is a common one on older models of this type. There is a large metal weight glued to the inside of the wagon onto the chassis. Over time the glue weakens and the metal weight comes loose making the wagon almost unusable. Once I had the body off, the weight dropped out. Some gluing later and the weight was back in place and wagon body reaffixed. 

With working couplers, free  running wheels and stability restored this hopper wagon was ready to roll!

Just run your fingernail over the joint and it will pick up the smallest imperfections!

 Whilst the main engine block and gearbox for the Italeri Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 kit did not take too long to put together there are, as a highlighted in my last post on this build, about 40 or so additional parts to add. Most of those parts require two to be joined together with the resultant joint line to be smoothed off. For reasons that only Italeri probably know of, they moulded most of the engine parts in a silver type plastic. Whilst it may look a bit realistic if you were not going to paint the model, it makes determining if the joint line is smooth or not almost impossible to do visually. The only real conclusive test is a fingernail. Just run your fingernail over the joint and it will pick up the smallest imperfections.

Anyway, back to the engine and gearbox, and parts have been added making it all look more interesting. There are still parts to add but if you need to glue two parts together you need to let the glue set before you can smooth the joint. It all takes time!

Now, where are the nail clippers?