Nerve wracking times!

The time has come with the build of the Heller Scania 141LB to put the cab exterior around the cab interior. It is nerve racking as I am dealing with painted parts, glazing and with a kit that has twisted and warped parts that have no doubt caused some issues with the subassemblies which probably show up in yesterdays pictures. This particular part of construction could well see the need for a much larger swear jar! 

First job was to fit the glazing into the rear windows using Deluxe Materials Glue and Glaze which works well.

Once the glue is set I can then go onto the difficult part so there will be much trial fitting and no doubt shaving of parts to get it to all fit. 

I did have the opportunity to spray up the front bumper in white which can await fitting whilst I fill the swear jar!

Getting there!

Getting there, is the usually response from me to Mrs. Woody's enquiries as to progress on her list of jobs. Getting there, is usually that unspoken code for, well its not really progressed much but I am working on it - honest! However with a day of doing various different jobs today and getting there with some of them, I did manage to fit in some model making between and in this case the model Scania 141LB is indeed actually getting there but don't tell Mrs. W! Some airbrushing, some gluing and some balancing of parts towards the end of the day to see what it will look like. The wheels still need attaching properly, the exterior of the cab is held up by a paint bottle but the interior is more or less finished as is the engine and the mud guards are now attached after another coat of black paint on the rubber parts. So here we are - getting there! Now where is that list of jobs......

Fuel for thought

This evening I managed a couple of hours of work on the Scania 141LB. Thoughtfully, having painted the straps on the fuel tanks yesterday I was able to mount them to the chassis which gave that a bit more of a look of a complete chassis. I also have matt varnished the engine block as well as the one for the Scania 143 and applied a wash to highlight detail on both. The mudguards for the 141LB have also been painted, unusually for me, using a conventional brush. As it was a black matt paint used to represent rubber parts it should be OK. Putting it all together (the mudguards are yet to be properly attached) it actually is looking good to my aging eyes! The coloured engine certainly adds something.

I did grab a few minutes earlier toady to put a first coat of red onto the Scania 143 rear wheel hubs which I primed in white earlier last week. Red can sometimes be an awkward colour to paint as the pigment is not that strong meaning if you apply it with an airbrush it can look very washed out hence an initial coat of matt which has a denser pigment content then the gloss red which I will apply later. Actually sounds as though I know what I am talking about. Now that is fuel for thought! Wonder what Mrs. W thinks?

Masking it!

No not masking me up although some would say it might improve my looks! In this case I needed to paint the straps on the fuel tanks for the Scania 141LB in an aluminum shade of paint. I could have tried doing it freehand with a paintbrush but previous experience starting from my early days of childhood has shown me my inability to keep in the lines not only of colouring books but on models as well. So I needed to mask the tanks and then airbrush the silver paint. It took me almost an hour to mask the tanks up but it was worth it. Whilst the paint was in the airbrush I also painted the tank for the Scania 143.

Also taking time but not needing masking were various components on the engine so they look a bit more interesting now.

They need to dry fully and a coat of varnish will be applied before they both get a wash of black to highlight the details. This may sound a bit strange as black hides things but in this case the wash is a very dilute mix of paint that settles in the recesses and around the edges of the models which in effect highlights them. 

Putting my efforts together for the day there is not all that much to show but this is sometimes how model making goes - progress is masked by the detail!

Instrumental times!

On the day the Country found out that average energy bills would go up by £693 a year I decided to loose myself in the Man Cave AKA The Room of Gloom for an hour this evening and forget about the impending price rise. My mind soon was on the next part of building the Heller Scania 141 LB which would be instrumental in finishing the cab interior and this was to apply the dashboard decals. These were included in the decal sheet and looked good.

Having cut them from the sheet with a new sharp scalpel blade they were dipped in water for a few seconds and I waited a few minutes for them to come free of the backing sheet. Despite the application of liquids designed to assist decal application namely Micro Sol and Micro Set the decals are very brittle and took some carful manipulation to get them in place. I am hoping the liquids do their job overnight to soften the decal so that it dries shaped to the surface of the dashboard.

I started to paint in the details on the engine for this kit which is to paint the rocker covers in silver.

A painfully slow job but again another instrumental one in getting this kit finished. 

What can I do in 4 hours?

Mrs. Woody could no doubt find all sorts of jobs for me to do in 4 hours but not today. It was out with the airbrush today in her absence as I gave the Italeri Scania 143H chassis a painting as well the engine and a few other parts. The chassis looks better although with the base plastic being black it doesn't look to different. However the engine is now green so we have some differentiation in the kaleidoscope of colours! I also managed to do a bit to the cab interior of the Heller 141 LB with the seats now offering something comfy looking to sit on even if those 1980s fabrics may offend fashion conscious truck drivers!

I did also make a start on the wheels. The wheels themselves will be painted aluminum whilst the rear hubs will be red. The Italeri wheels are in two parts but leaving the outer part of the rim off at this stage makes the awkward job of painting the hubs a little easier so here they are primed in white which is a good undercoat for red.

It may not look much but including giving the chassis of the Heller Scania another coat of paint this still took the 4 hours to do but it was enjoyable which is what all this is about not that Mrs. W's jobs wouldn't be fun but those will be for another day! 

Variety is the spice of life!

A day with a variety of things I like today. First off a bike ride which woke me up and then off to the Southwell Railway Society's first meeting since February 2020. Never been to the Society before but thought I would turn up following an invite and I had a really good time. There was a presentation from one of the members of old photographs of the railway system around the Whitby and Scarborough area. I know that area from numerous holidays so it was very interesting. I have paid my subs to join for a year but as Mrs. W tells me I should have waited in paying as I only go to places twice and the second time is to apologise! 

Following a lunchtime catch up with a good friend it was back to WMD HQ where I had a chance to add a few more bits to the Scania 143H chassis. It still looks much the same as it did yesterday so no photo but here are some previous builds. 

First off is the Italeri 1/24th scale DAF 95 truck built out of the box apart from a CB antenna back during Christmas 2000. I recall having problems spraying the cab as it was so cold - now that rings a bell with the build of the Heller Scania!. It is coupled up to a Italeri tipper trailer built back in 2010. I literally built the kit in a day but it took a week to paint it. Must have been my fastest build ever!

The second kit dates from about 2013 and is the 1/35th scale Hobby Boos kit of the Super Pershing T26E4 Tank. Developed by the Americans in response to the Tiger Tank that out gunned and out armoured most Allied tanks, the Super Pershing had a 90mm gun which on testing put a shell straight through a Jagpanzer IV and it embedded itself in the ground behind. The barrel of the gun was a bout twice the length of most other tank guns at the time. Unfortunately it only entered into service in January 1945 and only 20 saw active combat until the war ended later that year. 

To complete this day of variety will be a BLT for dinner but no spices, just mayo! 

Water drying out.

It rained last night disturbing my slumber but reminding me that after nearly a month the resin water on the narrow gauge layout should really have dried out by now. So in the light of day I had another look today and pulled back the cover that I put over the water to stop dust getting onto the surface. Whilst apart from a small patch that is still sticky the rest has hardened off. That should be joyful but having pulled the cover off this was the first time I had seen the complete river since pouring the resin. It was slightly disappointing! Whilst a small amount had leaked at the edge of the baseboard the rest had shrunk! It was lower than when I poured it. I can only assume that as it dries it shrinks. As I had sealed the river bed with several coats of varnish before pouring the resin I can not see it having been absorbed by the landscaping. 

 Well I could leave it as it is as a token gesture to a dry summer or I do have two thirds of a bottle of the resin left so I can increase water levels which is what I will do. However in the hope of a warm summer I will await pouring anymore resin until later in the year when the hopefully warm weather will lead to a setting time of days rather than weeks!

Following a bike ride (360 miles this year so far) I went back to spend an hour on the Scania 143H. The steering box and linkages have been built and installed and one or two more bits added to the chassis or prepared for fitting such as the various air tanks and fuel tank. The engine needs a bit more work as well but it is coming together.

On the level!

Mrs.Woody thinks it is time for a new kitchen. I put the kitchen in back in 1992 and apart from a change in worktops and floor it is much as it was back then. Nobody can charge me of being a slave to kitchen fashion much to Mrs.W's disappointment! However it is looking dated and tired just like me. As I explained to Mrs. W you can update and renew the kitchen but you can't do the same with me! 

No doubt we have a long journey to go on with this particular project but having had a look at a show room today I found that there was a branch of Hobby Craft just round the corner who sell a few model making things including Tamiya paint and cement. Although they did not have much in stock they did have the colours I wanted  together with the cement so stocks at WMD HQ are now replenished.

Back at HQ and with thoughts of the likely scale of a kitchen rebuild project I had time to relax whilst putting the front axle of the Scania 143 H together. A few problems related to a rather vague drawing on the instructions, a couple of contributions to he swear jar as I had to unpiece parts already glued and a  bit of head scratching eventually had it together correctly. Having it on the chassis meant that the work of the WMD HQ Bodge Division on the chassis shortening and how accurate that was could be tested. The wheels and tires were temporarily put together and with a wheels on all the axles I am pleased to say the the Bodge Division did well with all wheels touching the ground! I did put the chassis of the Scania 141LB alongside for comparison which shows the additional length the third axle gives to the chassis.

There is some work still to do on the steering linkages and various air and fuel tanks need adding as well as the engine needing to be finished but this is almost becoming a tandem build with the Heller Scania 141 LB. I will do my level best to complete both!

Held in suspension!

This evenings session on the Scania 143 was centered on building the rear suspension. The truck is what is termed as a 6 x 2 that is there are 6 wheels of which 2 are powered. In this particular case the last pair of wheels at the rear of the truck are unpowered and are located on what is termed as an air lift axle. By law trucks are limited in the maximum weight that they can be but there are also limits on the weight that individual axles can carry. Therefore most UK trucks which can weigh up to 44 tonnes gross have 6 axles spread over the tractor unit and trailer in order to be legal. However once partly or fully unloaded they don't need as many axles to legally carry the weight they have left. With 4 tyres on an axle costing in the region of £1000, if you can save wear on them you save money. Therefore over the years truck manufactures have developed what are termed as Air Lift Axles. These usually are usually air operated but can be manual and pistons lift the axle and tyres up off the road. The tyres don't wear saving money, there is reduced rolling resistance saving fuel and with fewer axles the truck is more maneuverable when making tight turns in restricted areas. All in all a win, win situation. 

In building the model form of this set up you have to try to make sure everything lines up so that once the chassis is on its wheels they all sit level on the ground. Not as easy as it sounds but I have managed to assemble the suspension unit and attach that to the chassis and the powered rear axel is also now glued in place. The rear air lift axel is only partly glued in and I am hoping that will give me enough wiggle room should I need to move anything to get the wheels all sitting on the ground - it is literally held in suspension!

The next job is to get the front axle constructed and in place so that I can temporarily get the wheels on and see just how skillful I have been or more probably just how much bodging and brute force I will need to get the chassis level!