Tomcat's 1/35 Trumpeter BR86 Dampflokomotive

[Stokesy44]

Beautiful autumnal shots

[Tomcat64]

Lovely countryside, excellent photography

Gorgeous place to spend some time!

Beautiful autumnal shots

Cheers guys

At the risk of inflicting more damn scenery on Digger here are a few more from the camera in the Lakes

[Tomcat64]

Right, that's enough of that scenery stuff - I've been pottering away at the loco thingy as well over the past couple of weeks...

First I finished the initial dirtying up of the boiler


Then attached the tanks, and in the process pinged off the beam where indicated as the gap I'd previously closed was opened back up to get the tank in place...


Put the beam back in and filled the gap. In retrospect I should have put a styrene fillet in place as the filler was a bit rough.


Added the final walkways to the front of the tanks; the one on the left needed modifying to go around the compressor assembly


The repairs still looked a little rough under paint, but I'm hoping to blend it in a bit with weathering


And here it is looking a little dirty


Finally for this update I built up the two footplate crew figures, these have subsequently had a coat of Ultimate black primer ready for painting up


The biggest problem I'm having at the moment is handling the loco without pinging off some of the delicate details so I'm also spending more time than I would like searching for & refitting pinged items. I'm not sure there's any way to avoid this with the delicate nature of the armature other than trying to be more careful.

Anyway that's all for now - thanks as always for looking

[digger303]

Lovely sight to see.... the loco of course and I think I recognize those figures.

[Stokesy44]

Lovely pics of The Lakes, beautiful shots and color hues

Lovely pics of The Beast, nice subtle weathering tones. The crewman look like brothers! Cant wait to see you paint them up.

[ForeverPlasticKits]

always in admiration looking at your fabulous build!

[digger303]

Missed that comment about the scenery the first time......I'll forgive his one time.....

[BigWall]

It's looking great! Sorry about the pinging parts. I have the same issue and I don't have a quarter of the pingy parts you do.

[Tomcat64]

Lovely sight to see.... the loco of course and I think I recognize those figures.



Missed that comment about the scenery the first time......I'll forgive his one time.....

Thanks mate and yep I thought the figures might look familiar to you

Lovely pics of The Lakes, beautiful shots and color hues

Lovely pics of The Beast, nice subtle weathering tones. The crewman look like brothers! Cant wait to see you paint them up.

Cheers sir and yep I think the moustache was part of the uniform

always in admiration looking at your fabulous build!

Thanks mate!

It's looking great! Sorry about the pinging parts. I have the same issue and I don't have a quarter of the pingy parts you do.

Thanks Joe, yep it's mostly down to me being clumsy or not paying attention - at one point I turned it wheels up thinking it'd rest ok on the chimney and completely ignoring the bit of plumbing that sticks up higher

[Kevthemodeller]

Super pictures of the Lake Neil, spent a lot of time walking them over the years. Sadly they've become victims of their beauty, in that too many are now visiting, made worse by Covid.

The loco just keeps getting better mate, regardless of what appears to be fit and poor engineering of the kit. Figures are going to look superb once you've taken the brush to them.

[Tomcat64]

Super pictures of the Lake Neil, spent a lot of time walking them over the years. Sadly they've become victims of their beauty, in that too many are now visiting, made worse by Covid.

The loco just keeps getting better mate, regardless of what appears to be fit and poor engineering of the kit. Figures are going to look superb once you've taken the brush to them.

Cheers Kev

You're right about the Lake District - this summer/Autumn was one of the busiest they've seen; we were chatting to one of the rangers at Wastwater while we were there and she said they actually had to close the valley at one point in the summer as the road was rammed all the way into the village.

Did you see Simon Reeve's recent 3-parter about Cumbria? He highlighted the problems really well - was a well balanced view of what's going on up there and worth catching if you can.

[Tomcat64]

Just a quick update as I managed to get a few hours at the bench on Saturday in between doing other stuff.

I'd previously dirtied up the running gear with a few coats of Ammo Mig shaders (grime, dirt & black) and this has left a slightly glossy sheen on the loco which we'll knock back down again later. I also ran a couple of light coats of the Ash black down the spine of the boiler behind the chimney to represent soot deposits and we'll revisit those with some pigments too.

But for this update I focused on dirtying up the walkways with MiG earth effects blended in with AK clear thinners


This was continued down the sides of the tanks & cab and had some AK Winter Streaking grime added into the mix as well.


I then treated the boiler with the winter streaking grime, and started picking out panel lines & bolts with AK Track wash. In the photo the front two boiler seams have been pin washed but the one on the right hasn't... and that's when I ran out of time...


Since it seems most activities between Christmas and the New Year are slowly being cancelled I should hopefully get time to move this along a bit as I'm at the point now where the loco itself is nearly finished and I can return properly to the dio.

Thanks as always for looking guys

[digger303]

A pleasure to catch up on your build as always.

[Kevthemodeller]

Did you see Simon Reeve's recent 3-parter about Cumbria? He highlighted the problems really well - was a well balanced view of what's going on up there and worth catching if you can.

Yes we did watch it, try not to miss anything he does, as you say his stuff is "well balanced"

Loco just keeps getting better,

[BigWall]

Very nice! I'm really interested in seeing it come together.

[Tomcat64]

A pleasure to catch up on your build as always.

Did you see Simon Reeve's recent 3-parter about Cumbria? He highlighted the problems really well - was a well balanced view of what's going on up there and worth catching if you can.

Yes we did watch it, try not to miss anything he does, as you say his stuff is "well balanced"

Loco just keeps getting better,

Very nice! I'm really interested in seeing it come together.

Thanks chaps

[Tomcat64]

I've made use of a few days off between Christmas and the New Year (coupled with wet weather) to spend some time in the den and move the loco on a bit more

First I finished off the pin washing on the boiler and also added some general grime to the running gear


Then picked out the lamps in a sand/cream mix so they didn't look too stark


Everything was then given a coat of Ultra Matte to kill off the shine


While that was drying off I switched over to the buffer stop and gave that some rust/weathering


Back to the loco and this was added to the bunker - again like the ballast it's marketed as O gauge but it'll do the job


And here it is in place and fixed with Sand & Gravel fixer


And with that all done I brought the base back out and couldn't resist sitting all the bits together


Happy to see I did a better job of getting all the wheels level than the person who built the display model for the box sides


So that's the loco pretty much finished except for the crew and some oil; this weekend I'm hoping to get the base more or less done too.

Thanks as always for looking - Happy New Year

[Kevthemodeller]

[Stokesy44]

Really nice subtle effects on the loco. The buffer looks pretty tasty too.

[ForeverPlasticKits]

Beautiful "lokomotive" , the result of an awesome build!

[BigWall]

It's really looking nice! I like your weathering of the buffer

[Tomcat64]

Really nice subtle effects on the loco. The buffer looks pretty tasty too.

Beautiful "lokomotive" , the result of an awesome build!

It's really looking nice! I like your weathering of the buffer

Thanks for stopping by & commenting guys!

[Tomcat64]

I've managed to get some more decent time in the den over the New Year's weekend

First up something new, at least for me, I received this as a freebie on an order I put in last year or even the year before and have been looking for an opportunity to try it out


So after painting the rails in Life Color Dark Rust I then applied the pigment using a cotton bud and working along the track


With that done I gave everything a liberal dosing of starship wash to dirty it up a bit and then headed in with foliage from dio dump amongst others (I mix up various shades of grass & scatter and add some gravel)


The edging was added from some pre-flocked sheet that I found at Hobby Craft when I went to pick up some more PVA glue - I need to tidy up the corners and edges but otherwise really happy with the way this turned out


While I was letting the base dry out I switched over to the kettenkrad and built it up into sub-assemblies; the final drive was modified to allow the lower hull to slide up into the body work to ease painting and the wheels were assembled on the sprue frames


Fit is still a little disappointing in places


But nothing that can't be rectified with a swipe of filler and sanding back, oh and I added a couple of thin fillets either side of the dash


These were all then given a coat of Ultimate Black primer follower by Vallejo Dark Yellow - I'm a little concerned about getting the front fork/wheel assembly attached straight as dry fitting didn't go the same way twice so there may be more fettling to come


I was going to take a swipe at the tracks but found a guy on Youtube who had a good technique for doing these so I'll post a link to his video when I tackle them a little later.

That's all for now - hopefully I can keep the momentum up now and get it finished in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks as always for looking

[Kevthemodeller]

The tracks, buffer and base look superb Neil

Looks like you've got on top of the fit issues you mentioned on the Kettenkrad

[Garion77]

WOW ! I just caught up to the build because I hadn't check it since the end of October I think... simply astonishing ! Way above my pay grade ! I saw your model at my local hobby store a bit before Christmas and realized even more how much work it is by seeing it. You made a great job and great weathering on it !

[digger303]

YEp can't see any issues

[Stokesy44]

The train and base are awesome enough but the Kettenkrad and a few soldiers will really set it off.

Nice work on the bike too, speedy effort so far

[Twokidsnosleep]

Holy cow that train track base looks good
Great job there

[RangerNeil]

Impressive - really impressive!!

[BigWall]

It's coming along very nicely!

[Tomcat64]

The tracks, buffer and base look superb Neil

Looks like you've got on top of the fit issues you mentioned on the Kettenkrad

WOW ! I just caught up to the build because I hadn't check it since the end of October I think... simply astonishing ! Way above my pay grade ! I saw your model at my local hobby store a bit before Christmas and realized even more how much work it is by seeing it. You made a great job and great weathering on it !

YEp can't see any issues

The train and base are awesome enough but the Kettenkrad and a few soldiers will really set it off.

Nice work on the bike too, speedy effort so far

Holy cow that train track base looks good
Great job there

Impressive - really impressive!!

It's coming along very nicely!

Thanks folks

... Way above my pay grade ...

Oh no it isn't - not after the detailing you've managed to cram into that Pfalz engine

[Tomcat64]

Just a quick update, but the good news is that going back to work this week hasn't drained the mojo the way it was in the lead up to Christmas and I've made some progress on the Kettenkrad


The wheels are just dry fitted at the moment and I need to do some tidying up on the tyres, but the plan for the weekend is to try and tackle the tracks

There could be swearage... lots n lots of swearage

Have a great weekend

[Kevthemodeller]

Oh yes you've nailed the Kettenkrad too

[ForeverPlasticKits]

Excellent build, the locomotive, the diorama and the Kettenrad!

[digger303]

What they said, I couldn't say it better.

[Tomcat64]

Oh yes you've nailed the Kettenkrad too

Excellent build, the locomotive, the diorama and the Kettenrad!

What they said, I couldn't say it better.

Thanks as always chaps

[Tomcat64]

I didn't get as much time at the bench as I was hoping for this weekend, but had a really good session sorting out the initial stage of the kettenkrad tracks yesterday

The instructions for this step are suitably vague...


As mentioned previously I did take a swipe at them last week and then abandoned them to do some research and came across this video from down under:


He's a bit waffly but set me in the right direction

So with a strip of tamiya 18mm tape and a steel rule I chopped off 43 links per side (again - nothing obvious in the instructions) tidied them up and dry fitted them against the rule


I could probably have used Tamiya white for the gluing stage but popped out and got a bottle of Revell Contacta; this was dabbed in the joints and left for 15 mins, after which the tracks could be peeled off the tape with a scalpel and wrapped around the blu-tacked wheels...


It was a bit fiddly to get the final join done, but worked a treat

Last week I also made a start on the driver (rider?) and a couple of Tamiya officers to finish the scene


I'll sort the driver's arms out once I've got the handlebars dry fitted at the right height - so the moment of truth will come this evening if I can get the tracks back off the wheels and add the rubber pads... stay tuned

[Stokesy44]

All looking good.

I think they use one of these things in the final battle of Saving Private Ryan. One of Miller's squad used it to draw the Germans into the main street where they laid the ambush.

[ForeverPlasticKits]

Excellent job on the Kettenrad!

[Tomcat64]

All looking good.

I think they use one of these things in the final battle of Saving Private Ryan. One of Miller's squad used it to draw the Germans into the main street where they laid the ambush.

Excellent job on the Kettenrad!

Thanks chaps and @Stokesy44 yep that's the one - the allies grabbed them whenever they could as they were so useful. The kit actually comes with two marking options for captured vehicles in Olive Drab & white stars.

[Tomcat64]

I've continued to pick away at the various remaining items through the evenings this week.

First the headless dudes from the previous update were finished & filled - after this photo they've since been primed & painting started


Using some dry fitting the driver was also finished off and he's also now under way in the paintshop


I did get the tracks off the wheels intact, and then attached them to sticks (labelled L & R) for painting


They were undercoated in Ultimate Black, base coated in Vallejo black/brown then dry-brushed with AK Gun Metal before the pads were picked out by hand with dark rubber


And then with some faffing and a little swearage were coaxed back onto the wheels and attached to the hull


The upper & lower hull sections were joined after a little weathering in the cockpit, and the rear bench was also fitted. The front wheel & part-painted driver are still just dry fitted but as you can see all four of the decals were also added.


In between playing with the kettenkrad I broke this set out as I decided I wanted a fence running alongside the rails


I chopped their posts in half and added brass rod before painting with black/brown dry-brushed with old wood


Holes were drilled in the base to take the rod and the posts were pushed in and secured with a little CA


So... my hitlist to get this finished is as follows and in no specific order:

• Add wire to the fence
• Weather the Kettenkrad & matte coat
• Paint the figures (2 x loco crew, 2 x officers, 1 x driver)
• Pin wash the bolts on the buffer stop
• Tidy up the base
• Add any last bits & pieces I haven't thought of yet

Hopefully I'll be able to mark a few of these off this weekend!

Thanks as always for looking & have a great weekend

[Stokesy44]

I sense the word 'masterpiece' heading with indecent haste towards this build

[Kevthemodeller]

Kettenrad proved very successful as plane tractors, often found on airfield and seen in film pulling Me 262s.

Those figures will look great once painted, super fence post Neil

[ForbesHutton]

I shall continue to use the tried and true conventional toilet.

[Quax]

I sense the word 'masterpiece' heading with indecent haste towards this build

And being surpassed as an understatement....!

Perhaps Kevs right and you should have the 'krad towing a 262...

Paul

[Tomcat64]

I sense the word 'masterpiece' heading with indecent haste towards this build

Kettenrad proved very successful as plane tractors, often found on airfield and seen in film pulling Me 262s.

Those figures will look great once painted, super fence post Neil

I sense the word 'masterpiece' heading with indecent haste towards this build

And being surpassed as an understatement....!

Perhaps Kevs right and you should have the 'krad towing a 262...

Paul

Thanks chaps - I hope it doesn't all go horribly wrong now!

And nope - no Me262's in the stash and the "no more new kits" rule is in full force! Actually can you get a 1/35 Me262???

I shall continue to use the tried and true conventional toilet.

Some people have no sense of adventure

Anyway I think the All Terrain Blitzendunny has been sadly underrepresented in the past

[Tomcat64]

Well that worked out well, I got a couple of hours in the den on Saturday afternoon and then pretty much all day yesterday...

So here's a summary of the hitlist from last time around

• Pin wash the bolts on the buffer stop
  Done - it's still reasonably subtle but the bolt heads are definitely more defined - this was done by running thinner around the heads and then dripping Tamiya black panel liner followed by any tidying up
  
  
  
• Add wire to the fence
• Tidy up the base
  Done & done
  I did try and add a bracing wire across the fence with plain wire but it was so thin it was pretty much invisible so got abandoned; with the corners of the base I found I could scrape off some of the flock from scraps of the sheet I used for the edging and then glue that in with some PVA to hide the joins.
  
  
  
• Weather the Kettenkrad & matte coat
  Done - here's how it finished after some oils & a matte coat plus a few drops of fuel around the filler caps
  
  
  
• Paint the figures (2 x loco crew, 2 x officers, 1 x driver)
  Done - here's the loco crew
  
  
  The officers
  
  
  And the dunny driver
  
  
  
• Add any last bits & pieces I haven't thought of yet
  Mrs TC told me it didn't need anything else so I've bowed to her infinite wisdom and left it alone

Soooo... don't tell anyone but I think it's finished... the crew has been installed in the cab and the other bits located on the base.

I just need to figure out how to photograph the whole thing for the reveal now

Thanks for all your help & support through the seven months of this one - it's been much appreciated

[Kevthemodeller]

Oh yes, you've nailed it Neil

[RangerNeil]

Definitely nailed it!!
Looking forwards to the great reveal....

(ps - Both Revell and Hasegawa do 1/32 versions of the Me-262 - close enough to 1/35.. Just saying..... )

[Garion77]

Can't wait to see the reveal pictures ! You're good figure painter on top of all the rest !