How I lined my locos using Trimline tape

Introduction

In this posting I aim to share with you the approach I have developed for applying Trimline lining tape to locos.

This comes in 5 metre reels with a range of widths on each reel. At a cost of around 3 UKP a reel it represents good value for money. One reel is sufficient for one small G scale loco, though I've found it's handy to have another reel to spare. The loco shown in this posting is the line's No. 3, a Hunslet constructed from a Garden Railway Specialist's kit and an LGB Toytrain 0-4-0 chassis (see How I constructed a Hunslet loco from a GRS kit).

Painting 

From some of my other blog postings you'll see that painting locos and stock is my least favourite activity. I struggle to get that perfect finish which I'd like to achieve. I am improving my techniques for spray painting but I've still not entirely cracked it. I use aerosol spray cans. I don't feel I would sufficient use from a compressor and spray gun to justify its cost - I assume I'd have to buy an expensive one to get a decent finish. Anyway, what I have learned about aerosol spray painting so far is:

• Only spray when the weather is dry and the room is warm
• Heat up the cans in a bucket of warm water before using them
• Use high quality masking tape designed for models
• Try to spray evenly in long easy passes rather than in short bursts
• Handle the sprayed models with disposal latex or vinyl gloves to avoid greasy finger marks
• Remove the masking tape as soon as the paint is touch dry
• Wait a couple of days for the paint to harden off before applying the tape

 Lining

Once the paint had hardened off, I then decided where to start the lining. I now tend to do it by eye, but with the first loco, I measured 4mm in from the edges and put a pin mark at each end to try and keep the spacing regular. I usually start with the longest, straightest lines as these tend to be the easiest to apply. On this Hunslet model the longest run was along the base of the saddle tank.

I cut off a piece of the lining tape, allowing a couple of centimetres at each end. Although this is wasteful of tape, I find it useful to have this excess for handling the tape.

The tape was then lifted off the backing sheet with the point of a craft knife or scalpel.

The ends of the tape were then held between finger and thumb of both hands and positioned, stretching it slightly to keep the tape taut and straight.

The tape was then manoeuvred on to the model and once applied, smoothed down with the tip of one finger. If (well, when) the tape ended up in the wrong place or slightly curved, it was lifted and reapplied.

When two adjacent tapes crossed over each other,

the scalpel blade was carefully positioned lightly over each tape

and the excess piece of tape pulled up against it. In this way the tape was trimmed off precisely without cutting into the underlying paint.

The remainder of the straight lining was completed before tackling the curved lining. This took a little longer. Rather than laying down the whole length of tape, one end was pressed down with a finger-tip and the tape curved round and pressed down in short steps. This often took two or three attempts before the right curve was made.

As with the straight lining, the excess was trimmed off at the most appropriate angle against the adjoining piece.

On one loco (the Barclay) I used wider tape and found the tape buckled on some of the tighter curves. The rucks were nicked with the point of the knife and pressed down with the rounded end of knife handle. This was not entirely satisfactory so, in future, I will stick with the narrowest tape.

Once all the lining had been applied and firmly pressed down using the back of a finger nail or the rounded end of the scalpel handle, I touched up the spectacle plates, sandboxes and chimney with 'brass' enamel paint.

Nameplates

I then applied the nameplates and number plates. From experience I have discovered that the most reliable way of gluing nameplates on is to position them,

then move them to one side, apply a one or two small drops of superglue to the place where the plate will be fixed,

then place the plate on the glue.

This helps ensure the glue stays out of sight behind the plate.

Here's what happened when I did not use this approach:

The glue seeped out from behind the plate and all attempts to remove it made the problem worse - another lesson learned from experience!

Varnishing

The loco was then masked, in preparation for the application of varnish.

Waterslide transfers were applied to the buffer beams.

As with the paint, I used an aerosol of varnish which was warmed up first in a bucket of water.

Two light coats of acrylic varnish were applied, and left to dry, before the masking tape was removed and the loco left for a couple of days for the varnish to harden off.

WARNING! Always test the compatibility of the varnish with the underlying paint before applying. Here's what happened when I didn't. The paint was Humbrol enamel and the varnish was acrylic car spray:

The handrails were then fixed in place (with Superglue), spectacle plates were glazed and a driver positioned in the cab.

Loco number three was now ready to join the line's expanding roster (apart from re-fitting the couplings!).

How I constructed three wooden Maddison Coach kits

I bought three coach kits from Mark Addison of Maddison Coaches (no longer trading). Although Mark made them for SM32, he modified his bogies for me to run on 45mm track. These kits had been languishing for some time awaiting the urge to construct them. When I realised I would either have to modify the platforms at Beeston Castle and Bulkeley to accommodate the Accucraft W&L Pickering coaches I bought last year or modify the coaches, I decided to construct the kits to see if they would solve the problem.

Following the excellent set of instructions which accompany the kits, I firstly tidied up the pieces with a file and some sanding blocks:

The first stage of construction was to glue the exterior framework to the sides:

Next, the seats were added to the compartment partitions and ends by gluing them into the relevant slots.

The partitions were then glued on to one side:

and then the other.....

Then the base was fixed into place:

 and the end frames were glued into place.

Next, the frame for the roof was assembled. Two side members were super-glued to the curved upper sections of the partitions:

 to make the frame:

 Once dry, the side members were planed and sanded to match the contours of the roof:

 and then the frame was super-glued to the pre-formed roof:

The rain-strips were then trimmed to size and glued to the roof, following the marked-out guide-lines:

The roof was test fitted to the body, with a few small adjustments with a sanding-block.

Attention was turned to the underframe. The buffer beams were fixed to the ends:

and then, to accommodate the wider bogies and R1 curves, the ends of the side members were thinned:

 Before fitting between the buffer beams. In addition the bogie mountings were glued in place:

After test-fitting the bogies and working out the how the couplings would be fitted (I prefer the couplings to be attached to the bogies (see below)), the buffer beams were rebated to allow the couplings to swivel with the bogies.

Next, I slightly enlarged the holes for the door hinges. These were supplied with the kit as whitemetal castings:

The hinges were inserted and then fixed in place with a dab of thin superglue

The door vents were superglued above the doors...........

and the vents for the gas lamps were fixed in place on the roof:

..... as were the steps and handrail:

Painting
The stage of kit-making I least look forward-to is painting. However, it has to be done so I do the best job I can - which usually takes me ages. Mind you, the more I do the more I learn.

The first step was to varnish the inside of the campartments and the underside of the roof. On reflection, I should have done this earlier, maybe before the floor was added, as trying to varnish beneath the seats was somewhat difficult. I used a polyeurethane varnish with an antique stain. I did contemplate adding some detail to the interiors but as the roofs are removeable, this can be done at a later stage.

Next, the windows were taped over with masking tape. This was done carefully to try and ensure that no gaps were left for the spray paint to seep through.

The roof was then taped over.........

....and the coaches were given a coat of primer. One coach was spray-painted with Plasitkote primer whilst the other two were brush painted (as I ran out of spray). One reflection, I should have bought another can of spray. I found it's much more difficult to get an even coat with brush painting. The primer tends to pool in the mouldings which must then be removed before the final coach can be applied. It makes the job much more complicated and more time consuming, and affects the finish.

 Once the primary was dry, it was sanded with fine wet & dry paper and three coats of car paint were applied using rattle-can aerosol sprays from Halfords. I used Rover Damask Red, which seems to be close to a maroon finish. Before the final coat was added, the previous coats were sanded smooth with 1200 wet & dry paper, using a small wooden block:

Once the maroon paint was dry I removed the masking from the ends and masked off the sides with tape and newspaper. Again I learnt from experience to leave the paint to dry for at least 24 hours. On the first coach I put the masking tape on before the paint was fully hardened and took the sheen off the surface (another rub-down and final coat needed!).

The ends were then sprayed matt black (another Halfords aerosol). The roofs were also sprayed at the same time. Two coats seemed sufficient.

A day or two later, making sure all the paint was hardened off, I re-drilled the holes for the door handles and drilled holes for grab handles and fixed these in place with superglue. Although the kit was supplied with cast whitemetal handles, I bought some brass castings from Brandbright as I felt these looked a little more classy. The castings needed the minimum of cleaning-up and do look impressive.

Finally, waterslide transfers from GRS were added to the doors.

 and the sides were sealed with clear gloss varnish.

The footrails were then primed and painted matt black, before being screwed to the bottom of the coaches using the screws and spacers provided.

The ends, roof and footboards were sealed with matt varnish and the glazing was added to the windows. This is provided a a single strip which slots in between the compartment dividers and the sides.

The bogies
These were supplied without wheels, which were purchased from Garden Railway Specialists. The bogies are constructed to provide compensation (much needed on my trackwork).

However, they were designed to operate prototypically and swing independently of each other, rather than being steered through the couplings. Given that I have some R1 curves on my railway, I decided to play safe and add some brass extensions to the bogies on which LGB couplings could be mounted.

For each bogie a piece of 1"x1/16" brass strip was cut to a length of 80mm.

A 2.5mm hole was drilled 15mm from one end and two 2mm holes were drilled at 24mm and 31mm from the other end along the centre line.

I decided to superglue the strip to each bogie rather than soldering - my soldering skills with brass is not wonderful! Bachmann LGB style couplings were fixed to the end, using self tapping screws, and a coat of matt black paint was applied.

The bogies were then screwed beneath the coaches.

Testing
Now the fun part. The coaches were extensively tested over all parts of the line to check clearances.

When running the coaches in a train for the first time, I was perturbed to find the controller kept cutting out. Somehow, the coaches were shorting-out across the rails. A close inspection of the bogies revealed that the insulation of the centre of the wheels purchased from GRS was recessed and hence the rim of the wheel was making contact with the brass bush of the bogie.

What was needed were some small insulated washers. An extensive search of various bits boxes failed to reveal any and so I would either have to order some or make my own. Being impatient, I decided to go for the second option.

Firstly, a 2.3mm hole was drilled into the thinnest plasticard I could find:

The base was removed from a paper hole-punch and the plasticard was inserted and manoeuvred until the hole appeared in the centre of one of the holes in the base of the hole-punch:

The washer was then 'punched' from the sheet. This procedure was repeated until I had accumuated sufficient washers:

A washer was then fitted over the protruding axle stub (journal) on each set of wheels .............

................... and these were then inserted back into the bogies:

The coaches were then successfully test-run again, this time with no short-out problems.

I realise that these washers will have a limited life-span. Plasticard is a fairly soft plastic and hence will probably wear fairly quickly. I will seek out a source for fibre or paxolin washers in the meantime.

I want to add a few interior details and maybe some lighting, but in the meantime this rake of coaches fills a long overdue gap in the line's rolling stock roster:

Short video showing the coaches in action