Restoring 8F(s)

Having recently parted company with my Wrenn 8F, I put 48158 back into the stock box. However, the reason for resting it in the first place was because cosmetically it wasn't a particularly great example of an 8F, so I decided to give it a little restoration.

At some point in its life it's had a makeover with brush paint,leaving an uneven finish...

...and tender decals that are very faded:

After dismantling and stripping for paint, I also checked the motor. It's been running fine but has spent many hours trundling along the upper loop with the other 8F. The brushes were worn almost to the metal, so these were also replaced.

 After a motor service, strip down and bare metal repaint, the result is reasonable, especially when compared to what arrived on Monday:

 This was a real no-hoper. Rusty, seized and looking really sorry for itself. Most people would probably break this for spares.

Not me though.

The wheels were locked solid...

And the body was pretty poor:

Rusty valve gear and amotor that just hummed when powered up...

So the chassis was stripped and wire brushed to clean up the wheels, which were eventually freed-up...

Still not looking great...

...so further stripping needed...

...and a little chemical assistance to strip the remains of the paint from the chassis:

After priming, satin black paint was applied...

For the tender, it was possible to wire brush and repaint, leaving the wheels and pickup in-situ. It would have created more problems than it solved to strip this.

Much better!

The body was chemically stripped and then wire brushed...

 ...then primed and painted satin black...

  Two coats later...

And while the body dried, time to reassemble the chassis.

I've never had great success with refitting valve gear and quartering the wheels properly. Usually the wheels end up wobbly so this time I used my pillar drill as a press. These all went together perfectly, and first time!

The underside now looks much more presentable:

Now for the motor. Stripped, greased and armature cleaned using a fibreglass pen and drill:

Then the motor was remagnetised...

 The chassis was then fully assembled...

...and powered...

Quick test fit...

New, waterslide transfers for the tender...

...and then time to prepare the cab sides...

The transfers are soaked...

...carefully placed into position...

the backing then slides away and the transfers slide all over the place!

The first three digits were supplied as a set...

...then the final two digits are added using the same process...

New smoke box number printed onto vinyl and cut using the Silhouette Portrait, buffer beam painted red...

And the 8F graphic is applied above the cab numbers...

Matching pair... 

Much better looking underside...

The original plan had been to restore this to 48158 and sell it on. However, given the amount of time and effort that went into restoring it, I decided before I put the transfers on to keep it, numbered it accordingly and these two will now run double-headed on the upper loop.

A Duchess of Montrose and 0-6-2 tank were also acquired at the same time and in similar condition but these will probably be restored and sold to cover the cost of the investment. At least I still get a perfectly usable 8F for the price of three scrap locos!

Cost exercise

I am a bit of a hoarder - when I buy something and fix it I want to keep it for myself, even if that means that there isn't room in the stock box to transport it!

However, this year has been very expensive so far - after the first show this year I had the expense of replacing the transformers, ordering a spare Trax controller and then having to replace the transformers again with a lower current version because they were too powerful.

Then I decided that I needed a GWR tank, I have loads of tank engines but this one caught my eye and had to be bought.

Then we did an exhibition whereby the profits from the show were to be split between the exhibitors, that was four months ago and still no cheque :(

Then I decided that I really liked that blue Deltic (it has a light in it) and really needed one of my own, so sent off a scrap Deltic and a cheque, should see a shiny new model in about three months time.

Then I decided that I really should invest in a Ron Dodd magnetiser - the EMUs can't take neo magnets and as I seem to be getting more and more requests to do repairs, it seemed like a good investment, and it's a brilliant bit of kit!

Then I decided that I should invest in a Silhouette Portriat, the results of which have already been seen in previous posts and in the long-term will reduce the costs incurred with restoring locos.

All that little lot adds up, and we still need to invest in timber to replace the upper loop as planned several months ago but still not started.

I'm not made of money, the costs associated with this little lot have put a big dent in the bank balance. The layout needs to start paying its way. 

Now we know what happened the last time the railways were made to pay their way and I'm not about to do a Beeching on it, but it's time to re-evaluate the rolling stock and sell on some of the items that are no longer required. A tough choice and undoubtedly something that I may regret in the long-run but I need to recoup some costs...

First to go was the blue & grey Bachmann 2EPB- I have (had) three EPB units, along with a CEP. When we had the old layout, these were essential. The old layout, with its warped boards, dodgy track laying and centre operation meant that there were constant uncouplings and derailments. The Bachman EMUs saved my sanity and were put out every time I needed a break. Their bar couplings meaning that they never came apart!

They've seen occasional use on the new layout, starting originally on the shuttle before it was modified (then they couldn't be used) and as the HD EMU collection has grown and the reliability of the new layout has increased, these have become surplus to requirements, often being run purely for the sake of keeping everything lubricated. Although people are impressed to see modern stock converted, we don't need so many of them and I'm sure folks would rather see genuine, or neverwas items rather than new stock that can be seen on any OO gauge layout.

After completing the sale on the blue & grey EPB, I decided to evaluate the blue version with a view to selling it. Sadly it hit an unseen obstruction on the loft test track and pole-vaulted itself off the track and over the side, crashing onto the loft floor. It now shows a dead-short so will need some attention and has possibly bought itself a permanent stay.

Next to go was the Wrenn 8F - one of the newest acquisitions, it doesn't really enjoy being double-headed with the other 8F, I don't have any need for three of them so the other 8F has been reinstated and this one put back to two rail, reunited with its box and sold.

Next to go is this GWR tank. It's not running on the rescued chassis from the scrapheap project, that I still have. This one never goes out on the layout and has spent most of its life in the loft gathering dust. It's a repaint, quite a good one but I didn't repaint it and I have more than enough of my own now.

And probably the one that I will regret the most - 80059.

A rare model, one that I'd been trying to find for some time but it's quite playworn. In the beginning this would have been fine but as I slowly work through my rolling stock, this is now one of the worst looking 2-6-4s in the stock box. For me to restore it could potentially devalue it, which I'm not prepared to do - I can take any ordinary 2-6-4 body with the technology I now have and create my own version much cheaper. So this has also gone to a better home.

Thankfully all of these sold at a profit. The object of the exercise isn't to turn this into a money making cash-cow. The layout needs to be able to fund some of the project work. I may invest in some scrap locos and make transfers to restore them, then sell them on for a profit. That way there would always be spare funds available as and when required for repairs or upgrades.

At the time of writing, I have just listed one of the blue EMUs. Again a very difficult decision but these run best in six car formations. Nine is a little too much and as I now have the recently completed blue & grey EMU, I now have two, six car sets. With hindsight, the third blue set should have been made as blue & grey but it's now up for sale and will be interesting to see if it reaches its reserve. I'm certainly not desperate enough to give it away and it'll aways have more value to me than anyone else. It won't be the end of the world if it doesn't sell.

Playing with the Silhouette Portrait cutting machine

**Warning - large update with lots of pictures!**

I've referenced the Silhouette Portrait in several recent posts and its results have attracted a fair amount of interest / attention. So this, rather large update, is all about the cutting machine and what I've managed to make it do so far!

First of all, the new EMU is now ready for exhibition, here it's been for a quick spin around the test track, coupled to the existing three car set...

The windows in this set were all pre-cut and although this made the process much quicker, the windows didn't quite line up in places due to not having the original source image to work from. Therefore the windows had to be cut smaller to allow for this, so cutting was still required - just less of it.

Here it can be seen that there is a slight difference in colour, this is due to a change of printer and after three trial runs, where the print was way too bright, this was the closest match I could get. Let's face it, in real life, the units would have discoloured in service!

Having declared cutting windows to be a reasonable success, I decided to move on and see if I could actually get a near-perfect cutting pattern for my next project - renovating old coaches.

I have a fair number of SR green coaches, some immaculate and some really only fit for the spares box. It seems a shame to let them go to waste so if I could restore them in some way, at least they will get some use.

To start, I dismantled a good brake coach so that I could get a decent colour image scan. With the image saved, I began colouring the window apertures black and then imported the file into the Silhouette software to design the cuts. For the door windows this is a rectangle, for the other windows a rounded rectangle shape was used and the cutting outline was positioned just around the inside of the black window shape.

Back to the source image, even with the best quality scan, the image was never going to be perfect. The doors were all re-drawn, nothing complicated just a couple of straight lines and three small rectangles for the hinges. The large handles were filled rectangles and the small handles are the only surviving bit of the original scan. This was recoloured and cleaned up before pasting into the new image, starting with a green rectangular background and continuing from there, copying and pasting each window set (window, door, window) along the design, still using the original scan to ensure alignment is correct.

Once the sides of the brake van were complete, a standard coach was then created, copying and pasting the same windows from before. No need to take a fresh scan of the coach, I was able to construct it purely by having the coach on my desk under the PC screen as I worked!

A few black & white draft prints were then made to ensure that the transfer will line up correctly with the windows - an easy job to get the alignment right. Then time to print the prototype. Here the sides of the brake coach are untreated and compared with the passenger coach that now has the vinyls fitted.

The fit and finish was good. The only issue was that the black edges of the windows, where I'd coloured them previously, could be seen. As the plotting was now correct, I was able to go back to the image and paint out all the windows, leaving a plain green side.

So with the prototype complete, I raided the scrap box looking for potential candidates, and came across three maroon coaches. I've had these for ages and never run them, mainly because they all look like this:

Rusty roofs, rusty wheels, scratched, dented, etc. Not exactly display material.

Now the good thing is that the maroon coaches are designed in exactly the same way as the green ones - all the windows are in the same place, all that was needed was a reasonable colour match, which I managed after three test prints, and to add stripes, a panel for the brake coach, the Guard sign on the door of the brake coach and modify the handles slightly (different shape on these)

For the best results, the surface has to be smooth - no rust, no loose paint...

 Several coach sides were so bad that the only thing I could do was go back to bare metal, prime and then apply a quick coat of red...

Now, with the image finalised and printed, time to cut...

Matt vinyl this time (because I'd run out of gloss!)

After lining up the graphics by eye, making sure that the windows lined up before pressing home, they were smoothed into position. The only cuts being to the left & right edges, which I cut deliberately long to make the overlays easier to handle. The top & bottom of the overlay is folded over the edges to give a neat finish...

The sides were then sprayed with gloss lacquer - three coats required.

The coach roofs were also stripped to bare metal, straightened, given two coats of grey primer and three coats of lacquer. The underframes just needed the wheels cleaned and a quick blow over with satin black to refresh.

And this is the result... 

Old vs refurb - not perfect but certainly near enough for me!

So this would normally be the end of my update. But there's more!

Now that I've established that the Silhouette cutter can restore my coaches, I wanted to see what it could do with the graphics I made a while ago for the 0-6-2 tanks.

I've been advised that my numbers (69568 & 69569) are wrong and were never produced, so only 69567 is correct. So this project also includes renumbering.

The graphics were imported into the Silhouette software again and measurements of the body were taken to ensure that the vinyls fit properly.

The test loco is probably the worst repaint of a 0-6-2 tank that I've ever seen (and I didn't do it)

A test run, using ordinary paper confirmed that the settings were correct...

Then it was time to cut again...

The last number set was produced using the Gill Sans font. Although this looks quite nice, it looks nothing like the original Dublo version, and I've never found a font that matches.

So it was back to Microsoft Paint with a high quality image of the side of an original 69567, the number was then cropped and enhanced electronically, then re-coloured ready to insert back into the design. I decided to go with 69566 and 69565 - to create these I simply copied and pasted a 6 and a 5 from the number I'd just created and pasted in place of the 7. The result is a reasonable reproduction of the original design...

 We can't leave that body as it is, so it was stripped back to bare metal (the black paintwork was still underneath)

Primed...

Painted satin black...

And then the boiler bands and graphics were applied, before a coat of matt lacquer to seal everything.

At this point, the lacquer is still not quite dry - the final finish is now much better and the edges of the vinyls can hardly be seen.

The next job will be to paint the buffer beam and add the smoke box number, before refurbishing and refitting the handrails. This body will then be exchanged with one of the other black 0-6-2s and eventually all three will be renumbered.

The Silhouette Portrait certainly is a useful bit of kit. The software isn't the easiest to live with, primarly because you can't copy & paste into the software, everything has to be opened as an image file. I think the idea is that you're supposed to use the Silhouette templates that are commercially available but I've proved that it can be made to work for producing graphics to revitalise my rolling stock. My painting talents are limited so this is a low-cost way for me to get my tatty looking coaches back into use.

Finally, here's the machine in action, cutting the EMU sides: