1/24 Gn15 Crane

[Gordon Ferguson]

Morning all, although having posted a few comments etc on this forum this is my first thread, which I am posting after some "gentle" chiding from MR.

This model came about following Marc posting some photographs of rail cranes and developed into a small challenge on the Gnatterbox forum  http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=5908 ..... where you can see lots of other cranes.
As I indicated on another thread I was reluctant to post these details as the photo quality is not that great .......... but here goes, it will not be a SBS more just a series of shots showing the build sequence, with a few comments along the way.

This was the photo that triggered the whole thing



Although the origonal was probably built on 600mm gauge track because I wanted to build it to Gn15 standards my version is built to 1/24 scale running on 16.5mm track representing 15" gauge. I would stress that this my version, not a scale model and the main aim was to try and capture the character of these things.

Here are some shots of the initial build





After getting the basics put together, I then started to concentrate on getting some details and character added




All the wire ropes are plastic micro rod and I now wish I had used Marc's suggestion of pre-rolling the rod under a file to add some marking to represent the twisted wire ... as I will now have to try and represent this in the painting stage.



These are shots of where the project is currently , I have been putting the paint job off because I really can't decide what colour and also what stage of decay to show





As the challenge ends in a few weeks I am going to have to sort the paint job soon, will post updates when I have got something to show.


Gordon

[Ken Hamilton]

You're entering some pretty creative territory, Gordon.
Your work is beautiful. Scratchbuilding at its best!
Great job so far.  Let's see more!

[TRAINS1941]

Gordon

Very nice indeed.  Looking forward to the next post when the painting starts.

Jerry

[RoughboyModelworks]

Agreed... very nice indeed Gordon.

Just a thought concerning the cable. You might check out the model airplane supplier. I picked up some stainless twisted cable, I think it was around .020-.025" dia. a few years back for the control line planes. It's tough stuff and passes for miniature cable. The only drawback is it tends to be stiff so takes some work to form it.

Paul

[marc_reusser]

I  really like this build. Nice proportions and detail. Very inspirational.

As the challenge ends in a few weeks I am going to have to sort the paint job soon,

That's sort of how those things work...if your going to instigate it and be the "fearless leader"...you also have to suffer with actually finishing something.


Marc

[Ray Dunakin]

Looks great so far! The outriggers are a nice touch.

[Gordon Ferguson]

Thanks folks for the positive comments  .... wasn't to sure how a "freelance model " would be reviewed here.

Will post some painting updates next week ............ Thanks Marc, for just adding another few turns of pressure on me 

[NORCALLOGGER]

Gordon,
Very nice job.  A couple of questions.
The rivits on the boom look like styrene, I assume your rolling your own??

The hook on the block, where did you find it and is it available in different sizes??

Thanks
Rick Marty

[Gordon Ferguson]

Rick,

rivets are thin slices of plastic micro rod, placed with MEC Pac , when dry lightly sanded to level them off and then ..... following a hint posted by Marc burnished with fibre glass brush to lightly round them off.

The hook was formed from a 16mm scale Cambrian Models piece from the spares box, it was a bit thin so I beefed it up with a layer of 40thou plasticard.

Hope that helps

[JohnP]

Gordon, you have captured the pure essence of the little crane without getting lost in perfect prototype accuracy. It sure helps take away modeler's procrastination (if I could find just one more photo of the underneath...). The paint and finishing will now make the model.

John P

[Gordon Ferguson]

Hi,

While most of the crane will only be lightly weathered, I did want to add some variation so planing to weather ballast tank a bit more heavily.

So here are some photos of experiments I have been trying.

This has been done following the standard (Cranky) technique for first couple of stages all of which are pretty well documented .... base colour, variations of reds,browns,blacks then sponged on .
I then went off on a tangent as I wanted to try and get some rust bubbling through paint ....

So next stage was to use some "rust" pigment powder (instead of salt), placing some small but thick piles where I want rust , then fixing that in place.
Then this was given a couple of coats of hairspray and when dry a few mists coats of base colour then some areas lightened slightly with further sprayed coats.

Then when dry, dampened with water and some areas rubbed with stiff brush, if you try this you will find pigment obviously colours whole surface but you can mop up/control the stain effect with dry tissue ,etc. and this is where I have ended up. Bubbling rust thro' paint ..... well nearly ?

MG]


I am hoping that this variation of the salt technique could be of interest to painters with more skill than me who can refine the process to try and take the experiment a bit further.
(yes I can see, now, where I missed a seam ... more clean up work !!)

Gordon

[JohnP]

Gordon that looks very believable. It looks like the finish I need to work up for weathering my bridge beams. I need to try that method. Thanks for sharing.

John

[Damn Cranky]

Fabulous.  Great eye candy.  Keep it coming please.

[Gordon Ferguson]

Thanks Cranky coming from you ,with your paint finishes, thats appreciated.

Couple of shots about 30% of the way in to the painting, have done some chipping via H/spray technique, as well as some filters and ... what I think is called mapping, filling in some of chipped areas with different colours, this has not gone as well as I would like as I got the contrast too strong, will try to sort






Next stages, I think, are to sort out some of the filter/chipping issues then seal for some pin washes and the detail painting of various parts.

Alternative thoughts and advice would be very welcome

[Damn Cranky]

Gordon, I think rusting is in the air in 2010.  That's beautiful!  Great work.