Friday, July 15, 2022

Project Showcase | Custom Bachmann Gordon and Henry

Well, this is one of the biggest planned tutorial posts I've planned for the past two months, and here it is! Gordon and Henry, two of the "Big Engines" of the Thomas and Friends show, in HO/OO gauge, fully customized from the models made by Bachmann USA. I wanted to give them an upgrade for years, and didn't really know where to start with the supplies and confidence I needed to tackle them. There are a lot of friends and followers on Twitter who have tried making them look more accurate to the TVS show, and I was encouraged and inspired to give it a try! Today I'll share with you how I did it start to finish!

Links to supplies used will be at the very bottom of the post!

1) Fixing the Body Shell

First thing I did was fix the body shell. If you want to upgrade the details front and back, take off all of the molded plastic coupling hooks and lamp irons on the front buffer beam and the back of Gordon's tender with pliers, we'll add new ones later!

Now onto the boiler! I had to use my flat-head hobby knife blade to scrape away the molded handrails, then sand it with fine grit sanding paper or files from the hobby store, like 300-400 grit for smoother sanding. I use a cloth to wipe away any excess shavings, then I apply the varnish! I like flat matte, so I use Krylon matt finish from the drawing isle of my local craft store, which has been a perfect go-to for a satin-completely flat finish. It has worked wonders for locomotives, rolling stock, and vehicles when I want to kill the shine of any manufactured paints, and helps hold weathering powders I use very, very well. I've been using Tamiya's TS-80 Clear matte finish and I highly recommend it for the best results.

NOTE: Please spray outside or in a well ventilated area, with a mask, and make sure that there is a consistent temperature in the room of choice, not too hot or not too cold, as it will effect the spray application. Having good lighting also helps with drying. As the trim tape for the lining was glossy, I spray the model a very light first coat to help painting, apply the paint I want for the body shell, then once dry I add he glossy lining before a final coat. Weathering will come later!

I use craft acrylics I color-match for painting over the sanded areas once the varnish dries. Sometimes I have to mix the colors to make it match closely to what I want, then I used a fine flat paint brush to apply! To make it smooth I mixed a little bit of water to help spread the paint evenly along in layers as I needed, so it isn't lumpy! You can also use an airbrush with the same if not better results!

Once the paint dries, I put on Testors trim tape to stick over the boiler bands. I don't find they stick very well unless you use something like an hair dryer to help it stick better as you apply.

Next I use a hand-drill vise to put holes where I want the handrail knobs to go. I make sure the bit is the right size for the handrails to fit snugly once glued. The handrails I use are made by Nairnshire Modelling Supplies in the UK I found on eBay. I had to have them shipped to a friend who lived there who then shipped it to me, as listing didn't offer shipping to the US, but this can work with any you choose from model railroad suppliers or eBay. Since these are hard to find, I've been using Cal Scale handrail stanchions and K&S 0.020 music wire.

2) 3D Printed Faces

As with most of my Thomas and Friends locomotives, I like to give them 3D printed faces that look more accurate to the show, and have the ability to change expressions. Three 3D modelers I know from Twitter, Evan @cooldude7208, Joseph @Thomasmodeller1 and Rex @Rexecutions make great Thomas faces you can get in HO/OO gauge, as well as gauge 1, that they sell on their Shapeways store! I actually helped them with measuring the correct size so they fit perfectly to the Bachmann models' smokebox. I use white airsoft BB gun paint pellets for the eye balls, specifically for Gordon and Henry I use 8mm size you can find on Amazon or eBay. I commissioned a friend to make pupils for me using vinyl decals, cut from black matte sheets at various sizes for my face projects. I fix the faces and the eye balls together using Blue Tak!

Once test fitting everything, I give the faces a spray of RustOleum's "Chalked" spray paint sold at most craft and hardware stores, using the Aged Gray color. This has by far been the best paint in a can I've used that matches the color I want for any Thomas face I paint. Once I give the spray paint a 12-24 hrs to completely dry, I use craft acrylics to add white for teeth, and grays for open mouths. I touch up any painting mistakes using a half-and-half mix of Americana "Gray Sky" and "Cobblestone," and use very fine-tip brushes applying it, thinned with a bit of water when necessary. The final touch are the eyebrows, which I "draw" using Faber Castell ink pens, either XS (extra small) or S (small) sizes. As ink takes a while to dry, leave it for a while before handling the face if you don't want smudges.

3) Final Details

Now for the fun part, extra detail parts and finishing touches! This is what brings the model to life and helps add that extra touch of realism, such as couplings, lamp irons, brake pipes, and weathering!

All of the brake pipes and lamp irons are made from scratch using 20 gauge craft wire from the craft store! For he pipes I bend them around a screwdriver to make them curve and bend them with players to make their shape, using my spread to cut the excess off. I wrap the facets around the bottom where they'll fit on the model using strips of Sticky-Notes of all things, cut with a hobby knife and a steel ruler! I use Crazy Glue to secure the edge of one end and then once it sets, wrap the strip around the wire a few times until it makes a nice nub, then glue the end and cut excess with scissors. Be careful the glue doesn't get on your fingers! Once that's done, I stick them on a scrap piece of blue foam and spray all the parts matte black. Once dry, I drill a hole where I want to put them on the foot plate/bufferbeam, and secure them with Crazy glue, although I might leave some fixed temporarily so I can fit a dummy lamp from Bachmann Branchline and rearrange them if I desire to.

Now couplings! I use Smiths from gaugemasterretail.com in the UK, for locomotives and some coaches I get the LP8 screw-links kit to assemble with my modeling tweezers. I have something like the metal tip from a fine tip paintbrush handy to bend the "hooped" parts, then squeeze them to the center piece to swivel freely. I use the same technique as I do with the lamp iron and brake pipes to snip the bottom and wrap the end with Sticky Note strips to glue on as the bottom weight.

If first starting out, I recommend getting the LP5 assembled screw links, or the spare ones Hornby now sells on eBay or most UK suppliers.

Now I have to make a slit on the buffer beam to fit the couplings in, so I hand-drill two holes with my pin vise, then simply cut the excess plastic in between with a hobby knife.

Next, I make the coupling "mount" piece from scratch, the thing the couplings fit securely in place with the buffer beam. I cut two pieces of cut Evergreen styrene, each with a slit for the coupling made from drilling two holes and cutting the excess away like before, and then gluing both square pieces together, one square bigger than the other. I use RustOleum's "Chalked" Barn Red spray paint to color the piece, then once it completely dries glue it in place using Crazy Glue, making sure to keep it aligned with the slit made in the coupling mount, then slipped on the coupling on to dry!

If you're using Hornby's screw links, it's just one round hole, so you can just pop it right in the coupling mount, just make sure it's secured well with glue if you want it to pull trains!

Now for some coal! I would cut the molded plastic from the top, and use plastic card to fill the inside and paint it so I could actually fit real coal inside, but for this project I resorted to using Woodland Scenics white glue to secure medium grade coal from Hattons in the UK. I use a brush to spread the glue evenly on the top, thinning it with water when I needed to. Then I sprinkle the coal right on top, covering all the white of the glue. Once dry, it's rock hard and dries with a completely flat finish with no glossy spots.

I decided to try fixing Gordon's tender by giving it a curved front and end like the show using cardstock paper measured, cut and glued in place, which I then painted and weathered using acrylics and weathering powders.

Finally, I thought I'd try whistles by Ian @IboBro4 and his Shapways store he made, which are made from 3D printed brass, and it's definitely an eye-catching detail that catches the sunlight!

This project took many month to complete, and a lot of figuring out how to tackle these locomotives, but I'm very, very pleased how they turned out. While not perfect, it feels good to finally give these Bachmann Thomas characters the details I've wanted to give them for a long time, and make them look the best I can, it certainly was a fun challenge! In future, I want to make an "Early Shape" version of Henry with the smaller firebox and no cylinder casing supports, a Big City Engine version of him ... maybe a Flying Scotsman or a Green Gordon? Who knows!

Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about the process. Linked here are the supplies I used you can look for for your own projects!

- Stephen

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1 comment:

  1. ZeldaTheSwordsmanNovember 17, 2023 at 3:55 PM

    Good work!

    I do have some questions and comments.
    First, any plans to cut open the cab windows?
    Second, if the goal was increased TV accuracy then why paint Gordon's buffers and the cylinder heads silver?

    As for comments:
    * Strictly speaking, you could have shaved the molded boiler bands off entirely if you wanted - the bands on the show models are actually just lining tape (which is how Henry's lining spacing wound up changing from TatMR onward). Only Donald and Douglas had real boiler bands (not that those were lined).
    * The underside of the engines' running plates were actually painted red in the show. This is something I discovered on the wiki while doing my own research.
    * The tenders still have some lingering inaccuracies, if you ever feel like tackling those. Henry's is the worst offender - the upper section is too short vertically, the coal bunker extends too far back, and Bachmann didn't even attempt the water pump gizmos. Gordon's is missing the underframe behind the wheels (something unique to him), and both have incomplete axleguards.
    * Those aren't cylinder casing supports, they're steam pipes.

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