Inspired from the Thomas and Friends story, "Tenders for Henry," when the big express engine, Gordon, gets a visit from his brother, the Flying Scotsman. Henry is jealous of his 2 tenders, so Duck plays a trick for him to have 6, when they turned out to be old and filthy boiler sludge tenders. So, what are Sludge Tenders? When steam locomotives are scrapped, sometimes their tenders would be used as spares for working locomotives, fitted with snow plows to help clear snow, or carry the sludge that's cleaned out of the boilers that are emptied to help with maintenance when cleaning.
For this big project, I'll show you start to finish how I made them in HO/OO scale from scratch, using spares, detail parts, and cardstock!
1) Body Construction
The very first thing I did was browse eBay.co.uk and looked for OO gauge spare tenders, and found a handful of different sizes from Bachmann Branchline and Hornby. This included some for various classes such as a GWR castle, and mostly LMS tenders, with one smaller than the rest. They all had metal slabs added for some weight. Some had no buffer beams. This would give me the ability to make the tenders in the exact shape I wanted, and would prove to be far cheaper to build than getting fully assembled tenders.
When they finally arrived from the mail on the office desk, I began scratch-building! I built around the weights and molded parts of each chassis themselves, using chipboard. All the added buffer beams were balsa wood strips cut to length either end, one end having brass buffers also found on eBay.co.uk, and left the other end that connects to the locomotive blank with the edges cut at an angle in the bottom (much later I would add couplings like the TV model props).
Before spray painting the buffer beams red, I tried brass brake pipes from a lot I found on eBay.co.uk to see how they look with the detail. Later I'd also try some made by 51L also on eBay, white metal castings that have a great appearance, and look very prototypical. In the end, I ended up making my own TVS inspired ones from craft wire.
Soon the body began to take shape. I made them entirely from Bristol board! Picked up from a pack of them in the drawing section of the craft store, which is very strong and easy to cut, and for the basic construction of the tenders, it felt right to use. Any other "molded" looking details I glued strips of Bassil Basics cardstock, such as for footsteps, and curved edges on the top of the body.
It was here I also began to add the handrails, the ones I used were Nairnshire Modelling Supplies from eBay.co.uk. I have to have the purchases ship to a friend in the UK and then to my home as they don't offer international shipping. They're the medium sized ones, with 0.45mm wire. They look great and are a nice detail for the body! Any handrails and wire will do, but since these are hard to find, I've been using Cal Scale handrail stanchions and K&S 0.020 music wire.
- FitGrip Hobby Knife - Set of 2
- Tweezer Set - 8-Piece
- Slim Line Precision - Pin Vise
- The Rogers - Drill Bit Set
- Cal Scale Handrail Stanchions
- K&S 0.020 Music Wire
- 51L - Spare Buffers
2) Painting
At last, paintwork! I gave the bodies an even spray of RustOleum's Camo dark brown. Next I followed up by using Tamaya's Weathering Master kit, which like makeup you rub on with the included foam-tip to "streak" the stuff from the top down, creating a fine application of the smeared powder. The more you add, the thicker it gets.
Then I added the details, including Smiths couplings! I first tried the LP5 screw links, but opted for the LP4 chain links like the show later.
3) Lettering
After a while, I finally got the N E lettering for the bodies made from cut vinyl from a friend. The N E stands for the North Eastern Railway in the UK. I cut the lettering away from the sheet I want to apply with scissors, then use Scotch tape to peel the vinyl away from the backing, and stick the lettering on the body. I remove the excess vinyl using metal modeling tweezers and my hobby knife to pluck it off when necessary. The result is a clean, sharp application that makes it look brand new, so now the heavy weathering can begin!
4) Extra Weathering
I started using acrylic thinned with water to add streaking from the top down to the bottom, using Folk Art or Americana craft colors for some rust, some tan for contaminated water. Once that dried, I dry brushed the plastic chassis detail. I did the same thing for the Bristol body edges, along the top, and on the handrails. This helps bring out the detail and add a touch of extra realism. I even added some blotches of green to mimic moss, that might have crept up from standing on the sidings for a long time.
Now for the best and important bit, the actual sludge! My good friend ED @EDsTrainz recommended enamel washes by Mig, which acts like an oily stain that dries that dry clear, flat, or shiny depending on the bottle. This ended up to be just the look I was looking for to match the sludge streaks catching the sunlight on the TV model props on screen. So I ordered Dark Wash for the muddy off-black type of look I was going for.
As it is enamel based paint, they need a vigorous shaking before use so the actual "color" is mixed with the enamel oil. Having a cordless paint mixer works very well for this. Then I carefully opened the bottle, and applied the wash with a fine brush, working in two streaks on the side of the body top to bottom, and along the bottom edge of the footplate of the tender's chassis, all the way around. While wet I could use a Q-tip to blend the streak close to the bottom so it fades from a hard drip to a blended spread with the body's dry paint. This was exactly what I wanted, and once dry, created an amazing effect that looked great under the office and studio lights.
Thanks Ed for the suggestion! If you want to see his exquisite professional model work, go check out his Patreon! patreon.com/EDsModelingCorner
- Dave's Decals - Weathering Powders
- Tamiya - Weathering Master #1
- Tamiya - Weathering Master #2
- Mig Enamel Wash - Dark Mud
5) Final Touches
The last thing I did was update the front and back detail. Looking more closely at footage and photos of the VHS tapes and the Thomas Wiki, I learned the actual TV model props had couplings added, but no buffers, so they could couple together. So I replaced the Smith's LP5 screw link couplings with LP4 chain links, which I spray painted with RustOleum terracotta primer, perfect to give them a rusty appearance!
Then the brake pipes. I swapped most of the model ones with my own from 20 gauge craft wire, each bent using a screw driver handle, and cut the excess with pliers. I wrap the facets around the bottom where they'll fit on the model using strips of Sticky-Note paper, 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 I make a batch of them I also spray paint them with black RustOleum primer, then drill a hole on the buffer beams using a pin vise, and secure them in place with more Crazy Glue.
They look so good! This was a fun project and scratch-building them really helped make these tenders look exactly how I wanted them! Henry looks pretty funny pulling them, and they're a great show-piece.
At the moment the only thing I would love to add is Woodland Scenics Realistic Water to pour sludge in the body shell, which is like a epoxy that dries glossy when cured, and can be colored. I put a piece of foam core on the bottom of each tender and sealed the edges with Woodland Scenics foam glue. Adding a bit of green-brown dye Woodland Scenics sells to the mix in would add that dark color to make the "water" look milky and muddy as I pour, and will harden to a glossy finish. That would be something that would sell the look of a tender holding sludge once cured without worrying spilling actual liquids on the layout! If I go ahead with it I'll update this page with pictures when finished!
Thanks so much for reading everyone, I really appreciate it and enjoyed sharing this project with you! Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about the process. Linked below are most of the supplies I used you can look at for your own projects!
- Stephen
No comments:
Post a Comment