Orient Express Sleeping Car 1929 by James H - Amati - 1/32

[James H]

Hi all,

 

My build log for this amazing Amati kit will start here very shortly as soon as I've edited the photos. This is a large project at 1/32, and is a multimedia kit constructed from wood, metal and paper. 

 

[Jasseji]

💗for large scales :)

[James H]

Firstly, my thanks to Amati for sending this kit out to be reviewed and built here at MSW.

 

The Orient Express 1929 Sleeping Car comes in a very large and heavy box which is chock full of laser-cut timber, brass/silver-nickel photo-etch, cast and turned parts, trip wood, brass section lengths, decals, etc. and two amazing glossy instruction manuals. You'll need a few basic tools for this, such as a good bench vice, craft knives, metal files and small drill bits, screwdrivers and pliers. Optional items are a soldering iron and a blowtorch. You will need some abrasive paper, superglue and some good wood glue. 

 

Work starts by removing the two thick plywood chassis frames from their sheets and gluing them together.

From here, the photo etch chassis frames are added with superglue and bolted together amidships. You will find a lot of holes in the photo-etch, need to be drilled out for the two different sizes of bolt that are supplied in this kit.

Brass strip is added to each side of the chassis whilst the frame is dry-sat on the ply platform. This creates a recess into which the platform with later sit.

The platform is now finally glued into place and clamped so that it's totally flat.

A mixture of 50:50 PVA and water is applied to the underside of the chassis, sealing it in readiness for the paint.

Games Workshop 'Chaos Black' is now sprayed over the underside, using a rattle-can. I did try airbrushing this, but it was too big a job, and the coverage of this spray paint is amazing. It also dries very quickly.

It was now time to open up some of the small bags of fittings. Her you see the buffer suspension. These needed to be drilled out to allow them to plug together. As they are cast, this was an easy task.

The buffer suspension units are now fitted to the chassis ends. 

Underneath the chassis are fitted a compressed gas tank and some battery boxes. You will find that heating up the brass for the tank will help it to be bent far more easily. 

Here you can see the completed tank and battery boxes. Solder was used for the main joint, and superglue for the rest. Note that one box had to have ply feet added as the legs were too short.

The battery boxes and tank are now fitted.

The photo-etch in this model can be quite thick, and in some cases, almost 1mm thick. You will need a saw to cut through the main tags.

The first bogey took me 3 days to get to this stage. I found that adding heat to the part before bending made it WORSE! Don't do it! Learn from my mistake and use careful and selective bending techniques to make this. I went through this pain so you don't have to. Small nuts and bolts are used to fasten things together.

More cast parts for the suspension here, and yes, more drilling out to make the various pins etc. fit into place. Note with this first bogey, I was painting things as I went along.

...including the main frame:

Cast and turned parts are included for the wheels and axles etc.

More brass parts for the braking mechanism.

Complete with all paint chips, here is the completed bogie. Total construction time was ONE WHOLE WEEK!!

However, after learning from my mistakes, I built the second bogie in only SIX HOURS!

Both bogies were now spray painted in black.

Uschi van der Rosten steel weathering pigments were now used to weather the bogies and chassis. More weathering will be added when the track is complete.

Fitting the Head A & B ply floor sections proved troublesome as the underlying photo-etch made them too thick. I reduced the thickness of these by half.

Head A & B bulkheads were fitted by the temporary help of the carriage end bulkheads. 

With these in place, the internal frames were now completed, and the side wall test-fitted.

Each cabin floor was now test-fitted:

...including the corridor floor:

Pritt Stick was used to affix the paper carpet parts to the floor sections.

And the floor sections finally glued into position.

 

More soon!!!!

 

 

 

[James H]

33 minutes ago, Jasseji said:

💗for large scales

Any scale  

[puckotred]

Do you have one worktable for building and one for taking photos? 😁

[James H]

15 minutes ago, puckotred said:

Do you have one worktable for building and one for taking photos? 😁

My bench is as you see, but to the right is a photographic setup I mostly use for my magazine work. So I build on the bench and then photograph straight after. This model is just too big to do all photos in that area, hence many bench photos. 

[puckotred]

I was referring to the cleanliness of your workplace.... 😊

[Richmond]

The tracks look pretty disappointing for what otherwise looks like a quality kit (& build).

 

Maybe this is something that can be easily fixed through a rail model supplier.

 

If I purchase this I would think of a diorama with the carriage at a platform but I assume this is a pretty big kit already.

[James H]

I haven’t built the tracks yet. I need to install sleepers and rails and the associated hardware. At the moment I’m using the base to sit the train on. 

[Richmond]

Oh, thanks for setting me straight

[Jasseji]

1 hour ago, Richmond said:

The tracks look pretty disappointing for what otherwise looks like a quality kit (& build).

 

Maybe this is something that can be easily fixed through a rail model supplier.

 

If I purchase this I would think of a diorama with the carriage at a platform but I assume this is a pretty big kit already.

Imagine a Diorama with this and a 1/32 Luxury Ocean Schooner/Yacht both together 

[Richmond]

Now that would be a large diorama

[CDW]

Wow, what an impressive model. I am so glad you are sharing this build. Always wanted to see one of these Amati kits built. It will certainly be an influence for me to buy one.

[popeye the sailor]

WOW!  imagine doing a G scale of it!  I'm sure this will have enough detail already    looks awesome so far.   how did you thin down the floor bulkhead.....water?  you must have the bench of my dreams...........lonnnnnnnng!  

[Canute]

Denis, this scale of car can run on G Gauge tracks, possibly with different trucks. The trucks in this kit look to be very high quality materials. The skills of we builders decides how well it operates on the tracks.  A club I belong to has an outdoor layout and runs 1/32 down to 1/20.3 scales. Some incongruities in the scales, but the club members are good with these cars, etc.

[yvesvidal]

On 8/3/2018 at 4:21 PM, James H said:

Pritt Stick was used to affix the paper carpet parts to the floor sections.

For the price of the kit, it is regrettable that Floor, carpets and seats are not made with real fabric. 

[ir3]

Any updates forthcoming?

[James H]

23 minutes ago, ir3 said:

Any updates forthcoming?

Probably a couple of weeks yet as I'm dressing the interior walls and building sink units 😎

[yvesvidal]

Still no update on that beautiful wagon?

[JerseyCity Frankie]

I’m a huge fan of the 1974 Albert Finney film. Will you be using that remarkable film as a reference material? The interior scenes were shot on a soundstage but I wonder how closely the art department followed the actual trains appearance? Sad to hear of the passing of Mr Finney. I regard his performance in that film as being one of the most remarkable portrayals of a character in the history of cinema. 

[James H]

1 hour ago, yvesvidal said:

Still no update on that beautiful wagon?

Not yet. I'm still fighting deadlines for my magazine work.

 

I've just completed this model in 1:32 scale for Military Illustrated Modeller...

 

[popeye the sailor]

nice!   

[CDW]

Beautiful Lancaster. I assume the bomb bay is fully detailed as is the cockpit and gunner's stations? Wheel wells?

[James H]

Fully detailed due to large scale. Complete interior, turrets, engines, bomb bay etc.

[donrobinson]

Any progress to report on this beauty?

[James H]

13 hours ago, donrobinson said:

Any progress to report on this beauty?

Not yet. I'm totally maxed out on other publishing commitments, but I really want to get back to this, and my Mary Rose.