1869 Allerton Steam Pumper by gjdale - Model Trailways - Scale 1:12 - Finished

[gjdale]

 

Introduction

Anyone who has followed my builds will know that I have a fairly eclectic taste in models, and this is no exception. I bought this kit on a whim one day several years ago when Model Expo were having one of their frequent sales. I thought it would make a very attractive addition to my model collection, and my wife liked it too, so what was I to do? This model was designed by Ken Foran (a well-known member of MSW), who also did the plans, instructions and prototype model. In addition to being a member of the MSW forum, Ken has also published the book Model Building in Brass, which is a must have coffee table and go-to reference book. Ken’s work is truly outstanding, and I only hope that I can do his gorgeous design justice.

 

Rather than re-type the history of the Allerton Steam Pumper, I have included a photo of the box lid, which tells the story. The model is in 1:12 scale (1” = 1 ft) and the completed model measures 14 ¼” (362mm) long x 5 ¾” (146mm)  wide x 9” (228mm) tall.

 

 

What’s in the box?

The kit contents are interesting in that there is very little wood at all.   What wood there is, is laser cut basswood and appears to be of decent quality. There is a plethora of cast Britannia metal fittings, some nicely machined aluminium hubs and a number of photo-etched steel and brass parts. With all of that metal in the build, the finished model weighs in at a hefty 6lbs 8oz (just shy of 3kg). The instruction manual is 64 pages long and includes quite a number of colour photos to support the detailed instructions. At first reading, this manual is a considerable step above the typical kit offerings. Also included is a set of 5 large pages of plans and drawings as well as two further pages giving details of clear plastic parts and wheel templates.

 

Here is an overview of the box contents (minus plans):

 

 

And here a few close ups of the various component groups.

 

The only wooden parts – the wheels and their spokes:

 

 

Several bags of Britannia metal parts:

 

 

More cast metal parts and the machined aluminium hubs:

 

 

More cast metal parts and some brass photo-etch:

 

 

Some photoetched stainless steel parts:

 

 

A range of small parts:

 

 

More small parts and the wheel tyres in the long packet at the rear:

 

 

The plans sheets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the additional drawings:

 

 

 

And finally, the instruction manual:

 

 

I'll be back when construction begins in earnest.....

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by gjdale
Title Amended

[Canute]

Interesting kit. I'll follow along. Is there a jig for those wheels?

[yvesvidal]

Very interesting and unusual model. I will follow with a lot of interests.

 

Yves

[Egilman]

Wow,

 

There is such a plethora of interesting kits and this is right at the top of the list.....

 

Fire engine red with wagon wheels.....

 

I'm here, with great interest....

[Old Collingwood]

Another engineering project  -  this will be  very interesting to follow.

 

OC.

[mtaylor]

I'll get a seat for this one.   Looks impressive.

[gjdale]

Thanks for all the interest folks. I hope to make a start in the next few days. There may be a slight delay while I make some minor repairs to my Medway Longboat. While I was setting up the photos for this log, I knocked over the camera and tripod - right onto the longboat! Fortunately, damage was minor and won’t take much to fix.

 

Ken - there is no jig for the wheels, only template patterns. The wheels are an interesting part of the construction in their own right. It’ll be a while before I get to that stage though.

[Old Collingwood]

40 minutes ago, gjdale said:

Thanks for all the interest folks. I hope to make a start in the next few days. There may be a slight delay while I make some minor repairs to my Medway Longboat. While I was setting up the photos for this log, I knocked over the camera and tripod - right onto the longboat! Fortunately, damage was minor and won’t take much to fix.

 

Ken - there is no jig for the wheels, only template patterns. The wheels are an interesting part of the construction in their own right. It’ll be a while before I get to that stage though.

Hope the damage was minimal?

 

OC.

[Canute]

Grant, thanks on the jig info. Sorry bout the longboat.

[popeye the sailor]

looks like an interesting project.......what would be the glue of choice?

[gjdale]

Good question Popeye. The instructions call for both medium CA and 5 min Epoxy (as well as wood glue for the wood bits). I’m open to suggestions in this regard as I have very little experience with Britannia metal castings.

[Old Collingwood]

4 hours ago, gjdale said:

Good question Popeye. The instructions call for both medium CA and 5 min Epoxy (as well as wood glue for the wood bits). I’m open to suggestions in this regard as I have very little experience with Britannia metal castings.

I bet Gaitor  Glue cover most corners with their range.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

they do have a few glues out there.......JB weld and liquid steel.  the CA would be the cement to use on the plastic and whatever 'rigging' {rope or hose} that needs to be done.   I guess experimentation is in order,  if you have any cast off material to work with.  I just noticed that they supply a drill bit in the parts pile....very nice addition  

[Kevin]

the wheel kits are great, i roughly made 4 up today for my hearse

[wefalck]

Love those later 19th century/early 20th century steam fire-engines !

 

I have a project in 1:90 scale on hold. Purchased the Preiser-kit some 25 years ago, but could never find out on what preserved engine it was based, probably something in a museum in southern Germany: https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/steamfireengine/steamfireengine.html.

 

Whenever I came across a museum species, I took lots of pictures to better understand their mechanics. At steam-fairs and similar occassion I have seen some in operation.

 

The most difficult task would be the coach-lining that was used in Europe at least frequently.

[gjdale]

At last, I have managed to make a proper start on this project after a few distractions!

Construction: Main Frame

 Construction begins by checking the alignment of the Main Frame Boiler Ring, the Boiler Ring, the Coal Bin and the Boiler Cap Ring. The Boiler Cap Ring (upper left in the photo) is used as the reference for all other rings. It is important for these to be as round as possible as the boiler walls index from these. The parts were then scraped, filed, and sanded of all extraneous casting imperfections (there were many!).

 

 

The boiler walls are comprised of two sections, both formed from photo-etched stainless-steel sheets. The outer faced of these are first scrubbed in a horizontal direction with a Scotchbrite pad to simulate a brushed surface.

 

 

The sheets were then slowly formed into cylinders by bending by hand and using the mainframe / coal bin along with the boiler ring to get them to the right size. Once they were the right size, I held them temporarily with masking tape and miniature clamps while medium viscosity, gap filling CA was applied on the inside surface of the joints. Once that had set, the clamps and tape were removed, and more CA was applied under the overlapped edges on the outside face. Masking tape was reapplied to hold everything in place while the glue set, and they were left overnight. The next day the tape was removed, and excess glue cleaned up with Acetone and cotton buds (Q-tips). All in all, this was a lengthy and difficult process – far more so than the description suggests!

 

Lower boiler wall being formed using Coal Bin and Boiler Ring for index:

 

 

Upper boiler wall being formed using Mainframe and Boiler Ring for index:

 

 

And the finished boiler walls: 

 

 

 

These are now set aside until much later in the build. The reason for forming these now is so that subsequent paintwork on the other parts does not get scratched in the forming process.

 

Attention is now returned to the mainframe and some initial components – the Lower Steam Box and the Upper half of the Water Box, along with various attachments. Locating and identifying some of these parts is a real challenge. Although the drawings are very good and the instruction manual has a lot of photos, some of the smaller parts take a while to positively ID. And although the instruction is very good, it is not perfect, and I’ve already found a couple of inconsistencies that it took a while to nut out. It is important to scrape, file and sand the casting imperfections and then dry fit everything prior to painting and assembly. All the locator holes had to be re-drilled to accommodate the indexing pins as well. Once all of these parts looked like they would fit in the appropriate place, they were scrubbed with a toothbrush in some warm soapy water before being set aside for painting.

 

Here are the parts ready for the spray booth (along with the main frame – not pictured):

 

 

It may not seem like much, but there is two full days work to get to this stage!

 

 

[Kevin]

could the boiler walls be soldered, if so wished

[wefalck]

If it is 'stainless' it would be virtually impossible to solder - soldering relies on forming a sort of alloy between the solder and the material being soldered.

 

Stainless steel can be welded, but this requires normally a protective atmosphere (e.g. a flow of argon gas). Electric spot welding would also be possible.

 

If one has a lathe, the best way would be replace the part with a turned one probably. Or I would have turned a wooden core to match.

 

Looking forward to further progress in the construction ! Love those 'mechanical' projects.

[gjdale]

A good question Kevin, and Wefalck has provided a great answer. Thank you both for exploring this.

Edited July 25, 2021 by gjdale

[Kevin]

agreed great reply, thank you

[Blackreed]

So far so good, your parts are cleaning up nicely at this rate you are going to have a beautiful model.

[gjdale]

It's been a while since my last post. Not because there has been no progress but because I have been waylaid doing some Paint trials... 

 

Paint Trials

The instructions call for the use of Krylon Foil Paints. This is particularly important for the appearance of the (simulated) Brass and Copper parts. Unfortunately, this range of Krylon paints is not available in Australia. I therefore decided that it would be sensible to do a series of trials to find a paint solution with which I would be happy. I initially tried the Krylon metal finish range but quickly decided that these gave nothing like the finish of the foil version of these paints. I had some previous experience with the Vallejo Metal Colour range but was concerned about the durability of these, being an alcohol-based acrylic. 

 

I spent some time researching options on the internet and watching a bunch of YouTube videos. The first conclusion I came to, was that there is a lot of crap and misinformation out there, posted by people who really don’t know what they are talking about. The good news is that I found a few whose opinions and advice I felt I could trust.

 

The next conclusion I came to was that I wanted to try Lacquer paints. It seemed to me that they would give me the durability I sought while also being quite easy to airbrush. The only downside of Lacquers is that they contain “nasty” stuff. Given that one should really wear a respirator and use a spray booth even when spraying acrylics, it didn’t seem to me that this was a big deal (as long as I managed not to stink the rest of the house out). One big tip I picked up from YouTube is that you can use ordinary hardware store generic Lacquer Thinners for cleaning up. It can also be used for cleaning up after using acrylics if you wish to avoid confusion when using different paint types – one cleaner to rule them all. For thinning though, a branded Thinner such as Mr Hobby Levelling Thinner is recommended (if needed).

 

For metal colours, I decided to give the Alclad range a try. They have quite a line-up in their range but again availability was to prove an issue. I would have liked to try their colour “Polished Brass” but nowhere in Australia seemed to have it in stock. Instead, I went with their “Pale Gold”. I also bought some of their Copper and Gun Metal. These all come pre-thinned and airbrush ready straight from the bottle.

 

For the red painted sections, I decided to give Zero paints a go as I plan to use these for my next Pocher car model (in due course). These also come pre-thinned ready for airbrushing straight from the bottle. There is only one importer of these paints in Australia, and once again availability has been challenging. I did manage to find a colour called “Fire Engine Red”. It is supposed to be an exact match for a Mercedes Benz 300SL. I figured with a name like that, it would have to be a good choice for a fire engine.

 

Then came the choice of primers. If you thought that it didn’t matter what colour primer you use, then think again! It’s usually a good bet to match the primer from the same brand as your colour coat – usually….

 

My previous experience using Metal Colours (Vallejo) was that they require a Gloss Black primer. So I ordered the Alclad Gloss Black Base when I ordered their other paints. Turns out that this is only required for their “high shine” range. For the “standard” metal colours, the instructions on the bottle say to use either their white, grey, or black (standard) primers. More testing to do. The good news is that the instructions also note that no clear coat is required to seal these and that they may be buffed with a micro-mesh cloth for a greater shine – just what I was looking for.

 

Here are some test swatches of the Pale Gold using white, grey, black, and gloss black primers (no buffing here).

 

 

It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the bottom left proved to be my favourite. It’s on a white primer, although at this stage that’s a Tamiya white primer (I’m still waiting on the Alclad one).

 

 

 

And here are the same tests with the Copper.

 

 

This was a close call between the white and grey primer, so to keep it simple I’ll stick with white. The gloss black (top right) was a long way last.

 

The only Alclad metal that I didn’t like was the Gun Metal. Regardless of the primer used, it just looked black to the naked eye. So I decided to go with my Vallejo Gun Metal (bottom left in the picture) as there are very few parts that use this colour.

 

 

 

When it came to the Red paint, I was really surprised at the difference the primers made. I was also really disappointed with the Zero white primer. I had been warned by one of my YouTube videos that the Zero white primer laid down “hairy” and that’s exactly what it did, giving quite a rough texture. I tried the red over Zero White, Tamiya White, Zero Light Grey, Stynylrez Grey (slightly darker than Zero), and Zero Red Oxide. Here are the results. The Greys and Red Oxide are along the top, the two whites are on the bottom (Tamiya white on the left, Zero on the right). The differences look much greater in real life.

 

 

I was quite surprised that even the light grey primer gave a very dark and dull red. Only the white gave the brightness of colour I was after, although it did need more coats to gain the required depth of colour. This will eventually have a satin clear coat over the top.

 

Following the paint trials, I am awaiting a further order of primers, including both Alclad and Stynylrez. I really liked the way the Alclad sprayed for both the primers and the metal colours. I’d heard good things about the Stynylrez, so wanted to try it too. So far, I have only tried the Grey. It is much, much thicker than any other primer I’ve used and the instructions on the bottle say to use a 0.5mm or larger needle when spraying it and to use a higher pressure (20-30 psi). That said, it does self-level beautifully, despite its initial appearance when first sprayed. I particularly want to do a side-by-side comparison of the Alclad and Stynylrez white primers under the Zero Red colour coat.

 

More trials to come….

 

[Kevin]

wow,  thas a lot of work, I'm sure many will finds that info useful but i guess thats why we are here 

[Kevin]

Spray Paint | Spray Paint Products & Finishes| Krylon

 

Amazon.co.uk : Krylon Foil

[gjdale]

Thanks for the link Kevin, but no-one will ship it internationally - it’s ground transport only. To import it, I’d have to buy a container load! 🥴

[wefalck]

Iteresting trials, indeed. The importance of the colour of the primer reduces as one increases the thickness of the paint layers, but this will also depend on the pigments in the paints.

 

For 'gilding' another option might be 'gold' leaf (e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Imitation-Metallic-Handicrafts-Decoration-Furniture/dp/B0924GTH3P/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1CR56NNXM68RG&dchild=1&keywords=krylon+foil+metallic+gold&qid=1628411413&sprefix=Krylon+Foil%2Caps%2C654&sr=8-7). At this price it is not real gold, but brass hammered out very thinly. Most of it comes from China these days. Got a booklet like this, but did not yet around to try it out. Being brass, it probably needs a protective varnish, such as used to protect brass- and silver-ware. The gold-leafe is applied on a slightly tacky lacquer and then burnished with a steel or agate burnisher (the latter one can get from craft shops that cater for porcelain painters).

 

I am not sure that I would have used primer at all on the white-metal parts. I would probably burnish them and then apply the paint directly. Primers contain pigment/fillers and these always roughen the surfaces compared to burnished metal. That is ok for coloured surfaces, where you want the the paint to key into the primer, but for 'metal' surfaces, the surface roughness of burnished metal would be the best you can get.

[Egilman]

2 hours ago, gjdale said:

Thanks for the link Kevin, but no-one will ship it internationally - it’s ground transport only. To import it, I’d have to buy a container load! 🥴

You can't get it thru desertcart.com.au?

 

https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/7862466-krylon-k01050007-premium-metallic-gold-foil-gloss-8-ounce 

 

Pretty pricey I see but they offer less expensive alternatives as well...

 

Then there is this one which claims they have it in stock....

 

https://www.caprioleshabbychic.com.au/Krylon-Premium-Metallic-18-KT-Gold-Spray-Paint-8-Oz

Edited August 8, 2021 by Egilman

[gjdale]

Thanks Wefalck for that info. I hadn’t considered not using primer on the metal parts - painting is certainly not my forte! I think I’m going to stick with the primer though.

 

Egilman - thanks for the Desert Cart link but at $91 a can, I think I’ll pass. That is the first time I’ve seen it offered for shipping to Australia though - I wonder if it would actually let me order it if I went through with it…..I’ve seen similar adds like that and when you go to checkout, suddenly it doesn’t ship to your location. The second link is not for the Foil paint - that’s the Premium paint that I already tried and didn’t like.

 

I’m pretty happy with the Alclad colours so far. They are reasonably obtainable, a fair price and have had some very good reviews.

 

Thanks everyone for the input - much appreciated.

[Canute]

Some model RR buddies use a gloss dark gray primer for stainless steels in the Alclad line. Gives some depth to the stain steel skins of passenger cars. And some others have tried the Stynylrez yellow primer under their reds, although this is usually undercoating red oxide freight cars.

[thibaultron]

Look up Barbatos Rex on YouTube. He does extensive paint testing, and has some on AlClad..