< Painting & Assembly >
I have used aerosol type polyurethane paint until now. But its color variation
is limited. So I decided to compound by myself and paint with a spray gun.
I got Devilbiss type JJ spray gun. Also I utilized mist filter in order to remove moisture from my old air compressor.
I employed Rock-paint Panarock polyurethane paint for automobile. Also I got aerosol primer 'Mityakuron' that prevent paint-off of brass parts.
The polyurethane paint is mixture of color, hardener and thinner. I prepared disposal cup and digital cooking scale. I calculated necessary paint volume as 150 g/m2. You need enough agitation both before and after mixing.
Before painting, I polished metal surface with emery cloth, wiped with ethanol and blow-dry with compressed air gun. Then I painted three times at intervals of 15 minutes. I started with red parts around the chassis.
The name plates and maker's plates are painted red and filed off characters and frame, and finally sprayed clear coat.
The body color is mixture of blue, black and white as follows.
Blue : Black : White = 4 : 2 : 1
The photo shows homemade long screwdriver. It is utilized when connecting many tube flanges under the saddle tank. You can access there from between and under the frames.
Finally completed! Although there was a long interval, actual construction period was around two years, as originally scheduled.
It seems the loco has high tractive force. So I made two more passengers trolleys. I designed it simple.
The body material is lumber-core plywood. That is lightweight but a little brittle.
I asked DIY store to cut all parts in desired size. I assembled them with glue and screws. The band plates on the end plates are made of aluminum flat bar. I glued squared timbers at both side of the box from inside, so as to reinforce adhesion of inside corner of the box.
The seat is made from vinyl leather sheet surface and urethane foam inside, fixed by a tacker. I added stainless steel handles fixed by screws from backside. The seat plate is not glued but fit into the body.
The trucks are OS products. The body is applied pain-yellow varnish. The
trucks and the band plates are painted black. Finished weight is around
15 kg. The length is 1430 mm.
In July I joined a meet at Hakuba Mini Train Park in Nagano and it was
the first run of the Hunslet.
The loco ran more than 10 km in two days and there was no problem except the follows.
- The axle driven pump's strap is at the center of the frames and my oil gun's nozzle cannot reach there! I have to modify the gun.
- There is no air vent hole in the saddle tank. According to consumption of the water, the pressure of the tank drops and air comes from top of the tank water gauge pipe. As a result, water gauge level becomes lower than actual water level in the tank. I will add vent holes in the saddle tank lid.
- The lubricator's supply speed looks too fast. But there is no space to lengthen the rocking arm. So I see how it goes for a while.