Paint on Living Van (1/35)

Despite one of the most challenging distractions arriving in the post today, I managed to get the living van primed and covered with the basic colours. Having run out of my favourite primer, I used some left overs from a can of a somewhat lesser quality. Despite that the priming went well.

White primer on the van. The windows are masked with tape. Various brackets are made from copper wire and pieces of left over etched metal.

While the primer dried I leafed through the recently arrived distraction - time flies when you are having fun! I then masked off the underside of the rear door, where I plan to fit a decal warning of a slow vehicle. After readying my air brush I sprayed a layer of medium faded blue on the van and front wheel assembly. I gave the underside a thin spray with dark grey. I brush painted the rear wheels red to create a little variety.

Main colours are on my 1:35 representation of a steam roller accompanying van.

I expect decals to arrive within the next few weeks. Until then I'll  be fitting tarpaper in the shape of painted surgical tape and do some detail painting. I probably also will pick up a new project.

And what was the dangerous distractant? The Narrow Gauge & Industrial Railway Modelling Review of course!

Living Van Almost Finished (1/35)

After some slow and relaxing modelling hours the construction of the living van for my steam roller is approaching the time where I can begin priming and painting.

A test assembly of the van's main parts. With only minor details still to fit it is almost ready for primer.

Wheels were fixed on the axles and the front wheel assembly was glued together from Evergreen plastic profiles and parts from the spares box. As not much of the construction can be seen when the van is placed on a piece of road I skipped a lot of detail. Most of the work concentrated on the draw gear that I designed to be movable to allow the van to be posed coupled to a steam roller as well as parked at the road side.

Wheel sets almost ready to be added to the van's underside.

I made the roof from 1 mm grooved plasticcard formed in boiling water.  Usually I tape the plastic to a suitable solid rounded object and pour boiling water over both parts. After a few scoldings the plastic permanently takes the shape of the attached object. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any object matching the required radius. In this case I simply poured boiling water over the piece of plasticcard and formed the roof's curve by hand. A case where it helps not having too sensitive skin!

The roof being glued to the van. While the glue dries the roof is kept in place by rubber bands.

Decals for the van have been designed and ordered. When I was at it, I took the opportunity to order some for the steam roller as well (and for at future water cart). Next stage is primer.

Ford A Tanker Revisited (1/35)

While the building of the living van for my steam roller is progessing a recent thread about civilian cars in 1:35 scale on a Facebook group has prompted me to dig out images from one of my old lorry conversions from 2004.

It started as a kit from Eastern Express of the Soviet copy of the Ford AA - the Gaz-AA. The tank is a shortened tank from the Italeri GMC tanker kit, which I had found at a low price on sale. The shortened tank was fitted with rows of home made rivets. I added the Italeri kit's pump housing on the lorry's left side and scratch built mudguards from plasticcard. The Shell decals are from New Zealand and I made the license plates myself. The driver figure is a mix of parts from several kits.


Almost finished with all major parts test fitted before priming and painting. The differing colours from each of the sponsor kits are clearly visible.

Ready for painting. I use kitchen aluminium foil to cover larger areas of a model to be air brushed. It is easily applied and removed and prevents any overspray.

Painted and fitted with decals. Weathering is still missing.

The lorry in action at the loco shed. Here it is seen backing along the track towards the gasoline pump behind the loco shed. New replacement skip bodies seen in the foreground. More images from the same day on this blog post.

Crew Van for Steam Roller (1/35)

This is a story of how the search for some parts in my spares box derailed my planned building schedule. In the spares box I noticed several sets of wheels from horse drawn wagons and guns and it ocurred to me that they wouldn't look out of place under a living van for a steam roller driver. My Aveling & Porter steam roller has been missing such a van for  many years. Now the building is in progress.

A preserved living van restored by members of the Danish Steam Roller Society. Here seen at the Hedelands Veteranbane 40 years anniversary 2017. 

Being a steam roller driver could be a lonely job. You were away from home, sometimes for weeks, while working on roadmaking. The steam roller needed attention also when not working, preparing it for the next day's work. Consequently many steam roller drivers had a little van on tow for sleeping and cooking a humble meal, as well as for storing lubricants, coal and tools.

My model of an Aveling & Porter 10 t roller built from a White metal kit from South Eastern Finecast. The model was built in 2005.

Apart from the four wheels from the spares box the rest of the van will be made from scratch. As I often do I made a quick prototype in cheap cardboard to test size and appearance.

Ultra fast prototyping solution made from cardboard. Tough 1/35 guy for size comparison.

The first plastic card have been cut and glued. The sketch can hardly be described as advanced.

Gmeinder Locomotive for Arne Nielsen (1/35)

My good friend Arne Nielsen is running his 1:32 scale 16,5 mm gauge industrial railway to supply his standard gauge railway on the Danish Island of Langeland with firewood and oil. Occasional transports of building materials and machine parts are also known to be carried out on the little railway. Presumably the traffic is increasing as a new locomotive have arrived. I have told stories from Langeland before.

Arne Nielsen's new Gmeinder in curry yellow and dirt. Photo: Arne Nielsen.

Arne has invested in the Feld Grossbahn 1:32 scale Gmeinder 10/12. The prototype was the smallest type in a standardised range of locos from the German manufacturer Gmeinder from the city of Mosbach. A few Gmeinders came to Denmark during the German occupation, as many German contractors arrived to build air fields and fortifications. See a range of preserved Gmeinder locos here.


The model is made from metal and comparatively heavy for such a small model. Power pick up is from all four wheels and good pick up should be helped by the loco's three-point suspension. The motor is a Faulhaber and all bearings for wheels and driveline are fitted with ball bearings. The model is available as a ready to run-model, with or without decoder. When equipped for DCC sound and stay alive powerpack is included. Despite the small size of the model, Arne Nielsen notices that the sound produced is very convincing. Arne has described his first impression of the model with his own words in Danish here.

Gmeinder with a short train of rebuilt Bachmann-skips. Sacks with Nystrup Gravel 'Multisand' are visible on the flat wagon. Photo: Arne Nielsen.

The Feld Grossbahn model seen from the underside. The chain drive is clearly visible. Photo: Arne Nielsen.

The body of the loco is made from metal and makes a very sturdy impression. The level of detail is good, several of the parts being made from etched metal. The model can be ordered finished in several livery options and can be bought weathered directly from the manufacturer.

The Gmeinder meets the narrow gauge railway's old locomotive, the ASOA Henschel DG26. A standard gauge train is making a brief stop at Broløkke halt in the background. Photo: Arne Nielsen.

East German Tractor Finished (1/35)

My kit of a Soviet built DT-74 tractor belonging to the East German company 'Baustoffe und Klinker Kombinat VEB Klinker- und Ziegelwerke "Ernst Wollweber" Betrieb Grobzka' is finished. In the last post on the tractor I had more or less finished construction and had begun painting. I kept the tractor in 5-6 main parts to make painting and weathering easier. Had I assembled the model completly before painting it would have been close to impossible for me to achieve a believable weathering.

Cab test fitted. Engine painted and weathered. Tracks and chassis have weathering in progress.

Rear view with the cab removed. The dials are Archer Transfers with a layer of gloss varnish

Dozer blade glued in place. Cab and sliding doors ready for installing.

The DT-74 isn't a large tractor. Here seen with a 1:35 figure for size comparison.Weathering is a multi-layer thing consisting of a base of acrylic colours, oil and acrylic paint washes, mud made from plastic putty, several passes with thin acrylic paint through the air brush for dust. Worn metal is made with a soft pencil rubbed against the selected surface.

A rather battered workhorse from the brick works' clay depot.

Decals are custom designed by my usual supplier 'Skilteskoven'. They supply decals in any language!

Perhaps some day my little foray into DDR-modelling will result in another model from the other side of the iron curtain. But for now it's back to Denmark in the early 1950's. Two new projects are on their way. One on four wheels of two different sizes and the other with four flanged steel wheels of equal size.

DT-74 Painting Begun (1/35)

Despite my somewhat disappointing mixing up of suspension parts, I have carried on working on the DT-74 tractor.

The usually tedious work of cleaning up individual track links were over faster than anticipated due to good moulding and very little flash. Fitting tracks made from individual links can be a little tricky. The bottom run is the easy part, whereas the upper run, particularly with the track sagging, is more difficult. I kept the upper track run in one piece with a length of masking tape. The masking tape allowed me to position the track links more or less as I wanted them, without them falling apart. The tracks were glued with CA glue. 

Track fitted. Engine and dozer blade test fitted to check fit and clearances to other parts.

Engine and drive train consists of only a few parts. Assembly is easy, but make sure everything lines up correctly. As only one side of the engine will be visible I didn't attatch details to the hidden side of the engine. I don't bother spending time and energy with detail that can't be viewed on a model. I feed the unused parts to my spares box.

Assembly of the dozer blade and its mounting didn't present any challenges except for the repair of a broken beam on the bracket holding the hydraulic cylinder controlling the blade height. In order to assemble the cab in a sequence allowing easy painting and weathering, I decided to finish the cab floor assembly first and paint it. I will then glue the pre-painted cab front to the floor. The rest of the cab is only fitted when finishing the kit.

As I separated the seat from its moulding block I damaged the front. I had to repair the damage with plasticcard and filler. I added a little wear to the seat now I was working on the part anyway. For the pedals I exhanged some of the etched parts with brass wire.

Current status is that I have primed chassis and tracks, cab floor, and engine parts. Several of the parts are also now covered with their main colour. Next up is detail painting and weathering. I'm painting the model in 5-6 sub assemblies to make it easier to fit and paint interior detail and to apply a prototypical weathering of all the 'hard to get to places' there is on the model. I expect some touch ups of both paint and weathering after I have brought all assemblies together.

First paint on the tractor. All of it put on with air brush.

Basic weathering applied to the inside of the chassis and on the cab's and engine's underside. The three parts are now ready to be glued together.

Engine, cab floor and radiator fitted to the chassis. The dark grey piece of solder wire is the hydraulic hose supplying oil to the dozer blade lifting mechanism. As this side of the engine will be hidden there is no detail fitted.