Sometimes things just don't work out...
As usual, I have three or four different things on the go at the same time. This mostly explains the slightly random order of progress displayed on here. I pick one thing up, do a bit, put it down, rinse and repeat...
Over the Easter weekend I had the opportunity to take out some of the "big toys" that I don't usually have the time or the space for in the evenings after work. I had a good session of mouldmaking on the Centricast machine, and took out the spray booth to make some progress on the Buckjumper.
The next stage in the chassis construction is to paint it black (now try and get that tune out of your head...) ready for the mounting of the wheels. To spray the wheels themselves, I masked off the tyres and the axle holes with Humbrol Maskol. My bottle of this must be over a decade old, yet by keeping it tightly capped, it's still gloopy and can be easily applied with a cocktail stick.
For the chassis itself, I thought that I would spray it with the hornblocks still in place as they were held securely by the CSB wires and I didn't want the faff of taking them out. On the other hand, if I used Maskol, I'd spend an age picking bits of rubber out of them. So I reached for the paint box and a roll of masking tape in it.
A quick waft of the spray can - no need to fire up the airbrush for something this simple - and it was done. I used Games Workshop Chaos Black as the colour, having heard good things about the coverage, finish, and its ability to adhere without using a separate etch primer. After it had dried overnight, I went to remove the tape and this is where I found a minor disaster...
The glue/fixative/tack/adhesive (what is the right name for the stuff that makes Sellotape stick?) had gone all gooey and was now leaving a sticky residue wherever it had touched the model. There was no alternative but to remove each hornblock and clean it and the corresponding guide up carefully with a fibreglass brush. I didn't want to use solvents, as that could have lifted the paint finish and I'd be back to square one. It took some time, but all has now been restored to a good state of order.
I bought the masking tape a couple of years ago. I have a recollection that it is either Tamiya, or from Precision Paints. I can't be more precise than that as I wasn't really paying attention to the possible consequences. Suffice to say that I won't be using it again, and I'm very glad that this happened on a plain chassis, and not whilst I was painting or lining a locomotive body!
Cheers
Flymo
