Milliput

My little engine is almost finished now. The only things it was missing was three small, round components: a funnel, dome, and safety valve cover. All too hard to make out of plastic.

The funnel by fluke I got as a spare from the local model shop (including the crucial screw which will hold it and the body on to the chassis). However it doesn't include the nice moulded bit at the funnel base.

I'm trying lots of new things here, so I thought I'd try to model the remaining rounded bits using some kind of resin. I was going to make a mould with plastiscene and pour something into it, but in the end I changed my mind and decided to use milliput because that's what I could find in town. It's sort of like plastiscene, only you mix it from two different coloured bits (like the chewing gum in Mission Impossible but less explosive) and it sets hard in a few hours.

I didn't like the consistency of it - a bit like dry clay. I shaped it roughly, rolled it, cut it with a knife, then wetted the knife to smooth the edges into shape a bit. This made the milliput a bit smoother, again, like clay. I took about half an hour making the three parts, then came back an hour or so later with the knife and smoothed them down a bit more. Now that they're dry I'll drill out the hole in the funnel base for the screw and put the funnel on.

The individual parts are no more crude than the rest of the model, but put in place they definitely help give the impression of an engine. I even took it in to show my wife when I'd put the three bits on, it looked that good :)

I'm planning to paint it next. Current thinking is I'll spray it all black, then paint over the top of it where needed (green body, brass dome etc.) Then I'll have to add lettering, and decide whether it's worth the expense of brass number plates (£4 for two little bits of metal!) I should also see if the chassis still runs with the body on it at some point - the motor is a tight fit under that firebox ...