Those wagons of yours are certainly looking top notch. Fantastic work as ever. Keep it up Matt. Cheers, Gary.
Hi all, Some Catfish progress. I decided that the moulded steps were rather thick in comparison to the real things so have reduced them down to a more acceptable thickness, although there's a limit to how much sanding you can realistically do: Looks a bit rough here, I've since tidied it up. I've also repaired the nick in the w-iron. I've also removed the kit buffers and replaced them with examples from Lanarkshire Models: Note the "temporary tanker" is a tub of bubbles, being used while the glue sets to avoid warping! Matt
I just wanted to highlight these superb replacement brakewheels. A modeller on another forum recommend I look at Stenson Models handwheels. As they require soldering, they are way out of my comfort zone so he kindly made them for me. I hope you'll agree they are a big improvement on the kit parts and a thing of beauty in their own right! Matt
I wasn’t happy with the original Hornby one on the PGA. Didn’t look anything like... so drew my own as seen below.
Yes. It’s the little bits that make the big difference. Thanks. Enjoy following your modelling topics!
Onwards with the build. Fitted some slightly wonky replacement handrails. Wonkiness aside, they're an improvement over the originals. Matt
I decided to re-weather my Dapol Class B tanker wagon last night as first time round it just didn't look right. I haven't gone overboard because it's easy to go too far so used sponges, the airbrush and some washes. The fuel stain was done using the fresh oil wash by Ammo. It probably looks a bit too fresh right now so may need toning down. Matt
Evening all, While browsing the inspirational Bartlett website recently, I came across this picture and knew I'd found a use for my Red Panda Lowfit. After digging it out of the stash and making a representation of a Mark 1 bogie using the sides taken from a redundant bogie from a Lima GUV and some plastic sheet offcuts, here's where I am. I know you the bogie details are not correct, they're a representation only! Matt
Hi all, More bouncing around from project to project but I was getting a bit bored with making windows for the signal box and needed a break! I knocked up this Parkside Shock wagon yesterday with the minimum of extra work: Couple of areas to note: × I've added some extra bolts here and there. × I'm not adding the bar - there are plenty of photos on the Bartlett site of wagons in this state! × I know the buffers are incorrect! Sometimes I think we avoid doing any actual modelling because of small details being incorrect. I had these "in stock" and just used them so as not to hamper the progress I'd made. No one will see these wagons except me anyway so I can live with it! Now, back to signal box windows... Matt
Shock wagon progress... I've just repainted the bauxite in a lighter shade. First time round it was a bit darker than I liked. I mixed the bauxite myself using a 50/50 mix of XF-9 Hull Red and XF-64 Red Brown lightened with a drop of XF-15 Flat Flesh. It does look a bit pink here but I'm confident that'll change after some oil washes and a Klear coat. The replacement planks are based on a photo on the Bartlett site (where else?). Matt
Thanks Pete! Some weathering later and things are looking less pink! Markings are a mix of Modelmaster and Fox. Matt
Excellent weathering work Matt ... the shock wagon is looking good. With these type of open wooden wagons (from my experience working on the railway years ago) I think you would find that the deck planks and interior side planking would weather into a silvery / pale grey / brown colour, particularly knots making dark bluish black blobs... if that info helps.
Cheers Paul, I can't seem to find a photo of the insides of these wagons to base the weathering on, hence my inaccurate representation! Matt
I wouldn't say it was inaccurate weathering at all as you have all the correct base tone colours there already, they just need a few additional translucent wash coats of silver grey colour, maybe add in a few dark oil stain patches and some light rust stains from metalwork fixings. Hope this helps you Matt... good luck.
Another thrilling update! Time has been limited but I've managed to do some work on the ends: The white stripes were applied using the stripes provided in the Modelmaster set but I cut them thinner to represent the references I'm using. They needed a bit of decal solution to bed them into the corrugations nicely. Once dry, I've started to represent chipping and rusting. Note, the centre stripe hasn't been touched yet! Matt
That's a nice touch with the white stripes you did Matt . Now you may find this hard to believe but many Oleo hydraulic buffers fitted to wagons requiring only replacement buffing equipment were mainly left in factory finish colour, so it would be quite common to see an open merchandise wagon like your model running round with a pale leaf green Oleo buffers, It was only when a general overhaul occurred that the complete wagon would receive a full repaint which included either applying black or bauxite colour on the headstocks, however having said that Oleo buffers would only be fitted as a last resort on this type of wagon because by the 1970's the vac fitted open merchandise medium high wagon was well and truly near life expired.