Garden Railway Forum

Very effective paint and weathering work on the wagon.... just lovely!

Evening all,

Finally, over 18 months after I started it, I reckon I can finally declare my WHR "Summer Car" complete - I managed to grab a quick photo just before the rain started:



It feels like an awfully long time to spend on such a basic vehicle (I should've come up with a Pullman or an observation car in that amount of time!) but it's a reasonably accurate interpretation of the real thing, and it should look nice trundling behind Russell or 590...

The windows (but not the doors) are glazed, by the way, you just can't tell from the picture. When the sun comes out I'll take it for a run - in the meantime I'll crack on with finishing the NWNGR 4 wheelers, which should be finished in the next few days...

Cheers all,

Andrew.

Andrew,

That's a super effort and well worth the time it took. There is some beautiful detail there, it's a credit to you. I look forward very much to some pictures of it behind 'home' engines.

Andrew

I agree with Andrew, Andrew! The detailing is just perfect, right down to the 'wear and tear' outside the doors where the paint has been scuffed off by passenger's feet. Well done.

I'll second what Peter said, specially relating to the wear on the steps. A point not often modeled and yet quite common. I've always liked the look of those cars (unfortunately too small for my loading gauge ) and your model certainly reflects the pictures I've seen of them. Well done Andrew.
Grant.

Hi Andrew.
Beautiful coach. You certainly know how to make a new built coach look how it should on a working railway. We both seem to enjoy building NWNG stock but have different ends as my stock looks to be new straight from the workshop whilst yours look 'lived in'.

What do you cover your roofs with. I like my cream roofs but want to cover them with a 16mm to the foot 'canvas', not something that looks 300mm to the foot bed sheet? Or does that look ok?

David

For 'canvas' covered roof effects I use a fine weave curtain lining material. It doesn't fluff up and takes paint without any problems.

Hi all,

Glad you like it! Yes, a little wear and tear on the footboards is a favourite trick of mine - there's something about it that feels like it has to have been made by the passage of little feet and makes the thing seem more real as a result.

David, yes, I do like 'em "lived in", although I wasn't planning much in the way of weathering on this one. I get the impression that these carriages were relatively well looked after - they seem to have be repainted fairly regularly, I think they were kept inside the carriage shed out of season, and Colonel Stephens employed carriage cleaners. I possibly got a little carried away, but I'm pleased with the result, it looks "right" sitting out in the garden. I'd go with Peter's advice re roof canvas - I've tried a variety of materials including old sheets, old T shirts and cotton specially purchased for the job, but find that some of them fluff when paint is applied - the problem is I can't remember which ones!

All the best,

Andrew.

Hello again,

Over the last couple of evenings I managed to finish off the two NWNGR four wheelers that I've been working on for a while - and here they are:



And an interior view - I'll have to add some figures at some point, and some leather straps for the droplights:



They're sitting in the garden as I type because I'd hoped to run a train to test them out later this afternoon. Instead some last minute visitors have decided to join us this evening and stay the night, so I'll be tidying and bed-making instead of playing trains...

Andrew.

They look great Andrew, very realistic looking...

Hi Andrew,

Wow, they are lovely!

I can be a bit indifferent when it comes to small 'boxy' four wheelers but when they are of a standard like this I think they are just super. Great work.

Thanks for sharing the pics,

Andrew

I agree too, those little four-wheelers look just the job.... nice and comfortable with the hint of neglect and lack of maintenance, perfect!

I'll second what has been said above Andrew, beautiful job, and meant in the nicest way, they look like they were built quite some time ago.
Grant.

Hi Andrew,
Lovely looking carriages! Where did you get the details of these carriages from? I've been struggling to find decent pictures of NWNGR stock.
I'm hoping to make some NWNGR stock. At the moment I'm building a Gladstone (IP) and I'm also drawing up a Pickering carriage for eventual laser cutting.

Glad you like 'em folks... "A hint of neglect" was pretty much the look I was going for - in my revision of history, instead of being scrapped in 1897 they were shunted to the back of Dinas carriage shed as stores vehicles, only to be hauled out and patched up for use on the Clarach branch 30 years later. Rumour has it that, if I peer a little deeper into the gloom if the shed, not only will I find the third of the trio, but also some further, similar, vehicles hitherto unknown about... I'd better head back to the laser cutting studio...

JMORG, there are drawing of these carriages in the 7mm NG Association, and also by John Angell in the files section of the 16mm Yahoo group (under cardboard carriages). I looked at both but in the end drew up my own using the one known photo of the carriages (they're coupled to a Vulcan Fairlie so I could compare with a drawing of one of those) and the few measurements estimated by Boyd. Boyd, the 7mm book and the Rockett one al have NWNGR drawings in, all with what appear to be discrepancies! Check out photos to get the beading on the ends of your Pickering right - I didn't!

I need to tidy my CAD drawings them a little further but then plan to make them freely available to anyone who wants to use 'em, so if you'd like to laser cut yourself some of these you'd be welcome to them.      

The carriages are all away in their boxes now while I concentrate on getting the railway running and looking well. On the rolling stock front that might mean patching up the poor battered MOTTLITTs- the Manky Old Trucks That Live In The Tunnel...

Cheers,

Andrew.

I rather like the 'not too clean' look on NG models. My memory of the old Isle of Man Railway before Nationalisation was that the carriages were cleaned, but not clean. I would imagine that most of the old NG railways were like that when money got tight.

Cracking little models of a half-forgotten prototype, btw.

Peter in AZ

Hi Andrew,
I've mostly used the works photo for the Pickering carriage along with a photo of Russell at Beddgelert to help with the duckets. Apart from the duckets the Rocket drawing seems about right.
Depending on how the Pickering goes I might finish with an Ashbury corridor. That'll give a scale looking train with either Moel Tryfan or a regular visitors Russell...
For now though I've been progressing with FR van 6 (the Quarrymens brake) and I have van 2/10 to build, giving us 2 FR rakes (Victorian and Col. Stephens liveries) to run on our exhibition layout with both my Fairlie and our Angus James Spooner...

Peter Butler:117531 wrote:For 'canvas' covered roof effects I use a fine weave curtain lining material.  It doesn't fluff up and takes paint without any problems.

I have been known to use flour sacks, but liberating those from the Missus can be a little difficult as they are apparently useful for something vitally important and wool related.  Usually I have to settle for tissue, which just is not the same.

Cheers,
Peter in AZ

Those coaches look brilliant. Your really subtle weathering really adds to their look. I really must get around to weathering my passenger stock and you've given me inspiration. Thanks

Rik

Those look stunning Andrew! Now we have our own laser cutter running (I think I first mentioned it when we got it over a year ago so it shows how long we have taken with it), I will certainly be keen to have a go at cutting one.
I am currently experimenting with engraving settings, seeing if I can do tabbing without cutting right through the wood.