The paint brush has been put down

I think they're finished, that is finished to the best that my current modelling capabilities allow. I'm not totally happy with the wagons and realise that there is a lot of room for improvement. I could spend more time on trying to perfect my weathering techniques but could also very easily ruin one or all of them by over doing it. So I've put the paint brush down and will now concentrate on getting ready for the 'big day' on Friday.


My original intention was to build six or more wagons, from many manufacturers, and use different components, especially some etched brake gear. In the end I've only used kits from three manufacturers and components from a limited selection of suppliers. So looking at what I wanted to achieve against what I have produced I could think that I've failed. But on the contrary, in entering the competition I have pushed my skills, gained confidence and learned new techniques along the way.







The last wagon (above), the slope sided wagon, has been the most difficult to build. It has, however, developed into my favourite, the one I've gained the most satisfaction from building. More wagons will follow.......

Encouraging comments

A very quick update....

At this evening's Scalefour Area Group Meeting I received some favourable comments on three mineral wagons I took along for scrutiny. None of the wagons are completely finished, and with only four modelling evenings left, time is getting tight. But with the encouraging comments received this evening I'm starting to feel I'm getting somewhere.


Above is a shot of the slope sided wagon before I started to add the white stripes. I still need to work out how to blacken the Exactoscale wheel rims. I've tried all the Carr's Metal Blacks with no effect. However, after all my struggles, I feel it is starting to come together with this one.

All six still needing numbering, some touching up of the rust patches, and final weathering to be applied. Doesn't sound much left to do....... does it?

Kingdom of Rust

Apart from being a good album by Doves, a 'Kingdom of Rust' does seem to be where I might be heading at the moment.

The first wagons to hit the paint shop.......

They do look a bit of mess and as you may realise from viewing the above, I'm not quite sure what I'm doing at the moment. I did start a practice piece on some scrap plastic but with less than two weeks of modelling evenings left before Leatherhead I thought I'd better just get on with it.

On the two rusted wagons above I'm going to try Martyn Welch's technique using Maskol to mask the areas of rust I need to show through the grey top coat. I do hope they start to look better as I apply more layers of paint.

The era I'm working to depict with Tredthy Wharf and other projects is 1961-2. In looking for colour photos of wagons in the early sixties, I've found one that shows mineral wagons with minimal rusting. This photo appears on the back page of Great Western Railway Journal no.66 showing Dulverton goods yard on 11/6/62 with two 16t minerals in view. Other B/W photos taken in the early 60s also generally seem to show minimal rusting on wagons. My recollection during the mid to late 60s and early 70s was of rust buckets travelling through our local station. So I'm a little undecided as to what state the wagons should be. I have to consider that my memory has been corrupted with seeing many colour photos taken during the 70s and 80s of repaired, rebuilt and well worn mineral wagons.

So maybe I will not fully enter the 'Kingdom of Rust', there might not be so much rusting involved on these wagons. I will look at numbering the two rusted wagons above from lots that were built in the early 1950s. On the remaining wagons I'll probably have a go at depicting minimal rusting. Well I'm going to try.........