These are my potted notes about how I go about my carriage conversions. I can lay no claim to the methods I have used. These have been shamelessly copied from other folk on RmWeb. (John at Stoke Courtney @checkrail and Rich at Brent @The Fatadder ).

 

Note: You are not reading a Pendon type fine scale modelling blog, there are lots of compromises in carriage construction using these methods. 

 

Following my recent conversions, it has been suggested that I put together a guide to aid anyone thinking about going down this road. I should add, that before starting my current conversions, I had completed two full carriage kits. The first one is an E153 Sunshine Brake Composite, which was mainly put together (a long time ago) using Araldite (not recommended), followed by a (badly) soldered H43 Centenary Restaurant carriage. It was so bad that I then paid someone to build the basic box and I finished it off years later.

 

Since when I have converted using overlays the following carriages:

Centenary 3rd class Restaurant H44*

Centenary Brake 3rd D120*

Centenary 3rd C69*

1st / 3rd Restaurant H57**

1st / 3rd Restaurant H25***

 

*Comet overlays on Airfix Centenary carriage

**Comet overlays on Bachmann sunshine carriage

***Comet overlays on Hornby H33 Railroad carriage 

 

I always start with the same premise (How far am I going and will it be a full kit, or an overlay project); Added to which I also need to make a decision on what happens with the underframe. (The H25 uses a Comet underframe, the old Hornby one has been thrown away)

 

Then all the bits will be gathered together and added into my work box.

 

 

 

Everything else might be strewn acround the railway room, but all my carriage bits stay together. It's also all within arms reach, together with the instructions on the left and reference material on my right, as I sit at the workbench.

 

Reference material is invaluable - these are my GWR carriage books - during a conversion they will be well thumbed and will have post-it notes in the relevant page (Folded over, I don't want the glue on the page), plus on the instructions I will have written the page numbers for that particular model.

 

 

Photographic evidence is also vital:

 

 

This is the H25 photographed from the 2nd appendix book. Unfortunately the instructions can be vague about some of the underframe details. For a couple of my Restaurant carriages I have added a 3rd battery box, which photos show, but the instructions don't. However, sometimes, try as you might you will not be able to find a photo of carriage x shewing its roof details etc. Sometimes thats just the way it is!

 

Other source material includes the Great Western Railway journals, where I have my own searchable index on my laptop.

 

Of course, the other invaluable source is here on RMWeb. I am indebted to Mike aka @Coach bogie who has provided roof details for the H25. Other people over the years have given terrific advice for which thank you all very much.

 

If you don't have a particular carriage book, although they have long since been out of print, they are still available on eBay at fairly reasonable prices. I bought volume 1 as recent as 2021 from eBay - when I originally bought them, I decided I didn't need it as it didn't cover my 1930's period. But of course if I want to run Toplights and clerestory carriages - they all come from a different age.

 

The instructions are to hand - and I even read them!

 

 

You have to buy the main leaflet but its certainly worth it - its only a few £. The smaller instruction notes come with almost all of the parts. They take a bit of reading and re-reading the first time you go through them.

 

The build process:

 

I start by offering up the new sides and marking out what needs to be cut off.

 

Then, I will need to take more out to allow for the glazing to sit inside without showing any edges.

 

Its not an exact science, Im using the cutting disk and a Swan Morton no 11 blade. Its a messy process! (If I can leave sections of plastic then I will try and leave as much as I can.)

 

 

At the same time all roof ventilators and any other roof "furniture" will be removed, plus of course door hinges, handles etc.

 

 

The roof above has had the ventilators removed; overscale roof joints; roof handrails; kitchen extractor as well as smaller bits on the body.

 

While all of this is going on, I will be taking bits off the end or adding a new end, depending on what is required.

 

In this next photo, I am cutting the body out ready to take the new sides. But because this carriage has doors set back from the body, these need to be soldered into place behind the main side and filled later.

 

The new side can be seen in the background. When the etch is supplied it has a tab set lower than the level of the body, this has holes at either end for a piece of wire to be fed through. There is a corresponding hole below the level of the doors. By feeding the wire through, solder together and then solder further up the body and the tab can be cut off - its easier than it sounds!

 

 

 

I also needed to decide how the carriage was going to be presented. Note: Some carriages changed significantly over the years following refurbishments.

 

Whilst the Centenary carriages were built in 1935, they were refurbished in 1939 (I think that was windows only), which then followed a full refurbishment after WW2

 

In the case here, (photo below), I wanted the original openings, which meant I had to remove the later ventilator. In this next photo you can also see the top etch which holds the carriage sides - this too has to be removed. (Its at the top above the windows).

 

Thankfully the tumblehome is pre-formed.

 

 

To remove the window ventilators I cut them off with a Xuron cutter. Then to remove the etch at the top, I cut through the tabs with a Swan Morton blade. (You get through a lot of blades doing these kits.)

 

Then there is the underframe - in this case a complete Comet module:

 

 

Both the underframe and bogies have been soldered. The trick here is to heat the area thoroughly and apply flux on both items to be put together. I've used normal solder from B & Q in the past, but at the moment I am using some from DCC Concepts. My iron is relatively new, a 25w iron from LeRoy Merlin (Spanish equivalent to B & Q). At the moment the bit is a large flat face, which seems a lot better than a smaller tip. (The small tip is great for electrics, rather than soldering brass)

 

The bogies:

Start by fitting the brass bearings into place - these will be soldered into the bogie frames. (The hole needs to be opened up).

 

The bogies are folded up and soldered - again there are tabs, which go together with a piece of wire through holes to hold it in place before soldering.

 

 Then it all needs a wash! - I use a flux to get the solder to flow better, accordingly it will need a wash with soap and water to get rid of the residue.

 

Having been washed and allowed to dry, the white metal items can be added, both on the underframe and onto the side of the bogies. The cosmetic bogie side frames will again need opening up to fit over the brass bearings. I use superglue to fix all of this in place. 

 

The sides:

The sides are now ready to be fixed into place.

 

I use the Spanish equivalent of Evostick - don't get it near the window opening - its a to get the dried stringy bits off!

 

Next I sand the plastic body and the brass to get rough surfaces for the glue to fix onto. Its a 5 minute impact adhesive - paste it onto the brass side and onto the plastic body, wait 5 minutes and then clamp into position. (Ensure the room is ventilated - the fumes are awful.) - If you are near a LeRoy Merlin DIY store, thats their tube of "Evostick" equivalent to the right of the carriage.

 

 

If you are anything like me, you will want to keep putting everything together during the build "Just to see how it looks!"

 

 

Towards the end of the fettling stage, its out with the filler and then I start adding details back onto the roof.

 

 

I did some sanding down (below) after the photo had been taken, but you can still see the pencil lines drawn on for the roof ventilators on the H25.

 

Obviously the ventilators are in a different position on the Hornby H33 compared to the H25. They were essentially the same carriage, apart from the H33 was bow ended and the H25 was flat ended. There were also a couple of inches difference, but nothing I need to worry about here.

 

Work then starts on the interior and for this I make up plasticard tables with DCC Concepts working LED table lamps. In 1st or 3rd class corridor stock without tables I am cutting up seats from Comet seating sprues. (The H25 carriage will use the old Hornby interior with suitable modifications.

 

Painting:

Assuming everything has gone to plan, it is now time to apply a coat of primer. I am using Vallejo acrylic primer, sprayed in my makeshift spray booth. (Usually on a sunny day in front of the (open) railway room window. Generally I am spraying in batches, so a carriage(s) might get to a certain stage and then work comes to a halt - maybe for weeks....

 

I read somewhere that the optimum spraying conditions is when the temperature is above 50 degrees. I now have a thermometer in the railway room to check this. The damp is also a factor, although here in this part of Spain its not something we usually need to worry about. 

 

In the photo below we have the H57 1st/3rd Restaurant, together with the H44 3rd class Restaurant carriages.

 

 

This will be followed by a couple of coats of chocolate and cream. I am using Railmatch acrylic for the railway colours, with Vallejo black/grey on the roof (I need to vary this up a bit) and black for the ends and underframe. I find that despite waving the airbrush around in every direction when doing the bogies, I always miss a bit, so end up getting the brush out as well.

 

The bogies and underframe will also have a light dusting of sleeper grime. 

 

This is the H44 3rd class Restaurant carriage after being lined out, passengers and seats added etc.

 

 

This H44 3rd class restaurant runs on the Airfix underframe - the bogies are Airfix, as are the solebars. The battery boxes and "underframe gear" are all Comet items - the Airfix ones were cut off using the dremmel and a sharp Swan Morton. 

 

 

These are my jottings of making carriages from the Comet items. Its an enjoyable process and I have found the process very rewarding.

 

I hope that these notes help if you are considering some conversions of your own. Feel free to ask questions in the comments below, or on my Henley-on-Thames thread.

 

Regards, Neal.

 

Henley-on-Thames: GWR in the 1930's