They are absolutely superb John!

Are they the NGS 'Modelmaster' transfers you used for these? I have the same pair of wagons currently finished in MR livery, but the transfers are rather clunky and I like the idea of repainting them and taking them forward to LMS livery.

Andy

John, What colour did you paint the insides? It looks like a light red-oxide colour.

Thanks for your compliments Andy

Yes, the transfers are from the Modelmaster LMS sheet, apart from the number 16600 which is from the GWR sheet - rather thicker numbers than the LMS ones but it was easier to get the combination I needed from that sheet.

Richard - Humbrol brownish grey paint number 72, applied quite thinly so I think some of the grey undercoat is showing through as well.

John

Great looking wagons John! I'm afraid I was rather more "impressionistic" when it came to the brake gear on mine ... Fox do some rather nice Midland freight wagon transfers which I used for my pre-grouping rendition.

Thanks Justin

I haven't tried Fox transfers. Are they better than the Modelmaster ones?

John

I found the Fox 'MR' transfers rather difficult to get to lay flat on the wagon side; I tried the usual Microsol, Microset, etc, but no luck. The only thing I can think of that might have affected the transfers was that the wagon side wasn't glossy-enough for the transfers to bed down properly.

According to the 2mm website, Phil Smith produces some MR transfers (although I'm not sure if they're still available - it is a good few years ago since I bought a load of his other transfers). I have used some on a NER wagon and found them to be very nice, if rather delicate.

http://www.2mm.org.uk/small_suppliers/philsmith/index.htm

Andy

John,

Both of those wagons look really nice.

I have tried to hand letter a couple of my wagons without much success (mainly because I wanted the 5" G.W.R livery). I had looked at the Fox range, but was a little worried as they seem to be rub-down type which I have struggled with in the past. I must have a look out for the Modelmaster transfers - do they do GWR ones? And are they available publicly (rather than just members of N Gauge Society)?

Ian

Fox transfers are very definitely water slide, and usually much finer than Modelmaster. The Fox carrier film is an order of magnitude thinner than Modelmaster (although some people seem to have been able to remove the film on these once applied). I've always started with a coat or two of high-gloss varnish, and using Microset, never had any problems :-)

Modelmaster are N gauge society only.

Ian - yes, Modelmaster do include GWR in their range and it includes all the letter sizes. If anything, the scale may be a fraction too large - not really noticeable for the "GWR" letters but I did find it apparent when trying to squeeze the tare weight and tonnage in between the vertical stantions of my mink C van (they should be next to each other but I had to put the tare weight below the tonnage) and also at the end of the Macaw B where the letters were a slightly tighter squeexe than they should have been..

Modelmaster N gauge transfers are also available from a chap in Essex, and you don't have to be an N gauge member to buy them;

http://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/suppliers/40142-Bloomfield

Cambridge Custom Transfers also list a few packs of GW transfers in 2mm scale. Unfortunately they're closed at the moment for a house move, but the lists are on their website.

Andy

Richard - Humbrol brownish grey paint number 72, applied quite thinly so I think some of the grey undercoat is showing through as well.

Is there a reference for this colour? Mathieson wagons are this colour internally but every thread or discussion I've seen on the subject of internal colour of wagons seems to conclude that no-one really knows and they were quite probably unpainted. I'm still none the wiser about what colour the insides of wagn should be despite painting a whole bunch 'wood colour' earlier today hoping for the best!

Richard - I have no reference to support my use of this colour (it was what I had to hand) and my intention was to create the look of unpainted wood that had faded a bit. The model is probably still a bit too clean inside and perhaps should be more grey than brown.

Richard - as a PS to the above comment, in the pictures of the unweatherd wagons sitting on my cutting board, the inside is still the grey Tamiya primer (the colour may not have come out accurately in the picture though). It is only on the weather waqons that I have added the Humbrol matt number 72.

I hadn't noticed the insides of the weathered ones so much. I think the light is playing tricks on me...