buffalo's workbench

VERY good-looking paintjob Nick, really crisp and neat.

 

I'm very interested in your interpretation of the indian red. Yours is exactly how I personally think it should be, with that brownish tinge, but I've sometimes wondered whether it was just my fancy leading me on. So it's good to see it here too!

Thanks, Mikkel

 

It's not my interpretation, just the normal Phoenix Precision Paints colour applied directly over Halford's grey primer. I don't know how they arrived at it or whether someone has found some surviving paint beneath a later coat of black. It certainly is less red/more brown than the Railmatch version which I used for the first coat on the wheels (see previous blog entry). I'll be interested to see whether using a red undercoat makes a significant difference (I've primed the Dean tender underframe with Halford's red primer to try this out).

 

It's all guesswork but I do agree with you about this being more like how I imagine the colour to have been. Despite mentions of 'purple-brown' in the literature, I do feel that the Railmatch colour is too purple. Again, it's only a feeling, but I reckon that Indian Red is more of a progression from the earlier Windsor Brown than a wholly new (purplish) colour. Another point that sways me in this direction is the often seen recommendation to paint the mahogany drop light frames in coaches using Indian Red. Now my memory of surviving GWR coaches in the 50s and 60s was of a very brown wood. The red comes out when it is polished, as often seen in mahogany furniture..

 

Incidentally, there are some interesting comments on purple brown as a wagon colour in one (or more) of Keith Turton's 'Private Owner Wagons' volumes. In that case, my feeling is that it is something closer to the LSWR or SR wagon browns.

That's an interesting point about the red coming out in the polish, as in mahogany furniture. Sounds right to me.

 

You're right that it's all guesswork of course, which is a bit frustrating because there is quite a big difference between the red and brownish version and how it looks with the green. Mind you the Railmatch version on the Buffalo's wheels isn't that far out - I've seen it much more purple/red on some models.

I have just had a good read of this, it is a very good model. Is it complete yet or is it still in the paint shop?

It's lurking around the back of the works pending conversion to P4. Painting is a bit further advanced, but still awaiting lining. It will need to be ready once my Camerton layout starts running, though.

 

Nick

 

1633 Photo dated 1910, somewhere on the 'Vale of Neath' line, with my grandfather, the tall young bloke to the right.(at 1910 he was still a fireman). The loco looks to be unlined and with no lettering, and although has a headcode showing that some of the vehicles are vac braked, appears to have a iron mink as the first wagon? i didnt think any were vac braked!

Apologies for the delay in responding, hoboking, I've only just noticed your post. IIRC there were some posts questioning whether the notification system was working properly earlier this month.

 

What a superb photo! Many thanks for posting it. There are not many good photos of a Buffalo from the driver's side. Are you sure about the date? I would have put it a few years earlier because of the socket lamp irons. These were replaced from 1903 onwards by the later vertical flat type of iron and I've not seen a well-dated photo later than about 1906-7 with the early type still in use. It certainly is later than 1903 because the earlier lamps had a white diamond on one side and an S on the other. On the other hand, if the photo is firmly dated, it is interesting to see these sockets still in use.

 

There wouldn't be any lettering on the tanks as this did not appear until the 1920s, by which time most Buffalos had their saddle tanks replaced by panniers and there are very few known examples of lettered saddle tanks, certainly not that I know of for this class. I think I can make out a trace of lining on the cab side sheet but not on the bunker.

 

GWR headcodes, and indeed those of some other railways, were not the same as the "standard" post-1923 RCH codes, so this is not a Class E "Express freight with at least 4 fitted vehicles..." I don't have any details of the GWR codes used between 1903 and 1923, but this engine is carrying the same pattern as the later GWR Class H "Freight, mineral, or ballast train or train of empties carrying through load to destination." Whether the code had the same meaning at the time of the photo, I don't know.

 

Nick

Hoboking's picture posted in his comment above seems to have disappeared. Did anyone manage to keep a copy?