airnimal

I've tried to paint the interior woodwork with my usual mix of Humbrol Matt pale cream with a Matt Black wash over when dry. I never get this right to my satisfaction no matter how many times I do this. I find trying to paint bare wood one life's great mysteries. I still have to paint all the ironwork Black both inside and out.

Simon, did you have a look at your Letraset ? My sheets are all falling apart. The sheets start to craze and crack before breaking up into little bits. They were all stored in a brown paper bag away from sunlight so I don't know if I have done anything wrong. Mike

Simon, I bought about 10 sheets of Letraset from my local art shop when there were withdrawn from the market. I used a few, years ago and they were fine. I took them out recently to find most of the wax paper that they are printed on is crumbling. I would check yours just in case they are like mine. Mike

Mark, I use the Olfa cutters all the time. They are very easy to sharpen with a diamond wheel in a mini drill. It doesn't take much pressure, just a quick touch and this brings them back like new. Mike.

Thanks to everyone who has responded to this post. I am afraid I am old fashioned when trying to letter wagons with a brush. I don't think I could cut letters accurate enough from decal paper but I may try masking tape to sharpen up the letters. I have started the other side with the first coat of paint on. I still have to paint the iron work black and the interior a dirty wood colour. I went back to Olham Library on Saturday to see the original large wall of photos from Olham Glegg St goods yard and was surprised to see that they have redone this collection again. I was told because where it has been placed that the light had bleached a lot of the previous prints to all most nothing. This latest version is smaller but some of the prints have been enhanced and some of the wagons are now a lot clearer.

Simon, Historex also do Masterclub rivets in lots of different sizes and not at all expensive. They do require a hole to be drilled to fit them, but they do look good once fitted. I agree Historex service is excellent. Mike

I have been trying to build up the paint on the letters but the more coats I put on the edge of the letters becomes less crisp. I also tried to paint the small letters on but this looks terrible. I will have to remove these and try and find some transfers.

Jim, yes paint running into the plank lines is a problem. Another problem is using the paint very thin to build up the density of the colour on the rough surface, the paint runs off line. I have given it a second coat of paint this morning and drawn up a rough outline on the second side.

First coat of paint on the letters. I will have to let harden for a few hours before going over it again, building up the thickness and correcting any errors.

I've managed to get some paint on this wagon yesterday in a break between the rain. All I have to do now is paint the interior and letter it. Ian, I am with you on getting a move on in building stuff before I move on to pastures new. Finding the axleboxes and springs for this build revealed another 10 sets of wagon buffers in another bits box. Perhaps I need to speak to someone but then I look again when I look around when I go out, there are a lot of people with more problems than myself.

Finally finished bar the axleboxes and springs that will be fitted after the painting. I put the capping strip on top of the body from 5 thou cut from Evergreen sheet. The body is looking very grubby because the pencil marks have rubbed graphite into the body. What to do next ? I went through my box of wagon bits and was surprised to find I have over 40 sets of wagon buffers from different companies. The idea that you buy little packets of casting when you see them at exhibitions when there are available because they come and go and may disappear from the market. I suppose this is my equivalent of the pile of loco kits behind the door.

Getting close to the end now with most of the details applied. The brake handle has yet to be made and a few other bits to do.

Before I get to far with the details I have drawn the lettering on the side to see I have I can do the painted letters. It looks reasonable but there will have to be some tweaking. Rubbing out the pencil marks has left the wagon looking very grubby and it will need a good wash before painting

I have done a bit more to this old dumb buffer wagon. I am not claiming this to be an accurate model because I am only working from one side view. So there is going to be a fair bit of guess work involved but using examples and drawings of other wagons from the same era I am hoping it will not be to far out. The brake gear is of course on the opposite side of the photo but appears to show one brake block only. So I have cut down one of my own castings from my brake van kit ( if any body wants these 8' 6" brass castings PM me ) and modified it to a single shoe. i have started to detail the body but there is still along way to go. Included on the body is a board that acts as a label clip, which is the biggest I have seen on any wagon. The wagon appears to be painted grey with black iron work and has two large letters T and L painted on the sides with M&SL rly in small letters. This is one of the reasons that I choose this model to build because I thought it would be easier to letter by hand.

Graham, the frame you mention was one of many that don't get any further for one reason or another. I would rather terminate something early on than waste more hours only to be disappointed later on. Tricky, I always blacken the brass parts after polishing to make sure the axleboxes slide properly. Time spent early on pays dividends later, especially with Slaters W-irons. I make sure there isn't any side play but tight enough to allow the wheels to spin freely. I also pre bend the sides before assembly and then place packing blocks inside to help keep the shape while handling. It is one of my pet hates to see lines of coal wagons at exhibitions with the sides bowing inwards

I am going to use Slaters Midland W -irons on this wagon for no better reason than I have half a dozen in stock. Because the photo is of a wagon is so distant I am not sure how close they are to the prototype but I am going to use them anyway. When I have used them in the past I have cut off the fixing tags and let them into slots in the solebars. This time I wanted to be able to screw them into the floor. Slaters supply them with self tapping screws which may be fine with kit built wagons with solid plastic floors but would not work with my method of floors made from 60 thou plastkard. I wanted to use my own method of using 12 BA nuts melted in a second piece of 60 thou plastikard and then the W-irons screwed in to that. So I have modified the W-irons by soldering a length of 3mm X 3mm T section obrass on the back of each one. I then drilled through fixing tags before removing the same tags. I made a couple base plates out of 60 thou plastikard and melted the 12 BA nuts in pre drilled holes with the tip of the soldering iron and cleaned everything up before glueing both units to the floor.

The ends were cut to size and glued on the frame and left to set. Them the first side was glued on and trimmed to the correct length before the second side was glued on and clamped in place with a spacing piece in between the sides and left to go hard. This second side will then be trimmed back to size.

After finishing the last wagon I have not done a lot of modelling. I finished a couple of old builds that had been hanging around for some time but family matters have been taken priority over modelling. I have decided to wait until spring before doing anything about building or buying baseboards to start the layout, So having boxes of wagon bits I will build some more stock. This one is a 4 plank private owner wagon base on a photo of Oldham Glegg Street taken in 1879. I have based the size on a drawing of a similar wagon in Len Tavender book on railway equipment drawings. The basic parts have even cut out and the frame made. The sides have had the door scribed on but the ends have yet to be shaped with the curved corners.

Guy, the axleboxes are the same but the brake lever is spaced off solebar which I hadn't noticed when I first built it. I also used the wrong section of brass when I made the spindle that goes to the brake shoe. This has now been corrected with a smaller piece of brass. One problem i find scratch building is that I am not very organised. I have boxes of parts scattered everywhere along with materials. So sometimes I pick up a bit of brass to make a part that looks right with out checking it with the callipers and get it wrong. I try to have discipline as well as a tidy workbench but it never lasts for long.

I was convinced I had finished this wagon but something didn't look right but I couldn't put my finger on it. I had to go back to the photographs and look again. What I had done was bend the brake handle to clear the axleboxes which would have been correct for 99% of wagons, but this one was different because it had a straight handle without any bends. Because I had made so many wagons I had allowed myself to assume they were all the same and acted accordingly, so a new handle has been made and fitted. I have checked that the handle will clear the axleboxes which it does.

My mistake. Sorry I have both books and they both fabulous model makers, sadly John Hayes is no longer with us. If you can get along to a exhibition where Geoff Kent is demonstrating you will be in for a treat. You will be able to see scratch building at its best.

I don't know which of the Geoff Kent book you have ordered from the 4mm wagon series but the one I would recommend is the 4mm coal wagon. This has a step by step guide on scratch building wagons with photographs and drawings and is probably the best book on the market.

More or less finished with just the castings to go on and painting to complete. I do like early wagons, so simple yet so full of character.

Lacathedrale, you didn't mention what scale you intend to scratch build in. I only model in 7mm scale and don't have knowledge of other scales. Also what sort of tools do you have ? And are you in a position to attend model shows or local clubs ? Not very helpful but if you could provide a bit more information it would help to steer you where you wish to go. Mike

Marc, I was lucky enough to be given a lot of HMRS meth fix transfers many years ago when a friend gave up building models. Being meth fix they still work after all this time and I have enough for my needs. What I am running out of is casting for LNWR wagons but I still have lots of castings for other companies.