Rosie Taylor

Knowing little about this era and region combination, how long were trains? Each carriage looks great and I'm wondering what they'll look like in a prototypical rake behind a suitable engine.

Great to see stock on the layout, even at this early stage!

No, sadly, they've completely vanished. A few bits and pieces turn up on eBay now and then, but nothing too specific

I'm glad you're keeping a little bit of forced perspective; it's a great idea and I think the smaller slope is a good compromise. Think it will really pay off when finished and you can pose everything as you want

Thanks, very helpful. I have drawings but that detail isn't included - I can cross reference photos and just copy what they show

I've been playing with my new soldering iron and sticking bits of brass together - I made up an impression of the nameboard brackets to go on each side of the roof, from brass wire and folded brass strip. I marked out a simple guide on tape so they'd all be consistent. It worked well enough but, of course, singed my new cutting mat. They were too small and fiddly to curve to the roof profile as I'd hoped, so I marked and cut out small insets into the wooden roof using a very small chisel - I think these are from Tamiya, small black metal chisels in 1mm and 2mm, and I don't know how I ever managed without them. As with a lot of the details, these are slightly coarse and only representative of the real thing rather than strictly accurate, but I think they sit well with the rest of the model. In that vein, I mocked up something that looks vaguely like a filler cap - at least they're in the right place! I used brass tube rather than styrene as it was a more suitable diameter. Once the glue dries I'll file it back almost flush. I will add handrails to the roof but much later (after priming, etc). I'm starting to think about the alarm pulls/tell-tales, and am baffled by how to put the etch together. It didn't come with instructions (as mentioned on the Wizard Models product page) but I'm only now realising what a problem that is. Can anyone shed any light? Also, from prototype photos some ends have the apparatus and some ends dont - were these tell-tales only at one end (and if so, which)? Any help would be much appreciated...

I've been ticking off a few odd jobs on the coaches this week, especially focused on each end. First was epoxying the fabricated bufferbeams in place, using masking tape to make it look nice (although, will likely never be seen)! Next was using 2-part Milliput epoxy filler. I noticed at some point when fitting and refitting the coach roofs one of the joins had opened up slightly, so I taped it off and forced putty into the gap. Once dry I sanded it back smooth and I think it'll look a lot better once painted. You can also see the rainstrips in place, I'll cover them and the nameboard brackets in the next post. There was also some repair needed to the solebars; the thin wood had broken off in places. Some was my fault, some were like that to begin with. It's not perfect, and still doesn't match with prototype, but I think will blend in well and will be partially hidden by footboards. Again, epoxy putty was used and then sanded back. Final use of the Milliput putty is to create the strange "step" shapes at each end of the roofs. I marked and taped off their size and position based off drawings and photos, and pushed small blobs of filler (roughly shaped) into place. I'd made a mistake mixing it though - I had used one part more than the other (it has to be 50/50), and as a result it was still soft 24 hours later and just pulled off when sanding. I've reapplied (carefully mixed) and will sand the filler to final shape.

I've been distracted by other things recently so progress has slowed, but here's a little update to show I've not given up! Something that has needed doing for a while is adding the door vents - I put these off as couldn't decide what to do regarding the door windows being too short, in the end I've decided to accept the compromise rather than try and recut the delicate coach sides in place. The vents make a big difference to the sides and really help define the doors. I've started thinking about the underframe, although I won't actually attach any details until work on the upper body is complete as these will be quite delicate. All are from MJT components/Dart Castings, and are very good. I received only one set of battery boxes when I thought the product listing was for two (in my defense, the wording was a little confusing). I'd like to highlight the excellent customer service from Nigel at Dart Castings; when I emailed to complain he sent out another set for free, despite it being my error! There wasn't much flash, and a half hour with a file and sanding stick and all the pieces are ready - batteries, brakegear, dynamos (the truss rods aren't pictured). I couldn't resist folding up the etch for the battery box supports, it makes a lovely little piece which will really add a lot of fidelity to the underframe. The truss rods look like they may present a problem, as the gap between chassis sides is much less than the truss rods expect (being made from thick wood). I'll cross that bridge in the next few days...

The Airfix Mk2d's are great - as you say they can be picked up cheaply and, with a little detailing, look very presentable. Great work as always!

Thank you. This is my thinking, that no amount of money can replace the work that goes into a project, and these coaches will have a unique "story" to them. In 30 years time they'll be a century old! I do love a good, high fidelity kit (I have 2x Comet Pullman Mk1's waiting in a box), and the total costs, comparisons and trade-offs between such kits, the vintage CCW coaches and RTR models are interesting and worth thinking about. Your comment reminded me that I hadn't even considered interior for my coaches! Oops...

Something occured to me recently, as I ordered the transfers and paint for lining - I've no idea how much this project has cost. This isn't something I usually think about (ignorance is bliss), and is rarely mentioned in topics here...I think with good reason. This is a hobby to be enjoyed, and looking at how much your relaxing pastime is costing you isn't that appealing. However, with all the pieces now collected, I had to satisfy my curiosity and so made up this spreadsheet. A lot of items (especially transfers, paint etc) are bought in "bulk", ie not just for one coach, so I've calculated both the amount I originally paid and the cost once broken down "per coach"... Wow, that's...quite a lot. Almost £70 per coach! Each individual component is quite cheap, but they do all add up. And of course, I got the base coaches free and had a few detail parts already in my collection. Interesting to think I could have the best RTR coach going for less than that, or a high-quality kit! Does this change how I feel though, about the project? Not at all. I'll end up with something very unique, and of course money cant buy the enjoyment and reward of the finished model. If anything, this exercise has been very helpful - I have more CCW coaches (as previously mentioned) that I'll be tackling at some future date, and hopefully I can use what I've learned to save money where I can. I've been getting to grips with resin 3d printing recently and I suspect I may turn to that for detail parts and even bogies, which will make considerable savings. However, I still need to finish the current coaches, of which I'll post more about soon.

Work has continued on the ends of the coaches. I fixed the outer beading with solvent, and added tiny drops of superglue at the corners for added security. This allowed me to add filler to the top ridge and file to match the roof curve, which really helped the beading match the prototype rather than just looking like styrene glued on! It'll look even better once painted and blended in (promise) The inner horizontal strips were added by eye - being wood, each end is different and there arent really any true reference surfaces on which to put my micro engineer's square, so I've done what looked right. It kind of worked. Once painted, and the other details are added, it'll look better (the camera is quite cruel). Something to try and get better when I do the next batch of coaches, sometime in the future. I can finally add the gangways - it's starting to look like a real coach! Work has continued on the roofs, adding the rainstrips. I found the centrepoint first, then let the natural droop of the styrene help align the gentle curve. I'm cutting the rainstrips back a little further than on the real thing - that's because I dont want to bridge the gap between roof piece and end (I did try it but it ended up just drawing attention to the gap). Pay no attention to the time travelling Class 25 in the background (or maybe my workspace is on a preserved line...)? What may be the final pieces (except transfers) also arrived today - some goodies from Dart Castings, who I've always found are great. I did find some beautiful looking 3d printed parts for the underframe, but I think whitemetal castings are more "in keeping" with the vintage of this build!

Looking great with all your hard work on those coaches paying off, so cool to see them together in their natural environment. Good idea about the screws and washers to hold the track down for testing, wish I'd thought of that rather than gluing as I went (before testing...😬)

Apologies for the lack of updates - Model Rail Scotland last week inspired me to finish some other projects (weathering BR Blue diesels) and clear more space on my workbench. I've been back at work on the coaches but it's been a little "all over the place"! Now the bogies are mounted I set to work fixing the height of the coaches. As one set uses cast whitemetal bogies, and the other brass etched (Comet) versions, both were off by different amounts. I filed about 1.5mm from the whitemetal mounting plate/spigot, using the coach underframe as a guide for the file (protected by tape). This means the final mounting surface is square with the coach and, on flat track, it doesnt look like it's tilting. The bogie plates were fixed as you can see, with tiny screws into the wood (and a recess for a cast round part on "top"). I'm fairly sure I've deviated from the original intended way of fixing, but it seems to work well. The coach on the left is now at the correct height, measuring from railhead to the top of the roof - the gap between bogie and underframe might be off a little but looks right to me and leaves just enough clearance for the wheels. The one on the right has the Comet etched bogies and has since been adjusted. Finally, I've started on the beading at each end - beginning with attaching the horizontal pieces with solvent and tape. I'll be using lots of prototype photos and the drawings for this, as I need it to look "right".

That would make sense! Fascinating, you learn something new every day