EWS60065

Nice wagons, particularly like the SPA - I have done this exact one myself a few years ago! Will yours be for engineering or steel traffic may I ask?

@sb67 Thanks very much!

@Departmental203 Yeah I can appreciate that frustration of finding out a wagon was fitted with new doors before the desired modelling period! My first OAA was 100098 (I purposely saved 100023 for when the Rapido ones came out) however 098 was fitted with mesh sides early on so it doesn't sit quite right with me now.

Amazing to see you back with a project here, looking foward to seeing more. Nice idea with the smaller WRD setup and trying to close up your era to a smaller period! Always helps get a good atmosphere. Sad to hear the sea urchins have been sold as I would have thought you could squeeze them in somewhere even if just rotting away in a siding 😆

@Departmental203 Unfortunately 100048 received mesh sides and while it was the last one running, it had been running without wooden doors for a while I think.

@WCML100 Thanks very much, unfortunately I'm not aware of any others - even this one is a bit tenuous for the mid 2010s as it was mostly stored. There may have a been a few around 2011 in the Mendip stone trains though. You could either go for it and have a wooden OAA even if not prototypical or have a try at the mesh. But be warned, working with mesh sided wagons will quite likely drive you insane from my experience 😅

Rapido OAA 100023 I was planning on doing a larger update but workbench progress has been slow so thought I'd share this on its own. This is the Rapido OAA wagon I purchased back in December and I've got round to giving it a full weathering treatment. Representing number 100023, the wagon has been captured in all it's filth and grime which brings out the incredible detailing on the model. The real 100023 was one of the few OAAs not to receive mesh doors and was eventually scrapped in 2016. As per usual, the interior has not been ignored - various pieces of straps, timber, and ballast can be seen discarded in the wagon. Other things I'm working on include a pair of Bachmann MXAs and some more Accurascale MHAs.

Nice work, interesting OBA example there. Love the interior. I was thinking that if all the bass wagons modelled by us and others on RMWeb were put together we would probably have a model of most of them!

OCA Wagons 112259 + 112181 I've got some more stuff to come for my March update but in the meantime I've been weathering this pair of Bachmann OCA wagons. These started off in Railfreight flame red and have been heavily weathered to the point that I'm not sure if any of the original paint shows through! These will be my last red OCAs for a while as I now have 5 in this livery and only 2 in grey/yellow and 2 in EWS. It's nice to return to familiar territory every now and then and as I've said you can never have enough OCAs. 112181 is at the front here and has been finished to a faded orange in comparison to 112259 which is darker and redder. This demonstrates the huge variation in weathering that can be seen on these wagons. You'll notice the replacement/repainted doors on number 181 too. It's now standard practice to add some old rubbish inside these wagons even if modelled empty! These are quite possibly my favourite bass wagons to date and will look right at home with my others. To give a little fleet update, this brings the OCA wagons to 9, OBA wagons are at 6, and OAAs at 2 meaning in total there are 17 'bass' wagons.

Nice work on the road layout, I like all the details you plan to add along the side of it. Will look fantastic when finished with trains running along the top of the embankment!

@Bearwood West Yard If you did want to do it you could make it into a 159 since they did carry that livery into the SWR period...you'd need an extra coach though 😆

@Bearwood West Yard Nice thought, although depending how fussed you are be aware that the SWT livery Bachmann produced is not exactly the same one that SWR took over. The door colour and stripe position is the main difference. As I said though, as long as you're happy with the compromise cause I probably would be too!

@Bearwood West Yard I'll probably mix my own up as it's such a small area (plus it'll be weathered down there anyway). Yeah it's nice to have the body shells available separately, would be good to see some of the SWT ones appear.

@dj_crisp Thank you, all the actual LEDs are part of the chassis so the body clips on without any electrical attachment. Given both bodies are identical in shape/layout the LEDs should shine through in the correct places. The only slight concern is that the RR lights are a warmer yellow rather than cool white but a bit of thinned paint or coloured tape may be able to tone down the yellow.

@Bearwood West Yard Cheers, £46 each. Didn't think that was too crazy given the detail and finishing on them. Especially given the sound fitted GWR units are rare and very expensive on their own! I also got some of the correct air dams to go on but they are Scotrail blue so will need repainting.