Modbury

[Worsdell forever]

Weathered.

 

Dirty.

[Donw]

There is a type of biological weathering the green algae and lichen growths that you get on a motorhome if the roof isn't cleaned. I think a coach roof might suffer the same if neglected.  

 

Don

[Ian Smith]

More progress on the Steam Rail Motor - it's completely finished !!!!!

 

Since the last instalment, the interior has been painted.  A lightish brown for everything, then to the seats ...  I've had to have a stab in the dark at the actual colours (despite reading the section, well table, in Great Western Way.  I've gone with brown in the Smoking compartment as I suspect that they may have been leather, and red (rep) in the other compartment.  The whole coach was 3rd class, so it may have all been the same colour/material.  I couldn't find anything in the Steam Rail Motors book either.

 

The completed interior.  As the windows are a little bigger than in my other stock I've decided to populate this one.  The figures are all Andrew Stadden, and since they're not overly visible I didn't spend a lot of time painting them just splashes of colour really.

 

With the coach body painted, it was time to put the transfers on.  The Prize Monogram transfers that I'd done came out reasonably well so I used those, similarly the "No" for the number (although they were a little oversize).  The "6"'s though were in my opinion cr*p, so I decided to use Fox numerals in Yellow for brown stock.  The colour is slightly different to the Yellow Ochre ink that I'd used for my home-made transfers, but I decided that I couldn't improve on the dodgy ones I'd done.  Once all of the transfers were applied, they were sealed with a spray of Precision Paints Satin Varnish.  Once dry, the glazing was added using the Cobex glazing available from the Association.  The end windows were cut to size as a single unit, scored where the upright mouldings/window frames are then bent to shape.  The main compartment windows once cut to size had the top mm or two sanded to represent the hammered glass in the toplights.  All of the glazing was secured with Canopy Glue.

 

Once everything had thoroughly dried the roof was brush painted in a Precision Paints Dirty Black / Humbrol White mix.  After the body and under frame were united (with the interior trapped inside), the handrails for the retractable steps were bent up from 0.010" guitar string.  The top bend of the wires locating in holes drilled either side of the vestibule doors, and the bottom superglued against the side of the middle step (I still need to give these a touch of matt black where they're glued on).

 

Anyway, here she is finished (apart from the touch up just mentioned) :

 

The motor bogie end.

 

The trailing end.

 

Broadside view of the right hand side.

 

Broadside view of the left hand side.

 

Thanks for looking.

Ian

[Donw]

Lovely job Ian . Regarding the seats in mine are all painted a dark leathery brown. No idea whether or not it is correct but no one has suggested anything different. Being 7mm the interior is a bit more visible but not that clear unless you take the roof off.

 

Don 

[A Murphy]

Outstanding.

 

Best wishes,

 

Alastair

[Ian Smith]

With the Steam Rail Motor completed, I felt she was ready to be released back out into the wild.  Here she is in her natural habitat :

Plymouth bound approaching Modbury having just passed the Down Home.

 

On a return trip awaiting to depart Modbury.

 

Tomorrow she will be packed up along with a variety of other Modbury stock ready for the 2mm Association's 60+2 year Diamond Jubilee weekend event in Derby (at the Derby Conference Centre, DE24 8UX) (http://www.2mm.org.uk/DJubilee/index.html).  Although Modbury won't be in attendance, the Midland Area Group will be there with St Ruth (where my stock has a second home as the "St Ruth Preservation Society").  Hopefully, there will be a couple of other non-DCC layouts there where the Rail Motor, et al will be able to visit 😉

 

Thanks for looking

Ian

[queensquare]

1 hour ago, Ian Smith said:

With the Steam Rail Motor completed, I felt she was ready to be released back out into the wild.  Here she is in her natural habitat :

Plymouth bound approaching Modbury having just passed the Down Home.

 

On a return trip awaiting to depart Modbury.

 

Tomorrow she will be packed up along with a variety of other Modbury stock ready for the 2mm Association's 60+2 year Diamond Jubilee weekend event in Derby (at the Derby Conference Centre, DE24 8UX) (http://www.2mm.org.uk/DJubilee/index.html).  Although Modbury won't be in attendance, the Midland Area Group will be there with St Ruth (where my stock has a second home as the "St Ruth Preservation Society").  Hopefully, there will be a couple of other non-DCC layouts there where the Rail Motor, et al will be able to visit 😉

 

Thanks for looking

Ian

 

 

Simply stunning, looking forward to seeing her at the weekend,

 

Jerry

[Mikkel]

That really is extraordinary, even for you Ian. 

 

The first photo also for me highlights how effective the landscaping is, with the ground sloping up to the embankment and the trees behind, forming a a natural stage for the passing stock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ian Smith]

With the Steam Rail Motor now out of the way, I decided to resurrect/start (and finish) some wagon projects.  I only had 35 wagons of which 4 were Brake Vans, and since my longest train could be 10 wagons (incl. Brake Van) I really need quite a few more!

 

Some time ago, I made up a pair of Iron Mink vans.  These were 3D prints courtesy of Richard Brummitt.  I had built them but hadn't got round to painting them, so as a "quicky" they had to be done first.  I painted one in GWR Red and the other in GWR Dark Grey.  Richard had sent me one with a long bonnet and one with a short, checking the HMRS volume on Iron Minks I've made the short bonnet one Red and the long bonnet one Grey.

 

The lettering on the Red one is Fox transfers (although annoyingly their sheets don't include the "To Carry" wording that would normally go in front of the "x Tons" branding).  Therefore I have had to omit the "To Carry" as I've had to on pretty well all of my wagons, although in this case there almost certainly wouldn't have been room between the vertical strapping for it to fit anyway!

 

For the Grey one, I've decided to fit "cast plates" carrying the number and "G.W.R".  There is some debate as to whether the cast plates were fitted to Red wagons or Grey.  Long ago, I put my stake in the ground and decided that any cast plate wagons on Modbury would be Grey.  My "argument" (NOT proof) for this is quite simply that some wagons retained their plates when re-lettered with 25" GW circa 1904 (when general opinion agrees that the wagons would be Grey).  Additionally, one of the wagons that we have photographic evidence of in that guise (25" GW with cast plate numbers) is an Iron Mink, and there is a mis-matched colour patch on the body side where the "G.W.R" plate was, I can't believe that the Great Western would have allowed the wagon to return to service with a small Red patch on an otherwise Grey wagon, but can believe that it was Grey so the painters left it (albeit a slightly different shade that perhaps the photographic emulsion made more contrasty).

 

Anyway, here are the two Iron Mink vans :

The "cast plates" were made by painting a piece of 0.005" plasticard in Humbrol Dark Grey (no. 67 - the colour I use for my grey wagons).  The lettering and numbering was then scratched off with a sharp needle in a pin vice to reveal the white of the plasticard , and the plate cut out around the writing.  Comparing the two wagons I need to put a bit of rust on the Red one as in theory the livery is older than the grey one!

 

In addition to the vans, I've also added some Opens too.  A pair of 4 plank Opens and a 5 plank Open with sheet rail.  The basis of all three is the Association body kit(s) for the 4 plank O5 and 5 plank O3.  The 4 plankers were made up and stuck on some Association underframes.  The 5 plank O3 received a bit of surgery to convert it to an earlier diagram O4.  This required slicing/sanding off some of the top plank to make it the same size as the other 4 planks.  The diagonal strapping was scraped off and reinstated with 0.005" plastic strip, and the vertical stanchions either side of the doors were reduced to flat strapping .  Obviously, the sheet bar had to be fabricated too.  Once again, these have been finished in the pre-1904 liveries of Red with painted lettering or Grey with cast plates :

I might re-visit the O4 5 planker, and put some Archer's rivet transfers on the diagonal strapping as looking at it now I feel it is noticeable by it's absence!

 

Finally, I've added another Cattle Wagon to diagram W1 (this time with flat diagonal strapping), and in Red livery, and added a load of planks to another 4 planker that was previously made.  Additionally, at the 2mm Association Diamond Jubilee event, Kevin Knight kindly gave me one of the Tar Wagon bodies that the Australian contingent produced a couple of years ago.  A suitable underframe was built up and stuck under it, a little locking handle was filed up from a small piece of 0.010" nickel silver and stuck on the tank filler.  Once painted black, the Wm. Butler transfers that Kevin also supplied were applied.  Unfortunately, when I came to dirty the wagon, it seems that the enamel thinners that I was using attacked the decals!!  It had been my intention to build up a degree of dirt by applying thin washes of colour.  The result was that I had to reinstate some of the lettering with white enamel and a fine brush and then make it even dirtier than I had intended to hide the damage!!  Anyway, it does make a nice addition to the stock being a privately owned wagon (and not an Open coal wagon) :

 

 

So now I have 42 wagons, and am almost ready to take Modbury to RailWells in mid-August!!

 

Thanks for looking

Ian

 

[Compound2632]

One can never have too many wagons.

[Miss Prism]

You might want to reconsider renumbering the O4. The O4s were 7'6" wide. The O3/5 etc later opens were 8'0" wide.

 

[Compound2632]

57 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

You might want to reconsider renumbering the O4. The O4s were 7'6" wide. The O3/5 etc later opens were 8'0" wide.

 

 

Or just saw 1 mm out of it lengthways.

[Miss Prism]

I think I would pretend it's one of the thousands of uncategorised 4-plankers!

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

I think I would pretend it's one of the thousands of uncategorised 4-plankers!

 

Every one is known and accounted for.

[Ian Smith]

2 hours ago, Miss Prism said:

You might want to reconsider renumbering the O4. The O4s were 7'6" wide. The O3/5 etc later opens were 8'0" wide.

 

Thanks Russ. I did know that. One of the (undocumented) things I did do with my kit bash was to narrow the width slightly. I can’t remember whether I narrowed it by a full millimetre (6”) or as much as I dared by taking a bit off the corner plates each side.

Ian

[Sithlord75]

Replacement transfers can be sent if you'd like Ian.  DM me your address and I'll stick one in the post if so.  Mind you, I think it looks suitably dirty and used as it is!

 

[nick_bastable]

very very nice but would the lime wash extend over the end? not familiar with the prototype so may well have done 

 

[Bluemonkey presents....]

6 hours ago, nick_bastable said:

very very nice but would the lime wash extend over the end? not familiar with the prototype so may well have done 

 

Many of the pictures in my research showed ends covered some even much higher.

[queensquare]

 

13 hours ago, Miss Prism said:

You might want to reconsider renumbering the O4. The O4s were 7'6" wide. The O3/5 etc later opens were 8'0" wide.

 

 

 

Oh dear, you would have a field day with my wagons. Most of the numbers on mine are made up - many are just a series of dots and dashes. Ive been complimented more than once on how good the tiny letters and numbers on some of my stock looks - usually on stock where there isnt any!!

This is 2mm scale.

 

Fantastic work as ever Ian. Look forward to seeing you at Wells next month,

 

Jerry

Edited July 12, 2022 by queensquare

[Ian Smith]

11 hours ago, Sithlord75 said:

Replacement transfers can be sent if you'd like Ian.  DM me your address and I'll stick one in the post if so.  Mind you, I think it looks suitably dirty and used as it is!

 

Kevin,

Thanks for the offer but I’m happy with it as it is. It looks suitably dirty (although I have to admit that I don’t know what colour coal tar was, or indeed how viscous it was).

 

9 hours ago, nick_bastable said:

very very nice but would the lime wash extend over the end? not familiar with the prototype so may well have done 

 

Nick,

The early wagons had slots in the ends as in the sides. I actually have a photo of the end of a wooden framed cattle wagon that has the lime wash seeping through the gaps in the planks all the way to the roof!  However if I modelled that I’m sure it would be questioned so I’d need to take the photographic evidence to all the exhibitions I attend 😂

Ian

[Ian Morgan]

15 minutes ago, Ian Smith said:

 I have to admit that I don’t know what colour coal tar was, or indeed how viscous it was.

 

 

Coal Tar Soap was brown, as was a Coal Tar Shampoo I used to use. Don't know if that helps ...

[Compound2632]

5 minutes ago, Ian Morgan said:

Coal Tar Soap was brown, as was a Coal Tar Shampoo I used to use. Don't know if that helps ...

 

But the wagon is for the conveyance of the raw ingredient, not the finished product!

[PaulCheffus]

4 hours ago, Ian Smith said:

Kevin,

Thanks for the offer but I’m happy with it as it is. It looks suitably dirty (although I have to admit that I don’t know what colour coal tar was, or indeed how viscous it was).

 

Nick,

The early wagons had slots in the ends as in the sides. I actually have a photo of the end of a wooden framed cattle wagon that has the lime wash seeping through the gaps in the planks all the way to the roof!  However if I modelled that I’m sure it would be questioned so I’d need to take the photographic evidence to all the exhibitions I attend 😂

Ian

Hi

 

When I’ve used homemade or the Alps printed type of transfers I coat them with Johnson’s Klear to seal them. It’s then possible to overcoat with enamel paint but not sure if it would withstand thinners.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[2mm Andy]

7 hours ago, queensquare said:

Most of the numbers on mine are made up - many are just a series of dots and dashes.

 

Jerry

Morse code in 2mm? 😁

[lambiedg]

Re coal tar:

 

I used to work in the steel industry where coal tar was a by product of coke production.

No surprises regarding colour - black

viscosity was variable depending on how much water was entrained.

At it’s best it would be like runny honey.

Thank goodness you don’t model smell though it was like very strong bitumen and it’s chemical composition was foul.