Tarpaulin sheets for wagons

[upnick]

Hi All,

 

While we are having this cold snap in the weather :roll: i'm keeping warm by the fire & telly in the lounge & concentrating on projects for the layouts

 

This weekend i have been sorting some Graham Farish wagons with new couplers when a 5 plank wagon caught my eye with the potential for a sheeted load.

 

First off i went on google images for some ideas to store in a folder then on to the wagon which started as a Graham Farish standard item which has had the chassis replaced with a Peco NR -123 type to allow Kato Knuckle couplers to be fitted & the original metal wheels replaced for smoother running, before fitting the load some flat fishtank plant weight was added to the wagon interior ... the load was made up of offcuts of balsa & wood dowel of the correct size from my odds & ends box.

 

I had thought of making up the tarpaulin sheet from milliput rolled very thinly & folded/shaped to suit as it is easy to work for a while before it starts to set ........... after looking at my stock of milliput & finding i hadnt left one part in an airtight bag it wasnt viable.

 

Off to the kitchen to make a good coffee & waiting for the kettle i found a potential product .... cling film after cutting a piece just over double the area of the wagon i folded it in half & started to attach it to the wagon sides & load on high spots with a tiny drop of CA shaping with a cocktail stick as i went gently until i was happy with it glueing as i made progress the excess film i gently pulled out from the wagon sides at right angles & trimmed it with scissors leaving the very bottom edge loose for the moment.

For scale rope in N scale it is tricky you have to get really close & the right angle to see the twist in the rope ... although i persisted & offcuts of decoder wire worked well twisted as the insulation was pulled off gently.

 

A tiny 0.03mm drill bit was used on the chassis to thread the rope through & anchor it .. carefully lift the loose bottom edge of the tarpaulin sheet trimmed earlier & CA one end of the rope just under the bottom edge allow to go off & trim just over length to reach the underside of the chassis now thread the other end into the hole drilled hold under tension while appling a tiny drop of CA underneath, repeat around all sides & finally attach the bottom edge of the tarpaulin to the wagon sides.

 

I painted the sheet Humbrol 121 stone & followed it with a black wash it just needs a light weathering powders on the lower part of the chassis /body the ropes painting again & its RTR :wink:

 

The same techniques can be used for other scales the rope just needs to be an appropriate diameter

 

 

[Wibble]

Well it looks like a tarp to me.... thanks for the tip.

 

I've used aluminium foil before, and is easy to form to the shape of whatever's underneath it.