Leaderboard

OK not a bang plate as such, protecting the woodwork on contact with the doorstop (the middle vertical ironwork does that) but a wrap-around piece of steel sheet that protects the top plank of the door when it's dropped onto a loading bank or similar, or just from the wear and tear of having barrows etc. hitting it. It all depends what "bang" you have in mind!

Hand painted. If you pore over the photos in the OPC books you'll find less consistency than you'd think - especially on the 'Tons.Tare' See Russell "Wagons & Loads" figs 123 & 124. P.14 Grampus No. 14351 showing both sides on the same date & plenty of variations between them.

That's a good picture showing how the tops of the planks forming the sides have been chamfered on the top outside edge, and are square on the bottom, so that water drains off, and doesn't sit in the joint. 3D printers please note!

Lettering Mineral Wagons at Faverdale Wagon Works, North Eastern Railway, Darlington. by Man of Yorkshire, on Flickr BTW I was interested to see this stenciling method for smaller lettering. I wonder if something similar was also used in some cases back then: https://quornwagonandwagon.co.uk/2018/04/02/final-touches-and-signwriting/

Good to hear that you found some veneer sheets! I have just measured my crates. I made different types, based on photos. The "standard" looking ones are 10.2 x 8.9 (with, ahem, variations!). But please note I can't remember where I got those measurements. Subsequently Ray measured his own real-world tea crate: According to my scale calculator, in 4mm that is 8.0 x 6.6 x 5.3 mm

Cheers, Dave. Yep and I found it on a dump site so it was free! It took 200 x 3ft lengths that had to be pulled straight in a vice first. About a third of it was waste etc. Those circular braces took up an awful lot and it was a tedious job overall to complete.

Looking good, little people are very thin on the ground at my layout! I quite like the added feeling of "inevitable demise" it gives though.... I have two people in the Wrigley Arms Pub, in Faversham's Scrap Yard - a crane operator, forklift driver and a mechanic (he's barely visible!) Another inspiring post, thank you!