Bluemonkey presents....

Yer Tis This said I have used my freight grey substitute (Vallejo 71.052 Anthracite grey) and washed it with black (citadel Nuln Oil) . Mainly on the coal wagons as I can not find anything to support either colour definitively. I am still minded to used a 'weather' black for a CC7 rather than grey and black wash.

I have read somewhere they were black, white roof and lettering. I'll try and find the book ref.

Rich, I didn't realise you had printed those two vans.

I can not thank the pair enough for such a lovely model, thank you Mr Wolf and Chuffinghell.

I have had a little nudge to get on with it so I have found a decent amount of time to concentrate on some serious work. First off the bat was to complete the Signal Dept wagons. I have been contemplating loading them with grubby, rusty and broken kit, chains signal bits, arms etc but have decided to go for interior paint job so I can load possibly at a later point. I have tried to give the appearance of unkept open wagon interior that is bashed and marked through use, rust and grease/oil. Currently half way through those 1 plankers/match truck/single bolster wagons then they can be thrown in the box of who cares? On to something a lot more interesting and accurate. With the fast approaching CC7 from @chuffinghell I have had the hurry up to finish the CC2 from @chuffinghell and @MrWolf. Personally I am over the moon with the model provided. Great details, outstanding features and thoroughly researched and accurately based (unlike those 1 plankers!). Hopefully my finish has done the model justice. I have tried to give the wagon a used but not run in service often appearance. The base colour grey was airbrushed and the roof sprayed with car spray paint white primer. Everything else I used a black wash (Citadel Nulun Oil) and rust/dirt has been dry-brushed (Vallejo Rust 71.080), (except transfers from @railtec-models). The roof has been dirtied by dry brushing the same freight grey used for the wagon (Vallejo Anthracite 71.052) and straight black for the lamp exhaust holes (sorry about the pictures the light washes out the weathering). The lighting is the same but clearly changes in the pictures, apologies. I read on either @chuffinghell or @MrWolf threads that during development it was muted about the closing relation in build and size to the iron mink. Here's a comparison shot for fun but clearly shows the difference, mink is a Ratio kit without any modifications.

First class, really nice details. Love it.

Very very pleased, many thanks. They are perfect.

Chris, using the CC2 kit as reference you kit is superior and @MrWolf is spot on.

Well the use of the white primer has paid off in a couple of ways; the matt/dull finished and that of keeping the details free from clogging. The draw back was it took 7 coats to ensure no pen marks were visible and a further coat now to try and marry the skylight colour. Roof is not attached, that's the next hurdle but here it is in situ. Glazing and end handrails to complete. The destination boards have been salvaged and reinforced with another piece of brass sheet shaped and attached. Lost one of the transfers but Steve makes 3 to a set so luckily I have the spare to finish off later. These will be attached to the board stanchions with a little glue and then all done. (sounds straight forward..................right?!)

Roof ready for painting having soldered the pipe work, chimney and name board stanchions. Not the neatest job and certainly not one I be satisfied with for a commission but currently needs must and it is for me, hopefully the paint will cover anyway. Painting - For larger and general paint jobs (black and white) I have always used spray can paint. I could airbrush it but I find it quite an ordeal to get everything out to do a little spraying and then all the strip down and cleaning. Lazy I know but I can, can spray multiple items of primer, black and/or white in very little time and all at the same time, quite possibly in the same amount of time it would take for me to get everything ready to airbrush. The only 'general' colour I airbrush is freight grey. This gives me the excuse to build numerous wagons first before any painting 😏 Black matt and glass white but found the white to be very thick and often losing details through over painting so I am using white spray primer now as I noticed with the same branded primer the details remain clear and sharp even if a little extra paint happens in areas. This I used on the CC2 roof and it worked very well keeping all the fine rivet detail proud and clear.

Slowly getting mine to the transfer stage. Thank you Chris. (roof not attached). Certainly very much interested in a CC7 as well please!!!!

Haven't had much spare time to allow a huge amount of modelling to take place this week. I have been (slowly) getting the mess coach roof detailed, whilst being distracted with............ The the creator @chuffinghell and assistant designer @MrWolf project for a CC2 wagon. Very kindly Chuffers has printed me a version of his CC2. Body primed, interior blackened and roof ready for glazing and finally attaching to the body. I was very excited to receive such a fine model so only naturally I have been distracted. Certainly watching the development of the CC7 with much interest as the detailing on the CC2 is finetastic! Using the original roof as a template I mapped out the rain strips, roof vents and gas light tops. I have successfully removed the toilet roof vent and intend to reuse this as the rivet detail (in my opinion) is rather good. I remembered that this vent was a later discovery before and had to be added after the the rain strips where in place, meaning they had to be cut and removed in places. In order not to repeat the error and to position the breaks I revisited my pictures. This also highlighted another foolish error on my behalf, I had copied a double rain strip when there should be only a single. The Swindon coach certainly only had a single. Hours or trawling through books and the internet, as well as save documents to try and find why I originally had two strips came up with absolutely nothing so Lord only knows where and why I originally did this. So another evening was spent removing the upper rain strip and making good the marks through attaching. Skylights are painted separately to avoid any potential voids when painting the roof. These are positioned ready for the gas piping to put in place. The ideal of this is to have pipes flush to the sides of the skylights ensuring no visible gap between roof and skylight base and to ensure everything is aligned. The skylights are another product of the CC2 project, as I cheekily ask @chuffinghell if he would be able to print some separate to the roof of which he very kindly did and they are cracking. High praise and thanks. With the skylights in position I tried to use my normal plastic rod method to add the pipe details but this proved too thick and meant that the pipes where not straight, having to bow around the vents and skylights. A replacement was sourced in the form of some brass wire. To be honest this is better and finer anyway and should have been my 'go to' in the first place. This will be bent and solder tagged in place before I decide on whether to completely solder attached or dribble a little glue. The wire appears bowed, this is only the natural curvature of the wire whilst not attached. Once completed skylights will be removed and the roof painted, reattaching the skylights before glazing and attached the roof boards. I think I am going to have to remake these and probably get another set of transfers from @railtec-models as these are 3D and superb.

Thank you and yes these are excellent certainly much finer than my scratch effort. It is always a pleasure to be helped or to help others of a similar interest. Not sure about allotments but I certainly looked into the (if memory serves) Shire Scene cold frames but without physically seeing one was unable to gauge how suitable they could have been.

Having been full of great ideas for the day everything seems to have gone 'out the window!' Got a little of what I wanted to finish today done including making a start on the CC2 purchased from the exceptional joint project of @chuffinghell and @MrWolf. As a direct result of their endeavors a set of replacement skylights have also been produced to aid my final attempt at the bogied mess coach roof.

I have something rather fitting, made for me by a very talented and nice man.

Got a little fettling to do this weekend. I tried to keep the cuts neat but will need a lot of work to square off.

Remarked and drilled ready for the reclaimed vents and light pots. Just have to cut out skylight holes - some exciting news regarding these but need a little play first.

Morning Rich, I also have an appetite for consuming 0.5mm drill bits but unable to source a decent supplier of single sized bits. Do you happen to have any recommendations please? Mine tend to snap as I pierce through the metal I am drilling. Cheers Matt

Not sure I much good at real life things. Thank you both a much better fit than my previous effort.

Oh, the reason for the celebration of something so simple is the fact I resisted the temptation to run my hand and fingers along the edges when bending and straightening. Black hands from ink not red hands from wounds.

Well, the iron is still hot so on I strike. After marking out the various locator holes for vents and skylights I figure a little manipulation would be ideal. With the use of some very Specialised tools; Also in use was a metal rule and a file as a straight edge (no filing here) After about an hour of rolling around and flexing everywhere I got close; Using the rule and file I managed to carefully flatten the central part of the roof whilst keeping the sharp curved edges. I am pretty happy with the profile and the fit. Once secured and held with rubber bands whilst adhesive goes off it should work. First though I have to cut, drill add details and paint before. Today's permanent markers are not what they used to be. Started with the cut markes all marked out and ended with blackened hands and a shiny roof! Well better to have a roof that works and dirty hands. Off to make a curry to celebrate.

Reclaim, recycle and rebuild. It has taken months but finally I have the motivation to give the bogie mess coach roof another bash. Not looking forward to remaking those skylights though! From memory 3-4 hours each!

The kits are nice to build although the brake gear and rigging is flush to the W irons so need encouragement to return anywhere near the wheels or complete replacement. I'm not sure which T diagram they are representing as the wagon details seem to be a mix of the shorter 10T and 14T. Not seen any around for a while but they were going at silly price a while ago, especially for essentially a long wheel base 2 planker.

Broke my large flat one. Have to wait for Christmas now 😜

love em