Enfys_Rainbow

Hi all, Well here's round one completed. I did indeed lighten the bauxite to improve the contrast with the "rust". The rust itself is a mix of red brown and dark grey applied using the hairspray chipping method. Matt

This is the stuff from eBay - 7 sheets of textured brick paper. Just cover the postage please. Matt

Sorry for the delay in replying! Good question... and I'm not sure how I'm going to do it yet! Before I do anything though, I need to repaint the body - although it looks ok in the photo above, in the cold light of day, the colour is far too brown for my liking. Subjective I know, but I need to tweak it first so it's a bit more bauxite. Matt

I was browsing the workbench topics earlier and saw @Kylestrome had posted about a Bachmann 13t open wagon. I remembered I had one of these myself, so I dug it out to have a look at. I made a few quick tweaks to the underframe and added some alternative couplings but that's it. I really don't like the weathered finish - to my eye, at least, it's not very convincing so I've given it a quick repaint ready for some weathering. Matt

Another great looking kit! Looking forward to seeing more photos in due course. Matt

Thanks both - there's an article in MRJ Compendium 3 about this kit. That's the only article I've found myself. Matt

Hi all, I've long harboured a desire to work in 7mm scale, but have always been put off by the "usual" reasons not to. I've made several false starts over the last few years, and indeed have bought a couple of wagon kits, but I'm yet to do much with any of them. A recent purchase of a loco has reawakened this interest and, while I'm not likely to build a layout or give up 4mm modelling any time soon, sometimes it's nice to just do something different. And one day, eventually, I may have enough bits to do something with. Rather than start with something more traditional, like a wagon or a structure, I thought I'd give a vehicle a go - for no reason other than I fancied it! This is the Classic Commercials kit of an Austin K8 Three-Way Van. It's a lovely kit, with a wonderful one piece resin bodyshell. All I've done so far is shown in the photos below: Progress will be incredibly slow - my modelling time and motivation is limited at the best of times - but I will share progress with this, and hopefully other projects, as things progress. Matt

Bit more progress with the Post Office. Now painted and weathered. The windows and door look less double glazed now! I've not finished tiling the rear roof and haven't added the bargeboard either yet. Matt

Hi all, Not much progress recently until now! Many months (probably years) ago, I built a structure that would feature prominently at the front of the layout. This one: I very much like this building, and I was very pleased with it's construction. However recently I started asking myself what it's purpose was in terms of the layout and to be honest, I have no idea! For a while I considered replacing it with a pub, but thought that seemed a bit cliqued. While searching online for inspiration, I came across a now closed Post Office. Immediately I could visualise how this would work in terms of the layout, so I set to work! Construction is old fashioned - the walls are card glued with good old PVA. The "concrete" render is some unidentified filler or grout bought several years ago which I've used on a few buildings now. As it comes, it's pretty gritty and rough - rubbish for DIY, but handy for modelling! It's too course for 4mm scale so needs sanding down to be useable. Windows and doors are scratchbuilt from plastic sheet. While they appear here to be uPVC double glazing, they won't be white when the building is painted! The chimney is a cut down 3d printed item (the fancy bit at the top removed!). The strange shape of the walls is to allow it to fit over certain parts of the baseboard framing. Not finished, obviously, but not bad for two afternoons work. Matt

Hi all, Although the layout itself is only about 4ft long, I can't actually get it in front of me on my workbench, which makes doing any sort of scenic work difficult. I've resorted to making small standalone sections that I can remove and work on individually, then add to the layout. This is a small section of groundwork, between two buildings at the front of the layout. The ground itself is a piece of bog standard polystyrene, roughly cut to shape with various static grasses and flock powder glued to it. I'm not entirely sure how convincing the "grass" is, but it's a reasonable starting point if nothing else. Phone box still to be completed! Matt

Hi Kevin, thanks - yes it is, all plastic sheet.

Hello all, Here's my scratchbuilt Izal Palvan now 98% completed. Matt

Hi all, Thanks for the messages and replies of support - it is much appreciated. I go back to work on Monday and in amongst all the arrangements and phonecalls I've been working away at some small projects to keep me occupied. The Palvan (above) is paused while I wait for a few bits so in the meantime, I've knocked this Telephone Kiosk up from the Langley etched kit. My first attempt a while back was with the Shirescenes one - this was an unmitigated disappointment - I found the side gaps impossible to fill, especially for a clumsy solderer like me. This one is far easier to assemble, even though mines a bit wobbly in places! 6 months ago I'd never have been able to even make the basic side joints with a soldering iron, so that's progress I guess. It's standing on a plinth, knocked up from plastic sheet. This is so it can be sited on a gradient when eventually installed on the layout. Matt

Hi all, I posted a photo of this on the last page. There's a bit of a backstory to this, which I won't bore anyone with yet (maybe once it's completed!). My father unexpectedly passed away last week and in that strange period of time in the immediate aftermath, I picked this back up as a way to occupy myself and focus on something. It's far from perfect, and there are lots of issues (plus it's not finished yet) but, in the face of everything that's happened recently, I'm delighted with it. Matt

Lovely! Especially the grain hopper upgrades - these are on my (long) to-do list of wagons! Matt

I made my own, but used Express Models insulators: Good enough for me, although not as complex as your prototype ones. I'd like more insulators too, however it seems they've been out of stock for at least two years unfortunately based on my checking of their website. Matt

I gloss varnished it before applying the transfers. The white is also from Tamiya. NB: I do not use enamel paint. Everything in this thread - locos, wagons and buildings - are painted with acrylics.

The brown is Tamiya NATO Brown. It's a pretty good match to my eye. Matt

Fake rust corrugated roof now completed. Matt

As a break from wagoneering tonight, I turned my attention to the corrugated loading bay canopy I constructed recently. There's nothing clever here, and no use of magic potions or fluids. The roof (corrugated embossed plastic sheet) has been given a base coat of silver from a rattle can I found in the garage, and then the "rust" sprayed over that, completely randomly and freehand. In fact, this is an opportunity to embrace any wobbles and patchiness! Unfortunately I ran out of time tonight, so I'll have to come back to it tomorrow to do the other half. Matt

PWA fertiliser van now 99% completed. Still a few minor bits of painting to complete, but it's mostly done. Matt

Bit of a random one now. A while ago I started scratchbuilding an Izal Palvan for no reason other than I fancied giving it a go (are other reasons needed?)! It hasn't progressed much, mainly because I got distracted by the PWA van. Now, I know @macgeordie has produced a very fine etched kit (and I own said very fine kit) but while I further practice my soldering skills, I thought I'd attempt some further progress with my scratchbuilt van. Everything so far is from various laminations of plastic sheet, apart from the w-irons of course. Time will tell if this goes any further, but it makes a nice side project around some other stuff. Matt

Hi all, Weathering now underway: Note that the buffers and roof are yet to be painted. Matt

Transfers for PWA wagons are available from @railtec-models

Bit of paint now on the PWA, plus a couple of the larger transfers. Starting to look the part in my opinion! Matt