This seems to have taken some time to get mostly finished off, but I think I am done (bar adding ballast and the couplers, but I'll sort these out en masse when I have a few vans/wagons built).
Here is a Parkside BY Utility van (Van C) - kit PC34, finished in BR(S) green. Being in the very low range number wise (this is S402S), this has a stove and so has the relevant yellow panels. Many thanks to those who responded helpfully to my thread over here!
Had a couple of hiccups - it took a few goes to mix up a yellow I was happy with, though it's covered with a lot of muck. On one side, the decal prints came off a lot around the number (I had tried to make it look a bit like the number had been cleaned up, as well as the "Guard" markings on the door) - judicious spraying has, er, masked it up a bit!
I've started to work on a few other bits - I may start another van (I have more CCT/PMV kits to start), but I have started a bit of an experiment on renumbering an old Hornby Mk1 with a view to making up a proper Mk1 3 Cor set (probably 542 as it fits with where I'm interested in). I've landed up respraying the sides as the paint was so thin, taking the numbers and crests off has altered the colour... I also need to trip down the library to look at Parkin's Mk1 book to get an idea of the coach ends (other than online pics) - the mouldings on the old Hornby coaches appear the same for every end and type of Mk1 so I'm sure there are improvements to be made (at least adding set numbers, and adding proper toilet tank piping!).
I'm fairly new here (at least at time of writing...!), and very much a beginner compared to the quality of the work here, though when I was a kid (several decades ago) I used to make model aircraft and the like. I started doing a bit of modelling again as my son got his first train set, and my father retired and finally got round to getting a permanent layout setup (about 40 years after he planned to! I am chief electrical officer on that one...).
Anyhow, I decided to have a go at some Parkside kits to start - I don't yet have a layout to run on, apart from a small 8x4 roundy type that my son has that I need to carry on trying to finish off - but my fledgling collection can still grow in the meantime. My interest is in BR Southern region around the 1950-60s - so spanning the BR Crimson and BR(S) time frames, with late steam and early diesel - I grew up in Surrey (a bit later than the 60s I should point out!), and so was very familiar with the railways of South London, and the Central Region.
First up (ignoring the Goods shed I made a few years back for the 8x4...) is a SOuthern Region CCT (with Plywood sides) - kit PC47. As my first Parkside kit, I was a little apprehensive, but it went together quite nicely. I airbrushed it in Railmatch BR Crimson (with black ends - Tamiya acrylic), and have used transfers from @cctransuk which went on very nicely :) The underframe was painted in Humbrol 173. Weathering started off with a dark wash picking out the door frames and external irons, and a little dark streaking down the sides and on the roof. Then airbrushed Railmatch Frame Dirt on the sides, with Railmatch Roof Dirt on top. I went for a fairly dirty look - not quite so bad that the numbers, etc are illegible, and you can still tell it is crimson, but it's very much toned down! Slightly annoying is that one of the cosmetic coupling hooks has dropped off (and I don't have a spare...). NEM pockets to follow - I'll wait until I have a few to do before sorting them out in a batch.
Feedback much appreciated - I've very much learning as I go, but with excellent resources here to look at, as well as YouTube vids, guides etc. Thanks for reading! (I've already started a Van C (BY) as my next item...)
