Some wagons rolling on

So over the last couple of weeks I have been working away on a few modelling projects.  These are all ticking on, but nothing seems to be finished.  I made a royal mess of some transfers on a LNER CCT and and ling wagon, so I am currently trying to sort that out.  In the meantime I have finished just one other wagon, an ECC wagon.  It is the Bachmann offering and it is about all there is out there.  The underframe moulding is pretty coarse and chunky, but for expediency I have finished off about four of these now for the layout.  I think that even a poor wagon can be made more presentable with a little bit of weathering and work.  So with this one I picked out some underframe details, just to add a bit of life to the wagon.  All painting was done via the airbrush using Railmatch enamels.  I need some flat tarpaulins for these wagons as per the Meeth works, but it looks like I am going to have to go done the route of making them myself.  So some experimentation coming up....

Another ECC wagon for the layout - now to tackle tarpaulins.....

Another build that has progressing recently is the Herring wagon.  This is the Cambrian kit and I found it a bit confusing to get the underframe sorted out on this.  I spent quite a long time procrastinating about it, but last night managed to get it finally sorted.  It needs a little tidying up here and there, but can be washed ready for painting next weekend.  I currently have another herring wagon, a walrus and an SR 40t hopper to build, alongside a 13T open wagon in 0 gauge.  These kits have been hanging around a while so I am keen to get these finished and then start a new micro layout.  Further updates to follow!

Finished Herring wagon ready for painting (bar a little tidying up).

BR Mk1 CK coach with lights

This week I managed to finish off the BR MK1 CK coach lighting and detailing.  This is third coach finished for the Charlton layout.  The lighting is the Express Models lighting kit, designed to work off DCC.  It is a relatively simple fix to get this into the coach, requiring the cutting down of the internal partitions.  

Finished coach with the lights on.

The effect in the dark is realistic and adds a great dimension to running the layout.

The coach was taken apart and the glazing removed.  The roof, coach sides, chassis/ends and bogies were all detailed individually.  A three link coupling was added to one end of the coach.  Then the body and sides were given an overall weathering wash applied with a paintbrush, with the majority of the wash brushed off.  The sides, roof and chassis were then weathered using an airbrush, with various shades of roof dirt, weathered black, sleeper grime, frame dirt, rust and white added.  The interior moulding was cut down and the seats were painted red, with a handful of passengers added.

Coach taken apart for detailing.

Three link coupling added at one end.

The painted interior.

When this was all complete, the glazing was glued back onto the coach sides and the roof/coach sides joined together.  A small piece of plastic rod was glued to the join between the roof and coach sides and any holes filled with glue and glaze.  This was then painted black in an effort to stop light bleed.  The coach was reassembled with the lighting unit in place.  This was a bit of a tight squeeze.  The pick ups were added to one bogie and the connecting wires to the pick ups soldered on, once the bogies had been reattached.  I drill a small hole in the bogie to feed the wires from the coach to the pick ups.

Pick ups glued onto the bogie.  Note the hole drilled in the bogie to pass the pick up wires through.

The wires from the lighting unit trailing out of the coach.

Overall I am pretty happy with this coach.  There is a tiny bit of light bleed which is really annoying - I either missed it with the paint or the tight squeeze has forced the joint a little.  Either way, I cannot face taking the whole coach apart and it is only on one side, so I am going to live with it for now.  It is not too noticeable but maybe in a few weeks I will take it back apart.

The interior and the passengers visible.

So this is now three coaches with internal lighting and detailing for Charlton.  The three coach train is too long for the run around loop at Charlton, so it will necessitate some interesting manoeuvres, with a locomotive stabled in the siding.  I am doing a show at East Grinsted in March - so I look forward to running this coach then.  I might even get the BSK done in the meantime as well.  I am currently looking at developing the locomotive fleet further and have a Heljan Hymek and Bachmann Class 43 to get on with detailing, so there are plenty of projects to keep me busy.