Engineering Van - GWR Mink in Olive Green

This weekend I have finally managed to get some time to do some modelling!  All of Sunday has so far been spent at the modelling desk, building some wagon kits and doing some painting.  After a few hours a lot of projects feel like they are finally moving forwards - great stuff!  The class 45 is in the process of receiving its final varnish coats and I also finished the rebuilding of a salmon wagon I stripped the paint from in 2016!  Today, I also dropped the wheel sets into the GWR Mink wagon, which has been re-purposed into the engineers fleet.  I have no idea what this wagon would do in real life but it is going to form part of a train, with a motley collection of older wagon stock (a python, PMV, CCT, BY and Mk1 coach) all finished in olive green to add a bit of variety to the trains running on my layouts.

Finished GWR Mink wagon in 1970s olive green.

As per normal this wagon was finished using Railmatch enamel paints applied from an air brush.  The transfers are Modelmaster and it is fitted with metal buffers and three link couplings.  I mixed the olive green to have a faded colour, adding a little drop of white into the green paint, trying to replicate a wagon recently rebuilt, but having lived outdoors for a year or two.  I am very happy with this wagon and have the GWR python wagon ready for transfers, close on its heels.  A Mk1 coach (Bachmann) in olive green is also in the paintshop, so I am hopeful I can finish this rake of rolling pre-xmas.  Otherwise, I hope everyone is well and finding time to model.  

Another milk wagon

Progress has remained painfully slow on the modelling desk, with virtually no time for modelling again this week. This is a shame, but the world is in a strange place at the moment and there is little spare time in my daily life.  Anyhow, I did manage to finish another milk tanker for the layout a couple of weeks ago.  This is another Dapol model; these are not the best, but they all there is on the market.  I take these wagons apart and weather the different components separately before reassembly.  This model was finished with a livery that pre-dates the era I model.  So I painted and weathered over this, after sanding it down.  The idea was for a faded older livery to be poking through the grime.  Anyhow another wagon finished for the rake, only a couple more to do.

Finished milk tanker, with the older livery clearly peeking through.

Although actual modelling has been slow this week and the past couple, I have been thinking a lot about the next layout.  I do not have room to store to Charlton, so I am going to see if I can sell it.  This is quite a painful thing to do, but it is definitely time to move onto the next project and free up some space.  I now have a clear plan what I will do for the next layout, so it is just a question of ordering the baseboards this week.  I already have some of these, so it is a question of joining the dots - hopefully more to follow on this....

Some comings and goings and Charlton station

The last few weeks have been just as time consuming as the rest of this year, meaning modelling continues to take a back seat.  A few models are nearing completion, namely the class 45 and a couple more vans for the engineers department.  This is great, but I am still yet to make a start on the new baseboard for the next micro layout, alongside fairly infrequent starting up of the air brush.  However, a couple of weekends ago I did manage to get the layout set up for an hour or two on Sunday afternoon and run a couple of trains.  So here is a class 25 on an engineers strain, with the recently finished sturgeon wagon, alongside some other kit built stock (dance hall brake van, salmon wagon, CCT, BY and 20t brake van).  Then the same class 25 on parcels train with more kit built stock (CCTs and SPVs).  Just running these trains does give me a great amount of pleasure knowing the time and effort I put into building these different models.  Fingers crossed for some more progress later this month, although time is very limited between now and mid December....

Class 25 on an engineers train.

Same locomotive on the same day on a parcels turn.

A big fish: Sturgeon wagon finished (finally)

This week I managed to find a couple of spare evenings for finishing off the sturgeon wagon.  The wagon is built from the Cambrian kit and I started building it some time in 2016.  Since then, it has sat around in various boxes awaiting painting and I am delighted it is now finally finished.  I put the primer on this wagon about 8 months ago (I think) and have slowly been painting it over the last few months.

Finished sturgeon wagon in Charlton station.

View from the other side.

The wagon was built as per the instructions and painted using an airbrush with Railmatch enamels.  Transfers come from the CCT range, with a few additions from Modelmaster, such as the data panel. Overall, I am delighted with this wagon.  It looks the part and was certainly worth the effort.  There are a few areas where I think the finish could have been better, but I overall I think it looks pretty good.  I currently have another Sturgeon to build, with the doors removed, and I will look to start this kit as soon as I have finished off the multitude of half finished wagon kits I have.  

Some more shots of the finished wagon.

Next weekend I plan to set the layout up on Saturday and spend a little time running some trains.  I will see how this wagon performs on the layout and I am looking forward to seeing it running.  I also have a few other wagons very near completion and the detailing of the class 50 and 45 is progressing well.  All in all, very satisfying to see some progress.

Some buildings for the new micro layout

I have continued to make a little progress on a few models.  Time sometimes seems to run away and a week will pass with absolutely nothing having been achieved.  I think the change of routines due to lockdown and covid has hampered my modelling a little this year, but I am making a concerted effort to find dedicated modelling time and push some projects to completion.  I have a 3ft * 1.5ft baseboard to build for a new microlayout.  It will have a very basic track plan and will be connected to a series of other layouts (well that is the plan!).  So over summer I managed to make a start on two buildings for this first micro  layout, being a goods shed and a platform shelter.

The good shed is an LCUT small goods shed, laser cut, wooden kit.  It is an interesting model to construct and it is my first laser cut kit.  In the building stages it seems a little basic, although I plan to add some guttering and down pipes to flesh out the detail a little.  I am hoping to get it finished over the next week.  Until its painted I will reserve judgement on the kit, but the parts fit together nicely and it seems pretty study.

Goods shed during construction.

Close up showing the detail on the kit.

The second building undergoing construction is the platform and shelter.  I have scratchbuilt the platform shelter from plasticard and rectangular plastic struts.  It is a simple building, but the dimensions look about right.  The platform is also going to be built from plasticard and Dart castings SR platform legs.  The platform itself is an ongoing construction (i.e. I am thinking about it!!!).

Platform shelter after construction.

However, it is pleasing to see the models progressing a little and I might even get around to building the baseboard kit this week!  In addition, a few models are nearing completion in the paint shop, so hopefully a few finished models to post on here in the next couple of weeks.

Some more wagon progress - GWR MInk and Python wagons for the engineers train

Well time has passed over summer and there has been some episodic modelling.  We have been so busy, with work deadlines and trips eating up time, meaning modelling has been very stop start.  However, I have managed to progress a few projects in the paintshop.  A few months ago I put a post of the GWR Mink and Python wagon after building. These wagons are destined for the engineers stock in the 1970s and are loosely based on prototypes with a hefty degree of modellers licence applied.  I have managed to get the basic liveries on these wagons, being rather faded, but clean(ish) olive green and these now require a little more detailed weathering, alongside transfers.  However, it is nice to see some progress.

Mink wagon starting to shape up.

Python truck with faded olive green applied.

I have also started the detailing on the class 45 and 50 body shells alongisde painting these wagons and also have the transfers to apply to the sturgeon wagon, so all in all a little progress.  I have also started the construction of a new station for the next layout, although the baseboard remains unbuilt (still!).  However, with winter drawing in there will be more time in the evenings to make some headway with these projects.  In these strange COVID times it will be nice to hunker down a little in winter and have some modelling time, as well as getting back to updating the blog on a regular basis.

13T Open Wagon

Finished 13T open wagon.

Not an awful lot of modelling has transpired in the last week, although I have got the air brush running this morning and I am going to spend the day building some wagons.  Over the week I did manage to get the last coats of varnish on this 13T steel open wagon.  It the Parkside kit and is finished with a mixture of bauxite and rust.  It is painted with Railmatch enamels and has Modelmaster transfers applied.  As per normal it has 3 link couplings.  Other projects are plodding along and I hope to finish off some more models next week.  I have a few days off work next week and I am hoping to build a new baseboard to start the new layout.