Paul's workbench

[nzpaul]

Hi All
Thanks to a long weekend I've managed to make some solid progress on the clerestory coach. The chassis looked a little naked without something behind the foot boards so I've reduced the height (or is that depth ?) of the original stress bars and refitted them to the chassis to bulk things up a bit.
The teak finish is done as described in earlier posts but I've made it darker by covering the base colour with a heavier coat of dark brown. Lettering and the imaginary number are old Pessfix transfers as usual. There's still a bit of finishing work to do, including some weathering, shame to ruin with muck, but it's supposed to represent an old coach with a million miles on the clock so I'd better dirty the thing up. Photos of it looking shiny and new.

Cheers
Paul

[nzpaul]

Hi All
I know this is a little pale compared to some of the work being spewed forth from some very talented model makers on our forum, but here's my clerestory coach as a finished product. Now weathered to create something looking pretty well used. I'm no expert at this weathering business yet, but I have succeeded in toning down the gloss and darkening the teak effect as well as dirtying the undercarriage . I've simply blown over the whole thing with a black/brown mix but kept the airbrush moving fairly quickly to dust it rather than give it a coat of grime, it's turned out ok in my eyes, but I'm biased I guess.

Cheers
Paul

[S.A.C. Martin]

Really impressed Paul, breathes a breath of fresh air into an older model and makes it more interesting too. I wonder if the older Gresley coaches could be used for some articulated sets with modifications, of course?

[nzpaul]

Thanks Simon, very kind of you to say. There's a couple of bow ended articulated twins illustrated in Michael Harris' "Gresley Coaches" that could possibly be bashed out of the old Hornby models, might have to look into that.

Cheers
Paul

[jwealleans]

Paul, if those coaches had been in traffic long enough for the teak to weather and dirty down like that, the roofs would be getting on black in colour. White roofs very quickly went off in traffic.

[nzpaul]

Now that you mention the roof, you've confirmed something I was uneasy with, the roof still looks too shiny despite the weathering. I'll take your advice and go with a dark grey similar to your own coaches I think. Thanks for your thoughts and advice.

Paul

[jwealleans]

No problem. I don't know if you've picked up on it but I mix talc into the paint I use for roofs. It gives a slight texture and matts down the paint as well, so you get a contract with the (usually) shinier sides.

[Atlantic 3279]

First time I've spotted these coaches. Looks like they've worked out quite well. I'm glad the roof did its job.

[Hatfield Shed]

Very neat conversion. That's a project to file away for future reference.

... I wonder if the older Gresley coaches could be used for some articulated sets with modifications, of course?

The older Hornby Gresley sleeper is a candidate; it was the first bit of coach bashing I did when pondering a return to UK model railways, which had to be ex-LNER territory if I was going to do it. These vehicles are underlength for the regular 61'6" standard, but not too far adrift for the 56' bodies of the 1926 articulated twin first sleepers, once the bow ends are trimmed off one end and square ends substituted. There's a bit of fiddling around filling a window and moving a door on each coach body, but I feel it can be justly claimed that rebuilt into this form they are better than they were originally on three counts.

It's no longer an obviously underlength vehicle compared to 61'6" stock.
The original underframe trusses and WRONG! bogies also have to go, so the conversion has LNER appearance running gear.
Gresley articulated stock is such a distinctive signature item for the LNER and after, that every mainline East Coast layout needs some. (Just the way an articulated coach breaks up the wheel beats pattern while running brings essential atmosphere in my opinion.)

[nzpaul]

Hi all
Graeme, I couldn't have done it without your work on the roofs in the first place, so thanks again, I hope it's passable as an advert for your roof casting. I've got 3 left so there's more to come, maybe a 12 wheel coach next, I've found some interesting photos in the "Gresley Coaches" book that look like they could be good candidates.
I've painted the roof dark grey this evening and that has changed the character of the whole model, it's not quite so pretty, more workman like, so more in keeping with the original brief. I'll post a photo of the end result next time I have the camera out.

Cheers
Paul

[nzpaul]

Hi All
With the roof painted dark grey I think the coach does looks more as it should, as an unexpected bonus, it also improves the look of the teak.
I've learned a couple of good lessons from this freelance effort, the darker teak effect in particular is a bit more convincing than my earlier efforts.
The next coach project will be a similar conversion to this one, but now that I have a teaking method that I'm really happy with, I'll attempt to base the conversion on prototype coaches.

[Seagull]

That looks remarkably like some of the pictures featured in the Big Four in Colour book.

Alan

[jwealleans]

Much better. If I can continue being a bit of a nitpicker, paint the interior woodwork (I use Humbrol 62 for 3rd class, 186 for first) and see about replacing those white handrails with .7mm brass wire. That will make a significant difference to the appearance as well.

[nzpaul]

I must be getting close if it bears similarity to a colour photo, that's very nice to know.
As for the interior, I'd hardly call that nit picking Jonathan, merely pointing out the obvious, and a cropped, close up photo like that takes no prisoners, the factory raw interior is less in your face from normal viewing distance. Thanks for the tip on interior colours and hand rails, I'll get onto that in due course. I've spent the last couple of modelling evenings sorting out issues that Mick pointed out on my P1 (the buffers have got me a bit stuck at the moment) as well as trying some ideas to make the tender a bit more presentable, it might be worth another photo if it works out well.

Cheers
Paul

[nzpaul]

Hi All
Nothing interesting to report on the model making front but I was wondering if someone might be able to help me. I've been sucked in to being on the planning committee for my clubs next exhibition and landed with the job of contacting prospective exhibitors. As I'm sure most who read my blog are aware, I'm not much of a wordsmith so to save a bit of head scratching, I'm on the hunt for a good, polite but to the point invitation/cover letter to send out to other clubs and traders etc, a "one size fits all" sort of thing. If anyone's able to assist please flick me a pm. (you might even be able to attach the document to the message) or I'll get back to you via email.
Now back to building a batch of Dapol/Airfix presflos....not very LNER, sorry.

Cheers
Paul