Next Stop, South Sea Lane

After nearly a month in the paint shop the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway ex-Ashover coach is now painted to my satisfaction. Apart from primer and varnish this has been completely brush painted. The ivory is Vallejo 'Ivory' and the blue Citadel 'Lothern Blue'. The grey and black shades on the roof and underframe are mixed from various blacks/greys etc. Like a fool I forgot to paint any of the interior until after completing the exterior (!) and opted to use a simple scheme of blue/ivory in the vestibules and just grey primer and brown seats inside the saloon - you cannot really tell through the windows.

After a coat of Humbrol aerosol matt varnish the windows have been glazed individually using 20 thou material (sides) and 10 thou (ends), fixed in place with Johnsons Kleer. The roof was then fixed in place with solvent-free Uhu, but not before a couple of low-key plastic figures were added inside at one end. 

I then applied some weathering, a subtle dry-brush around the underframe trusses and bogies, and some slightly less subtle effects on the roof, which had a wash of a translucent brown paint and then dry-brushing in grey/brown. Part of me feels I might have gone a bit too far with the streaks, but I remind myself that it is from a seaside railway and will have encountered it's fair share of Seagull "deposits" that would have been washed down in the rain...

Whilst I mull over the options for a diorama or operational use it has gone into the display case to be admired. In the meantime another coach has appeared in the paint shop to appear in a similar livery, and that is O9...

Colin

From Ashover with Love

Back in February I was given a Meridian Models Ashover coach for my birthday. Having ridden in the real thing a few times at the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway this is an item of interest for me. I had considered doing a build in true LCLR condition, but the more you look at the coaches at Winthorpe, the more the 60 years or more of use and (putting it politely) rebuild work, shows up. Early pictures of them at Humberston reveal that not a great deal could have been left in the 1960s when they were acquired, these are two of the vehicles used as spectator stands so probably lost a lot of material whilst at Clay Cross.

Looking at one of my 2013 pictures, the obvious changes are that the drop-windows are gone on sides and ends, the sliding doors are replaced by hinged doors on one side (fixed panels on the other), the steps are gone and even the underframe trussing is different - it was newly fitted at Humberston.

I have therefore resigned myself to a build of the kit that captures the essence of the LCLR but maybe not the details. I feared that taking great chunks out of the window frames would not end well (or neatly) and the doors seem essential to maintaining squareness. I know others have made very interesting conversions from these kits, but as a first-timer this is essentially a straight-build of the kit.

Further study of photos revealed that the LCLR coaches have no torpedo vents on the roof - of course I checked this after fitting them so off they came and the holes were filled in... The roof of the LCLR examples also looks somehow "heavier" so have used 20 thou material rather than the 15 thou material supplied.

I'm now considering a couple of changes to the build that ought to add some individuality. Having looked at the photos and drawings the handrails by the doors are rather prominent and I am considering adding these in 0.3mm wire. I'm also considering opening up the door windows as a halfway house between ALR and LCLR condition. We shall see...

 

Colin