Railcar Doodles

It's been a bit of a quiet spell at the workbench of late, but this week I have at least been thinking about doing something, which is a start. I was given a Kato 11-105 bogie chassis for my birthday back in February and have been trying to find a use for it, maybe something a bit novel (for me anyway)... so I started to think about railcars.

Now there aren't many small 15" gauge railcars about, I did consider a 'caricature' version of the Ratty's 'Silver Jubilee' in the style of David Malton's 3D printed 009 models but even that would be pushing it. Then I saw photos on Facebook* that reminded me of a very obscure 15" gauge machine, the Minirail railcar that appeared at the Axe & Lyme railway and went on to Dudley Zoo. These online photos, and one rediscovered in a copy of 'Narrow Gauge Times' that I bought during lockdown, gave enough clues to dimensions, plus I relied on the prior knowledge that most Minirail items are 3ft wide.

As one of my friends said, it does rather look like two 1950s caravans back-to-back! I did put together a drawing but it isn't quite right around the cab side windows and maybe needs a little more overall in length.

There is a minor drawback to this scheme that will only make sense if you see a photo of the real thing (and I cannot share one here for copyright reasons). The Minirail railcar was actually a 4w vehicle, and the Kato chassis has bogies. The wheelbase on the real thing must have been 6-7ft which is a bit longer to scale than the Kato 4w chassis, so the bogie chassis does make a little sense.

But my main issue was that having got over my curiosity about it I wasn't really that bothered about building it. So I started to look for other ideas. I remembered that I had a pair of damaged Avalon line bogie coach sides that Peter Leadley kindly passed on a while ago, so I started to look at what might be feasible with them. One side is complete but the other is quite damaged, however a neat little railcar could result, maybe a battery unit to excuse the lack of engine bay. As a further alternative I part-drew a slightly longer version based on an A1 models chassis frame I have, with a short snout of a bonnet. I am actually less enamoured by that version if I am honest.

Even if the railcar version never gets built I can see a mini coach being built based on that drawing...

Colin

*the photos are in the Narrow Gauge & Miniature Railways of the British Isles group - you may need to be a member to see them.

Skale Tree Surgery - Revisited

I've been tinkering with trees again, not the 'tree two' I referred to in a previous post but certainly a second tree. This was last seen back in April 2021 in Skale Tree Surgery, being a new generation Hornby Skale Scenics tree reworked with new foliage. At the time I was pleased with the outcome but after the success of the half-relief tree I decided to revisit it again as with hindsight it wasn't the result I wanted, now finding that it looked a bit too "straggly".

April 2021 - the first attempt at new foliage

So, I again stripped back the foliage (luckily stuck with water soluble PVA), and started again. I was going to use Woodland Scenics medium green foliage again, but feared my supply was low (I had to restock to complete this tree first time around). Whilst drifting to sleep one evening I remembered that I had an unopened pack of Skale Scenics foliage from the original range, on checking the following day I discovered it was R8833 light green, medium foliage fibre clusters. Having had reservations about using similar material on the half relief tree as it had looked bit too flat, on opening the pack these drifted away and I set to work. 

There are no progress photos, I just dug straight in and got on with it over a series of sessions, this is the result.

Having deployed many of the tricks used on the half-relief tree, such as layering material and stretching it further, I am much happier with the result over last years effort, the foliage is much fuller and has much better shape, even if the other side is definitely the back!

From the top I used a trick in Gordon Gravett's book, spreading a single, teased piece of foliage across all of the top level branches, and trimming it back prior to adding further layers.

I think it is likely that this tree will be retained for a future 4mm scale project rather than 7mm scale, but we shall see...  

Colin

Finished Business - a 15" Workhorse

Last seen a month ago, things have moved on with my O9 4w internal combustion loco build with it emerging from the paintshop. I'd say resplendent but it is clearly a little way from it, being finished in a work-a-day style befitting of a little workhorse, even on 15" gauge.

The first step was a coat of grey primer, allowing identification and rectification of any issues. 

Once tidied the grey primer was overcoated with Halfords red primer as a basis for a red livery, the chosen colour being Citadel 'Mephiston Red' (lighter I believe than the old 'Scab Red'). It is unusual for me to brush paint a loco but on this occasion I gave it a try. Three even coats were required, with a day between coats to dry and very light use of dry 1500 wet and dry to remove any blips in the finish.

The buffer beams were originally going to be yellow with black chevrons, to the point of being white primed and sprayed yellow! But I realised as this may need to represent a machine being used in the 1960s such things had not really reached the minimum gauge at that time so after rubbing down red primer was applied and three coats of Vallejo red applied instead.

The underframe areas are finished in an off black, black mixed down with brown to make it less "black". I had originally used Vallejo black-grey in this area but it looked wrong, although this colour did form the basis of the cab roof.

The headlights were painted off the model and given a fill of Araldite after vanishing. The whole model was sprayed with Humbrol matt acrylic aerosol varnish, taking care to pick a good day weather wise over Easter and not to over-coat whilst wet, which inevitably leads to blooming in the finish. As well as adding headlights after varnishing, the air horn was also added, being pre-painted from a previous life on SMR no.3. The cab front windows were glazed with 20 thou material, held in place with Johnson's Kleer. This is a single piece of glazing so I resorted to using a window weathering colour on the inside of the cab to hide any reflections from it, carefully removing paint from he inside of the portal windows with a damp cotton bud.

Weathering relies on washes and dry-brushing. I'm still experimenting with Citadel 'Nuln Oil' as a wash, using it on the bonnet sides around the doors and louvres. Dry brushing included a lightened body colour on edges of the cab and bonnet and some muck etc around the running gear. The final job was to fit Microtrains couplers, and on finding no built 1015 examples in the box I assembled the last three sets in a pack to build up stock and fitted one set to the loco, blackening the screw head and exposed thread. The visible parts of the shiny coupler boxes benefit from a matt brown wash to tone them down.

With the driver installed, set in place with Tacky Wax, the loco is now complete and ready for running trials. I have not added any weight as yet as the new style Kato chassis is an unknown quantity for me.

Colin

 

Tree One - Completed

The half relief tree, also known as 'Tree one' is now complete.

It was a surprise to find that I have used a whole packet of foliage on 1/2 a tree! Towards the end I was getting worried I'd run out as the edge of the foliage mat was quite thick, rubbery and unusable. However, I was able to get all the foliage in place, including additional layers where desired for both appearance and to cover any gaps

The whole tree was then given a waft of hairspray and the loose contents of the bottom of the packet of foliage were sparingly sieved over to add a final layer to the foliage. I was very careful here not to overdo it. A light coat of matt varnish was then used as extra security and to remove any hairspray shine from the trunk, branches and foliage.

I do rather like that gap through the leaves where the big branch is exposed. I may have to consider adding wildlife of some sort here, maybe a couple of birds or even a squirrel. By some unplanned act this same area is actually visible from above too.

One final addition was a run of ivy up the trunk, this uses MiniNature oak leaf foliage carefully PVA glued in place and then sprayed with matt varnish to kill any shine. I've tried to be economic with material as it isn't cheap, but also to not overdo it.

I'm rather pleased with it, I was asked by family how long it all took, and I have no idea, but somewhere between 10-20 hours would be right including the original frame creation last year. Unlike the original build that lived on a shelf in the workshop, the Mk2 version has been swiftly placed in an adapted box ready for future use.

As for 'Tree two', that may have to wait until the layout progresses and the foliage is restocked!

Colin

Tree Painting and Foliage

I have now worked up the colouring of the tree from the base colour of the DAS and bark mix. Sorry there is no step-by-step pictures but the process was fairly simple:

• Overall wash of Citadel 'Nuln Oil', with a spot of water added in places to help it spread out. This darkened the tree to a dark grey, and was left to dry overnight.
• A misting of Humbrol dark brown (29) from an aerosol, this isn't that dark, but a misting adds a nice beige effect to the mix.
• Dry brushing with a mix of Vallejo colours, notably grey-green, London grey and WW1 beige. This varied in different areas of the trunk and branches.
• Stippling with a stiff brush and the colours above, especially on the smoother branches to give an effect of texture.
• More stippling concentrating grey-green and additionally yellow and off-white into those areas that might have a high traffic of birdlife, creating the effect of moss and guano!
  
  

The next step was to start to think about adding foliage, where I felt that I would need to improve on the original to add more depth to it. The original had used Hornby Skale Scenics mid-green foliage and despite having removed this for reuse the stiffness it now has from hairspray meant that it would not be reusable on this tree. New material from the same pack  was used but having got around several of the lower branches I was not too happy with the result, feeling it looked too flat and matted. I ended up taking it back off again and having a rethink.

Posing some Woodland Scenics mid-green material on some of the branches this looked a lot better in terms of texture but was a lighter colour than I desired. I quickly ordered in some dark green material from Broughton Rail via eBay and applied this as a test over a few branches. I suppose in theory each branch should have it's own bit of foliage, some do, but others share with a neighbour depending on how the mood takes me. Material is teased out and trimmed of excess fibres before being glued into place with a run of PVA down the branch.

Working in short sessions the foliage has started to spread around the tree, by the close of play on Good Friday the lower branches of the tree all had cover. Taking a tip for a friend who has been making trees for the Railway Museum layout at York I have added extra layers of foliage in places which does accentuate the texture of the foliage.

A couple of further sessions saw the next layer of branches covered, working methodically around the tree to try and avoid any issues with not being able to access some areas once the foliage is in place in others, though being a half relief tree you can sometimes sneak in around the back!

With any luck the next time the tree appears here it should be all but completed.

Colin

Tree Construction Continues

I'm making progress with the half-relief tree. I've bulked up the trunk using DAS Stone modelling clay, I still need to adjust the branches and then apply bark mix all over the exposed bits of wire frame to match the existing, and also to cover the DAS.

After a couple of days to dry out I was able to mix up a brew of my bark mix and apply it to the tree where required. The mix is formed of grey tile cement, PVA glue and light brown emulsion paint, with a spot of water added during application to keep the mixture liquid enough to apply.

The mix was applied over all new main branches that had not been included in the DAS stage, these were largely wire with some Araldite on them, the mixture blending everything together. The mix was also applied to all the new minor branches, both those added to existing branches and the newer ones, including the Hornby branches incorporated in the upper part of the tree.

The mixture was then thinned again slightly to work over the DAS areas, mostly on the major branches and the trunk. Here I was able to use a stiff brush to add some texture to the bark by both dragging and stippling. It is very subtle but can just be made out here.

The next stage will be to enhance the colouring, using the existing colour as a base and subtly working up from there. I keep having to tell myself that this is going to be a background item and not to look too closely at it, but it is difficult to do that when it is right in front of you!

With this tree now progressing thoughts have been turning to how a second tree could interact with it to disguise a fiddle yard exit, but I have to remind myself to take one step at a time...

Colin

A spot of Tree-cycling

Just over a year ago I constructed a wire-framed tree as something of an experiment, inspired by, but by no means anywhere as good as the writings of Gordon Gravett. 

Mooching around in the workshop at the weekend my eyes fell upon this tree in its resting place on a shelf. I was never quite happy with this, for it's size it didn't really have the bulk it should have and even adding in a couple of extra (not very well secured) branches didn't help. As it was collecting dust and showing some signs of decay I opted to strip off the foliage for potential reuse and cut my losses... except that as I stripped it back I started to wonder if with a little re-arrangement of the existing branches it might have enough bulk as a half-relief tree.

There was only one way to find out and having stripped back a lot of the old bark mix I was able to re-manipulate the branches to suit the half relief style. The two add-on branches had fallen off but were re-configured in new locations with much more secure attachment. New branches were also added in a similar fashion and everything secured with lashings of Araldite.

Feeling there still wasn't enough branch density I had a rummage in the scenics box and found some Hornby R8857 'Wire foliage branches'. The foliage was no great shakes and what there was of it was removed. I then unwound the bottom end of the branches and re-wound them around the branches, again securing with Araldite. These branches are the yucky brown ones in the image above. I also opted to add more fine wire branches to the existing branches to again improve the density.

The result feels a lot more satisfactory than the original arrangement, the next job will be to re-finish the trunk and work back up all the branches, I am intending to use DAS Stone for this, prior to a new mix of bark paint going on.

Colin