Just a thought, but I have drawn on Powerpoint some lettering, etc., for some G3 wagons I hope to make, and will be trying to get a manufacturer to produce transfers for me. These are made to go on an A4 size of transfer sheet. The main transfer is 18cm wide. I envisage cutting the transfers into pieces before application, and "blending" the black transfer into the background black colour of the wagon side. I chose the design because a) it's compatible with my favourite locomotive - an 0-4-0+0-4-0 industrial Garratt; b) it's colourful; and c) it's based on a black wagon, which makes the background for the transfers easier to manage. I know the design is not flawless (the letter shading is not perfect, and the central motif is a little irregular), but I am happy with it. Can anyone see a problem with my idea? Would anyone else like to join my proposed scheme to purchase this "bespoke" design?
Very nice work David. I used to live in Baddesley Ensor village in the late 70's. My neighbour Joe, who lived opposite me across the lane was the colliery's Blacksmith. All lovely people and the very best of neighbours. When I first moved in, I didn't have too much and the grass got a bit long. I came home one evening and Wally (next door) had been out cutting his "grass" (they didn't have "lawns") - and had done mine too (front & back). I thanked him and smiling gently he said "No problem Ian - I'm sure you would have done it eventually". So that's how I got a lawn mover before a kitchen table! One other 'Baddesley' story. I was in the Red Lion one evening and asked the Landlord where he was from. He said another village about three miles away. So I remarked that he was "local" then. He laughed and said "No Lad, you're not local around here till your Grannies buried across the road" (in the graveyard). But even as an 'outsider' - I was always welcomed and looked after. Very fond memories. Have you thought about printing your 'transfers' David - Ted Sadler got a really nice result with his wagon doing it that way... Regards, IanT
P.S. Ted's original NL article about his 'Ricketts' coal wagon is on the G3S website download page - It's article No 40 "A Steadier Hand than Mine" https://www.gauge3.org.uk/downloads-available-to-members ( Note - downloads are available to non-G3S Members too! ) Regards, IanT
David I can laser print white and colours onto waterslide transfer paper so you can apply them to a black painted wagon. If you can provide full size pdf files, one for the white letters and the shape of all the other colours and one for just the colours, I can print them as two sheets to be applied one over the other. It will work much better than printing the black background, which I think you are trying to do.
Overseer, do you think that will work in Gauge 3? There is so much more relief and lumps and bumps that the white will not stretch evenly, so I'm wondering whether it will still line up with the subsequent layer. Would be great if it did. David - if Overseer's plan works I'd take a couple of sets from you. Mike
I'm contacting Overseer by personal e-mail, because this looks like a very welcome offer. If I understand correctly it is quite like the Powsides version for my S7 wagons, where I had to apply the red cross after the rest of the waterside transfers. Fiddly, but it worked OK. I understand what you are saying about the knobbly bits, though, and lining up the shading of the letters will be difficult. Happy to give it a try, though.
It certainly helps Max, but in Gauge 3 the relief can be quite a lot and I never manage 100%. In fact I'm lucky to manage 50% but know others do better! Mike
David had a friendly graphic designer produce some pdf files for the artwork which look nice. He has only seen these photos so far - The BADDESLEY lettering worked well first time but the other sheet was a problem. The red was not adhering to the white very well when overprinted as seen in the second photo so the red and green were printed on a separate sheet so they can be manually applied on top of the white. The red colour is solid while the green has some screening visible close up. I am not sure why the red reacted the way it did while the green seemed fine.
Overseer has done a great job. My application is not perfect, and not finished yet, but here is the first try! I can see a number of defects, but overall I am very pleased. The number is angled, and the application of colours one on top of another is clearly very difficult exactly to position. To try to position TWO colours (red and green) exactly onto the background white is clearly extremely tricky. Overseer has sent some transfers in single colours as well and overlaid colours: I think the number will have to come off and be replaced first with a white-only transfer, then overlay the green shading. The raised detail is clearly a problem for me also: I think I might try to obtain the same shades of paint in red, green and white (?!) to fill any defects I create in the transfers when I press them down. The transfers which i thought would be most difficult (the small writing ones) have come out beautifully. Thank you, Fraser. I will post again once the "final" result is obtained. Bye-the-bye: I hadn't realised until this topic came up, that for some of the Private Owner wagons, exactly which livery should be use for which wagon is uncertain: Final Appeal for help : "Baddesley" coal wagon info. So although the "Baddesley" livery which I like was suggested by Powsides for an RCH 1923 side-doors-only wagon, the best evidence appears to show its use on an end-door-also RCH 1923 coal truck. I was originally building them to be hauled by my Scale Seven Industrial Garratt, by the way. The evidence also suggests that the ball-and-cross symbol should also be in white with a shield line only around it. I like the red, though, so I am going to ignore that piece of historical evidence ! David
David, looking good but a higher gloss finish on the paint will avoid silvering under the transfer film. It might be easier to cut Baddesley into sections to make it easier to apply, the width of an A4 sheet is a big transfer to manage. I didn't expect you to use the out of registration numbers, it is just a standard HP laser printer so it is impossible to control the registration for multiple passes, sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. I am not sure how much expansion of the paper there is but the temperature of the printer does seem to have some impact.
First view of the complete wagon. This is clearly still a work in progress - much finishing still to do. I am at high likelihood of home isolation though, as a hospital doctor, so I should have plenty of time. Can anyone tell me where I can find details (drawings?) of the end-door tipping mechanism, because I would like to model that. This is a Williams "Flexi-kit" so it will have to be full of coal, but the bar about which the end-door lifts is above the door, I think, and so will still be visible. Many thanks to Overseer, who made the transfers, my friend Chris Burns who did the drawings, and of course Mike Williams who makes these kits. I will post pictures of the wagon when finished. David
