Matt's random workbench

[matto21]

In what has to be a pretty productive couple of days, here's another two to add to the pile...

An old Bachmann VAA repainted and weathered:



A Parkside slope sided mineral wagon for no reason other than I fancied building it!



I used the kit supplied decals as I had nothing else suitable and they were awful - smudged and blurred. I'll be adding more weathering to the markings in particular to tone them down further.

Matt

 

[NHY 581]

Looking very nice, Matt.

Lovely faded paintwork on the VAA.


Rob.

 

[matto21]

Looking very nice, Matt.

Lovely faded paintwork on the VAA.


Rob.

Thanks Rob! If you think that's faded, wait till you see my next one!

 

[matto21]

Hello all,

Here's the other Bachmann VAA completed, and even more faded this time.



Matt

 

[matto21]

I've been working on a few (well 2) Parkside minerals, attempting some heavy rusting.

First up is a slope sided wagon. Based on my observations of photos online, the sloped sides seem to rust very heavily, whereas the top edges clung on to some of their paint.

This was my first attempt...



I decided I didn't like the door or the "striped" nature of the finish so I reworked it...



Annoyingly this has developed a bit of a rocking motion despite being flat when constructed.

Second is an unfitted 16t wagon. This has been painted and repainted several times and I've never been too happy with it. While browsing the Bartlett site, I came across this pic and thought I could imitate it:

BR 16t Mineral welded diag 1/108 & 117 unfitted MCO ZHO ZYO | B155821 COAL 16

Here's my attempt...



Next up I'm working on an old Cambrian Turbot.

Matt

 

[matto21]

Talking of Cambrian Turbots, here it is.

Despite its age, its still a decent kit to build and with care, can be made into a nice model.

I know there's an etched underframe available, but I just built mine as intended, with the exception of buffers, pipes and lamp irons.



With careful painting, the whole thing comes to life. The yellow stripe requires some careful masking. First time around I actually painted both the yellow and grey too light, and had to then carefully overspray both colours freehand.



I was very displeased with my first attempt at rusting the sides, I just couldn't remove the paint from some areas which led to yet more touching up of both colours.

Markings are a mix of Modelmaster and Fox (I much prefer Fox transfers).

The underframe isn't quite finished in these pictures.





Matt

 

[matto21]

I've been busy tinkering with wagons again. My modelling motto is fast becoming "when in doubt, build wagons"!

I posted this old Grampus previously. Although I was reasonably pleased with the rusted appearance, it was just a bit boring to my eye.

I tried various things to improve it and none were particularly good. I was about to give up when I came across a random photo online of a Grampus patch painted irregularity in green. I quite liked it so I copied it!





Although not perfect, I am happier with it now.

I also recently came across some wagons I was unfamiliar with. I realise that I'm starting to drift away from my preferred period with these, and the recent VAA's and VEA's but hey ho, I like building stuff that appeals to me!

The first is an ODA. I'd not seen one of these before, and while the model isn't anything clever - it's made from the almost standard combination of Parkside Pipe wagon body and VEA underframe parts - I have enjoyed it, and I've wanted to do one for a while.



I unexpectedly had to fabricate my own solebars because both kit parts had snapped in half. I think they'll look OK once painted though.

The second wagon is a Tope. Again, not a wagon I was familiar with, but when I realised it was possible to build one by adapting the Parkside 21t hopper, I couldn't resist, and it'll go nicely with my other grey/yellow Departmental wagons.



Finally, I have slowly been getting my scratchbuilt Trout ready for paint. It's nearly ready now.



Thanks for looking!

Matt

 

[matto21]

I've started working on the Tope. I've reduced the height of the hopper by eye, so no guarantees to its accuracy.

The hopper itself builds up well, providing you have 4 hands, but it's the underframe and chassis that are causing an issue with this at the moment.

I haven't decided if something is fouling the wheels, or if the wheels themselves are the issue. Either way, it'll need a bit of fettling.



Minor issues aside, I think it'll look decent when painted and weathered, and it's only going to see occasional use anyway.

Matt

 

[matto21]

The Tope is now ready for the paint shop.



The end handrails were...interesting and a real challenge. Theyre a bit wonky as a result but life is too short to faff any more!

I'm pleased with the end result but can't see myself doing another one!

Matt

 

[AJC]

Neatly done - I shouldn't worry about the handrails as they're a fiddle to do and likely to get battered in reality. Certainly that's the case for the 21 tonners in coal traffic; I'm not sure I ever saw a Tope in real life, but they were vehicles on their second body and third refit, I would expect that they got tatty very quickly. Here's something suitably battered from Paul Bartlett: BR Tope 21t coal hopper - rebuilt as TOPE ZDV ZCV | LDB970850_ZCV_TOPE__m_

Adam

 

[matto21]

Oh yes, I'm well aware they got battered in real life. I guess the wonkiness just bothers my eye!

No more though, one is plenty!

Matt

 

[matto21]

The Tope is now finished.





I'm pleased with the final result, but can't say I'll do another anytime soon!

Matt

 

[matto21]

Hello all,

Another quick project. Old Parkside mineral, stripped and repainted.

Transfers are from Fox.



And my mineral "rake" so far!



I really should do a) a cleaner, greyer one and b) a fitted one!

Matt

 

[matto21]

Amazingly these are the first Airfix minerals I've had (can't say built).

I took a punt on Ebay about 12 months ago on two pre-built and painted Airfix 16t minerals. After stripping the poor paintwork, I realised both wagons had damaged underframes and one had damaged bodywork.

Undeterred, I repaired the underframe on one by gluing and clamping it back together, and repaired the damage by removing the top doors and replacing them with some plastic to represent sheeted replacements.

The other wagon needed a whole new underframe so I replaced it with one from Parkside.



I've also replaced the buffers on both with some from LMS.

Matt

 

[matto21]

Here's the first of the two Airfix 16 tonners from my previous post.

I fully intended this to be a less rusty example but I got carried away!

I realise now that I've applied the stripe the wrong way round on one side. I didn't even notice - that's carelessness for you!

Pretend you didn't see it!





Matt

 

[matto21]

The other mineral above has been converted into a fitted version using some spare Parkside bits and etched tiebars from Cambrian.



I've also started an old Dapol kit too. The solebars were badly warped so it's a miracle that it runs, let alone runs well.

Just needs buffers to complete before paint. Top door has been removed for a bit of variation.



Matt

 

[matto21]

Another day, another about turn. This is a long time project of mine that's been on the back burner for more than a few years now.

I actually started this several years ago and got as far as stripping the paint before it got put away again. Then about 12 months ago, I had plans to crack on, but an unfortunate accident involving my toddler daughter meant the cracking was literal...



I finally managed to obtain a replacement bodyshell and again stripped the paint ready to make a start.

A break down of the work I'm planning to do is:

> Replace all the handrails
> Add new lamp brackets
> New fan grille
> New glazing
> Bufferbeam details
> Refine the battery boxes
> Repaint and weather

So far I've managed to remove all the moulded details from the cab fronts, and extract the roof fan. I have added a ring of plastic sheet to the hole because my extraction wasn't as tidy as it could have been and also to give a bit more surface area to glue the grille to.





I'm undecided as yet which livery I'm going to do. I'm torn between BR Blue (my preferred era but a livery I actually don't think suited the 31), Departmental Grey, early RF (minus Red Stripe) or Dutch.

Matt

 

[matto21]

Hello all,

Yet another mineral wagon off the production line, this time the modified Dapol one above.




I've intentionally kept it a bit cleaner for a bit of variation.

I'm enjoying doing these 16 tonners, they're nice individual projects.

Matt

 

[Al Tait]

I'm undecided as yet which livery I'm going to do. I'm torn between BR Blue (my preferred era but a livery I actually don't think suited the 31), Departmental Grey, early RF (minus Red Stripe) or Dutch.
Matt

If you've still got the demic body shell you could always go for 31302 with the extra grills on one side. Blue, Railfreight or petroleum I think.

 

[matto21]

I've been messing about with some old wagons again, trying to breathe new life into them.

I originally built a couple of Parkside 24.5t minerals about 10 years ago. They were OK, nothing special and I'd stashed them away. I recently found 2 of them after a workroom tidy up and fancied repainting them.

Here's the first one. I had to repair some damage, and although the open door is a bit of a gimmick, it served a purpose as the moulded door had sustained a bit of damage while in storage.



Using the ever useful Bartlett site for inspiration, here's my semi-completed attempt at representing a rusty, replated example.





The second is reasonable as it is. I'm just going to add to the weathering I think.



Thanks for looking

Matt