Four Recent Scottish Wagons.

GNoSR coal wagon

Built from a Dragon Models/Celtic Connections kit with minimal improvements, though I did make a wagon plate from a hand drawn original, sized on the computer and printed on the ink jet. Though flat, without relief, these "trompe l'oeuil" printed wagon plates nevertheless fit the bill nicely. The coal load is real coal laboriously glued with thin wood glue to a Plastikard support.

HR d.6 coal wagon

Built from a recently issued Lochgorm Kits "aid to scratch building" with a good many improvements to the basic etches, addition of a printed wagon plate and coal load. The wagon sides were thickened to scale with Slaters' Plastikard planking which was glued to the interior; the join along the top edge of the wagon was disguised by the addition of a thin metal strip which was soldered to the top of the outer skin and slightly overlapped the inner.

I painted all three of the HR wagons with Precision Paints' P953 Dark Brick Red (Matt), transfers are from HMRS. Weathering was by hand dry brushing helped along by a judicious air brushing of my own weathering mix and a good deal of scrubbing with a stiff bristled brush.

HR d.15 open goods wagon.

 

The HR d.15 wagon above is described in an earlier blog posting of March 2016 and is included for comparison with the d.16 open goods wagon below which is built with the help of Lochgorm Kits' recently produced kit for a d.16 open wagon; it is 6" longer than the d.15 above and displays a number other subtle differences of detail which give interest to the pair of opens.




HR d.16 open goods wagon.

Highland Railway d.15 wagon

Underside from the rocking axle end.

Yes, I know it looks the same as the d.16 wagon that was featured in my last posting but it's not, there are some subtle differences... the d.15 is 6" shorter than the previous open wagon I built and...well that's about it! It's not built from a kit, though it's not really scratch built either... it's built from bits and pieces from various sources helped along with some parts I made myself.

This wagon features correct scale thickness sides, a feature that is often a shortcoming with etched open wagon kits ; this was achieved simply by inserting some scrap etch between the inner and outer sides as I built the body of the wagon.

My starting point was a Dragon/Celtic Connections kit for a CR open wagon which I modified by changing the strapping and most of the fittings to create a d.15. The suspension, which relies on a rocking axle for its effectiveness I owe to parts from an etch by AMBIS. Buffers and axle boxes are from Lochgorm Kits though the springs are Slaters', they are held in place to some extent by the double supports for the brake gear on the solebar.

The rivets on the strapping are 3-D printed transfers from Archer Surface Details. I cut them from the strip supplied, positioned them individually and varnished them in place. I've undercoated the wagon now with acid-etch primer and so far they've withstood this and have not fallen off despite being handled. Using them was an experiment and I'm pleased with the result and they certainly look the part.

Coming Soon.

In my next post you'll see the wagon painted along with its companion HR d.29 covered van.



HR d.15 open wagon, note the builders plate behind the horsehook