The first 2- plank wagon has appeared at Farthing, accompanied by a round-ended 3-planker.
The 2-planker owes much to Duncan, who kindly gave me one of his surplus 3D printed wagon bodies. Thanks again Duncan! I've been wanting to do a 2-planker since I saw Richards's early Opens some years ago.
I’ve used the Swindon drawing in Atkins et al for reference, and the photo of Worcester built 19451 as the prototype. Apologies to Dave for doing the same number as his 7mm 2-planker, but there aren't many prototype photos to choose from.
The chunky brake-blocks were drawn up from the drawing and cut on my Silhouette, then laminated from three layers of styrene.
Ribbed buffers from MJT. I had to fit a new floor as the old one cracked when I applied too much pressure. Still learning the ropes with these 3D printed materials.
“I made this model all by myself”. I don't think so, mate. A word of thanks to the small-scale suppliers who make this part of the hobby possible. Not to mention all the helpful modellers out there.
Enough with the bleary-eyed stuff, let’s paint this thing black! This is brush-painted Vallejo primer, convenient when you're in a flat during the winter months.
Then a base of red, and some Archer’s “rivet” transfers. The latter stick best on a rough surface, I find. The Vallejo primer is slippery, so I waited till the first coat of matt paint was on. Good adhesion, might do that again. The photo makes my standards look more exacting than they are.
Stephen - who is doing a Saltney-built 2-planker - spotted a flitch plate and other solebar details on the prototype photo, so I tried to replicate that. Thanks Stephen. Later Microsol on top, then matt varnish, then more paint.
The finished wagon. The prototype photo shows the paintwork in a very worn state, but I decided to be more gentle, so that it doesn't stick out too much among the other wagons.
Having said that, my phone camera doesn't capture the weathering well, I have noticed that before. It seems to just highlight the main colour scheme.
I’ve also built a round-ended three-planker from a David Geen kit, I do like them.
On many of these the ends were soon cut square, but some were left alone and occasionally pop up in early 1900s photos.
Lettering in process. The eyesight is slowly going downhill, but I swear: A glass of Jameson helps me to focus :-)
I’m gradually switching from HMRS to Fox transfers. I prefer the method of the former, but the printing on recent HMRS sheets isn’t quite up to former standards. The dates above are when the sheets were purchased. I've got two other HMRS sheets with similar thickness to the 2020 one. I’m told it’s hard to find a printer who can do the sheets well. I sympathize and hope the HMRS succeed.
The finished 3-planker. The wagon was started in our little forest cabin, under poor lighting. That does show in places, lesson learnt.
The wagons together. It’s counter-intuitive, but the 2-plankers were actually 1 inch higher than the 3-plankers.
Here they are with my existing 3-plankers. I suppose that’s more than enough of these types for my 1900s yard. But I wouldn't mind a few more. Nancy Hoffman of Maine has 2000 umbrella covers, so I have some way to go.