Narrow Gauge Coaches

Coaches done
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

One pair of narrow gauge coaches - done.

There are some niggles with these kits, which I've passed on to the manufacturer - but at the end of the day a competent modeller with the benefit of a couple of kits worth of experience can make very nice models using the parts supplied.

The sides deserve special mention as I think they are very nice indeed. The pre-rolled roof is a benefit too for the majority who don't have rolling equipment.

Roof texture

coach roofs
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

A brass coach roof is a wonderful thin - strong and easy to fit. It has one disadvantage though, smoothness. Real carriage tops have texture and in the larger scales out models ones should have too.

I've seen the results of sticking tissue paper to the roof and they can be very effective. Trouble is when I try all I get are creases which looks a bit rubbish. On the real thing you aren't aware of the material used, just that it isn't as smooth as the bodywork.

For the NG coaches I tried something new. Each roof was primed in the normal way and then received an extra coat from about 2 feet away. Then, setting the airbrush to a wide spray pattern, several coats of paint went on from the same distance. The plan was that the paint would be partly dry by the time it hit the metal.

The result is like sandpaper. The paint seems pretty well stuck even though it feels like it will bush off. However looking at the models under the light, I could see brass. To cure this, a couple of thinned coats of Humbrol 69 were brushed on. While this took the edge a little off the texture, I liked the results even more.

If you were happy to spend a lot of time with the spray gun, I bet this trick would work a treat to represent roofing felt - varying the paints used would even give the right colours.

Narrow gauge coach bogies

Narrow gauge coach bogies
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

A real three-handed job here. With 4 to build, I was relieved that they didn't all take as long as the first one or it would have taken most of a day to put them together !

First job is to make sure you have the correct stretchers - the kit is available for 14mm (representing a prototypically correct 2 foot guage) and 16.5mm modellers. For some reason I originally got the narrower version which confused me initially although replacements were quickly supplied.

Building started with drilling out the axleboxes to accept brass bearings, plain not top hat ones here so they slide into the hole. Then some dry fitting to ensure the stretchers mate with the sides properly. A locating peg is present but the hole for this has to be drilled out as it's not deep enough.

The one sideframe is soldered to the stretcher. And then adjusted to make sure it is at right angles to the side in all planes. While heating the parts have to be gripped between blocks of wood as the metal warms beyond finger point.

Then the tough stage - gripping the wheels, locating the peg and fixing the other side on. All the while keeping things flat. Much juggling of bits of wood and balancing the assembly on an old computer hard disk. Heating solder on one side for too long also weakens the solder on the other too which just makes the work even more "entertaining".

Any slight un-flatness can be twisted out gently with fingers although I found it easy to over do this and have to twist the chassis back. Frustrating.

Painted coach side

Painted coach side
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

A coach side in a single colour shouldn't be too challenging to paint. Having been asked for "something vintage" and using the box photo as a guide my aim was browny/red with pale brown sliding windows in the doors.

Attempt number one involved a bottle of Revell email airbrush-ready carmine red. It sprayed superbly but came out a lot brighter and redder than the bottle top colour would indicate. As a paint for airbrushing though it worked so well I'll be stocking up on some of the basic colours to save the trouble of thinning standard paint.

Attempt two went better. Humbrol 73 (Wine) turned out a much better match for the paint in my imagination. Next the black bits (ends and solebar) were brush painted with matt black. The grab handles etc. could have been scraped back to brass but I find paint gives a neater job.

Transfers came from a 4mm sheet intended for coaches. Large numbers for the doors would have been my first choice but smaller text has worked very well indeed. In fact I think they look more sophisticated.

Finally a spray of satincote varnish which protects the transfers and brings the body colour alive.

Coach bodies

As I said before, a coach body is little more than a box so once the detailing of the sides had been completed, putting the bodies together didn't take long.

The underframe is a nickel silver rectangle with sides that fold down. These are covered with solebar etches. The the four parts of the body are tacked together. These are placed over the underframe, resting on top of the soldebars. I taked these in place and then fiddled about a bit with the square to make sure everything was happy. A few tweaks later and it was time for final fitting.

With this mass of metal, plenty of heat is called for. A few more bits of solder were blobbed in place and plenty of PowerFlow flux wiped around. Then I fired up the gas torch. This might seem like overkill but here it's very helpful - the heat goes in so fast it stays localised so the half etched sides don't buckle. In fact you can direct the flame accurately enough to blow solder around joints in the same way children years ago used to poke mercury in science lessons, although with possibly fewer ill effects.

Grab rail jig

Handrail jig
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Two jigs in just over a week !

After forming the tumble home in the coach side using a set of rollers and then fitting the inner windows (the bits in real life that would slide up and down), I started the job of fitting grab rails.

On a 4mm coach, the grab rails would be supplied as etched parts but in 7mm these need to be formed from wire to have the correct shape. Using the holes in the side as a guide I bent up some brass wire into a U shape. Getting the right angle bend in constantly on all the rails was more of a challenge. After a couple of false starts I hit upon scribing a line on the inner jaw of my square ended pliers and using this as a guide.

The soldering jig in the photo is made from an old business card folded in two and notched to fit around the grab handle. It's held in place with a hair pin and the handle is held with a lolly stick so I could solder the back without burning my fingers.

The results aren't perfect but are pretty good. If I were to do a lot more then perhaps a better jib for bending would be required as I can see some inconsistency in sizes - although I'm probably more critical than most. At least I hope so !

North Wales Narrow Gauge Rly coach

NG coach kit
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

The coal tank has reached the point where I need to keep my stick fingers off the new paint while it dries, so I needed to find something to keep my hands occupied. A couple of Merican NWG etched coach kits should do the job.

The kit looks simple enough - let's face it, a coach is only a box after all. One snag is that the packet of whitmetal bits for one coach but these are in the post. There isn't much in the packet mind you - the bogies and some 6BA bolts basically.

The etched paneling on the kit certainly looks nice. My brief is to build the models and paint them "too look old". The box (which is big enough for the finished model) shows a plain brown livery that I ought to be able to replicate.