Open For Business

I've got more action to report from the paint shop.

Himself has been busy with the multi-coloured Hudson semi-open carriages - one the replica for the FR and the other for the WHHR fleet, which have different origins.

The red (WHHR) one is from the very neat 009 Society injection moulded kit, and has had a few enhancements such as brake pipes and the safety chains across the passenger access openings.

The green (FR) version is one I cast in resin from a scratch built master I made in styrene, and has a number of differences, including the positions of the right angle uprights and the number of slats on the end panels.

The mesh doors - a mid-life upgrade which offer significantly more protection than the chains on number 42 - are 3D prints which were kindly donated to the project.

For a few minutes Himself thought he had caught me out by noticing that number 39 currently has fewer, and thicker, planks on the ends, but he forgot the golden rule of FR modelling, which is that things change so frequently you have to choose the day you are modelling your locomotive, carriage or waggon and stick to it.

Thus, this 39 shows the carriage before its most recently, and thorough, overhaul.

Toast Rack Update

Tinkering has been completed on the scratch built Hudson toast rack replica 39 and it is about to move to the painting stage.

Himself has taken my resin cast body and added a a brass roof as well as finishing details such as the vacuum pipes, electrical connections and emergency stop apparatus.

It's had a trial run on (most) of Bron Hebog along with the 009 Society kit version which we are going to finish as the version of this type of carriage running on the WHHR. which is more correct to the kit.

The front one will be finished mostly in green and the rear one mostly in maroon.

Given that I was only working from photographs with measurements of the key dimensions of the Society kit when I started I'm pretty pleased with how it has turned out.