Blacked Out

The title is not a reference to current affairs - some attempt a click bait - merely a reference that the cursed carriage Gwyrfai has fooled us again!

Himself was fitting the handrails at the door end when it suddenly occurred to him he has yet to black out the end windows in the cubby hole behind the saloon.

This will be done by painting a section of the glazing.

Fortunately he’s noticed now rather than when he had declared it ‘finished’.

Speaking for myself I’m glad it’s not just me who’s been caught out.

This fourth Pullman observation car has been a swine at times - please, no more!

Gwyrfai Glazed

One of the (many) tricky jobs on scratch building these Pullman observations cars has been completed.

Himself has cut and fitted the glazing to Gwyrfai and put the carriage back together for a photo call before it is dismantled again for varnishing.

 What do you reckon?

First Class Job

It’s the turn of Gwyrfai for the paint shop, starting with the interior.

Something to note is the way Himself has tried to replicate the panelling on the ceiling and the lush carpeting and exposed framing of the armchairs.

The exterior has also had initial coats of plum, and cream on the doors, and soon it will be time for the painstaking task of applying the Pullman lining transfers.

Plastic Surgery

The camera can be unforgiving sometimes - this is not as rough as it looks when seen with the Mark One eyeball.

I’ve faced the brass former at the front of Gwyrfai with styrene and added the second layer of panelling detail.

The next job will be one of the most testing ones - to fit the roof skin and form the sloping front section.

Triplets

We can’t manage a line up of four Pullman observation cars like the FR did recently at Harbour Station, but watch this space....

Himself decided a little photo call was in order after the final assembly of 152, posed in the fiddle yard with 150 (not named Gwynedd in Bron Hebog-land, and Glaslyn.

The design change to 152 with the two pillars at the front was on account of customer feedback from 150 with its single post in the middle.

It’s a convenient way of quickly telling which is which but I still can’t decide which I prefer.

Brown Paper Packages

You never forget your first Pullman!

When I was first shown the design for this carriage in the early days of the WHR project I really did wonder how I was ever going to manage to copy it in miniature in styrene, especially with those oval window and door frames.

So that fact that I did, and I remain rather pleased about that, is the reason I've chosen it as the last of my favourite things for this series.

(Sound of Music fans can breath a sigh of relief now.)

Although I've now seen quite a few of these made using the Worsley Works scratch-aid kit in brass I'm still rather chuffed that mine was the first and entirely scratch built.

Ducking The Issue

Little by little I've been adding the second layer of beading to the first of our new 'Garraway Twins' carriage 11.

If you're familiar with the carriage, though, you'll immediately notice something missing - the duckets at the side of the guard's compartment.

These are slightly tricky to make in styrene because you've got to get the plastic to hold the tight bend and the top and you also need to make sure you get a matching curve / slope on both sides of the carriage.

In fact when you factor in carriage 12 I also have to make four of them and get them all looking the same.

I did it before, of course, with my red liveried pair, but this time I thought instead I would make one master and cast the four I need from that.

I just haven't summoned up the motivation to make the master yet, that's all....

Pullman Perfection?

These may be the best models we have yet built.

They are a pair of WHR Pullman carriages scratch built from styrene in 7mm scale.

It's been a long term project which has taken around 18 months from the first cut of plastic to the handover to the client.

Himself lent a hand with painting and lining of the completed carriages.

Comments and observations welcome...

Pullman Painting Progress

I haven't written recently about the two 7mm scale WHR Pullmans I've been building for a client over the last year or so.

A year? Well, Rome wasn't built in a day, you know, and this pair are going to be very special when they're finished.

Himself kindly offered to deploy his airbrushing talents to finish them off so they've been exported to Oxfordshire where they are in the process of being painted.

Here is 'Bodysgallen' in primer...

And a shot of 'Glaslyn' showing the card template for the glazing in the big end window. Because it is curved and angled back the glazing needs to be cut into a crescent shape.

I can't help noticing that in the process Himself has managed to break off the front vacuum pipe. He really is all fingers and thumbs you know...

(In fairness I should not discount the possibility that he deliberately removed it to make applying the ornate transfers around the front of the carriage easier.)

Tables & Chairs

I seized upon the chance of an afternoon of domestic solitude to complete the interior of the 7mm Pullman carriage 'Bodysgallen'.

The tables, armchairs and the internal dividers are in position.



This shot shows how the interior is built up on the chassis / underframe.



There's not a lot more to do on this carriage before it's ready to be painted. The outstanding jobs are the handrails on either side of the doors to be folded up from brass wire and on each end I need to make and mount vacuum pipes and electrical connections.

I also need to mount the Kadee couplings and set the heights correctly - when I finally get my hands on some.

220 Bits Of Styrene

A tale of tedium for you this time. I've been making the seats for the 7mm version of 'Bodysgallen'. These are not simple seats, either, but the plush Pullman armchair sorts.



There are 20 of them in all and each one of them is made up of 11 pieces of styrene that all have to be cut, shaped and fitted.

To spare my sanity I've been doing it in little sessions - sometimes for 15 minutes at a time - over a number of weeks. Trying to do it all in a single go would have been just too boring.

Still, no use complaining, its all part of the scratch building experience.

Total Ellipse

More elliptical entertainment for you today - this time as I begin work on the main bodysides for 'Bodysgallen'.

These are quite simple to knock up with relatively few, thick, pillars compared to your average carriage.

It also has two distinctive Pullman windows at either side so it was ovaltime again and the challenge was not to make a horlicks of it.

(Did you see what I did there?)

It took me a few goes to get them right. The key is getting the size of the guide triangles in the corners correct.

My first attempts were either too thin or not tall enough. These windows are a lot fatter, and more circular than the ones on the doors. I got there in the end though.

Here's a before and after shot.