Just 17

Making up an interior for bowsider 17 has been satisfyingly swift and straightforward.

It's helped by this carriage only having the one first class compartment and for the third class sections either side not being separated from each other as some of the other carriages have.

As you may be able to see in the picture above, it has been made in three sections to account for the raised platform above the bodies at either end.

I can hand this one back to Himself for the roof to be soldered on and it can join the queue for painting in its current 'Garraway' green and ivory livery.

Cheating

Himself has a neat little trick for getting straight edges to the panels when he paints locomotives - transfers.

He uses thick black lining from the Fox waterslide range.

You can see how effective it looks on 143 here which has had all its coats of green and is now ready to move onto the lining out.

Like Buses

Yet another carriage has appeared.

Himself has now fixed the roof and front pillars onto 152 and it’s been handed over to me for the interior.

All the seats are already cast but I shall finish the job on bowsider 17 first before I get onto this one.

I don’t think Himself will mind because i’m Sure he’s in no hurry to do the painting and lining on this one knowing how tricky 150 was.

Fitting Out

Projects are piling up on my desk now.

I already have the Gladstone Car to make an interior for and now Himself has handed over the body of the new bowsider 17 to fill.

This needs to be made in at least three parts on account of the stepped floor at each end above the bogies.

Unlike some of the other carriages of this type, 17 only has the two interior divisions on either side of its single first class compartment - the third class ones either side are open, at least in the sense that there are no walls.

Being mostly bench seats it shouldn’t take too long to make.

Seventeen Times Two

Himself has soldered together yet another new carriage - this one is going to be our second version of bowsider 17.

The first was made around 30 years ago from a Langley etched brass kit and was finished - inaccurately - in the simple two tone 'Mountain Prince' livery.

(Inaccurate in that at this period the carriage had most of its distinctive panelling removed in favour of flush plywood sides, but the Langley kit has all that detail on.)

This version is from a Wosley Works scratch aid kit and will show the carriage running as it does currently in the green and ivory 'Garraway' livery and will go very nicely with our 11 and 12 pairing.

It's not been completely straightforward, though, because we discovered that the ends which come with the kit have too many vertical strips to show the carriage as it currently is.

As luck would have it we've been able to arrange a transplant from the body which was supposed to be turned into carriage 20.

So what's happened to carriage 20?

Well, it turned out that there's bit a of a cock up.

Since the last time Himself assembled a model of the 19/20 kind of bowsider it turns out the Worsley etches have been redrawn, with the result that when he put it together he discovered the frame was much longer than 19, by a couple of scale feet.

While we wait for a replacement set of etches - with the previous proportions - at least we can made some use of part of the otherwise redundant body.

Mixologist

Himself has cracked and done what he said he'd never do - try mixing his own shade of green for 143.

The latest effort is the one on the far left of this piece of brass which is doubling as a swatch card, placed beside the rear bunker which has had two coats of what we now agree is something that's too light.

His reticence about mixing is the uncertainty that you'll be able to perfectly replicate the shade if, for example, it turns out that you've not mixed quite enough.

He's happy enough, though, if it can be a 50/50 mix - which is what we do with our FR carriage red - and what he's come up with here is a blend of Railmatch 'Multiple Unit Green' and Humbrol 'Mid Green'.

The colour of this engine has been driving us gently demented over the last week or so.

It is such a difficult shade because on the real engine it looks very different depending on the lighting conditions, whether that's in a photograph or when you're standing in front of it, and that's before we consider the unfortunate fact that the paint on different bits of the locomotive have visibly weathered.

Going Round In Circles

This is one of the most useful items of modelling equipment I ever bought - a compass cutter.

If you’ve never come across one before it’s absolutely brilliant at helping to form the end pieces of carriages.

The roofline of Van 51 has a very shallow radius and on the end with the three windows I will cut off the top piece, with the curve and fix it onto the top of the window pillars to form the end.

I’ve now made the two sides and will soon begin to add panel detail on top.