Side One

The most rapid and dramatic progress during a carriage build comes right at the start of the process when I make up the first of the body sides.

It only took around half an hour to fabricate the first part of what will be one of the masters for the resin body shell.

What you see here is the base layer made out of 20 thou styrene and strip which will have a second layer of beading detail added on top top complete it.

I make these up on a sheet of glass placed above a scale drawing.

I use a miniature guillotine to chop up the strip and when I glue each pillar in place I use the end of a metal ruler to ensure that each one is fixed as close to vertical as possible. Checking and any fine adjustment is done later using a set square.

Once all the pillars are in place I measure and mark at each end where the cant rail should go, then using that metal ruler again as a guide I chop them all off to the same height and fix the strip along the top.

(This is where I use the set square to check none of the pillars are wonky)

The final stage on this carriage is to cut and glue into place another horizontal strip to represent the toplight windows.

I used an off-cut of 60 thou strip as guide to ensure they are all fixed at the same height before adding in the little pieces that divide the toplights in half.

I shall make the opposite side, next, and ensure it is identical, before going on to add the second layer.

If you'd like to know more about my scratch building technique you'll find an illustrated, step-by-step guide elsewhere on the blog.