Stripey Boiler

There's been rapid progress with the next stage of lining out the boiler unit of 130.

With great skill Himself has applied the very fine straw lines around the boiler bands and begun work on the cab sides.

There's still some touching up to do on the corners, you'll notice.

Already you can see the finished effect is going to be terrific.

It's Fine

Himself has made a start at the second attempt at lining out Welsh Pony in its devilishly ornate livery.

This task required reserves of courage, determination and patience to be stockpiled before setting out!

He's using the lining components sheets we had supplied for us and has begun with the impossibly small orange line, and its black border, around the outside of the panels.

There's still some tidying up of the corners to be done - an enlargements like this are very unforgiving - but I think it's encouraging progress.

He tells me the curved line around the front of the saddle tank was particularly challenging.

Still, at least he's got something to keep him occupied during the inevitable January lockdown......

Stripped Back

The Welsh Pony project has taken a step back ahead of - I hope - the final canter to completion.

Dissatisfied with the first attempt at lining out - and the residue it left on the surface after removal - Himself has got the paint stripper out and removed the original coat of purple brown gloss and the red oxide primer beneath, taken it back to brass and applied a fresh coat of grey primer.

This is all because we've received a sheet of bespoke lining transfers to try out.

As is our masochistic habit, we've decided to apply the lining from a combination of straights and corners, rather than one-piece prints that are available in larger scales.

That's our choice, and if you keep checking back on this blog you'll find out whether we live to regret it or not....

In the picture at the top you can see how the Mercian kit for the England engines comes apart for painting.

The motor is fixed into the body frame, rather than the chassis, and it's also worth considering that - according to the design - it should be mounted in a transverse position.

Well, good luck with that........

Chocolate Orange

Himself is already starting work on what I suspect will be a very complicated job of lining out Welsh Pony.

He's started with the gold / orange (call it what you like) band which runs around the outer edge of the panels.

The main part of the lining is going to need something bespoke.

The colours are so unusual that we can't really try replicating it with a composite made up from the menu of regular shades.

I've seen a few custom transfer producers are making sheets in larger scales but from my enquiries I've yet to receive a firm commitment to run some off in 4mm scale for us.

Hopefully we won't get stranded with a half-finished model....

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?

Gelert Looking Good

Himself has done his customary excellent job on the transfers on Gelert which now awaits the airbrush for a coat of satin varnish.

The nameplates from Narrow Plant will go on right at the end.

One final additional detail which has appeared is the bright red crank visible in the cut out in the water tank.

I do think that accessorising these 3D printed bodies is so important if you have any ambition to produce a decent model.

They make a fabulous starting point, but that’s all it is.

I’m afraid there are too many modellers happy to regard them as unpainted ready-to-run bodies, and that’s a shame.

Bagnall Bling

Now back from his sojourn down south Himself is getting on with preparing Gelert for it's roll-out at the Greenock show.

We've decided to finish it in its current lined out livery, because frankly it just looked too dull in all-over dark blue.

For this he's using Kemco / Modelmaster BR mixed traffic lining sheets.

These are also what we used on our spoof BR liveried Lyd.

Its arguable that the grey is a little too - well - grey for the lining on the real loco which looks more brilliant white, but these transfers are very crisp which more than makes up for it in my mind.

If you look very closely you might be able to make out that he has deployed his thick black transfer line trick to get perfect definition on the change between the blue of the tank and the black of the running plate.

I think it'll make a very attractive little engine and look terrific taking turns with Russell and the Baldwin hauling our new WHHR set on Bron Hebog.

Scores On The Doors

Bowsider 17 has reached the stage where Himself is adding the transfers, the most obvious of which are the big numerals on the doors.

For this he’s always used the HMRS presfix decals, but this carriage has required him to start on a new sheet, and his is not impressed.

Can you tell the difference?

The first two ‘3’ on the left hand side are from the old sheet, and all the rest are from the new one.

Himself thinks they are a little ‘blobby’.

I’m not sure I would have noticed if he hadn’t pointed it out.

He tells me he’s seen a few similar comments online recently about a perceived drop in the quality.

What I do know is that the Precision Decals FR crests we use are superb.

Ashes To Ashes

The new BZ wagons will be ready to make their appearance on Bron Hebog this weekend.

Himself has been busy over the last few days painting and lettering them.

The lettering incurred some unfortunate, unforeseen expenditure.

You may not have considered it before - I know I hadn't - but on most sheets of lettering you don't get equal numbers of letters, and certainly not many Z's.

Which is a bit of a hinderance when each of these wagons requires at least 4 of them.

Thanks to the modern marvel of internet shopping Himself was able to get in fresh supplies in time to get the wagons ready for the show at Dinas.

They've also been filled with a removable load of locomotive ash, which is how they were being used when we photographed them at Boston Lodge last year, and this is quite often tripped along the WHR to be spread at various locations so they at least have a prototypical purpose for appearing on the layout.

Gold Blend

After many long sessions of painstaking work, one side - just one side - of our carriage 15 has its ornate gold lining applied.

Looks amazing, doesn't it!

Himself tells me that it took the best part of a whole day's work to complete the last half of this side, and he felt quite cross-eyed at the end of it.

He's got to do exactly the same on the other side and then there's a lot of white lining to put on each end of the carriage plus more gold leaf around the panelling on along the frame, which you cannot see in this picture.

So it's going to be quite a while before this carriage joins the fleet.

Man Of Letters

The nice autumn weather hasn't done much for Himself's productivity this last week.

(And neither has a new leather reclining chair which he's bought and placed next to the big picture window in his lounge, for that matter!)

However, when he has found time to tinker at the workbench he has applied the lettering to the new pair of B wagons.

He has taken great care to study pictures of these vehicles after they arrived from South Africa his patience - and eyesight - doesn't extend to adding transfers for all the Tare and Load figures on the right had end.

And who can blame him? Not I, certainly.

Crest Quest

Yet again patience has paid off.

Long term readers may recall that over a year or so ago we discovered a transfer maker (Precision Decals) who produced the most exquisite 4mm scale FR garter crests for us.

They were far superior to what was already available in terms of colour, detail and definition and I raved about them here on the blog.

I asked the owner if he would consider designing and producing an example of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland crest, which adorns the modern WHR stock for us.

He said he would but warned it was an incredibly complex design which would take a lot of time and effort to produce the art work for, time which would probably never be repaid given the relatively limited NG modelling market.

It has taken a long while but he has been as good as his word and I received a wonderful surprise a couple of days ago when I opened my inbox to see a message saying they were now available, not only in 4mm scale but also in 7mm and in three versions.

There is the standard English lettering, the Welsh version (below) and a third, longer Welsh version which I have only seen used in marketing materials and not on rolling stock - although, as always, I am open to correction.

For more details take a look at the Precision Labels site and if you can't find immediately locate the FR and WHR transfers then there is also information there on how to contact the company.

We're thrilled that these transfers have been produced and are very grateful to Precision Decals and hope that other NG modellers will also reward him with their custom.

Font Frustration

Transfers are one of the biggest challenges for narrow gauge modellers.

There are precious few authentic decals produced for our branch of the hobby, most probably because there are so few of us compared to the standard gauge crowd, so we end up having to adapt some of the vast selection of products produced for them to work for us.

Our current quandary is how best to letter up our South African wagons?

Let's make it quite clear that we haven't got any hope of getting something accurate because SAR used stencilled letters and numbers and I do not know of any transfers of that kind in 4mm. (If you do then please let me know.)

So our usual solution is to raid the catalogue of Fox Transfers. Their waterslides are easy to use and because they carry a comprehensive range of British outline designs dating back over the last century there's usually something in there that we can get away with.

It is, however, sometimes an expensive process of trial and error.

This is a shot of Himself's first try at lettering up one of the DZ wagons.

The numbers looks great. I think they may be from a set intended to renumber 1960's diesel locos. They all started with the prefix D, of course. Now, if only BR had a Z designation as well we'd be laughing...

What Himself used in the picture weres ome letters from a Gill Light alphabet sheet. Now, I've nothing against Gill - in fact I am distantly related to the late Eric - but these don't look right at all.

So instead I've raided my drawers and found a sheet of Franklin Heavy which are a bit chunkier and sent them down south to be stuck on and see if they work a bit better.

MOTW - 102

This vehicle marked the start of a new wave in Observation Carriage design and furnishing standards on the FR.

Built in 2005 the most obvious change was the return to a single window pillar at the observation end, with a pair of large, square windows, as opposed to the triple arrangement that had become so familiar over the previous 40 years.

Passengers also would have noticed the generously upholstered freestanding chairs in this compartment in contrast to the fixed, swivelling seats in the first generation of Barns.

For carriage-spotters like me other details stood out like the wooden frame half droplights (which first appeared on the rebuilt 106) which were a new challenge to model, and the return to squared corners in the windows rather than the rounded rubber beading which the older carriages had acquired over the years.

102 also heralded a change in the look of our carriage fleet.  It was around this time that Boston Lodge began outshopping carriages with bright, washing-power white roofs.  They don't stay looking like this for long, of course, especially not since the FR began to reintroduce coal firing.

We tend to finish our models in something approaching ex-works condition, so our 102 still has a very pale roof.

The picture here, which was taken during the Railex exhibition back in May, also shows 102 sporting the rather fabulous new gold transfers which we had commissioned from Precision Decals.  102 was also the first observation carr. to wear the old-style FR monogram with the branding Ffestiniog First underneath.

The large crest to the left, on the guards compartment, is also a Precision Decals product.

Big And Small

We've received another batch of FR crests from Precision Decals, this time in the smaller, or you might say standard, size.

Nothing is simple these days with the FR carriage fleet.

Once upon a time all the locos and carriages wore the same size garter crest stickers, but when they started rebuilding the Observation Carrs. a few years ago a larger version of our Prince of Wales-feathered friend turned up.

You can spot the difference in this picture of 'recycled' top end Obs 123 (formerly 101 of 1970-vintage). It has the bigger crest on the end but the smaller one on the side.

We've been supplied with 99 of these smaller crests - at a truly astonishingly competitive price - and so Himself is considering going back through the fleet replacing the existing dry rub transfers with these superior waterslide ones.

Stuck On You

Do you want to see some pictures of these new transfers I was raving about on a model, then?

Himself has stuck the crests and the 'Ffestiniog First' monograms produced for us by Precision Decals onto our model of new Observation Carr 100.

These are the finishing touches its been waiting months for.

I'm really, really pleased with how the monograms have turned out. As I wrote in a post two weeks ago, when we tried making our own transfers at home they came out a brown colour, but these are a lovely, shiny gold as they should be.

Here's a closer look at the crest showing the one on the end of the carriage..

And a view of the other side.

If you're coming along to the Railex show at Stoke Mandeville at the end of the month you'll be able to see these transfers in the flesh. I can promise you won't be disappointed.

Transfers

This week I received some wonderful new transfers. They are the best 009 decals I've ever come across and it wouldn't be fair to me to keep them a secret.

This came about because for a few years now Himself and I have been mildly irritated at not being able to finish off our models of the latest 'Barn' observation carriages 100 and 102.

The problem has been how to replicate the unique 'Ffestiniog First' monogram / lettering which is displayed along the sides. You can see it in this picture of 100 taken inside Boston Lodge Works below...

Our first effort was to try a DIY transfer having read about how some people were getting good results from their home photo printers.

We took a close up picture of the logo, and although I could make a reasonable stab at doctoring the image on the home PC and reduce it to the right size, the printer could never capture that gold lustre and when placed on the deep maroon on the model they appeared rather brown.

However, a couple of months ago one of the CHMRC clan (Simon aka 'Sparky') told me to try an outfit called Precision Decals. 'Just Google them', he said. So I did.

I sent them an even better close up of the logo, and measurements, both kindly provided by Roger Dimmick of the FR, and a week later a sheet of beautiful transfers was posted to me.

In an unexpected, and very welcome bonus, the owner told me he also had the artwork lying about for the standard FR crest which he had spent hours labouring over a number of years ago following a request from a client who messed him about royally and then demanded a refund!

'It seems a shame to waste all that effort', he said. 'Would you like some of those too?'

As you can imagine, I took him up on that straight away, and I have to say the results are superb. (There is also a black and gold version in the picture above).

I have never seen such a delicate rendering of the FR crest in 4mm scale, they are quite exquisite. Precision Decals will most certainly be getting repeat business from us and I cannot praise the service I have received highly enough.

To save you the Googling I have also placed a link to Precision Decals website in the Modelling Links section on the right hand side of the screen.

I will post some pictures of the transfers on the carriages when Himself has had a chance to apply them.