Time to build a railway...but where?

[Peter Butler]

It has been a month since my last post, far too long, but that doesn't mean I have nothing to add. I have been busy on several projects, many of which can be seen on my thread in ' Open days and exhibitions''..... under the title of.... 'Rocket Man'.
Other rolling stock builds have also been taking place more suited to SM32 railways.
A friend, who I have done jobs for in the past, asked me to complete two kits which he purchased from 'The Lineside Hut'. He did the body build himself and asked me to finish the paintwork and detailing. This is always more difficult when things like windows are already fitted and other items need to be either removed or masked to allow finishing. However, I think the end results are satisfactory.....

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I am also working on two four wheel carriages from 'Jerry Irwin' , who I have mentioned previously as a supplier of quality detailed MDF kits (other manufacturers are available!). As yet they are incomplete in wet paint as I write this. When they are unmasked I will attach pictures.

[FWLR]

Nice work on those kits Peter.

Hope to get some kits from Jerry soon. Need to get Anne a wardrobe first...

[ge_rik]

That paint job is amazing, particularly so as it was on a finished model. You really do have a steady hand and eye, Peter ...

Rik
PS congrats on the 300k milestone btw. Somehow missed that at the time.

[Peter Butler]

One of the two Jerry Irwin carriages, mentioned above, is now complete and here it is.....

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I'm quite pleased with the end result and look forward to seeing the two together. The second is a third/guard's carriage, complete with duckets. This is now well advanced and should be finished soon.
In case I haven't mentioned this before, Jerry's kits are fitted with roller bearings in the axleboxes so roll incredibly well on the optional steel wheels.

[Soar Valley Light]

Hi Peter,

What a wonderful little coach! I love the detail.............. and the livery.

Do you have right and left handed dragons for the opposites sides or do they always face to the right?

The roller bearings sound very handy. It will be interesting to hear the benefits you get from them.

All the best,

Andrew

[LNR]

A wonderful cutting in job there Peter, a very steady hand indeed.
Grant.

[Peter Butler]

Hi Peter,

What a wonderful little coach! I love the detail.............. and the livery.

Do you have right and left handed dragons for the opposites sides or do they always face to the right?

The roller bearings sound very handy. It will be interesting to hear the benefits you get from them.

All the best,

Andrew

Thanks Andrew.... the livery is a bit adventurous but striking! I'm happy with it myself although not to everyone's taste I'm sure.
The dragons are from a self adhesive sheet of both left and right handed images. Local craft shops sell them here in Wales.
Roller bearings are supplied by Jerry as standard to all of his kits, they run so freely the carriage rolled away on what I thought was level track!

[Peter Butler]

A wonderful cutting in job there Peter, a very steady hand indeed.
Grant.

Thanks Grant, unfortunately I must confess to cheating as I spray the overlays separately and attach them afterwards. I have discovered 'Canopy adhesive' which is a flexible bond designed to stick styrene to practically anything else.... so why not use it for this? It has the advantage of drying clear and is removable from unwanted places either before or after drying..... wonderful stuff!

[FWLR]

Very nice colours Peter. Are you building them yourself or is Jerry doing them. When I had an email from him he says they are built to order....

[Peter Butler]

Rod, I ordered the kits with metal wheel sets and with the overlays separate for me to attach myself, other than that I left it to Jerry as he prefers to construct the complex chassis himself. By his own admission he went overboard with the build as they arrived with all the basic structure made up (but the ducketts left off) and the roof assembled too. Windows are fitted last of all and are not sandwiched in the side walls. This was fine by me as all of the parts could still be painted separately.
I believe there are instructional videos on You-tube to assist with complete kit building.

[Peter Butler]

As promised, here are pictures of the completed second carriage along with its sister. I am well pleased with them as a pair and I'm thinking of adding another to create a reasonable train of matching stock.......

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[FWLR]

Thanks Peter, that's good to know.

They really are looking to be a unique colour and very nice to boot.

[philipy]

They do look good together and are a beautiful bit of modelling Peter. Can't say I'm enamoured of that shade of green myself, but your railway your rules!

[Peter Butler]

They do look good together and are a beautiful bit of modelling Peter. Can't say I'm enamoured of that shade of green myself, but your railway your rules!

I appreciate your comments Philip and expected some reaction about the colour scheme.... I said in an earlier post that It wasn't to everyone's taste but I am getting a bit tired of standard maroon etc..... so introduced a splash of colour. It has been done in the real world of course, the Leek and Manifold Light Railway had beautiful yellow carriages which looked superb, although unconventional!
They clearly have my 'name' on them.

[DonW]

They do look nice coaches. The W&L had gren and cream coaches originally although a much darker green. That livery looks more modern to me the sort of thing that might be chosen to attract more visitors especially with the red dragon logo.

Don

[Peter Butler]

Another wagon from Jerry Irwin, this time his Tool Wagon, again with steel wheels and ball bearings on the axles. The way these kits are cut means they fit together perfectly and although I enjoy scratch-building I am more than happy to have these vehicles on my line.
The pictures below show some of the component parts, all instructions are available on-line....

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The kit arrived partly assembled as Jerry will fit the axles and bearings into the complex chassis to ensure smooth running....

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The main body and removable top were also pre-built....

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Naturally they wern't painted, I managed to do that myself!
The finished article is now in position on my layout just waiting for some running time...

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[FWLR]

Very nice Peter. Looks great with the others.

[ge_rik]

Nicely done! Looks great alongside the bargain wagon.

Rik

[LNR]

That's a very detailed wagon Peter and a great build. Trying to work out the third picture and what part it is in the scheme of things.
The end result looks very business like.
Grant.

[Peter Butler]

Grant, the mysterious objects shown in the third picture are the two running boards, which I decided to leave off the build until after painting the chassis and suspension, a wise decision I think.