Groudle Glen coaches from IP Engineering

[DaveWatkins]

A couple of months ago I received two Groudle Glen coach kits as a birthday present. The ice, snow and now rain over the last few weeks meant it was too miserable to go outside. That gave me an opportunity to build a few coach kits including the two Groudle Glen Coaches.




The two locos have at last got an appropriate train to haul.

[hussra]

Ooh, very nice - how are they to build? (I need more unfinished projects like I need a hole in the head, but ...)

[DaveWatkins]

The parts fit together very nicely being spot on for size. The only trimming needed is to the tabs holding the parts to the parent plywood sheets.

The seats though are rather fiddly. The seat frame is integral with the sides so no problem there. I found getting the slats and more particularly the seat backs into place just a little awkward.

It would be very difficult to paint the parts after assembly if you want a painted finish. I opted for wood stain for most of the coach which I applied after assembly. I hope the paler bits caused by glue spreading do not show too much. I really ought to have thought about this earlier and stained the relevant parts beforehand.

Similarly it would have been better to paint the valances before assembly.

I used superglue throughout for assembly so it all went together very quickly. If building another I would probably use PVA or balsa cement - can you still buy balsa cement?

The coaches are very light and the seat ends rather delicate so I am going to have to keep them well out of my grandchildren's way.