Garden Railway Forum

Greatings all,
Term is over and I have a few days off before the students return. I've got an old brandbright carriage kit which came with cardboard panelling.
Becuase I don't ever want to actually finish anything I decided to make my own paneling from LASERply. I re-designed the carriage to stratfordise it,then I decided to make the panelling half round in profile, and add the interior detailing... and opening doors. *WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF*.

Now that everything on this is wood, a varnished, teak, finish, rather than painted, will be possible. However, whenever I have tried this in the past, the squeeze out from the glue used to adhere the panelling to the body shell resists the varnish and ruins the finish, seemingly no matter how well I try to clean up the squeeze out.
Does anyone have any tips for adhereing paneling so that a varnished finish works?

Many thanks in advance!

Dr. Bond of the DVLR wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 10:06 am
Does anyone have any tips for adhereing paneling so that a varnished finish works?

My tried and tested method is to stain or paint the body shell and the panelling first, then varnish and finally attach the panelling using 'canopy glue'. It will stick well, dry quickly and any excess can be removed with water.

Dr. Bond of the DVLR wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 10:06 am then I decided to make the panelling half round in profile,

Have to say that's a fine job of half round panelling.
Grant.

Why not use varnish AS the adhesive? Varnish the body shell, then lay the panelling in the wet varnish, and put a flat weight on it until the varnish dries. Do one side at a time, until the pieces are all stuck together, then sand and continue with the final coats. I bet that would work.

That's an interesting idea Keith. I've already progressed using Peter's suggestion but I might try the varnish as adhesive on a test piece. Thanks Peter, I've pressed on and have ordered some canopy glue. Here's where we are up to so far with the panelling just laid on for now. I've tried to get some grain lines going in the correct directions using 120 grit sand paper and am trying to get a little variation in colour between panels. I've swapped the doors around to break up the grain in the plywood to make it look less like it's made of a single piece. The stain is ronseal exterior teak applied thinly, flatted back and applied thinly again. I'll go over the top with a pale gloss varnish. I'm very pleased with how it is turning out.

Looking excellent so far, Zac

Another suggestion Zac.... instead of a clear varnish, a French Polish applied with a brush can give a nice surface finish with additional depth of colour.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354122721291?

Looks good to me, Zach. You can't beat varnished teak (or its equivalent) .....

Rik

Beautiful.

Thanks all! Peter - I've ordered a small bottle of "button polish" which is a little lighter than french polish as I don't want to make the colour any darker, just a little warmer if possible. I'll do some experiments.
I'm continuing on with the carriage, working in a similar way to how I used to when I was at my most productive in 16mm, at secondary school. Designing a bit in CAD, cutting it out with the LASER cutter and assembling, then evaluating the design and designing the next bit stepwise. A process which I am remembering how much I enjoy.
Here's the seats for the passenger compartment. 1.5 mm slats glued onto the formers individually using a piece of thin card to get the spacing right. I need to find some of those posh cocktail sticks with the turned heads for the legs of the seats.

The seat is very nicely done and will look perfect inside the carriage. With such fine detail it is important to make every one match.

Clever idea to use the posh cocktail sticks as legs. I've been wondering if there is a use for them after recently buying a pack

Rik

Catching up here, having been busy with non-hobby stuff for a while, and came across this - how utterly splendid!

I love the teak finish - I've been dabbling in a little (full size) signwriting lately and fancy trying some LNER/GER style lettering on teak finished wood... Nice idea to mixthe panels up to break up the grain.

I'm particularly impressed with those curved cut-outs, something I've been shying away from (on FfR bowsiders) for years. Are they hand cut and, if so, what's the secret?!

All the best.

Andrew.

That's a fine wood finish Mr B. Just like the real thing.