Saturday, March 07, 2009

IP engineering coach


IP engineering coach
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker
Since I mentioned this model yesterday, lets introduce it properly.

My Father and I are building a garden railway. We had one many years ago in 16mm scale, 32mm gauge which was OK. A lack of funds meant that the locos and rolling stock were all scratchbuilt, mostly by me, and not exactly rugged. I certainly enjoyed myself but then I wasn't paying for the PECO SM32 flexi-track !

Now were are using scary expensive LGB set track so everything is 45mm gauge. Stock consists of RTR items plus a few kits. One of the first being an IP Engineering coach currently on my Dad's workbench.

All I have to do is paint it 'cos I'm good at this sort of thing apparently.

As I mentioned, the coach is milled plywood. That means that if I don't want to end up with something covered in fur, I had better seal the wood. Sanding sealer (the clue is in the name) is the substance of choice here. For those not in the know, this is a cellulose dope with fine talcum powder. You paint it on, it seeps into the woods sealing it and giving the modeller a nice surface to paint. Done properly the wood feels as smooth as plastic.

The first coat soaks in well and is dry withing minutes. the second, applied after sanding, takes longer but gives the wood the appropriate sheen. For best results some serious sanding and a third coats would be a good idea but getting into all the crevasses in the mouldings is a pain so we are compromising on 2 and a slight wood grain effect.

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