Final weathering

 

I don't normally weather garden railway models. Not sure why, perhaps I'm hoping that this will occur naturally, even though it doesn't.

The flat wagons definitely need some toning down though, so it's out with the weathering powders.

A stiff brush is required to really work the powder into the balsa planks, and I like to introduce a bit of variety into the colours. It's not difficult, and makes a huge difference to the final look of these little wagons. 

Some lead flashing under the floors, and the wagons are ready for the track. I think I might fit couplings as shown on Monday, but these will look nice behind one of my locos. We just need a brake van to complete the set.

A Gu desert pot comes in handy, again...

 

With everything painted, it's time for assembly. Wheels slide on to the axles, followed by the axleboxes. These locate into slots moulded in the bottom of the chassis. It's pretty much idiot-proof. 

I've fitted the nails in the end for the couplings, and of course this means that you can't sit the chassis upside down for setting the gauge. 

Not to worry, one of these handy Gu desert pots, as seen on The Repair Shop, is just the right size to support it!

Flat wagons

 

While ordering the skips from Binnie, I added some Husdon chassis to the package. A few years ago, I turned a couple of them into simple flat wagons, and fanced making this train longer. 

The kit is pretty simple - an ABS frame and some glass filled nylon wheels and axleboxes, plus steel axles. 

First up, the parts, apart from the wheels, get a coat of Halfords rex oxide primer. Getting the paint into all the nooks and crannies is harder than you might think, but it's a really lovely paint to use, and with a hairdrier, the job doesn't take long. 

The planks are cut from balsa, easier to distress than basswood, and then painted with EDM Models Weathered woodstain to make them grey, rather than new balsa cream colour. A sensible person would cut these out as large rectangles and score the planks, just like I did for the first two wagons. I'd have done it again, but by the time I'd cut out the rectangles, I realised the grain was going the wrong way...