"Voiding the Warranty" - Mol's experiments in 21mm gauge

[Colonel]

Amen to the above. A chimney or dome slightly out of alignment potentially spoils the whole model. Epoxy gives a nice amount of time to ensure all is in place, while still offering decent strength.

[Mol_PMB]

It’s always a treat to get a new sheet of transfers from Precision Decals. This will keep me busy for a while! Some will be used on the Park Royals when they arrive. 
There are a few 7mm scale transfers in there too, but not for me.

[Mol_PMB]

Being very busy recently but needing some relaxation I wanted a few simple projects rather than grappling with models that had to work. 
So I raided my small stash of road vehicles and containers for a bit of kitbashing and repainting. 
These aren’t quite finished yet but the new transfers have brought them to life. 

[Mol_PMB]

A bit more progress on the container and lorry fleet. Some of these should add a bit of colour to a grey goods train. 

The road vehicles can carry other loads too, of course. 
None of these are perfect replicas of the real ones but I think they look the part. Each is based on a prototype photo. A bit of weathering is still required, plus maybe some labels. 

[Horsetan]

On 3/6/2026 at 4:12 PM, Mol_PMB said:

It’s always a treat to get a new sheet of transfers from Precision Decals. This will keep me busy for a while! Some will be used on the Park Royals when they arrive. 
There are a few 7mm scale transfers in there too, but not for me.

Did you have to supply your own artwork for this?

[Mol_PMB]

48 minutes ago, Horsetan said:

Did you have to supply your own artwork for this?

Yes, I created it on CorelDraw and supplied it to Precision Decals in pdf form.

Many of the items are printed in multiple layers, and the artwork needs to be multi-layer to suit. There's a learning curve to creating the artwork and setting up the order of the layers.

One half of my page used the following layers:

• White (where white is needed, plus to mask underlying paint colour for other ink colours)
• CMYK (multicolour for yellow, green, red and black bits)
• Opaque White (a second layer of white where to make the white areas more opaque)
• ER Pumpkin (a dedicated individual colour used on the steam loco numbers, over a white base)

The other half of the page was mostly for the Eau-de-Nil items where the recipe is:

• White (mask)
• ER Camel ('goldish' edging)
• ER Lime (individual green colour)
• ER Pastel White (2 layers of this to lighten the shade of the ER Lime to match EdN)

The whole A4 size page cost about £80 including postage, but there's a lot there and it's exactly what I want, minimising wastage. Per transfer the cost is fairly competitive, and of course many of these things aren't available elsewhere. Delivery time was about 2 days from placing the order.

 

Edit: the 7mm scale items on the sheet were for @Galteemore and I sent them on yesterday, so hopefully we'll see some of those on his models in due course.

Some of the vehicle numbers and class designations, plus the red dimension plates for the carriage ends and the yellow smoking labels, will adorn Park Royals where necessary. I also plan to use the black and white bands to backdate the BnT livery on one of them to the early BnT. Not sure how well that will work over an uneven surface - we'll see.

Edited June 5 by Mol_PMB
last 2 notes.

[Mol_PMB]

I had planned that the first Park Royal I would attack would be a green one, but IRM have delivered all the BnT ones first, so I have tackled the early BnT livery variant first. Applied from September 1961 for a few months, the early BnT livery had a shallower orange band with the numbers on a black background above it. Class designations were also in use at this time. I have dealt with those changes using custom transfers. Also I did a transfer for the red-painted dimension plate on the ends.

Inside, I re-upholstered the seats in dark red (correct for the era) and added taller seat backs to the longitudinal seats in the vestibules. These make a difference to the external appearance too. And I've populated the seats with some passengers - one side look like they're off for a day at the seaside while the other side is mostly bored commuters.

Additionally I have regauged the bogies to 21mm gauge, and fitted Kadee couplers.

In due course I will apply some light weathering, but I want this one to look almost fresh out of works among the grubby silver and green stock:

[Mol_PMB]

On the IRM photos of these models I'd been thinking that something didn't look quite right, and it took me a while to realise that you could see right through the vestibule area. IRM have modelled the longitudinal seats in the vestibule, but have fitted shorter seat backs (compared to those in the saloon) so they don't block the windows. But they should block the windows! Photo from Ernie here, when new:

And from Neil Smith, in the late 1980s:

It's odd that IRM have gone to the effort of fitting some absolutely beautiful luggage racks above the windows in a position where they are almost impossible to see from any angle, and yet have omitted the vestibule seat backs. 

Fortunately it's easy to shape and paint some bits of plasticard to resolve the issue. I stuck them inside the bodyshell to ensure the positioning was correct relative to the window openings - make sure they don't foul the top of the moulded seats. This is a cruel close-up but shows my first attempt:

Here's a comparison of a modified coach and an unmodified one:

 

One thing I have not addressed on this model is the roof detailing. I might correct that on one of the green ones where I will need to repaint the roof.

I have also not yet tried to remove any of the glazing, and looking at the quantity and placing of the glue I think this will be impossible without breakage. It will require some tedious masking for the coach I plan to repaint entirely. 

[murphaph]

The added high seat backs in the vestibules certainly lend a different character to the model. It would be interesting to know how common they were.

[exciecoachbuilder]

It was like that on most, if not all of the carriages. I had actually forgotten about the vestibule three seaters. Mol's modification looks great in fairness. When the carriages were 're skinned ' in the early 80's, a toilet was fitted on one side, and the three seater was retained on the other side. Just to say too, my Park Royals were delivered this morning, and initially when I looked at some of the photos over the last few days, I thought that they looked a bit too modern 2 pack "orangey". But no, they are the dogs b****x, im delighted with them. Well done to all at IRM.

Paul..

[Mol_PMB]

Neil Smith has some nice 1980s photos of Park Royals on Flickr, including this interior view of the main saloon:

1425TL here had been originally built as a 'main line' vehicle with 2 toilets, but by 1988 there's no sign of toilet filler pipes on the ends, and I can see seat backs in the vestibules, so its 1980s rebuild may have converted it into a suburban type:

1384TL was built as an 82-seat suburban, but in the 1980s it had a toilet fitted at one end reducing its seating capacity to 79. My notes say that the toilet was fitted in 1988, after this photo dated 1984:

1409TL was built as an 82-seat suburban and remained that way. It was stripped of asbestos in 1981 but seems to have never had any toilets: 

In contrast, 1942 had a very complex history. Built as suburban 1408, it was then converted in 1957 to become the Waterford&Tramore driving trailer. After closure of the W&T it stood out of use for some years and was then rebuilt again to ambulance coach AM15 in 1966 until the early 1980s. Its asbestos was removed in 1983, and it was rebuilt again into brake standard 1942 as seen here. Note the unusual roof vents, the two plain windows, and evidence of the position of the double doors in the middle of the side for loading stretchers:

 

[jhb171achill]

4 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Neil Smith has some nice 1980s photos of Park Royals on Flickr, including this interior view of the main saloon:

1425TL here had been originally built as a 'main line' vehicle with 2 toilets, but by 1988 there's no sign of toilet filler pipes on the ends, and I can see seat backs in the vestibules, so its 1980s rebuild may have converted it into a suburban type:

1384TL was built as an 82-seat suburban, but in the 1980s it had a toilet fitted at one end reducing its seating capacity to 79. My notes say that the toilet was fitted in 1988, after this photo dated 1984:

1409TL was built as an 82-seat suburban and remained that way. It was stripped of asbestos in 1981 but seems to have never had any toilets: 

In contrast, 1942 had a very complex history. Built as suburban 1408, it was then converted in 1957 to become the Waterford&Tramore driving trailer. After closure of the W&T it stood out of use for some years and was then rebuilt again to ambulance coach AM15 in 1966 until the early 1980s. Its asbestos was removed in 1983, and it was rebuilt again into brake standard 1942 as seen here. Note the unusual roof vents, the two plain windows, and evidence of the position of the double doors in the middle of the side for loading stretchers:

 

Was just thinking earlier, I was sure I remembered one with a single toilet! (It was locked out of use - I had to go to the next coach!)

[Mol_PMB]

Well this is rather nice!

I don't have much NIR stock to pose it with; IRM's matching Mk2s aren't ready yet, and Leslie's last batch of spoil wagons never happened. So it's just a tatty old brake van for now!

It doesn't fit my modelling theme, one of the hazards of pre-ordering long in advance before I had settled on my preferred era and region. For now I'll keep it pristine until I make a decision what to do with it!

[Mol_PMB]

I have been rather neglecting 559 recently, and I'm about to head off on hols, but this photo I've just acquired will hopefully spur me to get back to the little tankie once I'm home.

[Mol_PMB]

Musings on roof panels joints and ventilators (not liveries!). 

[Mol_PMB]

As well as some minor modification/detailing repainting like the one I've done already, at least one of my Park Royals is destined to be rebuilt into something else entirely.

I will re-use the underframe and bogies, and perhaps elements of the ends, roof, interior and other parts. I haven't quite decided what to build yet, and I have a slight nagging doubt that IRM themselves may have the same idea and produce other body options on the same underframe.

There's a surprising variety of coaches that used the same basic type of 61'6" triangulated underframe and 8' commonwealth bogies, as follows:

Traditional-bodied 9'6" stock delivered in brilliant green with silver underframes:

• Compartment composite 2137-2161 (1954)
• Compartment second 1372-1378 (1954)
• Buffet car 2419-2422 (1956)

Laminate-bodied 10'2" stock delivered in unpainted aluminium with silver underframes:

• Open second (7 bays) 1429-1443 (1956)
• Open composite (suburban) 2162-2171 (1957)
• Open second (7 bays) 1444-1448 (1958)

Laminate-bodied 10'2" wide stock delivered in light green with black underframes and bogies:

• Open second (8 bays) 1449-1496 (1958-60)
• Brake open second 1909-1913 (1959)

Oddments not in any of the above categories:

• TPO 2972-2978 (1958)
• Full brake 2549-2558 (1960)
• Dining car 2402 (1961)

The story is further complicated because many of the composites (and a few others) were later converted to brake seconds, full brakes, or steam heating vans. 

So there's many different options!

The easiest to do are the 7-bay open seconds 1429-1448, basically just requiring new sides and some detail changes. The interior layout was the same as a Park Royal.

All the Park Royals were seconds of course, and I can see an advantage in modelling a composite instead, to provide some first class accommodation. 

Hmmm. I shall mull this over.

 

 

[lucas]

3 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

(not liveries!).

Too late... Just finished respraying mine in pink 

[Mol_PMB]

20 minutes ago, lucas said:

Too late... Just finished respraying mine in pink 

I'm going to end up moving some vents and sanding off some ribs...

IRM have placed their 9 pairs of vents according this drawing, published in Autumn 1954. Unfortunately, Inchicore chose to fit 10 pairs of vents when they they built the real thing. 

Some of IRM's roof ribs are in the right place. 

To be fair, I haven't found any drawings showing the roof ribs, or the correct vent positions. But it can be worked out from careful study of photos - there is a logic to it.

 

Edit: I'll probably only bother re-doing the roof on one of my carriages, it's a lot of work for a very small change in appearance. But I want to do one with a green roof as originally delivered, so I'll make the effort to get that one right.

Edited 1 hour ago by Mol_PMB

[Horsetan]

2 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

.....I will re-use the underframe and bogies, and perhaps elements of the ends, roof, interior and other parts. I haven't quite decided what to build yet, and I have a slight nagging doubt that IRM themselves may have the same idea and produce other body options on the same underframe...

The question you have to ask yourself is: "Do I feel lucky?"....

[Mol_PMB]

15 minutes ago, Horsetan said:

The question you have to ask yourself is: "Do I feel lucky?"....

No. They'll be out to get me now that I've started counting vents!