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

[Mol_PMB]

Life has been busy but I’ve been plugging away when I get the chance and the GSWR carriage is now at the painting stage. I’m painting this in 1954 Brilliant Green.

The blue things on the left are British Railways FM containers, which were often to be seen in Ireland. I’m extremely impressed with the print quality - I’ve done no preparation other than some white primer and then ice blue. 

Many thanks to Slanjonok over on RMweb for the stl files and @Rob R for printing them for me. 
Slanjonok is also working on some CIE alloy container stl files for me…

[flange lubricator]

The coach looks amazing Paul.

 

[Rob R]

Paul,

Glad the containers passed your QC controls.

When I get a chance I'll post the printy specs for them in the 3d printing thread.

Let me know when the CIE containers are ready to print.

R

 

 

[Mol_PMB]

The body is progressing in the paintshop and now has the lining and number on one side.
I forgot to put the door bangers on the etch but I have made a virtue out of a mistake. The waist lining goes on much better without them, and I have used Archer rivet transfers on top of the lining to represent the door bangers. 

I have also painted the ends black and picked out the communication cord butterflies in red.

I have also been painting the seats; the saloon interior is painted already.

 

 

[Horsetan]

12 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

...I have also been painting the seats; the saloon interior is painted already.

 

Looks almost ready to receive scale-sized cushions for seats and seat backs....

[Mol_PMB]

31 minutes ago, Horsetan said:

Looks almost ready to receive scale-sized cushions for seats and seat backs....

I did think about it, but decided that sewing and stuffing the fine silk wasn't in my skillset.

[Mol_PMB]

With the GSWR coach, I've got as far as a trial assembly of the painted parts, and now I can compare the livery to some of my other models too.

Still to do are the interior and glazing, complete the buffers, couplers and gangways, and a bit more on the bogies. But it's looking the part now.

All three vehicles are lightly weathered, though there's a bit more weathering to do on the bogies of the middle one.

The full brake is Humbrol 3 Brunswick Green, which is almost identical to BS381C 226 Brunswick Green, which was the colour used by CIE for their dark green. The plain dark green livery with no lining or logos was introduced in 1950/51.

The 30' composite is in Revell SM364 Leaf Green which forum members suggested as the best match for CIE light green.

The bogie coach is BS381C 221 Brilliant Green, custom mixed for me by onlinepainship.co.uk. The Spring 1954 IRRS Journal notes that 'Coaches are now being painted in a much brighter shade (officially Brilliant Green) with a narrow light green band along the waist-line...' This is the livery I have chosen for the bogie coach 840, as illustrated in Ernie's super photo of the same coach dated April 1956:

Interestingly, after a bit of weathering on both, the Brilliant Green has turned out very similar to the Revell SM36 green; the Revell colour being fractionally paler, and the brilliant colour being slightly browner. 

I do like all the 'gubbins' on the roofs of these old Irish coaches, so here's a roof shot:

Finally a comparison with an IRM Park Royal. Although the roof and underframe have been repainted on this one, the green has not. I think it needs to be toned down a bit, and I'm planning to mask off the windows and try a coat of flat varnish to start with. This is the Park Royal that I modified with the correct roof layout, and represents the last version of the green livery introduced in the very late 1950s.

I'd better stop writing and continue work on the model...

[popeye]

They look great and the roof detail does make them stand out from other models.

Shades of green are always a problem. Mix your own to get the colour you are happy with.

You can't go by photo's but it helps. In real life they were varied and aged so pick a shade you like.

[jhb171achill]

53 minutes ago, popeye said:

They look great and the roof detail does make them stand out from other models.

Shades of green are always a problem. Mix your own to get the colour you are happy with.

You can't go by photo's but it helps. In real life they were varied and aged so pick a shade you like.

This is true, and has caught out many a modeller over the years.

Paint two vehicles from the same pot of paint in the same day, use one on a steam-operated inland midlands branch line, and the other hauled by diesels on an exposed coastal line, and in only a couple of years you’d swear they were ORIGINALLY painted differently. 

Here, I’m well aware that Mol_pb has carried out a truly exceptional level of research in advance. 

To those in doubt, or seeking enlightenment, read the Mol chronicles here, and chapter and verse will become apparent. 

The proof of the pudding is not so much the notoriously unreliable tones apparently seen in 1950s / 1960s colour slides, but in the comments and memories of those who SAW the real thing day in, day out; and were also blessed with a very good eye for colour, which not everyone has. 

The research Mol has done, and conclusions drawn, and noted in these posts, align with the many tales I’ve been told over the years by people who were there at the time, plus my own (few and late) memories of things green. 

[Mol_PMB]

I’ve fitted the glazing and the smoking labels. In 4mm scale the latter are only impressions- the lettering isn’t quite readable. The transfers also look a bit faded in colour, but the real things faded too. They are applied to the inside of the window glass (and it is real glass). 

Anyway, the trouble with taking a closeup macro photo and then posting it in a large size is that it highlights all the imperfections I hadn’t spotted with the naked eye. But sometimes life is too short to worry about the roughness of the paint!

This picture also shows the door bangers from Archer rivet transfers. 
 

I’m pretty pleased with how this is coming together, but there are a few tweaks I’ll make to the body etch artwork before making it available to others, to correct some minor issues I’ve had to deal with in the build.