petesworkshop

This was a straight forward build from a "Celtic Connections" kit. I thickened up the roof a little but apart from that there was little else I could do to improve the kit, it’s a very simple vehicle really. I hand painted the model mostly using NBR freight grey, which I found in the listings of "Precission Paints"; then I lightly weathered the van with an air brush.

I made this Caledonian Railway goods brake van from a very nice etches only kit from "Caley Coaches".  I made the springs and axleboxes myself as well as the mechanism for the hand brake though you can’t see it in this picture, it’s behind the guard. He’s based on a figure in an early photo of a CR brake van and is wearing a characteristic jacket that seems to have been uniform issue to guards and other railway employees too. The model was hand painted, though I used an air-brush to add a little light weathering as a finishing touch. The ends of the brake van are vermillion; the colour of the sides is difficult to describe, as these vehicles don’t seem to have been painted the same oxide colour as the general CR freight stock. I mixed up a colour myself  based on that of the preserved 6-wheel brake van in the SRPS collection at Bo’ness; it certainly cheered the van up.

I’m sure the Highland Railway had an almost identical horsebox; anyway I’ll paint this one as a Caledonian vehicle, it’ll look grand behind my "Pug". I’ll add the glazing after I ‘ve painted the model. There’s a bit of work needed on the interior of the groom’s compartment and I’ll add a seated figure, I like to do this as I think figures help bring a model to life.

I have an interesting horsebox under construction at the moment; in fact it’s been quite a time in the building as it’s by no means straight forward; it’s one of those kits that was produced originaly some time back, when the state of the art of kit design was not what it is today. It’s a Fourtrack Models kit and I’ve no doubt that it’ll make a very attractive model when all the detail is added, I’m working it through to a finish now, so watch this space.

I built this guards van from an abs models kit, most of which was cast in resin, which is not my favorite modelling medium, nevertheless it has made a very attractive model.

Another view of the engine and tender.

You may have wondered what the engine that appears on Heroes of the Footplate’s Home Page is, you can only see part of it there. So here it is in its entirety, I haven’t got round to painting it yet but I will do soon and show it again on petesworkshop when it’s finished. The engine is a Caledonian Railway 0-4-0 "pug". It is mostly scratchbuilt though I used a lot of parts from the Slaters’ kit of a similar prototype. I have an article in preparation on the construction of this model that I hope will appear soon in the model press, it’s both an epic and a cautionary tale in one.  

Life in models?