Over the past few months I've been building some kits from Resurgam Rolling Stock (David Williams).
They are all laser cut ply, have very detailed instructions and use what David describes as a ‘hidden tab’ method of design/construction. This means there is always a tabbed together construction layer ‘hidden’ by overlays, meaning no ugly joints. The designs are quite excellent in my opinion, a level of detail captured that far exceeds the regular laser cut wooden kits. There are however an awful lot of fiddly parts!!
Fast drying wood glue was used as recommended and worked very well.
Everything comes with the kits, including wheels.
FR 3 Ton Slate Wagons
First off was his 3T slate wagons.
I added nail art half pearls to the places marked for rivets (bit of a labour of love!) and nut heads from Cambrian models for the axle boxes, both attached using tiny dabs of canopy glue.
Spray painted them with Halford's grey primer.
And added the wheels and brake gear followed by a coat of Humbrol matt enamel varnish..
Apparently the 3T wagons (as opposed to the earlier 2T versions) were universally hated by quarry and port workers alike as they were much heavier to push around and much more difficult to load/unload.
FR Granite Wagon
Around 1920, 26 of the 3T slate wagons were converted to carry granite chippings from Brooke’s Quarry, with the addition of a wooden insert and end opening door. They were run to near destruction on ballasting trains by the early preservationists and consequently few survive in good condition, but recently a pair have been restored at Beamish.
Same story with the construction of the kits as above, but with the addition of the insert and end door detail.
The body and detail parts were sprayed up with Halfords enamel black and the wooden inserts stained before assembly to give a crisp finish. Then more Humbrol matt varnish.
The Beamish inspiration (unbraked version if anyone wonders why the tare weight different to my model, I embrace my anorak!!)–
FR RAF 4 wheelers and Bogie wagons
In the 1960’s the FR preservation society purchased a number of ex-RAF Hudson 4 wheel and bogie wagons from RAF Fauld. These were used for work on the deviation and general P-Way and now for rubbish clearance and ash trains from Port to Ddualt.
As you can imagine, these wagons are very beaten up in real life, and having read Paul Howard's article on using weathering powders, I wanted to challenge myself to make these as dirty as I could. Another friend put me onto ‘iron flour’ as a method of modelling real rust too and I went ahead and experimented with both techniques. This is available to purchase from Simon at Model Earth designs (not on website but just email him).
Before…
Then came some weathering powders (and yes Paul I agree, this is a very messy process!)
Then a coat of matt varnish to seal. Whilst the varnish is wet sprinkle the ‘iron flour’ where you want it to be and allow to dry. Then fill a mist spray bottle with white wine vinegar and spray over (yes really!). This activates the iron flour to start rusting, and be patient it develops over time, think mine keep appearing rustier several weeks on!!.
Getting the insides nice and rusty is a must, where constant use will have removed all the paint long go.
Next came the bogie wagons, more rivets this time and a more complicated construction with the bogies to build and drop side detail. These are know as the ‘Locoals’ on the FR as for years they were used to move coal from Boston Lodge to Port and could be seen by the Port water tower when coaling engines between turns. We will have all seen them and never given them a second glance!
Rivets: Just a tiny blob of canopy glue onto the wagon and then pick up the half pearl with a pin, drop into the glue. Available on eBay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10000-Acrylic-Tiny-Half-Pearl-Flatback-Round-Bead-1-5mm-Nail-Art-Tips-/133575129423?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286
Finished before weathering -
And after…..
April 2021
