Another J-class? You are Joking right?

Seems not. I'm taking a break from building my oil-burning J-class so I can tackle some other projects. I did decide that if I could get a coal burning version I would get one. About a month ago an opportunity came up to purchase one at a good price. Money was saved and a couple of days ago I picked it up:

The model itself is quite well built and runs nicely. There are a couple of things that will change in time. Things like repainting the engine to represent J515 as it was running on the VGR up until recently (so the red flutes on the rods will remain and new numbers sourced). The cab interior will be picked out in the appropriate colours and a crew installed. A working coupler will be fitted to the front so it can be used with other locos and for shunting. It will fit in with my aim of having rollingstock that runs on the VGR while also filling a gap in my normal roster. Once the changes are made I can hopefully resume work on the oil version.

Looking a bit sheepish Part 2

After working on these wagons for a month, they have finally been completed:

They are now ready for delivery to the client. And the workshop is ready to tackle another project.

Looking a bit sheepish Part 1

I seldom build things for other people, most things I build are for me and replaced if I do a better job the second time round. However the opportunity to obtain a missing item of rollingstock in the collection in return for building some wagons is too good to pass up.

The wagons I'm building for the 'client' is some Steam Era Models L type sheep wagons. Released by SEM just over a decade ago, this kit is a challenge and is sure to put the builder in the nuthouse if they intend on building more than 5 of them. As I need to build 3 of them it was obvious the best way to tackle them is a staged production line. Each wagon is built to a certain stage and then the next one to the same stage and so on. Common sense to many I'm sure.

Here is a couple of progress photos to date. It has taken about a week to get to this stage as other life commitments take precedence:

As you can see 3 underframes have been built and 2 bodies built awaiting installation of the upper floor. Work will begin on the 3rd body and then all 3 can have the upper floors installed.

The Overdue, a tale of a long-winded project

Modellers in Australia have got used to RTR items taking a long time from inception to delivery. Some recent examples include the Eureka R-class and TrainOrama GM-class locomotives which took the best part of 8 years to be delivered. Things are somewhat different when you have more control over when a model is completed.

That has been the case with the latest model I have completed. The model was originally a prize at a social night swindle for the local model railway club Easter exhibition back in 2006. It was in black black plastic as it was obviously a sample for the importer who later went on to sell the same carriages in silver and only requiring decals. I decided plain black was not how it was going to stay and after comparing various other cars I decided to turn it into a Overland sleeper car. The paint went on pretty quick and at least one side received its decals and then the project stopped. Why? Well I put it down to a few things; in the time between when I last worked on it to now I have moved house twice and other projects took my interest so I was more into building items.

Last week I decided that it was time to get this car finished. The decals for the other side were fitted and finally sealed in with dullcote, and here is the result:

The model is a Frateschi sleeping car, painted and decaled with BGB Overland decals to make a near-enough sleeping car as they operated from the 1950s till 2000 when the livery changed to plain stainless steel. It now joins the carriage fleet as a fully finished item of rollingstock.

You rang for a U van? The sequel

With Easter coming up in a few weeks and the need to have some projects finished in time to run at the local model railway exhibition I have been pushing some easy jobs through. Painting the U van was one of these and it has now been completed:

As you can see the use of the Humbrol #100 red/brown is pretty close to VR wagon red. Funnily enough I got the tip from the SEM instructions for the FQX container flats, although at the time those instructions were printed it was actually Humbrol #110. It lends itself better to brush painting than other paints so it will probably be my paint of choice from now on now I have a colour that represents VR wagon red nicely. Focus will now turn to finishing the FQX containers flats and maybe a surprise carriage project.

You rang for a U van?

The Steam Era Models U van kit has been around for 30 odd years, having been originally released under the Broad Gauge Models brand in the 1980s. The model was starting to become a little dated so it has been recently upgraded to meet today's standards. Separate etched handrails and other details such as the handbrake are now included in a brass fret in the kit (previously one had to buy a handbrake etch as an optional part separately). The biggest change is the roof, which has been changed to a corrugated iron version rather than the plain roof. The model looks very smart and is comparable to the RTR offers of Auscision if built well:

This model is now in the process of being painted. I'm trying a new paint on this model, Humbrol #100 red brown which is a fairly close match to VR wagon red in my eyes. I shall see how it turns out.

Container Traffic

Been a few months since I put up a picture of the first container wagon I built. Since then it has been painted, along with two more:

Each wagon is loaded with two 20ft containers. The containers are a Walthers product and come supplied already painted and lettered. The real fun I had with building the wagons was not so much the construction side but more applying the decals. Each side has 11 decals (10 if you opt not to apply the VR logos) and it can be hard reading the fine white print on the blue decal backing paper. Thankfully Steam Era supply an excellent diagram in the instructions that have the harder to read ones blown up. With these 3 done work has just been completed on building number 4 and is now ready for paint. My aim is to have a train of about 10 wagons depending on how many I can fit into one of Auscision's gold storage boxes. When finished I will have a train suitable for haulage by some of my more modern locomotives such as a A-class, C-class and hopefully a future Austrains G-class.