Wagon load preparation
Building interiors and decoration
Cassettes
Wagon fittings
A full house this week and a productive session 'to boot'.
Stephen had brought his grit-colouring paraphernalia again, and set up to show Laurence the method he had used before. Grit (mixed sizes) was placed in a plastic pot to which neat acrylic paint was added and stirred-in thoroughly. White was added first, then brown, yellow and more white until a colour close to an element of the bridge wall was attained. This was spread out onto paper to dry. Another batch was then prepared of a slightly different shade and spread out again. What's required are subtly different shades that, when mixed together, reflect the wall colours, without any standing out.
When fully dry, the coloured grit can be easily separated/crumbled to individual stones.
Geoff then had a go creating two mixes, but after allowing to dry a bit, these were considered to be too different from the first two and will require recolouring.
Stephen had also brought the building back and displayed the new floor panels and a workbench. The latter fits at the end of the left hand bay, which has a planked-over floor pit, and will be the vehicle workshop.
Stephen had carried out some tests for whitewashing the building. After investigating real walls and noted little dark crevices that many had, test panels with black and grey spray base coats had been prepared. Top coats of neat white acrylic, matt emulsion and both thickened with filler powder were applied. However, thickened emulsion on the plain white plastic sub-base was found to be the realistic. Plants growing out of crevices have still been insisted on!
Laurence finished making and fitting the pins for the cassette end plates.
Geoff displayed his wagons fitted with wagon door protectors. These had been laser cut from basswood to match those found on a vintage standard gauge wagon he'd photographed. A packet of them were handed to Stephen to complete his rake.
