jamiepage
Western Thunderer
Herewith a few snaps of plastic masters for resin moulding.
The M&SWJR owned a few 3 plank dropside/ ballast wagons that appeared to be pretty much identical to MR D305, so with available photos plus some superb MR drawings kindly sourced by AndyB it has been possible to arrive at something close to prototype.
Both the M&SWJR and MR wagons showed a variety of door bumps and headstock ends; the basic moulding will be neutral but the different features can be added easily enough to a model, as required.
A planned ballast train ex Foss Cross will need half a dozen hence the thought to resin mould.
The idea is to mould a one piece main body as shown in the first photo (underframe/ floor/ curb rails/ ends)
onto which two separate side door pieces can be attached.
Rightly or wrongly, I felt that separate doors would help portray the original's character a little better than had the whole thing been moulded as a one piece, especially at the corners.
The body is almost finished now, needing just nut detail, for which I will try Giles Favell's excellent items as featured elsewhere on WT.
After that, it will go off to Mike Williams to see what he thinks.
It may be that the separate sides idea is too much of a faff for moulding, or is impractical, in which case I will need to make a second side and glue the whole thing together.
As it is, the sides are not designed to hinge (although it could be done), but a dropped side could be modelled as part of a feature or diorama.
Assuming these masters produce decent mouldings, then Mike Williams Models running gear, buffers, drawgear, etc would all fit straight in, and so a rake should be a relatively painless project.
Rub down transfers commissioned from 4D models are standing by; a little premature, but there's nothing like a bit of positive planning. (Excellent service from 4D, by the way).
Ah, just noticed the capping strips still need to go on.
The M&SWJR owned a few 3 plank dropside/ ballast wagons that appeared to be pretty much identical to MR D305, so with available photos plus some superb MR drawings kindly sourced by AndyB it has been possible to arrive at something close to prototype.
Both the M&SWJR and MR wagons showed a variety of door bumps and headstock ends; the basic moulding will be neutral but the different features can be added easily enough to a model, as required.
A planned ballast train ex Foss Cross will need half a dozen hence the thought to resin mould.
The idea is to mould a one piece main body as shown in the first photo (underframe/ floor/ curb rails/ ends)
onto which two separate side door pieces can be attached.
Rightly or wrongly, I felt that separate doors would help portray the original's character a little better than had the whole thing been moulded as a one piece, especially at the corners.
The body is almost finished now, needing just nut detail, for which I will try Giles Favell's excellent items as featured elsewhere on WT.
After that, it will go off to Mike Williams to see what he thinks.
It may be that the separate sides idea is too much of a faff for moulding, or is impractical, in which case I will need to make a second side and glue the whole thing together.
As it is, the sides are not designed to hinge (although it could be done), but a dropped side could be modelled as part of a feature or diorama.
Assuming these masters produce decent mouldings, then Mike Williams Models running gear, buffers, drawgear, etc would all fit straight in, and so a rake should be a relatively painless project.
Rub down transfers commissioned from 4D models are standing by; a little premature, but there's nothing like a bit of positive planning. (Excellent service from 4D, by the way).
Ah, just noticed the capping strips still need to go on.
