Inside My Head

So after a bit of a sleep in on Good Friday I commenced some styrene building.  First off was to spray paint some styrene ‘I’ beam that I had cut up some months ago.  This was placed on some masking tape on a piece of wood and sprayed a nice rusty brown colour, just like all my styrene ‘I’ beam fencing.

I then started getting some components together to scratch build a QR HO wagon.  As I was building it, I could hear Arthur Hayes voice in my head.  “You do know that the ribs on the outside of the wagon were also on the inside of the that wagon as well”.  Bugger!  I just hate that.  He plants that seed and the bloody thing just grows and grows, and I cannot stop thinking about it.  I was going to use one of these QR HO wagons in my 4 x scratchbuilt wagons for my Master Builder of Cars Achievement Program Certificate.  I know that my Assessor for the AP – the one and only Arthur Hayes (and let’s not forget the MMR after his name) will be looking inside my wagon to see if I had included that detail on my offered model.  I thought about adding a tarpaulin over the top of the wagon (as I can make a mean tarpaulin).  But I know that said assessor, would be looking at ways to remove the tarp and check inside.  He was still inside my head.  So I was also thinking of another two ways of making that wagon and achieving the inside wagon detail.  One way was to put two pieces of Evergreen 0.100” Metal Siding back to back.  But that would have the wagon side 2mm thick, which would make it about an almost 7” thick wagon side.  Now thinking about that as I am writing this now, I am sort of thinking that that is not really that thick.  As the walls are three dimensional and are have ribs a couple of inches thick on each side.  So maybe this is the best method to produce that detail.  I was originally thinking that I would use some very thin styrene for the walls, and then apply some styrene strip to each side of the wall and the wagon side will look just like the 0.100” Metal Siding but will be thinner.  So my plan is actually build one of each type of side and see how they all turn out.  However, in my planning I was thinking I’m short of the dimensional strip styrene required.  So on Saturday I went to the local hobby shop for a collection of some sizes of styrene.

What I didn’t say is that I was going to use this wagon as a topic on scratch building a wagon in styrene for our next NMRA meeting.  So I only have a few weeks before I need to have the model ready.  I have spent quite a lot of time on the first wagon this weekend already and it is very nearly completed.  I just need to add some lashing bars tomorrow morning and finish off the two ends of the wagon.  I just need to then add some detail, like handbrake wheel, air cylinder and air pipes and a bit of chain.  The bogies need to be added as well and then I can give it an undercoat.

Simultaneously, I have been working on a second side with a scratch built rids.  Boy there is a lot of work in that.  I will see if I can complete one side by tomorrow afternoon as well. 

I will have these wagons on display at the upcoming May Model Train Exhibition in Brisbane at the Exhibition grounds if anyone is interested in check them over.