Rail Express – September 2019

GRAHAMFARISHBAAWAGON

MODELLING

Supplement No. 185 September 2019 RAIL EXPRESS Modeller M11

As thestrip is rolled up, addasmall
dab of solvent cement to secure it at
every secondturnwithout squeezing
melted plasticfromthe ends.One
length of stripisnot sufficient to
completeadecen tsized ‘OO’gaugecoil,
so next stripis butt joinedtothe edge
of the last tocontinue coiling, securing
it wit hsmall amounts of solvent
cement as itgets lar ger. Checkthe
outsidediameter of each strip coilon
somewagons to seethat theyfitwithin
the loadinggauge. Oncethedesired
diameter hasbeenreached,the leading
edge is securedwithsolvent and the
coillefttodry overnight.
Agood numberofc oils can be
made in one modellingsessionready
forbatch painting. Beforepainting,
evenout the endsof each coilby
rubbing it onapiece of800grade
abrasivepaper, leaving sufficient
relief in theends to createthe

The ‘strapping’ is wrapped around the

coils and secured in the ‘eye’withaspot

of CA glue to hold it in place.

TOOLSAND MATERIALS

•300mm steel rule.

•Sharp scalpel.

•Various tweezers.

•Somethinground and metal: 5mm

to 8mm in diameter.

•Cutting mat.

•Grade 800wetand dry paper.

•Acrylic paints–rusts, dull

aluminium and greys.

•Black electrical insulation tape.

•Full sheet of 10-thou white styrene

card.

•Solvent cement.

•CAglue.

After straightening the GrahamFarish wagon, the coilcradles andwagondeckwere

weathered withTamiya brownfollowedupbyadash of lighter rust shades applied with

an airbrush. Once finished, the coilswere loaded on thewagonwithone left unfinished

forcomparison.

An unadulterated GrahamFarish BAAwhich is supplied with three moulded

plastic coils. Itwasobser vedtohave adistinct bowinitwhich needed to

be straightened. The coils aresimple to detailand weather to changethe

appearance of the model.

impression ofrolledsteel strip.

Painting

Acrylic paint isused to paint thecoils

forspeed ,starting withabasecoat

ofaluminiumpaint such asTamiya

XF16 flat aluminiumorXF56 metallic

grey or even XF25 light seagrey. For

coil expose dtothe weather, apply

the merest drift of lightrust from

the LifeColour ‘Rustand Dust’pack.

Alte rnatively, very fres hcoils arealmost

dark blueandgreyins hade whichcan

be achieved with mixed thinwashes of

TamiyaXF17sea blueand XF66 light

grey overthe basecoatto bu ildupthe

colour s. Check photographsforideas on

howtocolour coil models–itwillvary

alittle dependingonthe steel,its age

andwhere it wasmade.

Strapping andweathering

Electrical insulation tape comes in

very handyforall manner of strapping

includingload securingstraps and the

metal bindingsthat hold strip steel

coilstogether.Alengt hofblacktape

wasplaced onaclean cuttingmat and

very thinstrips about0.5mm wide cut

from the long edge. Thetape strips are

worked around the paintedcoils and

across then, beingsecured withCA

glue in th emiddle, nicelyout of sight.

Weathering is completed afterthe

strapping is fitted and secure. More of

the blueand gr ey Tamiyapaint colours

can be used or anotherusefulTamiya

colour,XF84 dark iron, can be applied as

awash overthe coilsto highlight detail.

Hopefully, some of the basecoatwill

showthrough.

Detailing’N’ gaugecoils

The sametech nique canwork for‘N’

gaugeusing10thou strip, justadjusted

forsizeand scale, to make up coils.

GrahamFarish includes strip coil and

cradleswith some of itsBAAmodels,

usually only the three coils whereas

the full size wagons can be seen loaded

with four or evenfive coil s. The supplied

coils canbe repainted ,using the same

acrylicpaint as described above,fitted

wit hthe thinnest strips of insulation

tape possible to cut from the edge of

Modelling strip coils isasimple but
enjoyable project which can be done
in short modelling sessions. Start with
strips of 10-thou styrene and something
strong of about 5mm to 8mm in diameter
to roll it around.

Forcoilmaking in ‘OO’gauge, apin vice

handle is ideal.

Severallengths of styrene strip is needed

to complete one coil–the ends arebutt

joined carefullytoavoid aridge and

secured with sparing amounts of solvent

cement.

Havi ng completedacoilofs teel stripin

plastic, finish the ends onapiece ofwet

and dry paper.

Finished coilfor a‘OO’ gaugewagon

such as theBAA, readyfor strapping and

weathering. It has been painted with

TamiyaXF16 flat aluminium and lightly

weathered.

Strapping is applied to the painted coils

using thin pieces of electrical insulation

tape.

the tape andweath ered. Alternatively,

makeupyour owntoslight ly different

sizesto further addyour owntouch to

the models.

Weatheringofthe wagondeck with

dark rustcoloursandwashes of mid

brownrust together with thecradles,

the GrahamFarish BAAmodelcan be

transformed inacouple of hours.

Fina lthoughts

As simple as coil-making is,the

end resultsare very effectiveand

satisfying. If modelling moneyiss hort

forthe month, coil-making (andmaking

other steel loads) is notexpensive as

proj ects go.Itisacreativemodelling

projectwherethe sizeand widthof

coilisdetermined only by thewidth

of the cradles and the loadinggauge

–don’tmakethe coiltoo tall! Therest

iscolouring,weathe ring and detailing,

evenfor coilbeing usedasascenic

elem ent. To addfurthercharacter to

your strip coil, consider some white

stencilled lettering to identifythe coil

and protective sheeting too!