Progress on 4 Wheeled Coach

Summer, sun and cottage also means occasional modelling activities. I have made it a tradition to bring a kit with me to the cottage for some relaxing summer modelling.

Fortunately the Line Side Hut-kit of a small 4-wheeled coach arrived well timed for packing and once proper settled in at the cottage, I pulled the kit out and started building. I had studied the instructions in advance, but I kept a close eye on them, as attention is needed to avoid mistakes. The instructions are a description of the assembly process and sometimes you have to read several stages forward to get a clear understanding of how to assemble parts. I would underline the instructions' advice of dry test fitting all parts without glue to get aquainted with the part's fit and handing, as no clear assembly sequence drawings are provided. The instructions are otherwise quite clear and adequate for a good assembly process and good fun.

Inside and outside ends painted and ready for assembly. The sliding doors can be seen to the left. 

The plywood parts are very well laser cut and only on a few parts I noticed slight imperfections in the cuttings that needed sanding. The majority of parts could be used directly from their zip lock bags.

I first assembled the frame and fitted brass bearings and wheel sets. Not a daunting task, as all parts fitted together well and assembly was clearly spelled out in the instructions. After the glue had dried, I was left with a working 4-wheeled framework to carry the coach's body.

Ends as well as sides of the coach are made up from several layered parts trapping window inserts from clear acetate sheet and acrylic blocks as well as working sliding doors. The parts are handed and almost identical and this is where a minimum of concentration is needed to avoid mixing up parts. As mentioned the parts fit well and the plywood glues easily. On surfaces to be painted I sprayed several thin coats of primer to give the covering paint a good surface to adhere onto. I used Games Workshop 'Corax White' (actually a very light grey colour) for priming.

Due to the way the kit is designed, assembly and painting has to be carried out in several stages to give the best result. First I assembled the basic sides and ends. The sliding doors were primed and painted on their outsides and then glued together around a piece of acetate. While they dried sides and ends were primed and painted. Once dry the doors were sanded to fit and slide well in their openings and fitted with a brass wire handle. Inside and outside end parts were then sandwiched around the doors with a moderate amount of glue.

Coach sides assembled from three layers of laser cut plywood during painting. A final fourth layer glued from the inside will trap four acrylic blocks in the window openings.

To avoid a flashy look to the coach in Nystrup Gravel use and still bring out the panelled design, I picked matt colours of light brown and ivory. The paints are acrylic Vallejo 70.983 'Flat Earth' and 70.918 'Ivory'. The paint was applied by old fashioned brushes as I never bring my air brush to the cottage. I think it is good to model using only rather basic tools now and then. Due to nice warm weather my painting would have benefitted use of the Vallejo 'Retarder' to slow the drying time, but the bottle was home in the cupboard...  

As much progress as I managed in my first week of vacation. Next week will be spent touring Denmark without modelling projects.

With major parts of the body's ends and sides assembled I could test fit the four parts together and begin to see my first coach in 16 mm scale materialize. I think it will fit in well on my small narrow gauge industrial railway.