MODEL Ratio/parkside PC17 LNER 21t Trestle Wagon kit ◆ Price (rrp) £10.25
Ihaven’t met many modellers who don’t enjoy building plastic kits of one sort or another. It’s how most of us got started in model making, and plastic’s user-friendly, versatile nature makes it a rewarding material to work with. However, unless you’re prepared to put some extra work into creating lifelike textures, it can be difficult to overcome the slightly-too-perfect appearance of the material.
A perfect example is the rendition of bare timber. Plank seams are often too uniform and the lack of wood grain texture may not be noticeable in ‘N’ gauge, but anything larger will present an overly smooth aspect. A great deal of effort is also required at the painting stage, to mimic grain and creating a faded/ weathered patina.
But here’s a thought. Why not use real wood instead? Wood veneer is useful for cutting into planks for wagon decks, but more prominent features, such as a set of trestles, would really benefit from being crafted from strip wood, which is readily available in various sizes from model and craft stores.
Having begun construction of a rake of steel plate-carrying wagons, I wondered how the Parkside plastic kits could be enhanced. The moulded plastic trestle components were good, but they needed a fair bit of fettling work and lacked a suitable surface texture. What really galvanised me into seeking an alternative, however, was the prospect of having to paint and weather them to look like real wood.
Instead, I took the dimensions of the kit components, consulted prototype images on Paul Bartlett’s wagon photography website (www.paulbartlett.zenfolio.com) and ordered a few packs of strip wood from an online hobby store. I tried a few different types of wood: balsa, basswood, spruce and mahogany, each of which looked and performed slightly differently. The balsa proved to be a waste of time as the wood split too easily while being shaped, but the others were much better. The mahogany proved more difficult to cut with a knife and was a little too dark compared to the prototype, leaving the basswood and spruce as the likeliest contenders. These were too pale in their natural state, but the final appearance was easy to refine with shades of wood dye, meaning that there was no need for painting of the trestle at all.
Two sizes of strip wood were employed, the upright trestle brackets being formed from 3.5mm square material, while the horizontal bearers and diagonal braces were cut from 3.5mm by 2mm strip. With rebated joints, the completed trestle unit proved to be very sturdy, especially once fixed to the wagon floor. I considered adding veneer planks, but I was concerned about the strength of the bond between the trestles and the floor. Besides, much of the floor will be hidden once the wagon was loaded, so I opted to roughen up the plastic ‘planks’ with abrasives before assembly, to add a little texture.
The addition of cosmetic brass joint plates to the trestles is an optional extra, but they do add a greater level of finesse. As for the load, my initial idea was to cut sheets of plastic card and paint them to resemble steel plate. Again, though, much labour could be saved by using something more authentic, so I cut single sheets of lead, from a 1.3mm thick roll (see Shopping List and Warning panels). Suitably prepared with a hammer, the appearance couldn’t be bettered in terms of fidelity. And it took about ten minutes!
An added bonus of using lead for a wagon load is that it gave the lightweight plastic kit some much-needed ballast. If you intend to run the wagons unloaded, then a small strip of the lead can be secured discreetly below the floor for the same purpose.
While it took me a few attempts to get the timber trestles right (I really should have made a jig to speed things up and ensure greater consistency) the simple plastic kit and the wagon load took no time at all. While I still have a further six of these wagons to build, they’re providing a very enjoyable evening project and the time and effort are proving worthwhile.