Wagons In Black Satin

Having now reached the end (sorry I'll stop with the bad puns... honest) I thought I'd show you the completed wagon. As you can see it's had transfers applied, been varnished and had couplings fitted since you last saw it.

A plain wagon would have been boring so I knew I would want to add transfers but I also knew that I wanted it to represent a wagon from somewhere reasonably local. Fortunately Modelmaster produce a wide range of transfers for private owner coal wagons so there were quite a few local options to choose from. I picked Lofthouse Colliery simply because it recommended applying them to an all black wagon, which, as I mentioned before, simplified the painting. The transfers were easy to use although I'm not entirely happy with how they went on. The raised areas of the wagon tended, in some places, to trap air which I couldn't remove no matter how hard I tried.

The final step (other than sticking on the couplings which is the work of a moment) involved varnishing. Varnishing serves two purposes. First it protects the paint and transfers from wearing off when the model is handled, but it also reduces the shiny surface left from the gloss paint (which is needed to help the transfers stick properly). As with the primer and paint I used an aerosol of Humbrol satin varnish. Whilst it was easy to apply (easier than the paint anyway), I'm a little disappointed that in a few places it has left little white dots. It's unclear exactly what has caused this although a little research on the web suggests that I may not have had the varnish warm enough and well mixed.

I'm fairly happy with the result and I've learnt a few things which I can apply to the next model I build and paint. I have an 8 plank, 12 ton coal wagon (also from Parkside Dundas) that I'm in the process of putting together. This will be a slightly more complex project as it won't be painted black.