Mill Lane Sidings Shock Opens

Another one of the “somethings” aka my UFOs which Amity decided needed fixing up was my three Mill Lane Sidings (now N Gauge Society kit 36 – see here for the details on the kit) shock wagons.

From what I remember from when I got them (2010 – seems to be a trend developing here…) Richard Bardsley had done the opens as part of his Mill Lane Sidings range and then sold the moulds to the NGS – I’m sure someone with the full skinny will comment and let me know if I have the wrong end of the horse.  Either way, the kits were very easy to put together and I left off back in October 2010 having painted them with Precision Paints P127 BR Bauxite as recommended.  I thought (and we know where thinking can get you) that I would have to paint the sides white to put the transfers on as I assumed (erroneously as it turns out) that the white part of the transfers were clear.

Fast forward 3 and a bit years and I managed to find the transfers and the wagons (different places – which accounts for the delay in part) and added them to the “something” pile which could be completed at the kitchen table rather than in the shed.

I painted one wagon side white and made a bit of a hash of it to be honest – spray at x paces and no masking so not flash.  Not worried as I knew I was going to have to touch up with bauxite around the edges.  Put first transfer on and that’s when I discovered the white was white and I didn’t need to have done the painting.  C’est la vie. 

So two have been done other than the tarpaulin bar – I have to find suitable brass wire – and the white stripes on the ends.  The third needs to have the paint sorted before I get it to this stage.

These are similar to the P19 Ballast Wagons which I have likewise in the UFO boxes in as much as the transfers are very thick and the use of MicroSol or similar is highly recommended.  I found it very difficult to get the transfers where I wanted them and so ended up with a less than satisfying pair of models.  I am going to get a Kit 36 from the NGS to see if the transfers are any better and if so, I may see if I can get get transfers and fix them up.  As they are, wreathing will probably hide most of the sins.  I’ll put a picture up when I have managed to sort the three with bars and weathering – hopefully not a similar time span!