Iconic Carriages Part Three

Some time has been spent at the modelling desk working on the two Corris carriages this week and both have reached the stage of requiring cleaning and painting next. 

Have exchanged a couple of emails with Graham at Iconic Rail who seems happy with what I’ve written so far. Hopefully he won’t mind me sharing the advice he had which will in turn help others. Regarding truss rods and running boards, Graham advised that: “I do have truss rods that are 3D printed now included in the kit and also a 0.8mm thick plywood footstep as well. The footstep is difficult as it prevents the bogie from turning. I may actually redesign the floor of the coach to accept a lower bogie height, but this will perhaps dictate the maximum curve on a layout.“

Great to see these improvements and considerations. Back to the build, the second set of bogies, seating and handbrake were assembled and fitted to the second carriage. 

The day after we arrived back from Ravenglass, a package from EDM Models arrived with suitable Queen Posts and Turnbuckles, which were soon made up into truss rods with some brass wire. Excellent service from Paul so as not to slow down progress!

Running boards were made up and fitted using some 7mm scale standard gauge lost wax castings I had, cut down to fit the kits with some suitable styrene strip for the boards themselves. As these carriages are destined for my own freelance line, I’ve cut the running boards short to just cover the entrance. 

Finally, some styrene was added at the ends to suit my chosen couplings and these were fitted. 

Next stage is cleaning up and painting. Whilst I might not yet paint them Corris brown, I intend using the glazing and the transfers provided. The instructions don’t say how to apply the transfers, an email to Graham brought a speedy reply saying that they are water slide, plus a handy tip on how to apply them: “It’s a lot easier if you don't cut out the centre clear panel as they will become difficult to lay flat.”

With the main build complete, it’s time to recap. My overall impression is of a pair of excellent kits that have been a joy to build. There are a couple of negatives, but these haven’t spoiled the kit nor my level of enjoyment in building them. It’s good to see that the truss rods and running boards are in hand. Maybe the note regarding the transfers could be included in the instructions. 

The finished carriages benefit from the weight of the whitemetal components. My pair could do with some decent test running to check them over as some hand propelling through a crossover of Peco O-16.5 track showed up a tendency for the leading wheel set to derail. It was just this wheelset and happened whichever carriage was leading so quite possibly is down to my track laying! But one thing I noticed is that the bogie design allows for rotation but not much in the way of other movement. With a whitemetal figure in the compartment the derailments ceased so maybe adding some weight in the form of passengers is the simplest answer. Another possibility would be to slightly enlarge the hole in the bolster to allow some additional movement. I shall ponder this a little while before making any alterations. Will let you know how I get on when I write about painting and finishing touches. 

The main drawback for the serious Corris modeller is that the ride height is too high. This may be altered by Graham, or the modeller may find themselves able to do this themselves. For those wanting a freelance model, or a model of the survivor running on the Talyllyn, this isn’t an issue. Overall, I’m a very happy customer.