Modeling the Prince: Part 3

Here he is! The Pride of the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway is finished... thought I'd upload some photos of the finished 16mm scale model, with a lot of detail and a few surprising features!

It was a lot of fun building this famous locomotive from scratch, and it feels exciting that I'm getting back to my model-making for my Junior Animation Seminar Stop Motion class project. It did take a little longer than expected, even with the heavy workload for my classes and other important obligations. Well today, the George England has pulled out of the workshops from the glory days of the Ffestiniog Railway's operations.

Since I published the photos of the cab interior, I gave it the roof it needed, finished his tender, and added a lot of other details, such as his number and name plates, bolts, his whistles, valve gear, and even working couplings.

Here are his working coupling rods! I have been hoping for a long time to have the rods of my scratch-built models actually work and move for my narrow gauge stock. I decided try and make them myself.

1. I cut some disks of cardstock to make the wheels, with a lip and a center bolt
2. I glued four of these onto the wheels of the Lego chassis, with spokes to place the rods, made from very thin cardstock tubes
3. The coupling rods themselves are made from balsa and wooden barbecue skewers
4. They have fasteners made from cardstock to allow the rods to be linked and slide smoothly together
5. The sliders are toothpicks glued to the cylinders
6. After they are assembled, they were painted using Medium Gray, Dove Grey, and a little weathering

After running the locomotive on the tracks for a while to loosen the parts, the movement was quite smooth, and the coupling rods work very well. They look so much more realistic compared to static mockups! I am very happy that they came out nicely.

In the first photo of this selection, you can see the Lego track ballasted using the Woodland Scenics Grey Ballast I have used for my HO scale dioramas, which does look very realistic, and I think it might be useful for the yard scenes.

Here you can see Prince's new smoke box, as I thought the first from a few years back looked too old. After gluing a strip of cardstock to make a ring, I glued it on a flat piece and cut when dry to make his door. Then some strips were placed for his door hinges, and for the door handle, I cut anther smaller ring with a few strips for the spokes, and the handle.

The coupling can be raised or lowered, and his lamps are replaceable. His water tank cap can be lifted too.

Prince's name-boards and number-boards were made, with strips of gold-colored cardstock glued for the edges. I wrote his letters using an EK Success Dual Tip Metallic Pen, which I recommend for writing gold calligraphy for nameplates or for any art project. It flows like a liquid, and after a bit of practice, it's really fun to use.

I mixed some colors to weather the body's tanks and cab, with grime, rust and dust, using Plaid FolkArt and Apple Barrel paints. His coat is Light Red Oxide, which I mixed with a few other colors for the weathering:

1. Light Red Oxide and Terra Cotta was mixed with Dark Gray and Wrought Iron for the grime
2. Calico Red was used for his buffer beams
3. Honeycomb and Caramel Candy for dust

I decided to model Palmerson's smaller tender as I liked its narrow size. I folded strips of paper and cut the angles to glue for the angled trimmings. Here you can also see his rear lamp.

A few of the gauges on the firebox can be seen inside the back of the cab. I assembled a bumper, which in real life allowed the tender to glide smoothly without it bashing against the back as it moved.

Overall I am very happy with how Price has turned out. This scratch-built and Lego hybrid running system has evolved to something very special for me, which has allowed me to produce my model locomotives I always wanted to make and work with what I have. It feels great to see how far this has come since the Skarloey Railway models, and now I can also make my own railway rolling stock for some short film projects, since I really love the history of these little railways of Wales and their trains.

I also have made the bodies of my freight cars, and they need to be painted and detailed, so pictures of these will be published soon. Let me know what you think and feel free to drop a comment or question!

Enjoy the photographs, and happy modeling!