One of my favorite type of Welsh narrow gauge wagons, these slate cars were a favorite of my latest to make for expanding my range of scratch-built rolling stock!
As they appeared from season 5 of the Thomas & Friends show, the design of these wagons were taller and larger in size, and weathered down in grime and rust. Other batches were painted in different liveries with lighter gray buffer beams from season 6.
Making the first batch, I used Midwest Products' balsa wood for the body and chassis, as well as the hinged brackets that fasten each side together. Rolled strips of index card were glued for the wheels' axle boxes, and the rows of support rods. Darice Craft Designer 16 gauge wire bent in shape were drilled in the buffer beams for coupler hoops, with working chains.
Painting with Plaid FolkArt, Apple Barrel and Deco Art's Americana acrylics gave me variety in blending colors, achieving a heavy industrial feel, like they were used for a long time.
Name plates are designed in Adobe Illustrator and printed in matte paper, cut to fit on the underframe.
Looking at some fine-scale modeler's process blogs, I got the idea to make slabs of slate using Elmer's foam core cut into strips and sanded for rounded edges. Laid out on paper and secured with masking tape, they are painted gray simply using primer, carefully painting all the sides.
Cut in varying lengths for some variety, they are stacked in tall rows in each car.
As I make more cars, more batches of these can be made and in different variants for the slate mine and quarry inclines, and Crovan's Gate Depot for storage. They would also look great with moving brake handles for those that have brakes, a steel body for the inside, and other details!
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