
Both wagons were sprayed using an aerosol can of grey auto primer from Halfords. Several coats were applied to both wagon bodies and the underframe details.
Once the paintwork was dry I brush painted the axleguards, brake detail and brake hoses using matt black acrylic paint.
The roof planking sheets were then glued to the roof supports using aliphatic resin. The roofs were held in place with elastic bands until the glue had set. A sheet of tissue (the type used for packing between clothes, not the nose blowing variety) was then applied to the roof using dilute PVA glue. This tends to crease, which is a desirable effect, as the idea is to represent canvas applied over the planking. When dry, both roofs were given two coats of sanding sealer. This makes the tissue very stiff and durable. Both roofs were then finished off with two coats of dark grey acrylic paint.
The next step was to apply the lettering. Some modellers hand paint the company letters and numerals but I am totally useless at signwriting, my handwriting is pretty awful too. The standard TBLR lettering until now has been Deca Dry 5mm white rub on transfers. I bought a fair stock of these some years ago but they are no longer available and I am running out. I have enough for another three or four vehicles, after that I will go over to Letraset transfers.
I ran out of numbers 6 and 8 while 68 still required numbers on the wagon ends, I had some 9s which were simply turned upside down but for the 8s I used a number 3 and then applied another 3 over this upside down to close the open side of the 3 and form a number 8. After very careful alignment it worked! The handle ends of the hand brakes were picked out in matt white paint (to make them more visible for train crews).
Finally the couplings were fitted using 10BA hex headed bolts and nuts and the axleguards and wheel bearings were given a spot of oil to ensure free running.