Once the underframe detailing was completed on both wagons, I made up four small brass plates to enable me to mount the couplings below the height of the buffer beams. Although the Irish narrow gauge lines were nearly all standardised to a gauge of 3 feet, the coupling heights of the railways varied greatly, from 1ft.10 1/2 ins. on the Ballymena and Larne to 2ft. 10 1/2 ins. on the County Donegal. The majority of lines had coupling heights of 2ft. 2 ins. or 2ft. 3ins. The Tralee and Dingle coupling height was 2ft 3ins. (33.75mm in 15mm scale) whereas, more by accident than by design, the coupling height of the TBLR is 1ft. 10 1/2 ins (28mm) like the Ballymena and Larne. I should really have adopted an average coupling height of about 33mm for the railway to give a degree of compatibility between the stock originating from various lines. By the time I got around to giving this any thought, I had built too much stock and converting some of the locos to a higher coupling height would prove difficult. Hence my solution of making the coupling adapter plates. These were fixed to the buffer beams with 10BA bolts, the couplings will be attached using the lower pair of holes.
Coupling adapter plate fitted to the buffer beam on 67.
I then masked the interior in preparation for painting. Once the side openings were masked off I glued the roof support hoops in place and then made a masking tape 'roof' to cover the top of the wagon bodies.
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.
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.
 Masked ready for painting |  Roof planking held in place while the glue sets |  Roof planking covered with tissue paper |
Before fitting the wheels, a fair bit of the paint on the W irons has to be scraped back to the bare metal in order to allow the axleboxes to move up and down with the springing. Once this is done and the wheels and axleboxes are in position, they are held in place with keeper plates which are secured by 2 rivets, these are fixed with cyano glue.
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.
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.
 Roof and underframe detail painted, ready for the wheels. |  Number 67 |  Number 68 |
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