'Pug' No. 51202 trundles along the wharf at Brewhouse Quay with a rake of tatty private owner wagons. The ready to run wagons blending in well with the slightly rundown surroundings.
The other day this Bachmann 37-095 'Coal Trader' 7 Plank Private Owner Wagons *triple pack set arrived. Until recently I'd never rated factory weathered ready to run rolling stock because the weathering has usually been just a mist of curry coloured paint along the lower surfaces rather than soot, grime, wear and tear.
These are however different and look like the distressing has been stencilled on along with the obligatory misting of chicken bhuna coloured paint.The effect is rather like how ex-private owners wagons would have looked in early BR days, and all that's needed for the keen modeller to do is to apply BR numbering onto black panels to make them suitable for the 1950's along with some loads and a little extra weathering mostly on the insides which are far too pristine.
One could of course say that modellers these days re being de-skilled with such releases, which is of course true if one looks at things negatively, but my view is that those with limited modelling time can dedicate precious time to other aspects of the hobby or layout building. 5 years ago many said the same thing about ready to plonk resin buildings, but now these have been accepted even by the most conservative of fine scale modellers. And of course there's nothing stopping modellers from a little modification to personalise them.
Click on the links below for close up shots of the individual wagons, note that the hook and bar couplings have been user changed to 3 links (Smiths).
*3 for the Macdonald's English generation
About Me
- Chris Nevard Model Railways & Photography
- Professional Photographer, Model Maker, Writer & Pretend Musician
"And of course there's nothing stopping modellers from a little modification to personalise them"
ReplyDeleteExcept a combination of terror and laziness. After all, if you do something to the model, it won't be worth as much on eBay in the future will it ?
I think a lot of people buy ready to go stuff not because it saves time, but because they are worried about their own lack of ability. If it comes out of a box done, then it must be "right" mustn't it ? Wheras, if they do it themselves then it might not be "right".