# Our First Load for a British Goods Wagon



## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Greetings,
 
While Doug has been away this month in England touring canals and laying hands on an actual Castle and BR 5MT loco, I have been blessed with the task of finishing the first five cars to pull behind his Aster 5MT.  These include one rectangular tank, a goods van, a 7 plank and two 5 plank wagons, purchased as kits from David at Northern Fine Scale.  The idea is to fill two wagons with material loads such as coal and one wagon with goods for market.  My initial thought was to create an assortment of scale crates and pile them into the wagon.  It is a lot of work and something I still plan on doing.  In the meantime I figured I could make a load of crates and cover them with a tarp, which would supply weight to the car and still add some visual details with much less work.
 
First I needed to get some free wood, quickly found next to my uroligist where they are building a new medical office.  All I had to do was ask for scraps and I left with two feet of 2x4 and three feet of one inch corner molding, perfect for barrel shapes.
 
The second hurdle was what would I use for a tarp.  The next street over is a man who has been making sails and boat interiors out of his garage/shop for years.  I introduced myself, told him what my intentions were and asked if he might have any material I might use.  He returned from his scrap bin with a bag full of synthetic canvas pieces I could have for free.  I thanked him and went home to work.
 
I cut a bunch of different sized pieces of wood and glued them together.  The plan was to coat the load with glue, then soak the tarp material in a diluted glue mix so I can then cover the "crates".  My initial thought as I looked over the scraps, they were going to be too thick for 1:32 scale and once I found out the material was waterproof, it was game over.
 
Next I looked our apartment for different material, old laundry bag, cheap pillowcase, good pillowcase, you name it.  Pillowcases were going to be the way to go, the higher the thread count the more it works to our scale.  So I took an old 1000 thread count pillowcase and away I went.  Before you gasp and go tell your wives what I did, hear me out.  I am the thread count freak, I have always spent the money and bought high count sheets from Overstock.com, since before we got together.  My girlfriend actually prefers the 400 count sheets, go figure...  One more argument for seperate beds.
 
So I took the "load" and coated it wth glue, then soaked the material in a diluted glue mix and covered the "load".  Using rubber gloves I was able to easily press the cloth over the "load", creating a natural look.  I painted the ivory cloth reefer gray and then dry brushed the ridges with depot buff for contrast.  I am very pleased with the results.
 








 








 
What would I do different next time?  First I would paint/dye tarp material the base color before I cover the load, rather than painting it once it has set in it's final position, it took way too much time.  Then I could quickly drybrush the high ridges and add depth to the model.
 
Doesn't it kind of make you wonder what is under the tarp?
 
Enjoy.


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Looks VERY good. 

You will have realised by now that having formed the material over the lumps of wood and let it dry to shape, you don't actually need the lumps of wood there anymore - the shape is now rigidly set into a hollow shell. You can now re-arrange the 'load' and do it over with another piece of material.

tac 
www.ovgrs.org 
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Great stuff, Kent. (What IS under the tarp?)


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Great job! Looks very realistic!


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## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

I went to the club and delivered the wagons this evening. All five in a row up on the 45mm layout. They looked impressive if I say so myself. A few members commented on the lack of UK rolling stock out there, nice to see my same thought seconded. I should have taken a picture. 

Pete ~ While I was there I went into the shop and pulled the manifest for the wagon. 

one large barrel, Scotch Whiskey 
one large crate, 15th century suit of armour 
one medium crate, stone gargoyle 17th century 
one medium crate, misc artifiacts from WWs I & II 
one small crate, assorted letters, manuscripts and other antique writings. 
one small crate, three paintings, artist not named 
one very small crate, cigars 

I don't know this for a fact, my guess is some gentleman is moving the contents of his library/man cave into a new house or castle. It is either that or a great hiest has been pulled off that the athorites are not yet... 

*whistles to himself*


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Kent, 
Looks great, and very clever.........BUT!!!! 
Maybe I am wrong here, but I think that you will find that tarps were never just draped over the contents, they were always tied around the outside circumference of the wagon top. 
Often there was a wire frame, like a tent ridge pole, to keep the rain from puddling in the middle. 
Maybe this load was done by a new employee! 
Here is a site that give more information: 
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gansg/9-loads/9-tarps.htm 
It also shows a load as you have done it, so I guess that you are okay. 
Keep up the good modelling. 
All the best, 
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

my idea with a tarp was to let the observer partly see some of the freight under the tarp. 

(disclaimer: these pics are from an early, crude model, but should show the underlying idea)


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