This has been a long blown out project, I started it when I lived in Hemel after an article in Garden Rail probably near a decade ago now, talked about using Cardboard to build rolling stock. I was aware of this method from the 50’s where pretty well all modelling materials were hard to get and wanted to try it out just to see if it could still be done. I also wanted to use card and cardboard that we get in normal domestic situations like cereal boxes and corrugated from packing boxes to see if thie would be a good way to recycle as well. So I started and I have to say early pictures of the process are non-existant, believe me I have tried to find them amongst getting on for 30,000 digital images......
So the base body is made from a pile of Corrugated Card as thick and strong as you can find, of course each piece needs to be cut exactly the same till you get to the roof height, then gradually use thinner width till the top height is obtained. The first pic shows the layered approach at the top, the onny difference with the lower layers is that they are all the same size as previously stated. I glued this onto a base of MDF, hate the stuff but it is generally flat and I always seam to have odd bits kicking around despite my loathing for the stuff.
Next comes the sides using Cereal Box Card, before fitting I score for planks. An old modellers trick to get the RIGHT amount of planks evenly spaced is to lay a ruler diagonally, look for a measurement that gives you the amount of planks you need and mark them on. I find that the 5mm or 10mm marks are normally fine for G scale. Then move the ruler to the opposite angle and do again thus giving you 2 marks for each plank. Once these were scored and glued to the sides metalwork was made up again using Cereal Box Card. Cut to length then bent will give you the L that you need. These were glued in place then Pins Inserted to represent External Bolts, these will push in nicely to the card and stay in place with a little bit of PVA on the tip before you push them in. I find a dab of PVA on an off-cut of plasticard is just the job for this.
Sometime in 2018 I posted a pic of the van at this stage and was asked by Phil how it would take a spray of grey undercoat. This I did and posted the 2nd Picture and this was how things stayed till this week where I got going again.
As can be seen it has suffered a little from the move and being moved from pillar to post since I moved to the Nits in 2012. So before the next stage I did what the old hands used to do in the 50’s and toughen the Card up some by an application of Shellac, I was surprised a couple of years back to find that it was still available when I got a couple of small bottles of the stuff at a local Art Dealer in Cambridge, just a few doors up from the Cambridge Brewhouse most convenient.
So the base body is made from a pile of Corrugated Card as thick and strong as you can find, of course each piece needs to be cut exactly the same till you get to the roof height, then gradually use thinner width till the top height is obtained. The first pic shows the layered approach at the top, the onny difference with the lower layers is that they are all the same size as previously stated. I glued this onto a base of MDF, hate the stuff but it is generally flat and I always seam to have odd bits kicking around despite my loathing for the stuff.
Next comes the sides using Cereal Box Card, before fitting I score for planks. An old modellers trick to get the RIGHT amount of planks evenly spaced is to lay a ruler diagonally, look for a measurement that gives you the amount of planks you need and mark them on. I find that the 5mm or 10mm marks are normally fine for G scale. Then move the ruler to the opposite angle and do again thus giving you 2 marks for each plank. Once these were scored and glued to the sides metalwork was made up again using Cereal Box Card. Cut to length then bent will give you the L that you need. These were glued in place then Pins Inserted to represent External Bolts, these will push in nicely to the card and stay in place with a little bit of PVA on the tip before you push them in. I find a dab of PVA on an off-cut of plasticard is just the job for this.
Sometime in 2018 I posted a pic of the van at this stage and was asked by Phil how it would take a spray of grey undercoat. This I did and posted the 2nd Picture and this was how things stayed till this week where I got going again.
As can be seen it has suffered a little from the move and being moved from pillar to post since I moved to the Nits in 2012. So before the next stage I did what the old hands used to do in the 50’s and toughen the Card up some by an application of Shellac, I was surprised a couple of years back to find that it was still available when I got a couple of small bottles of the stuff at a local Art Dealer in Cambridge, just a few doors up from the Cambridge Brewhouse most convenient.