A Pair of MRC wagons

Sometimes, despite the best of intentions, a project does not quite work out as intended resulting in a model that you know is a bit below par.






At Epping Model Railway Club's great exhibition at Rosehill, I came across a Trainorama special runout offer on their MRC refrigerator wagons. I was attracted to these as I wanted to increase the number of refrigerated wagons available to carry produce from the Aberdeen Abattoir through Philip's Creek to locations further south   These models were originally released around 2013 and I walked away with Pack C which contained two white roofed MRCs.

Trainorama MRCs as shown in December 2013 AMRM

I reread Ian Dunn's review of the model in the December 2013 issue of AMRM which highlighted a number of issues but, in the spirit of optimism that one has with a new purchase, anticipated that most of these could be overcome. That said, despite the forewarning,  I still ran fowl of the imitation Kadee couplers when one broke as I tried to adjust the tang. While I am able to live with the coarser wheel profile for the time being, I found that the casting on the inside of the bogie frame was a little rough, inhibiting the free running of the wheels. Some quick work with a file fixed this but I'll probably seek to upgrade the 2AE bogies if the opportunity presents.

The weathering became a bit of a saga. Another issue identified in the review was the prominent planking or more specifically, the depth of the grove between the planks. The review suggested that this could be toned down with significant weathering. My effort was probably less successful and seemed to highlight the planking rather than minimise it. It also made the wagons appear to be in a more degraded condition, like those at the end of their life in the late 1970s rather than 10 years earlier during the steam transition period. With the addition of some isocol alcohol, I was able to remove the excessive weathering although the highlighting of the joints between planks remained. I then applied a wash of white paint in an attempt to mute this. This also was only partially successful and, in reality, not too different to the original condition as shown in the AMRM photo above. I'll probably have to apply a few more washes of paint, probably antique white this time.

The roof also provided a challenge. In common with many 'ready to run' models, there was no representation of the malthoid strips that form the roof. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Malthoid Roofs, I prefer to get the roof appearance as close as possible to the original so these needed attention. Usually I would apply strips of masking tape but the access hatches and walkway made this more complex than normal. As an alternative I tried marking the joints between the sheets with a thin pencil line which I then rubbed with isocol alcohol to mute the impact of each line. The difference in appearance is shown on the adjacent photo.








Unfortunately, I then got a bit carried away with the application of soot and grime on the roof to the point where most of the joints were no longer visible. To mitigate this, I then highlighted several strips to represent repaired roof sections. At the end of this, basically what had been a white roof had become a black roof with a hint of malthoid strips.







I'll wait for a while to see if this outcome bugs me too much. If so, I'll revert back to my trusted masking tape method on the roof and work around the ice hatches. In retrospect, I probably should have done that in the first place.That'll teach me to cut corners!

Malthoid Roofs

I have been struggling with time issues over the past few weeks but other activities seem to be getting in the way. Consequently, I have only had to opportunity to concentrate on one aspect, the overhaul of the three passenger carriages transferred from the South Coast Railway plus the construction of one extra Camco FO kit.

A number of modellers have made the point that most observation of the layout and rolling stock is done from above, perhaps a similar angle to the photo opposite (a Lachlan Valley Railway trip to Kiama last December). As a consequence, I feel I need to get the roof appearance as close as possible to the original. In particular, I have been attempting to capture the appearance of the malthoid roofs on passenger carriages.










As an aside, pun intended, even when viewed from the side,  the texture and shape of the malthoid strips are  very apparent.

A number of authors have written about techniques to replicate malthoid roofs. Of these,  I have found that Alex Brown's article in the June 2005 edition of AMRM (p38-41) and Ian Phemister's blog post  http://iansmuswellbrookmerriwa.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/more-changes_3886.html
are my 'go to' references although, I'm sure there are many others. 

Both authors start with the removal of the existing ventilators, the fixing of some form or textured material in strips to simulate the malthoid, the installation of replacement ventilators and, finally, painting and weathering. Alex used masking tape strips to simulate the malthoid while Ian cut a tea bag into strips for the same purpose. I have found that both work but I have adopted the masking tape option as my preferred alternative. I also found it convenient to drill holes in the roof where the replacement ventilators are to be located before applying the masking tape strips. Once all of the masking tape strips are in place, I also apply a coat of PVA glue, or more recently, WeldBond, to create a seal across the whole surface before replacing the ventilators and painting.

Commercial replacement ventilators, both mushroom and torpedo types, have been used, sourced primarily from Hobbyland at Hornsby.


Painting is completed using a mix of spray and brush. The one thing I have noticed looking at photographs taken in the 1960s and 70s is the considerable variation of condition and weathering between individual carriages. These range from an almost brand new appearance presumably having just emerged from an overhaul to a very degraded condition. This provides plenty of latitude within the limits of weathered black and silver, with/or without navy dressing ends. A spray with Dullcote and then soot in varying degrees finish off each roof.






The final two photos provide a comparison between the prototype and the model. Probably another application of Dullcote is appropriate but I think the texture is there.