HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN WAGON MARKINGS
This is where our team of experienced modellers answer YOUR questions. Email your queries about railways – real or model – to modelrail@bauermedia.co.uk
George Dent
MR’s editor and chief modelmaker can offer advice on almost any subject.
Peter Marriott
Rumour has it that MR’s resident scenery buff even uses a Gras‐Master on his own front lawn…
Paul Chancellor
Paul is the proprietor of the well-known railway photographic archive Colour Rail.
Q I’m repainting and weathering a fleet of BR mineral wagons and need to add numbers, TOPS codes and the like. As the wagons are to be portrayed in battered condition, I don’t want the numbers to look perfect. Are there any alternatives to pristine decals for wagon numbers and codes?
Gary Moir, Leeds
George says: Careworn mineral wagons would often be patch-repaired and painted, especially during the 1970 and 1980s eras, when economy was more important than corporate image, particularly within the freight sector. Hand-applied lettering and numbers could appear haphazard, which is difficult to replicate in miniature using pristine decals.