Carriages - 4w Suburban First (D95)

 The venerable Ratio GWR 4w coaches provide fertile ground for conversion into a number of prototypes with varying degrees of accuracy. I had bought a box of half-built stock to use as painting dummies, but as an experiment I wanted to test my mettle in converting one to an appropriate LBSCR carriage.

Whilst there are superficial similarities to various Brighton carriages, once you dig a little deeper it's more complex, and navigating the various liveries, build specifications and eras can be challenging.

So, is it possible to convert a GWR Composite into an LBSCR First? Yes - there are three potential options, but the one requiring the least rebuilding is a D95 Billinton Suburban 4w First and is the subject of this article.

The Conversion

There are two minor compromises with the use of the Ratio carriage - the compartments should be equal in width, but in the model the inner compartments are slightly wider than the outer ones, and the roof should really be arc rather than elliptical. I am willing to overlook these in the interest of the principle of diminishing returns, but one could slice and splice the compartments and fit a new roof if one was inclined.

Body

The tumblehome at the carriage ends must be removed. This is achieved by inverting the carriage and cutting out the bottom corner of the ends. I used a razor saw behind the solebar up to where the carriage end flattens out. This section can then be packed with a piece of 2mm styrene sheet, carved to the profile of the coach.  Putty should be used to fill any gaps. To restore the moulding on the size of the carriage and the ends, strips of 10 thou styrene can be attached with plastic glue.  

The GWR-style grab irons must be removed, this is done with a sharp knife and a chiselling action. At some point they will be replaced with LBSCR pattern grab irons.

Chassis

Foot boards and the Vacuum Brake cylinder should be removed. Small cylinders can be mounted transversely to represent the Westinghouse cylinder & Reservoir. 

Painting and Lining

I have chosen to paint the carriage in the Umber and off-White scheme of 1903-1910. I tried both Vallejo German Camo Black-Brown (too dark, see bogie coach top-right in the following picture) and SR Freight brown (too light, top left in the following picture)

D95 (centre bottom) alongside E4 No. 579 and various other test coaches.

The final choice for lining was 7:1 Chocolate Brown and Black, providing a fair approximation of the Dapol/Bachmann/Hornby RTR umber locomotive colours.

Lining was always going to be a challenge, the above picture bottom-right shows my efforts with an Easi-Liner pen - which is a little overscale using acrylics even with the smallest nib. As a result and with advice from Tony G, the coach was lined using a fine dip pen and Vallejo Sunny Skintone with a little Vallejo Retarder Medium added:

It still requires a little touching up!