1:480 Scale GWR (UK) Carriage Sides

**martink** · #1 10-02-2023, 03:15 AM

I've just joined the forum, mainly to see what you specialist paper/card modellers are doing with small-scale paper buildings that might help with a possible future project of mine.

In the meantime though, you might be interested in what I have been doing with hybrid 3D print/paper designs for my T Gauge (1:480) scale railway models. Even if you can 3D print in enough detail at this scale, painting them to a reasonable standard is a nightmare and well beyond my abilities.

So, I dug up a technique from the very early days of model railways, gluing paper sides onto generic carriage and goods wagon bodies. The 3D printed models provide the roof shape and underframes, while the paper sides provide far, far more detail than I could achieve any other way. The trick is to design the carriage bodies with extra roof overhang to compensate for the thickness of the paper and so conceal those unmistakable paper edges. Most of my modelling so far has been of UK GWR prototypes, but the next task will be Australian Victorian Railways (VR) models.

I have used the same system for larger road vehicles (buses, trucks) as well as canal narrowboats. I also use a more limited form of this approach for the buildings too, usually only for the doors, windows, signs, etc, but sometimes for more elaborate parts like footbridge lattice ironwork, water tank paneling, etc. All of the designs are printed on normal paper by a normal inkjet at 600 DPI.

**Don Boose** · #2 10-02-2023, 11:50 AM

Splendid stuff!

Thanks for sharing these images of your work. I am always glad to see models of God's Wonderful Railway.

Don

**Jan Kytop** · #3 10-02-2023, 01:44 PM

Incredible scale and marvellous work!
Congrats.

**Philip** · #4 10-02-2023, 01:59 PM

Well done.

**Siwi** · #5 10-02-2023, 02:42 PM

Welcome to the forum!
It is very rare we see models of trains that are actually part of a working 'model railway' - usually they are 1:24 to 1:87 static display locomotives. T gauge is a whole new level of micro madness but your use of paper makes perfect sense here.
By the way, if you are interested in model railway buildings I highly recommend a Youtube channel called Chandwell - the guy is a master of his craft and also shows tutorials on how he designs all his structures.