Hi again carrying on with the model railway scales 3 1/2 inch scale is 1 : 16 and the next size up is 5 inch 1 :11. Then there are the ground level track sizes of 7 1/4 inches which is 1 eighth scale.
These are track width measurements and usually associated with locomotives you can ride behind.
Your local park may have a ride on railway at 10 1/4 gauge, we have one in Cassiobury Park Watford.

Getting to 15 inch wide track you are into public railways. For example the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. It is on the south coast of UK and during WW2 they had a genuine armoured train with guns manned by the army.
Have a look on the Internet for this there are some lovely scale locos in use.

I belong to a club that has a quite long ground level track system and we are open to the public during the summer and attract around 150 or more visitors on a Sunday afternoon.
I no longer drive a steam engine (balance problems) but it was a treat to drive a very large loco on 7 1/4 gauge track a few years ago. The cylinders were each a bit bigger than a Coke can, 100+ pounds steam pressure, enormous power!
I will dig out my Avatar full photo, I am wearing my engine driver's hat!

Roy

Roy is right about using model railway parts. The handrail knobs are from a model engineering supplier and are intended for a 5 inch gauge loco, the actual handrail is 2mm dia. stainless steel, which just about fits the aprox. 1:10 scale that I'm working to.

As for painting, there is an initial two coats of thinned varnish and then a spray coat of a "filler primer" from Halfords. A fine modelling filler/putty is used to fill small imperfections, before rubbing down with some wet n dry. This process was repeated on two more occasions. The top coats will be completed using a spray paint from B&Q, aimed at furniture restoration. There are a selection of colours and the white is available in gloss, satin and matt finishes. The other option is car spray but tends to be glossy finish.

The red oxide, below the waterline, is a red primer from Halfords.

Hi Ronald a lot of on-line suppliers have most scales. Probably for model boats HO is 1:87 and is the smallest. 1:76, is OO scale, O is 1:43 very common items including people. G 1 varies a bit but is 1:32 generally.
These are the scales where parts are available there are smaller scales but then handrails would be too small to be separate items.

There are various scales for dolls house fittings which can yield some parts.
Model aircraft parts have excellent very strong plastic aileron hinges which I use for yacht goose necks.

Hope this helps,
Roy

Andy your hull was excellently executed.
I don't see any imperfections, I would like to know how to paint like you.
One day I'll have to learn to go through a few coats of primer first.

Roy you have a good source of suppliers, I never knew about using R/R parts for model boat fittings.

Is it a particular scale?

Hi Andy I see you used metal handrail supports. You can get very nice and cheap ones from model railway suppliers the different gauges suiting most of our scales.
They are steam outline loco handrail supports.
Roy

Have used spray paints for the hull. However, varnish does come from a tin but tend decant some into a jam jar, which means that opening the tin is kept to a minimum, especially if it is being used on a daily basis. The varnish in the jam jar is thinned 50/50 with white sprit.

Well Roy, I like to clean the lid and rim of each paint can/tin each time of use to ensure the lid seats properly and forms a good seal. This does not prevent a skin forming on the paint, but it makes me happy ! 😉

Hi all enjoying the thread. I use up all my small amounts of paint when preparing. SEveral of my model boats if snaded down to the wood can reveal a rainbow of colour.

Several of my boats have had a dozen or more coats and this stabilises and hardens and even 10+ years later just need a wipe down. Do not forget to paint or varnish the inside to prevent wet air creeping in.

It also sometimes helps to decide what colour suits best. Keeping old brush on paints can be difficult. I have come to the conclusion that paints dry out and go hard if there is more air to paint by volume.

Bashing the lid on the paint down helps and also storing upside down which prevents air coming in assuming no paint leaks.

Any other hints and tips?

Roy

Before going any further with the deck and rigging, felt that the hull should be "faired" and given an initial coat of paint. In fact it ended up with three coats of primer (yellow), with some fine filler used in places, rubbing down between coats. The final overall colour will be white, with a red oxide under the water line. A initial "dusting" of white confirmed there is no conflict between the two paints.