GA Models LA Ballast Hopper

Hey hey, since my last post I have continued to remain busy making models each Thursday at AMRA WA with other members of the S scale group, my latest project being a GA Models LA Ballast Hopper. I must say this has turned out to be one of the better kits I have assembled and I’m rather pleased with the end result. 

The kit as it is sold. One must still supply vacuum pipes, wheels, W irons and couplers.

The kit needed very little cleaning of parts and glued together with Zap CA glue with ease. To understand the wagon’s design better, I happened to come across a preserved LA wagon in Mingenew when up that way visiting family. The photos were useful in especially working out the vacuum through pipes.

LA wagon plinthed at Mingenew Station.

This was a preserved wagon but far from the right colour for an LA in later years of service which is what I chose to model. Luckily a few images of the LA in Westrail service appear on the Rail Heritage WA website which I found to be great reference photos. Using this photo and some very rudimentary measurements from the wagon, I sent off to Custom Hobby Decals in QLD to get the decals made. At under $70 for a set of 5, I’d recommend them again. This is the same company that made the decals used on my DB and F class locos. 

LA23811 image courtesy of Rail Heritage WA.

This image lead me discover one big part missing from my nearly completed model… hungry boards. So I turned to the one place I know I can get great advice; the Thursday modeler’s group. With a bit of experimenting with styrene, and a lot of encouragement, I created some hungry boards which turned out rather well. 

The kit assembled as per the instructions.

LA kit painted in Tamiya TS1 Red Brown with added hungry boards.

Whilst I waited for the decals to arrive, I trialed some colour on the LA model. When I sprayed the first coat of Tamiya TS1 Red Brown, I took some time to look at the wagon compared to prototype photos and found that I was not happy with the shade of Brown. That’s when I returned to my Thursday modelers brains trust and discovered Dulux red oxide primer which is much closer to the WAGR/Westrail colour. 

Comparing the Humbrol H70 (GE wagon) with Dulux Red Oxide Primer.

Once the decals arrived and I was happy with the colour, I sprayed a layer of gloss clear coat to give a smooth surface for the decals to adhere to. Once dry, the decals were soaked in water with a few drops of Micro Sol solution and applied to the model. These decals are really easy to work with and the size was spot on. 

The finished and decaled model. 

The last steps to go is to dull coat over the top and weather but I think that’s for another blog post. Now to start the next 4x LA wagons.