Showman’s colour schemes.

[Martin Johnson 1Participant @martinjohnson1]

I meant to say that varnish is really important to the finish of models say 3" scale and above. Don't use polyurethane; get proper yacht varnish which does not darken with age. Good varnish gives the finish "depth", it protects better than paint and somehow it makes slightly wobbly lining look much better. Don't ask me how that works, it just does.

Martin

[RooossoneParticipant @rooossone]

Thank you Nigel, that is a very interesting and thought provoking passage. What you say makes total sense.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Thankyou Rooossone!

With apologies for diverting from the OP……

This is the photo that led me astray from the safety of familiar things like the Foden 'C'-Type (everyone has one of them!). It appealed to me as unusual to say the least, and Dorset made.

This Gillingham is that with a hard 'G', in North Dorset, near E.S Hindley & Sons' factory in the village of Bourton.

Charles Maloney, local business-man, resplendent in the three-piece suit emphasising that mark of success – the fuller figure – was the lorry's owner. The two in front were clearly the Driver and Mate – the latter he with the more, err, "casual" clothes and the artfully-held lump of coal in the shovel.

The two characters in their Sunday Best, on top were probably two of Maloney's men. So too, probably, he of the labouring classes at the back; appearing very unsure he ought be photographed in such august company.

What the banner does not say is, the coal given to whom?

In fact it was to the "local poor".

The photograph illustrates a paper showing the surprising range of industries in that area at the time, especially after it became served by the London & South-Western Railway's London – Salisbury – Exeter line, but it was predominantly farming country (still is).

Farm labourers were on poor pay and conditions even for the era, and lower-skilled factory workers were not greatly better paid. Most "working men" in these old pictures look stick-thin though may have had quite a lot of stamina, and the characters here are no exception. There were no State welfare, health and pensions systems. If you were not working and had no income, the haven of last resort was the dreaded and dreadful work-house.

Maloney's various businesses included retailing coal, hence the Hindley wagon. He also tried making breeze-blocks but was mean with the cement, so they rapidly crumbled away! Much more successful were his 'Lion' oil-engines made in a foundry established in a local clay-pit that otherwise served brick, tile and pottery making, by another company.

Reference:

The photograph and information are from a comprehensive article:

– Howe, C.L.L., Gillingham: An Industrial Town; in "Dorset Year Book 1977", historical annual published by The Society of Dorset Men; pp18-24.

The faint squiggle in the margin is part of my pencil note on measuring the wagon.

[RooossoneParticipant @rooossone]

Hi Mark it's funny you mention Dorset quite heavily, this weekend Ivve been visiting my father who retired to Ferndown in Dorset and he introduced me to a descendant of the mark loader family. She was saying how they had a fleet of rollers and traction engines that played a huge role in laying the roads of bournemouth. She provided me with some newspaper cuttings and a family tree, they've still got two rollers in the family that I hope to get to see and maybe lucky enough to get a ride on. An interesting connection that I'm going to relish exploring the history of!

I will share the articles when I'm in a position to upload.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind it says that green was a popular colour for lots of things because the pigment was more stable than many others. This could be me mis-remembering

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

+1 on what Duncan says, that's what I was always told.

Rob

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