Side view with door open. Note that the back of the staircase, bottom of trailer side, and the background of the wheels have all been painted matte black. I had originally planned on painting the wheel background with a trompe l’oeuil effect to simulate the brown wagon bed curving up on each side, with green above and black below. But when this was drawn in it didn’t look right except from one specific perspective for each wheel. The problem is that the wheels truly are three-dimensional–if they were just flat discs against the side of the coach, I could have painted anything I like on them. But I just made do with the black background which hopefully gives the impression that the Coach bed is much higher up than the actual trailer bed. Also note the rolled up window shade on the inside door.
Side view with door closed. On the forward side you can see three little brackets, which hold a large nautical lantern on each side. You can’t see very well but the door is fitted with a lever handle (hard to locate lever handles that work with a mortise lock and spindle, I can tell you). There is also a lovely brass grab bar at each door.
A quarter view of the painted coach. Here are the answers to the questions you are thinking: 1) The paint is floor & porch paint, which holds up well to the elements. It is primed with epoxy–the entire coach was soaked in penetrating epoxy, sanded down and coated again, then scuffed up before painting. 2) The line between the yellow and green paint on the central carriage body is divided by a one-inch wooden molding that I laminated out of cherry wood. This is painted black to help create a prominent shadow-line that helps to make the central compartment pop out. My hope is that to the casual eye this will look like the whole carriage compartment. The top edge is trimmed with a small galvanized gutter painted black, which I hope will keep moisture away from the doors.
Tony's Trailer Coach 