4mm Serendipity

[Neil]

The last few days I've put diy onto the back burner and managed to get some time at the work bench. It's a simple and very non-finescale project turning an old Hornby Dublo trainset brake van into a freelance creation which might look ok in a light railway or industrial setting accompanying my Peckett. I had spent some time on the body getting rid of the ducket and filing out the gaps in the moulded on footsteps. Earlier tis morning I set about giving the body a coat of Halfords grey primer to get rid of the bright red plastic when I dropped the body and snapped off one of the footsteps. Never mind, I found the broken bits and put them to one side. After painting I tried the body on the shortened chassis then I had an idea and tried a different style of footstep from plastic strip mounted on the chassis. Much better than the moulded ones I thought.




After the photos the remaining three body mounted footsteps were cut off and replaced by fabricated examples mounted on the chassis.

 

[unklian]

Nice, reminds me of the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western vans built by Pickering's . With a bit more framing of course.

http://www.trainweb.org/railwest/images/stock/pdswjr-54.jpg

 

[Neil]

I've managed a few more hours on the brake van; it's now almost complete with just handrails and some weathering to the roof to be done.



Though it's more Madder Valley than Pendon, it's been a very satisfying project and a useful introduction to model making after a long spell where the only paintbrushes I touched were applying large amounts of emulsion to walls.

 

[Simon]

That looks great, I also think you've done an incredibly convincing job on that Airfix "pug" - arf arf

 

[Toffee]

That looks awfully like the East Suffolk Light Railway by Iain Rice and the late Bob Barlow ? I do hope so !

 

[Neil]

I'm sorry to disappoint you Toffee but the picture is not what it seems. The layout is my old cardboard experiment the Isle of Avalon Tramway, an EM gauge micro layout, the stock however is 00 gauge and perched precariously on the rails. The Hornby PO wagon was bought along with two others a good few years ago because they were cheap and attractively finished, the Peckett was ordered when they were first released because it's so irresistable and the brake van came about as the result of a gift and a notion to put together a complete light railway train. At the moment I have no home layout suitable for it but it will get an airing on selected Thursday evenings when I visit friends.

 

[Neil]

To round off the topic, another photo. The latest bits off the workbench, again with the light railway theme, a passenger carriage and a further open wagon.


The wagon is weathered Hornby, the carriage a GBL Liverpool and Manchester static model made mobile with wheelsets running in home bodged inside bearings. It's been repainted and weathered, the lettering comes from a sheet intended for Talyllyn carriages. You might just be able to tell that paintbrushes and gunge coloured paint have been aimed at the Peckett. It's now more of a piece with the stock it's intended to haul.

 

[Neil]

I know that earlier this year, in the previous post, I'd implied that this thread was at an end. Well events have overtaken the original intent and I find myself carrying the light railway theme a little further forward. To cut a long story short this little beauty arrived from Germany today.






It'll require painting and lining to match the Peckett; I already have a suitable range of green paints and Modelmaster LNER white-black-white lining.

 

[Joe's Garage]

Hi Neil, Sorry for the late arrival....too much on Area 51 to catch up on but do you have any more photos on the Isle of Avalon Railway....looks interesting.
Thanks
Julian

 

[Neil]

Hi Neil, Sorry for the late arrival....too much on Area 51 to catch up on but do you have any more photos on the Isle of Avalon Railway....looks interesting.
Thanks
Julian

Hello Julian, apologies for not replying earlier. I do have some photos but if you'd bear with me for a while as they're on a disc and I have lots of discs with photos so it may take a bit to find the right one.

 

[Joe's Garage]

No worries Neil, I was only about 9 years late anyway!
Thanks
Julian