Kimball, I've been meaning to reply to this for a few days and then kept getting caught up doing other things. The Hornby van body (this applies also to the H & B van) is moulded as an open box, so you can unclip the underframe, cut and file away the moulded clips and you have a flat, square base on which to attach your own underframe. This is one from my display which I've left at that stage:
You can see where the clips were on the underside and also the green putty in the holes on the side where the Thomas Circus sign was removed. I make the buffer beams from Evergreen .156 x .080 strip and the sodlebars from the channel (Evergreen 156) I usually use for solebars, but reversed so it's flat side out. You also have to pack it up 20 thou so it's level with the bottom of the buffer beam. I use that as it's narrower and allows plenty of room for a rocking W iron to work. I generally use MJT W irons and the Mainly Trains brake gear etch, but you can take your pick from your preferred supplier.
Here are the two wagons now only needing couplings and weathering.
I've been trying to clear the bench a bit as we run into Christmas and have managed to finish off a few wagons, mainly from what I'd prepared for Warley. This is the other F10, to be finished with the insul-Meat branding as shown in Tatlow.
There's no suitable HMRS lettering so I'll have to make some up and have it printed. The ABS open was a second hand buy at Newcastle. I assume it had been part of a larger collection, but by the time we got there on Sunday it had been well picked over. The chap who sold me it was very sniffy about the building, but it seems well enough put together to me. I've patch painted it, replaced some of the lettering which had fallen off and varnished it. I suspect by the time that running number was built it would have had the post-1936 lettering, but I'll take my chances on anyone noticing. There are a couple more wagons from the same lot making their way through the works at the moment.
Also now revived from second hand stand wrecks, the two Parkside horseboxes. Pleased with these at a fiver each as you can simply never have too many. I had to cheat slightly and use the D4 transfers on these (CCT only include one D5 on their sheet), but at speed no-one can read them. One improvement I made to these was to ditch the chunky droplight in the lav and replace with .020x.020 Evergreen strip. Once it has the glazing behind it it's quite robust and it improves the look no end, IMHO.
Brake vans are also done. One or other of these will go on the perishables train on
Grantham. I'm pleased with these, they scrub up nicely for a kit that was old when I was in nappies.
If I do another it'll be from the later batch with the end weights, that'll be a bit less work.
Finding myself home from work early and with most of the above at the 'leave it alone while it dries' stage, I looked for something to treat myself to and found this. I bought this at Warley and it hadn't been put into the crate with the others, so it has massively jumped the queue.
Brassmasters GC Refrigerated van (the old R & E kit). It's quite challenging in places and has taken me all afternoon to get here, where the soldering is complete. It's now drying after a wash down and tomorrow - or later in the week - I'll glue all the overlays on. It also needs 14mm Mansell wheels, so an order will need to go into Wizard when I have need of enough bits and bobs. It's largely built as supplied, though I used my own ladders rather than the kit ones and added some brake bits from the Mainly Trains etch. There's no roof supplied either so one will have to be cut and curved sometime.
I should also take the opportunity to wish all my readers a happy and healthy Christmas and a very productive New Year.
