A few years ago I picked up this little beauty for 8 quid from a second hand stall at a show. At the time it seemed like a bargain. I also felt sorry for it as at that price it’s the sort of thing a kid could buy for their train set, yet it’s no runner and will take quite a bit of work to make it one. After discovering they had bought a pup, the loco would be heading for the bin. A shame as it’s a nice model built from a K’s whitemetal kit.
Since the loco is a dock shunter, it’s ideal for Melbridge Dock, and since that layout is booked into a show in a few weeks time, if I pull my finger out I might have it to run there.
Anyway, I started with research. A bit of work on the web uncovered this plan. Some questioning on the Double O Gauge Association message board brought the handy info that I could find a plan in the July 1970 issue of Railway Modeller. There is a bit more info in Wikipedia too.
My plan is to ditch the chassis and replace it with a scratchbuilt version. This will be a flexi-chassis as I’ve never built one in OO, only 3mm scale. I’ll try and re-use the cylinders and cross heads but the rest will have to go. K’s chassis were rudimentary at the best of times and this one has the wrong wheelbase.
The body will be stripped of paint. Handrails will be replaced with ones featuring smaller knobs. A bit of detailing, including a fake boiler bottom, and then a coat of BR Black paint.
OK, so it is a bit of a comedown to built a GWR model but I’m sure I can slum it for a while. Besides I need something to occupy me while the paint dries on the fishing boat.
No comments:
Post a Comment