John RoachLike the other contributors, the Ardnacraish Light Railway is expanding it's wagon fleet using these splendid little kits as a basis. As we have pretensions to the more "chunky" narrow gauge look (e.g. Isle of Man, Ireland), they are probably destined for Permanent Way or Departmental use, rather than revenue earning service. 2-plank wagonThis was my first attempt at a wagon modification. I had some odd bits of scribed plywood from an structure kit (I never throw anything away), which just fitted the chassis; scribed balsa wood was fitted as an overlay to cover up the holes in the moulded floor. Plastic card was used for the corner braces, with some Plastruct L-shaped plastic for the end stanchions. Cambrian rivet-heads were "floated" into position using solvent adhesive, tweezers and a fair bit of basic Anglo-Saxon:
The wood is a bit too thick, really, but it's a start. Some square plastic plates were cut to hide the oval "HLW" logo on the solebars, with more rivet heads added. Painting followed, using Precision paints Early BR wagon grey, with black strapping:
A load was fabricated using a piece of plastic card, with some filler used to create a "hump". This was painted a suitable sandy colour (a Homebase matchpot left over from decorating - I never, ever, throw anything away), and when dry, sand was sprinkled over a coat of PVA. Accucraft couplings (standard on the ALR) were super-glued to the chassis.
Tool WagonThis wagon was a bit different, in the sense that I actually looked at a prototype drawing - an MOD flat featured in the Sixteen Mill Narrow Gauge society journal. The ends were fabricated from lolly sticks (bought in a big bag from a cookware shop), with the ubiquitous coffee stirrers for the planked floor. The toolbox is more coffee stirrers cladding a plastic card base. Plastic card strapping and more Cambrian rivet heads were then applied.
A cradle for the oil drum (Trenarren Models) was made from strips of wood with Cambrian bolt heads fixed to the sloping ends. A tap was added to the drum, using a bent copper nail (left over from building a Mirror dinghy in 1991 - I never,ever, ever, throw anything away). The head of the nail was cut off, super-glued on top and painted red to represent the tap.
The toolbox received a padlock left over from a Phoenix models detailing kit for a Bachmann boxcar (I never,ever......oh, alright.) Accucraft couplings added again, and we now have the first two vehicles for the embryonic PW train.
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