Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Beetle Built

Beetle Built

3 hours steady work and this is the result - a GWR "Beetle" prize cow wagon. If I'd pushed myself, I reckon half an hour could be shaved from that time but this is a hobby, not a race. Besides, I was doing my best to look like I wanted a chat while building it in the library.

That and I'd bought some tiny gingerbread men from the Co-op to sustain myself during the morning and so I had to keep checking they all tasted as good as each other.

Anyway, by the end of the morning, all I had to do was stick the roof on - each as it was an excellent fit on ends and sides. The later are chamfered along the top to provide a descent area for the glue, not a given on many kits.

Underneath, I've fitted some Sprat & Winkle couplings (more on this in an upcoming BRM) which fit well as the brake gear is just out of the way.

Next job is painting and I fancy BR Maroon, which I think might prove challenging as the glazing is in and I've only got Railmatch paint. This is a bit thin and will need to be sprayed. I have some ideas to solve this problem and will let you know how they work out once I've had a go.

Beetle Bottom


2 comments:

James Finister said...

Interesting that you are using the original design of S&W without the delayed uncoupling. I have to say they look a lot less obvious, though I'm going down the Iain Rice "Imprecise coupler" route myself

Phil Parker said...

Yes, while the MK3 version offers extra features, I think it's ugly, especially compared to the MK1.