Saxa Salt wagon - Part 3

 

After a coat of sanding sealer, the colours I chose for the wagon all came from the Humbrol acrylic range - 69 Gloss Yellow for the body, 33 Matt black for the chassis and RC414 Executive dark grey for the roof. All chosen because they were in a box of paint I bought second hand - I knew it would come in useful!

The lettering is a vinyl sticker. You press the front to fix the lettering to the clear carrier film, then peel away the white backing sheet. Place the film over the wagon side, where it's the perfect size so no lining up, run the letters down and then peel away the clear sheet. 

This didn't quite work on the first sheet. The letters stayed on the backing, and I ended up peeling them away with tweezers, putting them on the wagon side and lining up by eye. The letters are pretty robust and with a little care, everything worked out OK. 

The instructions say you don't need to seal them with varnish, but I shot some satin over the sides anyway. 

 

Underneath, the bearings are chunky bits of brass - impressive as you don't always get (or really need) them. I reamed them out a bit for some slop to accommodate less than perfect track and the wagon is now a nice smooth runner. A lump of lead underneath adds useful weight, without it, the wagon is very light. The plastic wheels should be OK, but metal ones would add useful low-down mass.

 

All in all, a really nice kit. OK, it's not very realistic, but it is pretty and goes together well. If you can wield a PVA bottle, I don't think you'd have any problems building it and the design should ensure any modeller can end up with a vehicle they can be proud of.

Timpdon Models Saxa Salt van.