Improving a Hornby water tower

I've always been a bit of a fan of upgrading old models. We are constantly presented with new, shiny and detailed things which can overshadow some perfectly serviceable older models.

When people complain that railway modelling is too expensive, what they usually mean is "It's too expensive for me to buy everything ready to plonk straight on my layout".

Hornby's back catalogue contains a wealth of products that looked good for their time but probably wouldn't past muster today. Some are still in production and others are easy to pick up as second hand bargains.

One such is the R8003 water tower. It's a nice shape and the tank is pretty good, but the printed brick isn't and those printed stone corners are a bit tacky.

But, with a few hours work and some laser-cut bits from scalemodelscenery.co.uk, I upgraded it to a state where the building could fit on most layouts. If you are handy with a knife and some cardboard, you could even do it for free, although those windows would be a challenge!

 I decided to produce two models, one in brick and one in stone. Needless to say, efforts to find a pair of towers within the deadline failed so I had to cheat and detail a side and end in one finish and the opposing pair in the other. By removing the tank top and turning it around, the photos didn't give anything away.

Hornby Collectors Club magazine is available to members of the club.