Commission: Hudswell Clarke 'Alpha' in 009...

I've always had a soft spot for 'Alpha' - not just the shape but also the livery I think, the red lined green with black edging, combined with the bold yellow shaded black lettering is very distinctive...

I was very happy to be commissioned to build an 'Alpha' approximation using the Minitrains Decauville chassis. The customer wanted me to scratchbuild a model in styrene, to my own design ideals and similar in style to my previous scratch built models - and accepted the limitations of using the Minitrains chassis, both with overall length (slightly reduced) and the incorrect inside frames (the prototype is outside framed).

The Minitrains donor model is an exceptional performer, but stripping the body is a little more involved these days than just unscrewing the chimney. The scratch built body only uses two parts from the bits box, the chimney which is left over from a Narrow Planet Hudswell Clarke kit, fitted to a white metal base, and the sand box, which I believe may be from a GEM loco parts pack.

The rest of the model is scratch built in styrene, the dome's flared base formed by squeezing a styrene tube over a heated bar of the correct diameter.

The model is lined using Fox transfers, and the 'Alpha' name I designed and had printed to finish off the model. Finally a crew of Airfix (now Dapol) workmen man the footplate. Only very light weathering as the model is supposed to represent a preserved locomotive.

Contact me via the page on the website, Facebook or one of the messaging services on the various forums for a proposal to create your own custom model. More soon...