Commission: Hudswell Clarke in 006.5…

Sometimes it feels as if the 006.5 range I developed is dying a slow death but it keeps selling and I was really happy to be asked to put together the Hudswell Clarke kit recently… 

This diminutive model is probably one of the fiddlier kits in the range with the fold over door hinges, otherwise it's pretty straight forward if not tiny. Fitting atop an unmodified Busch NS2 chassis (reversed) the kit includes the usual 3D printed shell with etched overlays. In this case the cab roof, radiator grill and side doors. These have long hinges that pass over the handrails down each bonnet, and then attach to themselves, going the character of this very early Hudswell Clarke diesel, the prototype was the first diesel used by the LMS at their Crewe works.

The customer requested I didn't fit the name plates but we agreed for me to attempt some of the lining and I'm really pleased with how this has come out. I applied the gloss black paint first and then used a thinned satin red in the bow pen, dialled down to less than 0.5mm in width and carefully applied the lining by hand and ruler. The complicated bit was trying the box under the radiator, this looks great in person, remember these photos are cruelly enlarged, this really is a tiny kit and wonderfully cute model with it's short stumpy proportions.

The buffer beams in red lift an otherwise dark and dreary livery - hopefully it will see service on my customers fledging 006.5 project and join his previous Ruston Proctor commission. It leaves me wondering still what next for the 006.5 range, perhaps I shall mull it over a little longer - it has encouraged me to dig out and finish my Alan Keef K12 from the Narrow Planet kit though - so progress of sorts.

If there is a kit in any of my ranges that you'd like some help with then do get in touch and I can put together a proposal that matches your specific requirements. Until next time, more soon...