5 minute makeover: Bruninghaus in N…

An old friend kindly gifted this Farish TTA wagon to me at the NEC a few weeks ago, thank you Simon. I decided it would be gently re-worked to Tops era and decorated as a ‘depot fuel’ tank wagon to run in Speedlink trains…

The Farish TTA is a rescaled Bachmann OO example. As such it is as good (and bad) as the original. For the era I’m modelling many of the 2 axle tanks had been fitted with revised springing to improve ‘empty’ running at speed. The pattern of spring is very different from the original, depicted by Farish - but in N I felt could be represented by some styrene strip.

The originals were carved off flat with the W irons, styrene of various section was cut to fit and glued in place. The brake levers were gently popped out of the way whilst this was undertaken.

I was worried, because the Farish springs are so ‘flat’ (because the W irons have to be wider than prototype to accept the wider tyres wheels) that my replacements wouldn’t look right but painted black they blend right in - but now the shadows feel right. Once you see the difference it’s difficult not to see it. Whilst not quite 5 minutes, the work isn’t much more involved, 5 minutes per axle box perhaps!

The work brought me in mind of my OO gauge modelling many moons ago when I modified this rake of Bachmann PNA wagons that rode on the larger ‘original’ version of the chassis. In OO I used some S-kits white metal castings to replace the spring detail. This version of Paxton Road no longer exists but the name lives on in N!

Paxton Road mk1 - OO gauge, 2000ish built in the late noughties.

When I started playing with British N it was about accessing a different part of the hobby, and enjoying ready to run out of the box. In the years since I’ve stepped back from British OO apart from commissions to the point that British N is my standard gauge British modelling - and so detailing, kits and repaints feel safely part of the enjoyment. I hope my modelling encourages you to see the art of the possible in your own work and how even the best models can be brought to life through our hands. Until next, time more soon…

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