It has been a while since I shared an industrial project here on the workbench. It has been great fun working on this etched brass model of a Manning Wardle that spent its working life at Littleton...
The prototype is preserved on the
Avon Valley railway, but my customer wanted a work worn finish based upon her industrial career. This OO gauge model is built from the CSP etched brass kit and has been finished with a High Level gearbox and motor and Scale-link Romford style wheels - rigid, with all wheel pickup on the top of each wheel; it is a smooth and powerful runner and the High Level box provides, as always, an almost silent drive.
Etched brass kits all have their designers idiosyncrasies built in - and I believe this kit is from old hand drawn artwork. It fitted together well on the whole but there were a few small adjustments and alterations to make for it to work with the desired drive train and allow slightly more straight forward assembly - and as a result I wouldn't recommend this kit to a beginner (If I was giving advice, I'd suggest a good beginner 'industrial' kit might be the RT Models Sentinels), however with a 25W iron, 180 and 145 degree solder and plenty of liquid flux it has proven an enjoyable build.
The model has been finished with a lightly weathered appearance over the Humbrol gloss navy blue lined white finish. I chose to use a bow pen for the lining, to give it a bit of character and I think this has worked out ok on the whole, certainly as neat as I'd have achieved with similar Fox lining and probably slightly finer... but it's always nerve wracking, adding this sort of detail to a paint finish in case things go awry!
Etched plates are from the kit, but the Modelu crew add a more modern touch of finesse. Couplings will be to fitted once my customer confirms his requirements! If you have a flat kit that feels perhaps a little overwhelming, perhaps I can help turn it into a 3D reality to your specifications. Get in touch for a no-obligation fixed price proposal. Until next time, more soon...
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James.