Rapido Manning Wardles and the roof…

I wasn’t expected these yesterday but they Royal Mail declared their imminent arrival by email. Not a large delivery but a lovely surprise, the Rapido Manning Wardle L’s have arrived…

Two of these are taken, but at the time of writing there are a handful of the model in stock at Rapido so if you’re quick, I can pick one up for you. Discount and available customisation services are listed on the Rapido Trains UK page. The detail is lovely and the model runs smoothly with a good amount of weight considering its size. The centre axle is lightly sprung and has plenty of side movement along with the jointed rods, meaning tighter radii aren’t such a problem.

The open cab demonstrates the tool makers art and the skill of the Chinese workers in the factory. Lovely composition of prototype and the realms of achievable manufacturing. I haven’t a photo, but the gap between the front axles is open too, allowing a full representation of the valvegear. Lovely, and something I dreamt up for the second Pi RTR model (that Steve and I never progressed) many years ago…

The two can options don’t cover the typical Manning Wardle weather shield cab - so I’ve prototyped and designed one in brass - and this has been sent off for etching. It’s a fiddly fit, so may need some adjustment but I expect to make a single batch available later in the summer once I’ve proven it works and fits. If you’d like me to source a donor model now, to fit the roof too when I’m ready, then get in touch and I’ll sort out an invoice and we can bag one of the remaining models from Rapido.

Meanwhile, it’s back to commission work today - painting the 16mm stock and beginning the long process of detailing the etched brass 02… but more on that in Friday’s update. For now, more soon…

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