Commission: Townsend Hook…

A narrow gauge model of an unusual prototype, this 00-12 model features an EDM 3D printed body, heavily modified to sit on a Hornby TT:120 chassis and has turned out to be a delightful little thing…

The EDM ‘kit’ is more of a scratch-aid. None of the details from the 0-16.5 version are included and the body is, I think, simply a reduction in scale. The choice of chassis is left up to the modeller and previous examples I have seen use a variety of N gauge donors to create an 009 model. My customer is starting out in narrow gauge from scratch and wants to model something quite specifically 3ft gauge. I suggested the Hornby TT:120 starter set locomotive chassis might fit with some work and so we scoped up the project with that as a fixed point.

The print is a quality but slightly brittle resin. This didn’t help when cutting carefully to make space for the wider gauge chassis - at least breakages were clean and easily repaired! The missing details were scratchbuilt and some new wheel arches fabricated. The chassis has the circuit board removed and the motor and pickups hard wired. As much weight as possible was tucked in the remaining crevices under the body.

Painted in Humbrol 73 with black 85 edging a thin red line from Fox decals was added between and the model completed with Light Railway Stores etched plates. Detail painting picked out the metal elements and touched in the wheel centres of the donor chassis. 009 sized Greenwich couplings have been fitted and dumb buffers added to line up with the wagon chassis I’m hopefully one day releasing a a kit in this curious scale.

Another deeply enjoyable commission this year, and a new scale / gauge combination! If you’d like me to worm on a project with you, from layout design to complete scratch build, then get in touch via email on Facebook or the contact form on here. A selection of my previous work can be found by clicking on the ‘Commission’ label. Until next time more soon…

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