Manvers Main PO Wagons

I have asked Slaters about the current unavailability of these kits. It appears they will come back, but in a slightly revised format, although we might have to wait a little while.

Unless you're absolutely desperate it's probably worth hanging on instead of trying to find second-hand examples.

GC 3 plank wagon kit (diagram 6)

I understand that Simon Spare's initial batch of 3 plank wagon kits has completely sold out. However, if there is enough demand he will run a second batch.

I have already put my name down for another as they are excellent kits and well worth having. I don't think it's a major task to finish them as the earlier diag 3 if you want to do something different with one. I'd suggest the main difference is a single set of brakes with no lever on the other side.

Anyway if you want one (or preferably several) please contact Simon to confirm your interest. (His contact details are included in my earlier post about the kits.)

GC Wagon Tarpaulins

I have just noticed that 7mm scale GC Wagon Tarpaulins (or wagon sheets as they are sometimes known) are available from C&L Finescale. Also available are CLC and a number of other companies including even the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light!

Wagon sheets were extremely commonplace in the GC era when many loads we would now think needed a covered van were carried in opens. (Amazingly even loads such as flour were sometimes transported in this way!) The sheets were also used for temporary repairs to leaking vans and also on cattle wagons, especially in cold weather or when in use for carrying horses. You really cannot have too many, though most of us are reluctant to cover up our careful detailing and lettering under an anonymous sheet!

GCR 4 wheel brake van (from D&S kit)

This photo demonstrates that I do sometimes make models as opposed to just talking about it. It's a GC 4 wheel brake van (diagram 64 to be technical) built from a D&S kit, primed and ready to have the various castings added prior to final painting.

I never work continuously on a model, but I estimate it took me about a day's work to get it to this state. Which means that a competent professional could probably assemble it thus far in a morning.

It's a very easy kit to build - if any brass kit is - the hardest bit being to fix the handrails to my satisfaction. There's also some tricky detailing to do inside the verandah. The parts aren't supplied for this, you have to make it up yourself from plastic or wood, and it's more fiddly than anything. Not sure how I ever used to manage in 4mm, but I suppose my eyes were younger.

If you have never tried to build an etched brass kit, this one could be a good starting point. The GCR had dozens of these brakes. If I needed more than the two I've got, I'd happily build several more as the kit is a delight.

GCR Wagon Transfers

I have no less that five GC wagons in various stages of construction, plus a few more that need brake gear added. In the excitement I realised that my stock of wagon letter transfers is low so I asked Chris Basten at Dragon Models what his latest prices were.

Available in 7mm are:

GC large size white @£2-00 a pair
GC large size yellow @ £2-00 a pair
GC small size (not sure what these are for as they're a bit big for bolster wagons) @£1-60 a pair
CLC (CL) @ £1-90 a pair
LDEC @ £2-30 a pair
LDEC (hired lettering) @ £2-30 a pair.

Most of these are also available in 4mm by the way. If you're lettering a 7mm bolster wagon you'll probably find the small 4mm GC lettering @ £1-30 will do the job.

Postage is £1-50 per order.
From Dragon Models,
9 Kingsley Close
Sully
Penarth CF64 5UW

Kit Review - GP Models Diagram 5 (3 planker)

After a long time without doing any serious modelling I have started this kit during the week. The first thing to note is that it's exceptionally complete. The wheels are in there, and all you need to add is paint, solder, and transfers.

It's a complex kit for so simple a prototype. A different philosophy could have produced a resin body complete with solebars (like the Simon Spare diag. 6 kit) and reduced the number of parts by some degree of magnitude. However, what this kit does give you is a very solid chassis with built in compensation. This wagon would be quite safe even at the head of an 80 wagon coal train - it is incredibly strong.

The etched parts are in nickel silver, and make me wonder why anyone uses brass. The n/s is so much easier to work. I used the bending bars to form the inner solebars, but otherwise the folding could be, and was, done with long-nosed pliers.

There's quite a lot of layered detail to add, and even with a resistance soldering iron, some of this is hard work to position properly. I think this is the one thing a beginner might struggle with. However the parts do fit together beautifully - by no means a quality to be despised in a kit.

Would I build another one? Yes, gladly. Having built this one I'm sure I'd make a better job of the second one. Recommended - and not least as ideal soldering practice for someone who hesitates to try a loco kit!

Diagram 6 3 planker

Having received my kit from Simon Spare, I'd say it's at least as good as anything he's produced in the past, possibly even better. Anyway, it's a quality offering and I look forward to more from this stable.

Only thing not in there that you might expect are the parts for the brake gear. It's a 9' 6" wheelbase and I'm pretty sure Exactoscale can oblige.