Upgrade Dapol ‘Silver Bullets’
In a quest for greater variety, George Dent adds a more considered weathered finish to Dapol’s china clay tankers, with extra detail fittings to boot.
George adds a more considered weathered finish to Dapol’s china clay tankers, with extra fittings to boot.
As far as factory-weathered wagons go, Dapol’s ‘Silver Bullets’ have been among the most convincing examples, capturing the distinctive earthy brown outlook of the tank barrels and chalky white deposits of spilt clay slurry. However, when a number of weathered versions are coupled together, their heavily begrimed aspect can appear overly uniform. In contrast, the chrome-effect barrels on the pristine versions emit a dazzling level of reflection and shine. There’s plenty of scope, therefore, for greater subtlety in our approach to weathering, adding greater variety to a long rake of these attractive vehicles. While working on this pair of ‘Silver Bullets’, I also took the opportunity to upgrade the bulky tank-top platform, with its array of handrails and filler hatch, courtesy of an etched upgrade kit from PH Designs. The kit also includes superior chassis footsteps and mesh overlays, as well as a pair of superior access ladders. The replacement ladders are excellent and fairly straightforward to assemble, but I opted to keep the existing ladders, having refined them slightly. The rationale being to save time (as a full rake of wagons is to be treated), but primarily due to the need for greater resilience. These wagons were destined for use on an exhibition layout that is operated by a large number of people. As we all typically handle rolling stock by picking it up in the centre, I could foresee those beautiful etched brass ladders being bent or broken on a regular basis. Dapol’s packaging doesn’t help either, as the clear clam-shell retainer has a tendency to pop open when slid out of the card box, allowing the wagon to spill out unceremoniously. Hopefully, the retention of the original ladders doesn’t detract too much from the overall effect. Indeed, the rest of the upgraded etched detail looks superb and complements the excellent moulded detail of the underframe and bogies. The airbrushed weathering has also proved satisfactory, allowing some of the shiny tank barrel to show through in places without causing an overly stark contrast.