TO SCRAP OR NOT TO SCRAP?
I wagons picked up from some a bargain damaged bin last ‘OO’ year gauge and steel-bodied have been wondering open what to do with them. The bodies have been badly bashed about. The most obvious thing would be to portray them as condemned stock or as part of a scrapyard scene. But are there any other options? Could they even be repaired? Chris Playfair, by e-mail
George nature and the of amount says: the damage Much of work depends to you’re the models on the prepared to put into them. Portraying condemned stock is simple enough, although, ideally, the vehicles will need to be heavily weathered and marked with a white cross within a circle (the common symbol to denote stock bound for the scrapyard).
A cameo option that immediately springs to mind could involve a derailment scene, perhaps with a rail or road-borne recovery crane in attendance. Commonly, severely damaged rolling stock would not be suitable for moving by rail to a scrapyard and would, therefore, be cut-up on site.
An array of suitably attired figures with oxyacetylene equipment and empty wagons waiting to collect the chunks of scrap would offer an enjoyable diorama challenge.
THE REPAIR OPTION
If the bodyshells appear beyond salvation, the wagon’s chassis can be readily employed for other purposes or held in reserve to act as a spares donor in future. Perhaps there’s an interesting 3D-printed wagon body kit to be found on Shapeways – or other online sites – that needs a donor chassis.
Having said that, in many cases the body can be repaired, or maybe even used as a basis for a conversion project. In fact, your e-mail reminded me of a wagon I found in the Model Rail office last year that had been partially melted, I assume by being left in close proximity to a soldering iron.
This wagon had been lying around the office since I first started at MR in 2004 and, during a big clear-out, I thought it would be a waste to simply throw it away. Duly inspired by this query, I decided to see if the bodyshell could be mended.
Furthermore, I’ve been assembling a rake of SPA/POA scrap-carrying wagons over the past year (MR271) and this Bachmann model featured a different rib pattern to the rest of my fleet (the square-sided ribs as opposed to the angled variety), thus making the fabrication of new panels that bit easier.
The repair process consisted mainly of cutting away the damaged areas and replacing them with plastic sheet and strip, blending the new materials as neatly as possible. The nature of the wagon’s design helped by providing natural borders against which to fit the new sections. Many steel-bodied wagons feature similar raised ribs, so the technique should be relevant to a variety of vehicle types.