Upgrade old wagons

George Dent shows you how to transform a couple of 1970s wagons.

Ilived rather frugally as a newly married twenty-something and had to make do with cheap modelling projects. Older, second-hand models offered much potential, especially in the days when decent preowned rolling stock could be obtained for just a few pounds. While the preowned market has boomed in recent years, prices, like those of new models, have risen too but there are still bargains to be found. Furthermore, if you choose carefully, there are many models dating back to the 1970s and 1980s that can still hold their own against contemporary, ‘high-spec’ products. A pair of typical examples are featured here, namely the Lima 12t box van and an Airfix seven-plank open wagon. Introduced in the late 1970s, the Airfix model has remained available for decades, under the Mainline, Hornby and Dapol brands, with only minor improvements to the wheels and couplings over the years. Current issue models remain fairly cheap in comparison to more modern ready-to-run four-wheel wagons, but older examples can be found for even less. With a new set of wheels, couplings and a quick dose of weathering, it looks very much at home on a modern layout. I’ve had a soft spot for the Lima van since I was a kid. I had one in my first train set, but with its striking red livery and Typhoo Tea logo it wasn’t exactly realistic. Indeed, the Italian firm went through a phase of branding general goods wagons with household names, including Homepride flour, Stork margarine, Michelin tyres and St Ivel milk. Hornby did a similar thing (the tank wagon that looked like a Duracell battery was a particular favourite). Having bought a handful of Lima box vans back in the late 1990s, I combined them with superior underframes and wheels from Parkside Dundas and Romford, respectively. The improvement was pretty amazing, taking what was essentially a toy and transforming it into a more ‘serious’ model. As with much of Lima’s output, the vans featured some finely moulded detail on the plastic body shells, but the bombproof underframes and enormous wheel flanges were a real drawback. Tricky to modify, the tough, rubbery plastic chassis was best discarded, with Parkside’s chassis kits remaining a very economical upgrade option. Repeating the upgrade more recently, the cost of the Lima vans hasn’t increased much, in relative terms, with good boxed examples available for around a tenner. As we’re only interested in the bodyshell, it’s worth looking out for less pristine examples at lower prices. Taking into account the economy of scale involved in buying paints and transfers to treat at least a dozen similar wagons, the entire upgrade of this Lima van project came to about £20, including the cost of the donor model. Considering the quality of the finished model, I think this is excellent value. Plus it was great fun and brought back some very happy memories…