How to make an Internal User coach
Internal user vehicles were the lowest of the low. They were allowed minimal movements and often carried very little identification. In that respect they are useful for modelling as we need not make decals.
The vehicle which served as inspiration for my next model was a GWR four-wheeler photographed at Cholsey & Moulsford in 1965. This would fit with the conversion of the GWR main line to MAS, multiple-aspect colour-light signalling. Conversation with rolling stock expert Paul Bartlett suggests that it is painted Gulf Red which, says Paul, was used for a while for engineers’ vehicles which were not part of breakdown trains. The colour apparently changed and faded badly in use.
This conversion involved a little more modification of the Hornby model, a Brake Third. Some of Hornby’s ‘generic’ coaches owe a lot to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. The guard’s look-out duckets are at the rear of the coach and incorporate a rear window in the coach end. If I cut a section from the coach side, including the ducket and double doors, I could swap them to opposite sides and this would move the ducket ahead of the doors. That would be much more like the GWR vehicle in the picture. These are generic coaches, so the finished model is always going to be a compromise.
STEP BY STEP 1
I began by marking cut lines on the ducket end of the coach, using a steel rule and scoring the line with the point of a craft knife blade. The cut line on the side will be between the two panels ahead of the doors.
2
The third cut line is immediately below the gutter edge of the roof. I cut with a thinbladed razor saw, using an open vice jaw as a support. The thickness of the saw cut will affect how much filling is needed later.
3
Here is the coach body with the two side sections removed but in their original locations. The end is moulded in clear plastic and will come loose when the sides are cut. It is easy to re-fix.
4
The two side sections swapped over so that the duckets are now forward of the guard’s doors. Next, the cut edges were smoothed with files and fine abrasive paper.
5
I made a makeshift filing pad using a small steel rule wrapped with fine grade sandpaper. It is important to get smooth, straight edges to ensure the best possible join.
6
To reinforce the cut end, I inserted a piece of substantial styrene strip, sized to keep the sides correctly apart, and placed to support the coach end, clear of obstructions.
7
To compensate for material removed by the saw cut I found it necessary to insert a piece of 60thou square styrene strip on one corner and to fill any gaps with Perfect Plastic Putty and file to shape.
8
I could not find Gulf Red in any of the model paint ranges, so I mixed an approximate shade using equal amounts of BR maroon and bauxite brown, using the photograph as a guide. The ends were painted black.
9
It is necessary to cut the glazing and swap the positions of the two shorter pieces so that they fit into the lookout duckets. They should then clip back into place and the coach can be reassembled.