KIT-BASHING ‘ANNIE’ AND ‘CLARABEL’
Mark Pretious converted a couple of ‘toys’ into a convincing four-car, close-coupled set of Stroudley carriages.
These coaches started out life as children’s toys but they do lend themselves very easily to be kit-bashed into authentic-looking coaches. This is the fourth set of these that I have done and they make an ideal accompaniment to the Gauge 3 LBSCR ‘Terrier’ 0‑6‑0T I described in last December’s issue (see MR307).
As well as the cosmetic element, the four coaches had to be re-gauged from 45mm (LGB) to 63.5mm (Gauge 3). All the coaches come as four-compartment vehicles with a moulded nose at one end for the face of each coach. The first thing I did was pull each coach apart and start re-gauging the wheel sets to Gauge 3.
The dummy springs and axleboxes were razor-sawed off and put to one side. All the moulded noses, solid buffers and draw hooks were also removed. The four coach ends were then re-skinned with plastic card. The chunky roof vents were also razor-sawed off and then re-skinned with a sheet of 30thou’ plastic card. All the compartments had moulded grab handles and T-shaped door handles so these were also removed and later replaced with proper handles grab rails.
The coaches, as built, have external bearings mounted through the floor and secured in place with small self-tapping screws on the top side of the floor pan. The location of the metal bearings is exactly where the wheels needed to go. The floor pan was suitably modified on all the coaches and a section of the floor pan removed using a disc cutter. I was then able to reattach the dummy axleboxes and springs. The brake ends had a set of buffers fitted, as well as the draw hook and screw link from GRS (Garden Railway Specialists).
The four underframes later received a spray of Halfords grey plastic primer and then matt black. The stepping boards were picked out in a wood colour. On three of the four coaches I had to carry out major surgery. The fourth coach remains as a four-compartment coach, so the only work on this bodyshell was the re-skinning of the former face end of the coach, filler work and applying microstrip.
With the coaches that required major surgery, I removed the six complete coach sides off the three body shells so all I had was a floor and two ends to support the roofs.
The five-compartment coach has received the most work. On the four-compartment coach, as bought, there are five panels between each compartment window and the extreme ends. The removal of all these panels permits just enough room to get the five compartments on each side. The two end compartments mouldings where the compartment meets the end of the coach had no rounded ends for the raised beading. I had to graft sections very carefully from the panels that I had removed.
The two brake coaches are identical, so I did these simultaneously. I approached Marston Models to use two of the doors that I had saved from the cutting up process to make 3D‑printed resin double doors. This kept the panelling and detailing uniform and less likely to be seen as different. For the end of the coach I took an imprint of my own Stroudley coach and used this as a template for the distinct end windows of the LBSC coaches which was made up from 30thou’ plastic card, as were the duckets and the luggage panels. The end beading was added to complete the window frames and to give a good level of detail. The drum vents and the oil fillers are, in fact, 3D‑printed again by Marston models and applied to the roofs as per technical drawings.
Painting of the roofs was done by using Halfords white plastic primer and then appliance gloss white. The close coupling is achieved by using a 90mm long plate of brass with one end secured to a pre‑existing hole in the floor of the first coach. The next coach has a 6BA bolt down facing and the bolt fits through the corresponding hole thus holding the coach at a set distance from the first vehicle.
The four coach bodies all received a spray of Halfords red plastic primer and Halfords Ford Radiant red for the brake ends only. The topcoat was brush‑painted. I was trying to replicate the ‘Painted Mahogany’ that the LBSC used around 1899-1906, which is easier than doing a wood stain effect. After chatting to some helpful people from the Brighton Circle someone suggested the Vallejo range of paint and a colour called red leather.