HOW TO IMPROVE HORNBY’S BR Mk 1 GUV
Read all about it! George Dent adds a grimy outlook – and a few extra details – to Hornby’s Newspaper van.
As someone who grew up with Lima ‘OO’ models, rather than the ubiquitous Hornby train sets of my peers, I can’t help but feel nostalgic when thinking about products from the Italian manufacturer.
I’ve stated it numerous times before, but it says much for Lima’s tooling expertise that many of its models still look good several decades later. Hornby’s resurrection of the ex-lima BR Mk 1 General Utility Van (GUV) was a welcome addition to the Margate range, and last year’s release of a Rail blue version with Newspapers branding provided an added bonus.
The GUV was one of Lima’s best coaching stock models, with a realistic profile and plenty of finely moulded detail on the sides and – especially – the ends. Hornby’s superior finish quality, with neatly printed legends and numbers, takes things up a notch.
Furthermore, gone are the old Lima ‘pizza cutter’ wheels with huge flanges, in favour of a more refined set that spin freely within the bogie frames.
When our sample of the Hornby Newspaper van arrived, my first instinct was to give it a shabby, weathered finish, reminiscent of blue Mk 1 GUVS during the 1970s and 1980s. A good number of these vans were dedicated to Newspaper traffic, some being converted with gangways and toilet compartments allowing for sorting and bundling while on the move. But others remained mostly untouched, save for the branding on the sides.
Part-way through the weathering, I realised how well the bodyshell was responding to the ‘fading and shading’ process. After a brief pause, I opted to start adding some extra details here and there.
The roof is one of the most visible elements of any model train and the undersize vents looked ripe for upgrading, as did the vacuum cylinders below the frames. The handrails would benefit from replacement with fine wire, but the weathering had helped to give the moulded parts extra definition, so I left them alone. A set of dummy coupling hooks were fitted to the headstocks and, with the exception of a set of close-coupling NEM mounts, that was about it.
Accordingly, the order of the following step-by-steps doesn’t reflect the true chronology of this project, as I’ve arranged them in a more appropriate sequence!
As with many projects, I can see a few areas where I could have done more, such as upgrading the wheelsets with proper disc profile wheels, rather than the three-hole units installed. But they’re barely visible behind the bogie frames and the van runs extremely well straight from the box, so there’s no pressing incentive to make a change.
I do, however, think I will replace the glazing at some point, for laser-cut flush-fitting panels, as offered by Extreme Etchings/ Shawplan. Other than that, the finished model sits well with the rest of my detailed Bachmann and Hornby Mk 1 stock. What’s more, this upgrade job cost very little in terms of money and time, and that always brings a smile to my face!