Despite the warm weather the PVA layers forming the water on the Panzer Ferry diorama base, as suspected, are taking a while to dry. Therefore this current project with the R131 Hornby Flat wagon should keep me amused whilst the glue dries!
First thing to do was dismantle the wagons. Being a 1970s Hornby product, this was easy to do - even for my usual incapable and ham-fisted approaches to such matters! Four clips fix the body to the chassis and once released the two come apart revealing a ballast weight. The two wheels from the chassis just pop out after edging the axle boxes apart a small amount.
With that done it was time to look at what needed doing to make the models a little more realistic and inspect for any damage incurred over their 50 years of existence.. One of the things that struck me was that most of the couplers needed straightening and most had suffered some rust as they are metal. Now I could have replaced the couplers with modern NEM pockets and small couplers but that would add to the cost by about £3 to £4 a wagon and this is very much a budget project and I will stress budget project again just in case Mrs. woody reads this! All I will do is remove the rust and paint the couplers along with the chassis once I remove the moulding lines on the buffer beam and buffers.
I did find that two of the buffers were missing. Luckily, the WMD Stores had some suitable replacements in stock.
After filing flat the remains of the broken buffers were filed flat and holes drilled to accept the shank of the replacements. Although not identical, the replacements look fine normal viewing distances!
Next job is to deal with some missing brake shoes for which I don't have ready made replacements!
