February was a good month for building things in 7mm scale. In addition to completing two kits for GWR non passenger-carrying coaching stock, I also finished three more Walsall Model Industries photo-etched brass kits for open wagons.
The two at the back in the above photo are four-plank examples. Having completed one of these relatively recently, I was very familiar with the assembly process so I tackled these kits simultaneously. I’m pleased that building these two took about the same amount of time as building my first one: it means I’m more comfortable with the prototypes, with Walsall’s instructions, and with the actual construction techniques. My soldering is getting much better.
The wagon in front is a three-plank open. This is also a Walsall kit. It comes with straight end walls, but the instructions noted that one could modify the kit to give it rounded ends. I thought that would add a different look to my fleet of opens, so that’s what I did.
I won’t go into full details of how I did this, but to make the arch, I used the end-wall portion of a brass fret from a Walsall Iron Mink to trace the curve onto four scraps of brass from other frets. (Note to self: Always save your frets!)
I’m pretty pleased with how this turned out.
The Model Railway Show 