BODYWORK REPAIRS

Last year, we had a thorough sort-out of the Model Rail office, clearing away all manner of junk accumulated over the past two decades. Some real surprises turned up along the way, with some very useful kits, bits and books that we'd forgotten about. There was also this Bachmann Branchline POA scrap metal carrying wagon, with partially melted bodywork. I can remember this being in a drawer of kit parts when I first started at MR, some 16 years ago, so I've no clue as to what happened to it. I'm guessing it got too close to a hot soldering iron...

Whatever the cause, it seemed a waste to chuck it in the skip, so I salvaged it, thinking it could be repaired. I've been assembling a varied rake of these wagons recently, so an extra addition was welcome, especially as it features a different pattern of external ribs (the square-sided variety) when compared to the rest of my fleet (which have the angled type). Indeed, the squareness of the ribs made fabricating new sections pretty easy, using Evergreen styrene strip.

After cutting away the damaged sections, plastic card was inserted before the ribs were added. The parts were fettled to fit as snugly as possible, but any gaps that did exist were filled with Mr Hobby's Dissolved Putty. The repaired wagon is now awaiting priming and painting, but that's proving a problem now I'm barred from my workshop by the current restrictions. Moreover, the wagon's wheels are trapped in the workshop, along with my airbrushing gear!

I believe that Railmatch offer a suitable shade of 'Barclays' blue but, as the wagon is destined for a very heavy weathering job, I'm wondering about creating a close-enough-match with Lifecolor acrylics. Oh well, I've got plenty of time to think about how things progress from here...