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Saturday 14 December 2019

0 Gauge Class 33 Scratch Build - Final Part

The windscreen wipers were made from two pieces of wire with the blade soldered to the double arms (fiddly assembly).

The off white coach line filled me with dread. It would be quite tricky to paint a clean straight line even with masking tape where the paint might leech under. I opted for a strip of sticky paper. This worked well but with age could unpeel itself. It will be simple to repair in this event.


The BR totem is a transfer taken from a HMRS transfer sheet for 4 mm scale models. It looks about the right size compared to prototype photographs, even though this is a 7mm scale model.

The side windows in the centre part of the body with their grommet surrounds were made as before and still suffered from glue overspill. I am putting the resulting frosted look in places down to dirty windows!

Deciding on a loco number was left to the last minute. I wanted a number that is recorded as having worked the South Western area of BR(S). The number  also had to reflect the original exhaust arrangement and pierced step sides and be from an early manufactured batch. D6504 fitted my requirement.

Numerals on the transfer sheet are coloured yellow. They need to be white so, I created a green background for a white legend and printed it onto sticky backed paper. The green match is perfect and the number looks like a transfer rather than the printed label that it is.

It sounds as though I paid great attention to detail but there are two notable exceptions because I could not see an easy way of producing the parts or they are fairly insignificant. These are a row of triangular supports between the overhanging body sides and sole bar and protruding 'eyebrows' above the front windows where the wipers attach.


This has been a very enjoyable project with many challenges overcome and just a few curses along the way. Looking back it has taken about 3 months of intensive work and instilled in me a greater appreciation of the efforts and skill of designers and manufacturers who create and deliver to the market place highly detailed models . The high ticket price of 0 gauge scale models is justified in my view.

My attention now turns to building a layout to run my growing 7 mm stock on.




To Part 1 of this series.

Sunday 8 December 2019

0 Gauge Class 33 Scratch Build - Part 9

Since I started my 0 gauge journey back in March I have waited for the Guildford 0 Gauge Group Trade Show to come around on 7th December. Being a beginner in 0 Gauge I was keen to see what was on offer and I had a small list of items to buy.

It was held at the Rivermead Leisure Complex in Reading. The first thing to say is that it has a large Pay and Display car park but only two ticket machines in operation! Consequently 15 minutes was wasted standing in line to get a ticket. At least the first 3 hours are free of charge. Ample time to peruse the show.

The attendance was very high. 0 gauge seems to be popular, unless it was busy because the show is held only once a year. Well over 100 trade stands occupied by businesses large and small.  Surely I could get everything on my list? What struck me was the extent of locomotives and rolling stock available, both RTR and kits. I think these dominated the show. Surprisingly, there were few stands offering track work. I was after some Peco code 124 rail - none available. I did find a loco crew for my Terrier, some electrical connectors and most important of all BR loco green paint for my Class 33. I looked at Phoenix Paint offerings, my fist choice, but their green paint and spray thinners together were more expensive that the RailMatch spray can I found on another stand. This product was purchased and I am happy with its colour match and quality.


The end of the class 33  project is now in sight and I can count down the remaining tasks.
  • Apply a coach line
  • Apply BR totem and numbers
  • Make and fix windscreen wipers
  • Make and fix side window glass and frames
  • Anything else I have not thought of.
To Part 10.

To Part 1 of this series.  

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