Saturday Snapshot - The 422 Tops

 I realise that I have completed a project and that I have failed to take any pictures of it until this point... oops!

You may remember that I had purchased a spare 422 Modelmaking wagon chassis frame at Narrow Gauge North and used it for various bits of experimentation with axle boxes and the like. With the release of the Heywood-style 'Tops' wagon bodies I picked up a two-plank version at Narrow Gauge Now in October. The spare chassis was quickly fettled to suit and the two Araldited together, with the only other detail work being the addition of office staples at either end to form the lifting handles. Painted in Humbrol red-brown with black-grey ironwork I think the result is very pleasing.

I had originally painted the number plate in red with a brass surround but realising this looked a little gaudy I repainted in black with a white surround, the number '3' is a dry-print transfer from a GWR wagon sheet.

You may notice a small cut-out in the lower edge of the headstock, the final experiment with this chassis was to test the feasibility of fitting MicroTrains couplers. With Mathieson 7mm wheels in the Peco chassis around 0.5-0.75mm needed to be removed in a strip 5mm wide. The jury is out on whether these wagons will ever get that style of couplers but I thought it worth the try and not noticeable enough to reverse the adaptation.

Colin