It is an unusual Model Of The Week in that the model in question is not of any particular prototype engine.. Allow me to explain.
Himself was tempted to buy and build this Backwoods Miniatures kit when it hit the market, I suspect because he couldn't resist the challenge.
At the time we hadn't set out to model the WHR, it was just another exciting new locomotive to make, and so we didn't set out to represent one of the repatriated Garratts (138 & 143) which at that time were confined to shuttling between Caernarfon and Dinas looking for all the world like the steam-powered equivalent of a great beast in a small zoo enclosure.
For that reason the kit was built as Pete McParlin intended. Although the coal in the bunker has come back to meet us - when we made it the NGG16 fleet was on an exlcusive diet of oil - there are other features such as the sunshades over the cab windows and, most notably, the huge single headlamps which mean that this model wouldn't stand up to scrutiny if we tried to pass it off as one of the WHR's current quartet.
And if you hadn't spotted those subtle bits and pieces the ACR (Alfred County Railway) stickers on the bunker will certainly cure you of any misapprehensions you may have about what it is you're looking at.
Despite all that, because it is finished off in SAR unlined black livery, and because 143 spent many years running about on the WHR in this livery, it still blends in on Bron Hebog.
I've been badgering Himself for many years (as children tend to do) urging him to dunk it in paint stripper, attack the errornous details with a soldering iron and rebuild it as a more accurate representation of one of the WHR Garratts but so far he has either been too busy or is just hoping that if he ignores me for long enough I will forget about it. (As parents tend to do.)
Whatever the debate about the bits and bobs it does or does not have on it, there's no question that it is another fine example of Himself's ability to assemble these brass kits so as they not only look superb but run like sewing machines to boot.
Leave the loco alone and buy another kit. Then run it to anoy the purists. Or send it to me, I'll give it a home !
ReplyDeleteI agree with Phil. It's interesting to see what they looked like in SAR guise and with it being a model you whatever practical considerations led to the modifications don't apply. People who are annoyed by it can be ignored or given directions to Snowdonia!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above also and now it is almost correct with Stones Hedalamp and coal. Next year I believe it may be repainted Black with SAR on it so less work to do than you think
ReplyDelete