Train, Set & Match

Those of you who've made it along to see Bron Hebog in Hull this weekend have been treated to the public debut of the KMX Tamper match wagon.

So for the benefit of everyone else who can't be here with us here are a couple of 'works portaits'.

For the moment it's far too clean - the real one has a much more hard-working appearance - and we need to get some tiny, bespoke transfers produced for all the various instructions and notices which are written on it.

Even though it's incomplete I'm nevertheless delighted to finally have got this long term project made and running on the layout.

Mix & Match

There's been good progress on the tamper match wagon since I last posted about it.

Underneath I've added the brake gear from the OO9 Society kit although because I have fitted an extra floor section I had to trim the top of the plastic pieces so they sat in the right place.

Fortunately there was plenty of  'meat' on them so there was still a reasonably solid slice of plastic to glue it into position.

You can also see in the shot above how the couplings are mounted on blocks of plasticard to set them at the correct height.

On the real wagon the chopper head is also at this height and the altered couplings have been fitted with a step in the shaft.

I also made up the 3 tool boxes out of styrene.

And here they are glued into place on the wagon.

I have a few rivet head transfers to add and then I think it will be ready to paint, so there's every chance it will make its debut on Bron Hebog at Hull in a just the weekend after next.

A Lovely Couple

There are some jobs you can't do from 400 miles away and one of them is setting coupling heights.

So the new tamper match wagon I'm making has had to be transported south so it can be stood next to the KMX tamper and have the coupling fitted so it matches precisely.

With that small job done it can be dispatched back to Scotland to be finished off.

With a bit of luck and a following wind it might even be ready for the exhibition in Hull next month.

You may also notice that the rail webs on this section of the layout have now been weathered.

It makes a huge difference and Himself is slowing making his way around board by board.

Match Point

With the tamper finished for my client I can, at last, get around to working on our own KMX. Or at least the match wagon which goes with it.

Making a match wagon has been a long-term ambition, as I wrote a few weeks ago.

This project is going to be a 'kit bash' and I'm using one of the OO9 Society's latest in-house kits for a generic RNAD wagon which is the basis of the real WHR wagon.

The key bits I need from the kit are the solebars and axles boxes and I'm also making use of the plank effect wagon top.

I got Himself to measure the wagon for me at Boston Lodge Works a few weeks ago so I have some proper data to work from.

Interestingly, if you're building the RNAD wagon kit you need to chop the ends of the solebars because they are over-long (they are also from a mould for another kit) but it just so happens they are the perfect length for the match wagon.

The floor, however, is too short in the kit, which made it harder to use it as intended to set the solebars the correct distance apart.

So what I've done is to cut a piece of styrene to do the job because there is plenty of clearance above the wheels.

The kit does come with two floor pieces (that legacy of its design for another kit, again) so I was able to cut a slice from the second one to make my floor to the correct length.

Now I have started to add the side extensions before setting about making the storage boxes on top.

The floor on this wagon sits much higher than the typical FR / WHR wagon so before going much further I think the next job is to compare it to some of our existing stock to work out how to mount the couplings at the correct height.