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Hornby 2721 class detailing

Barry Ten

Entry posted by Barry Ten

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Here's one of several projects that I'm trying to get finished and off my workbench. I haven't posted anything in ages so I thought an interim report would be better than waiting for one of these albatrosses to reach completion.

 

The 2721 is an old-stager in the Hornby range and by no means up to the standard of recent RTR but it's a characterful model that offers a bit of Edwardian charm with its delightful open cab. The main problem, aside from the usual issue of ride height and (I think) wheel spacing - is the sparse chassis detail, which completely lacks outside pull rods.

 

One option is to swap the Hornby one for a Bachmann pannier chassis:

 

http://www.gwr.org.uk/pro2721.html

 

but I decided to see what could be done with the model "as is". The chassis under this model isn't the one it came with, which was the very old version with open frame motor, unflanged centre drivers and pickup off only two axles, but rather a newer version with a can motor and three axle pickup that nonetheless still fits the old tooling. I got it off ebay for less than twenty pounds including postage.

 

The main job was to add the outside brake gear - this is the third attempt. I glued etched brake shoes to the plastic versions moulded as part of the keeper plate, then added cross-rods and outside pull rods from plastikard. My first effort was too fragile, but the cross-rods make the whole thing more than strong enough to withstand normal handling.

 

blogentry-6720-1267382324_thumb.jpg

 

In addition I have added separate handrails all round and am now in the process of additional detailing and finishing. The spectacle plates are from the Mainly Trains etch. The model has been resprayed with Precision GWR green and will carry "Great Western" lettering, I think.

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rovex

Looking good. I've got one of these stored away somewhere, will certainly be trying this when it eventually comes out of the box.

 

Rovex

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Mikkel
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This looks very nice indeed. icon_thumbsup2.gif Good to see others also have a soft spot for this old stager.

 

The outside break gear certainly makes a huge difference. I tried something similar once but failed miserably, however this looks just great.

 

I hope we can lure you to post further photos once it's done.

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Barry Ten
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Hi Coedbach - sorry I didn't see you reply here until today.

 

I didn't use any measurements, I just marked off a piece of plastikard against the existing brake positions, if I remember rightly. The pull rods are made from a single strip of plastic, which was then reinforced under the "notches" at the wheel locations with three strips of plastikard, then the notches were carefully cut away.

 

Since then I have put a decoder in the model but I am still not entirely happy with the running qualities of the Hornby chassis compared to a Bachmann equivalent - it is fine for smooth starts and stops and slow running on the mainline but the pickup is still a bit dodgy for ultra reliable slow speed operation such as shunting over slightly uneven trackwork, where it has a tendency to stall where the Bachmann examples don't. So after all this work I may at some point bung in a Bachmann spare anyway which would correct the slightly wrong wheelbase...

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