It is well over twelve months since Hornby’s Duke of Gloucester arrived. Much time was spent last year modifying and improving my original ‘preserved’ version so that it would be more suitable for my 1960s based layout.

My original Hornby Duke of Gloucester Special Edition back dated to 1960

Time has moved on and there are now lots of models of Duke of Gloucester available at affordable prices, both ‘preserved’ and 1960’s style. I have now invested in a second model, this time the 1960's version. As a result I have had to buy a second set of etched metal name plates.

Hornby Duke of Gloucester 1960's style

Back in January 2014 I had bought a set of plates from Modelmaster to replace the rather crude plastic offerings from Hornby. The Modelmaster plates were fitted to my Hornby Special Edition model with double sided tape. With the arrival of my second model these plates were soon removed and refitted onto the new 1960’s model. My ‘Special Edition’ model would be reworked to its original condition. The handrails were coloured silver again, and perhaps I would add brass cabside numbers. A complete set of plates and cab numbers were purchased from Fox Transfers Limited

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Cab side number from Fox Transfers – but will they all get fitted!

Contemporary posts and threads, including comments on Hornby’s own club web site, made the point that if you wanted cabside numbers then they were only available from Fox Transfers, but the opinion was that Fox’s name plates for the smoke deflectors were too small.

Old Modelmaster plates bottom compared to Fox (original) plates top

Certainly the Fox’s plates that I obtained this February (2015) appeared too small.

Modelmaster top, Fox (original) bottom

I would make some comparative measurements..

Table 1 Comparative dimensions for Hornby/Modelmaster/Fox name plates

I also found a good close up image on the web of preserved Duke of Gloucester’s name plate and smoke deflector which I scaled and compared to the Hornby model.

Table 2 Scaling from a web image

Hornby’s smoke deflector measures 32mm which equates to 8ft on the prototype. This sounds believable and suggests a name plate length of 5ft 9 3/4in, equivalent to around 23.25mm in 00 scale. Table 1 indicates that Hornby’s plastic and various Modelmaster engraved plates had lengths in the range 23 to 25mm. Fox’s original plates were just over 20mm. I discussed these differences with Lynda at Fox Transfers. She said that their plates were made to measurements taken from the prototype. However if I returned my original plates she would make me up a set to my desired dimensions.

Fox Plate (new) compared to Hornby transfer

The new plates were made 24mm (six scale feet) long. Arriving at a height for the plates is more difficult. Lynda at Fox initially suggested a height of 2.4mm but I wanted this dimension increased to 2.5mm to give more scope for covering Hornby’s transfers – which had not been printed level on the driver’s side deflector. The finished plates have a height and length similar to the most recent plates from Modelmaster. However the Fox’s plates are thinner and more delicate and have more rounded corners.

Modelmaster plates left, Fox (new) plates right

And for comparison again,

Modelmaster plates left, Fox (original) plates right

I am well pleased with the new longer Fox plates. Because the Fox plates appear thinner I decided that I could not use double sided tape for fixing. Instead I applied some Humbrol Satin Cote very sparingly with a cocktail stick to the centre of the Hornby transfer. The plate could be positioned over the transfer without excess varnish appearing around the outside edge.

Modelmaster left, Fox (new) right

Lynda at Fox Transfers has made the new longer plates available on their web site. She has added the larger plate set to the product reference. The required size has to be selected prior to purchase.

Are the current plates on prototype Duke of Gloucester the original plates from the1960s? If not, were the originals scrapped and are the replacements made to the same size? I am sure someone out there will know and can confirm the prototype dimensions.