Work on building the Parkside Dundas GWR 10 ton 5-plank wagon has commenced. There are still some components to fit, but progress on the kit was again rapid (like the Mink D I did yesterday).

Adding weight to open wagons is always problematic if one wishes to leave the interior detail visible. I am using some lead ball bearings here, glued on with a liquid contact cement. A few of the balls have stuck in the wrong places but I will clear them out before long. There is still not sufficient weight in this wagon, so I will have to fill a few more spaces in the underframe. I left the end areas clear so I could do my usual NEM coupling arrangement, using two spacers of 40 thou plasticard and the Parkside adapters (actually included with this particular kit). The Hornby fishtails fit better than Bachmann ones, which tend to be bit loose.To fix that problem, since most of my couplings are Bachmann ones, is to add a small blob of mastic in the fishtail slot.

Obvious items still to add include the tarpaulin bar, the door bumpers, handbrake levers, and the tiebar between the axleguards (actually moulded on the kit but they broke when I was cutting the parts off the sprues, so I will replace them with some microstrip).