The 1907 GWR Mink van has now been completed. The photo was taken before I fitted the couplings (using the same methods as before). One addition to this and the 10T open wagon has been to use some brass wire to replace the very fragile tiebar between the 'W' irons.




The next job will be to paint all three GW wagons in the standard grey (or as close as I can get to it).

Parkside include alternative ends and buffers to make a later build wagon as a Mink A. It can also be built without vacuum brakes, but according to their historical notes, many were built with vacuum brakes.

Thanks guys. 

All three are now in the paint "shop". I have sprayed them with grey primer, then a matte black. That may sound a bit mad, since they are all to go into GWR grey (apart from the roofs, which should be white, or at least, dirty white). What I'm hoping to achieve with a little care in painting the final grey is to have the black emphasising some of the planking detail. We shall see soon!

To be honest, I don't actually have any GW wagon grey. I am hoping that I can use a thin coat of SECR wagon grey, which looks to me to be very similar, with the slight bluish tint to the dark grey.

Do Parkside give the correct numbers for using different ends, buffers and vacuum fitted vehicles. I only have two photos in my Great Western wagon book.

I can't vouch for the "correct" numbers, but they do list number series for each of the diagrams involved: V12, V14, and V16. They also mention in the instructions the build date ranges for each type and some of the variations in brakes and door planking.