Whilst looking through my collection of wagons, I discovered my old Hornby 'Red Arrows' box van, which I'd forgotten all about (bonus!) I took a look at it and thought it's make a colourful and unusual addition to the fleet for Whitborough, so I set to work improving it slightly. The modifications went as follows:

1. Remove tension lock couplings and mounting pegs

2. Fill resulting hole in frame

3. Remove moulded buffers (mainly because one was damaged) and replace with brass ones, from Parkside Dundas (I think!)

4. Fit a hanging brake pipe (ABS)

5. Remove moulded brake pipe stand on body ends, as it is too far from the headstocks to be believable

6. Remove moulding pip in the centre of the roof

7. Re-spray roof white (original livery colour)

8. Fit Sprat & Winkle coupling mounting plate to chassis

9. Spray underframe and body ends black. The latter to disguise some paint fade.

10. Add running numbers from an Airfix 'Red Arrows' Hawk decal sheet

Simple and I think, effective update for a rather old 'toy' wagon and the result can be seen below

One of my other projects is a classic Airfix Cement Wagon, which has had bearings and pin-point metal wheels fitted, Bachmann sprung buffers and the holes for the side-boards filled so it can run as one of the later liveried bauxite 'Bulk Cement' wagons. I just need to source some transfers for it, and get onto Paul Bartlett's wagon photo website so I can find a nicely weathered example as inspiration!

And finally, what port would be complete without some form of fish related traffic (lots of them probably, but not this one!) so this is the next wagon to be tweaked and hopefully made to look too not out of place alongside blue diesels and other 1980s rolling stock!

Any comments, questions or suggestions will (usually, unless they are unconstructively rude!) be gratefully received!

J