Ah yes, the HA vans... No 70s/80s layout is complete without at least one in the background.

I'd originally been looking on eBay for BR-liveried examples split from the Corgi BR vans set; no joy, although the rest of the set seems widely available... It's clear that there's a market for HAs in BR Road Vehicle Yellow. Given the rarity of Mk1 Escort vans in BR service, it's perhaps surprising that a Mk1 Esky was chosen for the volume-production "yellow BR van" rather than the HA.

Sooo... Quick rethink and a new approach. I picked up two for less than £3 each in other liveries, one unboxed from a toy fair and one in the Modelzone sale. Drilled out the rivets, stripped 'em, dunked 'em in Tetrion and repainted them. Four times. In order: Airbrush failure; too thin a paint mix; and the modelling board getting knocked to the floor by hyperactive kids (don'tcha just love the school holidays?), chipping the paint on both shells down to bare metal. Aaaaargh! They're now looking OK so far after yet another strip and respray, and they're hidden somewhere safe! Ford Signal Yellow over white primer is a near spot-on match for BR Road Vehicle Yellow, to my eyes anyway. A thin paint finish makes all the difference, bringing out the detail in the casting - does Corgi paint them in the dark?

The wheels are dreadful - too wide even for a boy-racered HA Brabham saloon! - so I'm planning to fit TPM wheels. One van will be in 70s condition with chrome fittings, the other will be late-70s/80s with black fittings and grille. I'm still pondering whether or not to improve the grilles, which are a bit second-rate and carry the car-style lozenge badge. I know the whole model's closer to 1/72 than 1/76, but that's an advantage in this case as both will be parked at the front of the layout and will help with forced perspective. Any that sit further back will be TPM kits!

Next: Detail painting, then decals - and I might be making my own 'cos I can't find any commercially available Yellow Period decal sets. Slightly dreading that, to be honest!