Furthering the debate on the Hornby 4VEP thread elsewhere, another problem found was that the trailing bogies at each end had been designed incorrectly. The damper should face inwards, towards the centre of the train, and the guard irons were also on the wrong end, as shown below:

This had another affect, as moving turning the bogie around and putting the guard irons on the opposite end would mean that both the steps and the 3rd rail shoes would be in the wrong position - in the former, they would be on the wrong end of the bogie, and no longer under the door, and in the case of the latter, they would be facing the wrong way.

The solution was to cut the steps out and remount them carefully at the opposite end, and with the 3rd rail shoes, to simply swap them from side to another to get the correct orientation.

My thanks to everyone on the 4VEP thread, firstly for discovering this inaccuracy, and secondly for helping me fix it! The bogies are now correct orientated throughout the train, and both trailing bogies have been suitably modified.

The next stage was a little weathering using Tamiya weathering powders, to try and make the bogies and underframes look a lot less like black moulded plastic and more like heavy duty metal.

I started with the bogies, dusting on Tamiya "Gunmetal" and "Mud" to give the bogies a little relief, before a light sprinking of the Tamiya "Orange Rust" in specific areas to bring out the colour more. Sealed with Gamesworkshops "Purity Seal", the bogies were returned to the trailer end for photographing:

This was also repeated at the opposite end of the coach with the other bogie, along with an attempt at weathering the corridor connection to look a little more workstained: I remember the brown dirt and rust used to seem to converge on the centre of the partition, so checking a few photographs and careful applications of weathering powders resulted in this, after sealing:

Overall I think it is getting there. I am awaiting a few components before I start on the next "fix" for the 4VEP - roof horns, vents and piping to replace in the next week or two, along with a continuation of the weathering I started this weekend.

Until next time!