This is my first ever go at converting an item of RTR stock so maybe slightly ambitious!

The basis is this old Hornby LMS 20T brake van i've had for a while. I don't model the LMS and nor am I likely to, so this became a perfect candidate for my first project.

I have scaled down some pictures of a shark brake van to 4mm scale and printed them off to use as drawings.

First job was to dismantle the brake van and identify the useful bits.

The wheels are lima ones, replacing the original Hornby wheels. I will need to modify the chassis quite heavily - the wheels need to move in towards the centre of the wagon to make way for the ballast ploughs on the ends. I will also remove the working tail lamp as its not needed. But for now i have decided to make a start on adapting the body.

The overall dimensions are similar but there is not a lot of the body work that is correct for the shark, so I have carefully cut away most of the body to leave me with a frame to work from. I will re use some of the parts where I can when I start to reassemble the shark body however I will make most of the new body from plasticard.

The roof will be re used but with a few cosmetic alterations.

So that's the progress so far. Not much yet but more to follow!