This is my take on the Lesney (Matchbox) diesel shunter:

 

The Matchbox shunter comes in plastic and die-cast versions - I used a die-cast one. The chassis is from the Bachmann "Underground Ernie" inspection car (grey) with styrene additions (white and black). The moulded "springs" came from an Airfix/Dapol rail bus:

 

For simplicity, I took out the original DCC socket and rewired the pick ups directly to the motor. There is still room for the cab detail piece, but it had to go a bit further into the cab:

 

I pondered the fixings for the couplers and the buffer beams for a lot time. In the end, I did what Lesney did: front buffer beam on the body, rear buffer beam on the chassis.

 

The body is held onto the chassis by friction:

 

I painted the model with Halfords paint, grey primer and then Dark Volvo Grey. When the paint had dried, I rubbed it down to reveal the handrails and the enclosure around the radiator grill.

 

It's not a scale model, but it fits in well with my H0 trains. It's a lot of fun too, if a bit quick. My thanks go to David Alexander of the British H0 Society for the idea, and to Phil Parker for the encouragement to finish it.

 

- Richard.