BobbyK

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I’ll look into parksides mountings. This was the part I was struggling sourcing the most.

Hi everyone, I need some replacements for the 3 items circled. Can anyone suggest which parts I need in particular the mounting block screwed to the frames - and where to source from? Many thanks

This time, I have finished working on the old Hornby chassis, making it look much more Shark-like in appearance. The idea was to move the wheelsets in towards the centre of the chassis to make space for the ballast ploughs. The original wheels are located in holes in the moulded plastic frames - but in the completely wrong place for a Shark. So the first job was to open up the slots in the base of the frames. These slots allow enough clearance for the wheels, so they had to be extended towards the centre for the new wheel positions. The left hand side had been done in the photo below. Cutting out the slots had weakened the frames quite a lot so I have cut 2 pieces of plasticards and stuck them either end to restore some of the rigidity. An extra bonus I realised, this will give me something to glue the ploughs to! I have then chopped off all of the unwanted length of running boards and brake detail mouldings. As with most things cut off the old Hornby van so far, I saved the chopped off bits for use later on. Admittedly my plan for re-wheeling the van was a bit dodgey but I gave it a go. I cut 4 identical shapes from my favourite low budget modelling material - Flora tub. I marked on where the point of the axle needed to go and used a sharp point just to push open a small hole in the plastic. These were glued in place on the inside of the remaining frame mouldings. A bit of time was taken to measure these as it would be important to get the axles square into the positions in the photo below. As it was, the whole thing looked a bit ridiculous with the wheels just hanging on bits of plastic tub so I trimmed up the old axle box mouldings to fit in the gaps between the running boards and the frame. Anyone that looks too closely will see that each wheel only has half a spring etc. but ironically the model actually runs really smoothly! I have added a few other little squares of plasticard to represent the bottoms of the axle boxes - mainly a bid to try and hide the sheets of plastic the wheels sit in. After a coat off black paint and I think it looks reasonably smart. And i'm more than happy with how smoothly the brake van runs. I was expecting it to give me a lot more problems not having tried anything like this before. I think all of the main construction is now complete. The roof has had a coat of paint. I have a few bits of other detailing to do now. I have bought myself a pin vice so I can drill some fine holes for the hand rails. I have made a start on some of the hand rails. I have found that the fine wires inside the ties that come with food bags is an ideal size for hand rails. Heres a photo of the progress so far...

Here is the progress made so far with the brake van conversion. I think it is starting to capture the look of a Shark which is the main idea. The project was never meant to be a faithful replica so i'm happy with how it looks. Here's a picture so you can make your own judgement! All the main body structure is now complete. The sides have all been constructed from 40 thou plasticard with extra pieces of framework made from strips also cut off a sheet of plasticard. The 2 inside walls/doors into the cabin have been reused from the old Hornby model. The lamp irons have been made from my favourite low budget building material - flora tub plastic. It's not very good quality plastic but you can cut some quite fine shapes using scissors and when you bend it, it folds and holds its shape. I have tried to add some door handles to give it a bit more detail. Hopefully they will stay on ok. I would like to put some hand rails on as well but don't have enough fine wire at the moment. Can anyone suggest a way of drilling some fine holes in the body sides for the hand rails without damaging anything? I'm think need to get myself a pin vice. The old Hornby roof has had some cosmetic attention. The rain strip has had a gap filed off in the middles so that it resembles the real thing and the stove pipe has been relocated to the corner of the cabin and the old hole filled in. I tried making my own filler with filings of plasticard mixed with plastic cement - seems to have done the trick. I have given one side an undercoat - Here's the result below: Can anyone advise on liveries? I have chosen black just because i didn't have any olive green! but i would quite like it to be authentic for 1950s/60s steam era. Finally for now I have made a small start on the chassis, removing the old tail light and contacts. The rest of the chassis will need some heavy remodelling. I have an idea in my head how i'm going to do it and relocate the wheels to the centre of the van. It may well become a static exhibit by the time i've finished with it!

I have made some progress with the body today. I didn't say at the start, but i don't expect this model to be of finescale standards. Hopefully though it will still capture the look of the real thing reasonably acurately! I have removed the moulded on handrails that will now be in the wrong place and made start on rebuilding the bodywork. All of the pieces have been cut from a sheet of 40thou plasticard. The internal walls of the brake van are reusuable from the original. Also I have cut out the duckets from the original sides. In the new side i've made a square hole and glued the ducket into the side. The planking was scribed into the plastic and then tidied up with a file. It is by no means perfect but gives an average impression of planks. Does anybody have any tips or a better way of producing the planking effect? Here's a couple of photos of progress. Tips and advice welcome

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!