Little Didcot

[Castle]

Are you OPEN to the Iron Maidens?

 

Run to the hills! The Iron Maidens are coming! These are the two metal bodied GWR vans at Didcot, not the heavy metal musical stylings of Harris, Dickinson et al... The OPEN is merely another open wagon that needed ticking off!

 

The name Iron Mink was not a code used by the GWR - to them they were just metal bodied versions of the large family of MINK type vans but the design has been bestowed this name for a long time now and it has just stick it would seem. When construction of the type ceased in 1901, over 4,000 of them had been built. After that, a brave new world of wooden bodied MINKs was embarked upon. This wasn't the last time that this type was constructed or encountered by the GWR however. There was a related diagram, the V15, that was purchased for Messrs Spiller & Baker in 1913. These had been built privately in 1905. There were also many similar vans that came to the GWR when the various Welsh railways were absorbed into the company.

 

They were first ordered as a pair of experimental iron vans with channel section under frames in 1886 and despite construction being delayed until 1887, they were such a hit that by the end of that year 94 were in service. There were many subtle variations of this type but the basic design was relatively unchanged. Updates throughout their lives might have included grease axle boxes being swapped for oil versions, 2 shoe to 3 shoe brake conversions, D/C brake conversions, wooden doors and so on.

 

The example at Didcot is No. 11152, which was built to diagram V6 in 1900 as part of lot 217. The wagon was previously masqueraded as No. 47305 in that wagons highly unusual "Salvage for Victory" livery. Two Iron Minks in this livery were used during World War II to tour the GWR system collecting paper for re-pulping. It has more recently regained its own identity in a more typical GWR livery.

 

 

The second van in today's trio has a potentially explosive personality... The GWR diagrams that have the prefix 'Z' all deal with gunpowder vans otherwise known as the CONE series of vehicles. As we all know, gunpowder has what you might call a 'burning ambition' to do something exciting in the way of a chemical to kinetic energy exchange. In order to avoid an unnecessary dance of death every time the commodity was transported, every care was taken to minimise the risk that this material represents. This meant that the design and materials used here were strictly controlled. The basic shape may feel a bit deja-vu but the CONES and iron MINKS are very similar externally. The metal body had no ventilation and was well sealed which kept the explosive dust to a minimum but it did present a problem. Work men's shoes of the period were likely to have steel nails in the soles and striking steel on steel could well cause a spark - not good in a large pile of gunpowder... This was mitigated by firstly coating the inside of the vans with lead sheets. All fixings in the roof and body, including door furniture were made of brass or copper. There was even a special pair of over boots that workmen pulled on (that isolated the metal in those shoes) and a poster of regulations on the doors of each of the gunpowder vans. Operating regulations limited the CONEs to a load of 10,000lbs each and 1 ton in sheeted OPEN wagons. Wagons with explosives in had to be marshalled as far away from the locomotive as possible to avoid sparks and hot cinders and no more than 5 CONEs could be in any one train. This was relaxed during WWII to CONEs carrying 16,000lbs, OPENs carrying 4,000lbs in an OPEN and up to SIXTY - yes 60! - CONEs in any one train if on government explosives traffic. That's a grand total of 960,000lbs! Yikes! Such were the pressures of war...

 

 

The DRC CONE is No. 105781 which is built to Diagram Z4 from lot 1346 of 1939.

This vehicle was preserved by the late David Rawlinson, who based it initially at Steamport, Southport and then at Preston Dock. On his death it was bequeathed to the Great Western Society. The vehicle was moved to Didcot in October 2008.

The underframe and running gear are in generally fairly good, but the upper body, is in quite poor condition and will need a lot of fresh metal to put it to rights. Another one on the full size to do list...

 

The OPEN in question is an example of the later GWR types. Built in 1945, No 143698 is to diagram O37 from lot 1379. These were built in a similar manner to the O38 HYFIT versions but without the vacuum breaking system. Many of them, No. 143698 included, were retrospectively fitted with vacuum breaking in the mid 1950s and as you can see from the picture, this fine example requires a little metal work and a whole heap of woodwork!

 

 

To the models: first we will take care of the iron MINK. The redoubtable Ratio kit has its problems being a little too narrow (life is too shot to worry about this as far as I am concerned) and having a few details that could easily be improved upon including the adding of the three shoe brakes, a nice new roof and some scale couplings. The MRD detail kit shewn below should answer all of these points! Shame the roof is rolled the wrong way.

 

 

Therefore, we only need these bits...

 

 

..and this lot goes in the scrap box! Never throw anything away...

 

 

Nibble off the coupling mounts and a quick run round with the file gets us here.

 

 

Then a splash of solvent and we get here.

 

 

My usual LMS supplied buffers are fitted as I think they lift any model they grace.

 

 

Then a few bits of etched brass to get the build done. A brass tube was used against my thigh to roll the roof back the right way.

 

 

Primer...

 

 

..and then a dose of Halford's matt black, Phoenix roof grey and BR unfitted freight grey.

 

 

A dose of gloss varnish, the roof stuck on an a dive into the transfer stash did this!

 

 

The CONE is a bit of a more difficult proposition. The Dapol model is crisply made but unfortunately, does not represent any GWR diagram known... Strangely, the doors and the body height is spot on for the Z4 but it is way too long, way too wide, the roof is therefore very wrong and the chassis is a work of fiction. The Parkside Z2 is also way out. What to do... I was pondering the drawings in the bumper wagon fun book for the umpteenth time when I decided to read the whole chapter through again. Then I noticed the drawing of the Z3. The caption goes like this:

 

"Figure 433 CONE gunpowder van to Z3, blah, blah, blah... For Z4, body extended to 16' 6" over head stocks, under frame as P18 but no steps."

 

Well thought I, my Dapol body is too long but it has no planked sides or fiddly detail. A few cuts here and there will take care of that. Cambrian do a kit of the P18 wagon so sole bars and buffer beams can be pilfered and the rest we make up the rest as we go along - a plan is born! This also explains the picture below.

 

 

So, the standard Dapol massive fixing screw is removed!

 

 

With a flash of the blade, cuts were made. They were carefully made and were made up alongside the angle pieces that make up the body. It does look a bit like a wagon massacre doesn't it?!

 

 

Then the correct amount is removed from the ends (the entire centre section) and the thin slivers from the second panel in, next to the doors.

 

 

Having wrought the destruction, I must now engage in reconstruction! The sides begin by having long strips of styrene fitted in place to support the join.

 

 

He sides are then filed to final length and fitted to the new wagon sides.

 

 

This is checked against the drawing and by all miracles it matches!

 

 

The P18 sole bars and head stocks are fitted to the bottom of one of the sides and made up square. I made sure that the bearings were fitted before this and I used the wheels to help set up the chassis. I also replaced the other side of the 'L' section that the doors fix to with 4 thin strips of styrene.

 

 

The other side is added and end strips are put in to support the ends.

 

 

A filler piece is then let in to complete the end panels.

 

 

The process I use to fit LMS cast buffers is as follows. I use a thin drill to make a hole all the way through the buffer and the headstock. I then use a pair of side cutters to trim off the majority of the plastic buffer. I carefully pare off the last of the original buffer mounts with a sharp scalpel.

 

 

I then drill the holes out to 2mm and this will allow the buffers to fit. You may need to trim back the mounting posts, depending upon how thick the sole bar mouldings. A little bit of superglue applied with a cocktail stick fixes the buffers in place. The wheels can be trial fitted again now.

 

 

A thin layer of liquid gravity with thin superglue give the wagon a little gravitas...

 

 

..and then a few supports are fitted for the roof.

 

 

Brake details have been fitted, mostly from the kit parts and the roof is roughed out in thin styrene that again has been rolled against my thigh using a brass tube.

 

 

The ribs are added by taking the thin styrene and pulling it over my thumb nail to curl it. Don't do this too much.

 

 

The ribs were then added.

 

 

The edges were then finished and both the body and roof were primed and then given a light gloss coat to accept the rivet transfers. Top coats were the. Added and a second light coat of gloss on the body to accept the transfers. Once this was done, transfers and weathering was added.

 

 

The O37 was made from the Ratio kit and this is something that has been done before on this thread. Here are the bits used.

 

 

A few bits of scrapboxium were added too!

 

 

In the end I also added the vacuum brake cylinder and hoses. Despite the fact that the real thing didn't get the conversion until the mid 1950s, the fact that this is my only opportunity for a fitted open wagon brought out the modeller's licence. The O38s were about at this time so it's only a really good knowledge of the wagon numbers that would give the game away...

 

 

The paint work starts with primer and then matt black.

 

 

The BR Fitted Wagon Bauxite is added as are the little details like the buffers and their shanks, brake handles, hoses, bars wood interior and so on. Let's hope that these colours don't run!

 

 

Transfers from across several sheets and manufactures were added. Then it's matt varnish and weathering ahoy!

 

 

So, here is the finished diagram V6 iron MINK No. 11152.

 

 

Here is finished diagram Z4 CONE No. 105781

 

 

Finally, here is diagram O37 OPEN No. 143698.

 

 

Well, I have worked like the trooper to finish this lot for a reason but more of that at the weekend. I'm tired now and it feels like it's 2 minutes to midnight after writing this lot, so I had better sign off!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

 

PS: Who spotted all ten Iron Maiden tracks hidden in the text?

[The Fatadder]

Really good post, I have a few more iron minks to do along with a Dapol gunpowder van to chop up

 

What did you use for the red crosses? I have a finished Parkside kit that needs painting

 

(Only managed half of the Maiden references)

[Castle]

Hi Rich,

 

Thanks for the kind words! The red crosses came from Fox. They do a nice sheet that will do two vans. As I rather like the bold look of this livery and I have that 'it's the end of WWII / very start of BR' excuse for my time period, I went with it!

 

The MRD etch is very good by I didn't use all of it. I couldn't work some of it out and there are no instructions...

 

I must admit to going to the Internet for the list of Maiden tracks...

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[The Fatadder]

Will have to place an order for some, certainly don't fancy masking it.

 

At least one sheet will do both of my wagons, just a bit of a pain that they are not available from HMRS or Modelmaster (to combine with an order for other bits I need

[Castle]

Hi Rich,

 

The cross is provided as two strips per side. I put one bit on, tamped it down with a just damp piece of kitchen towel, trimmed the ends, decal setting solutions and then let it dry before doing the next bit.

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[M.I.B]

Great modelling as ever Mr Castle.   Love the finish on the GPV

 

I got most of the Maiden tracks, but don't remember "The Modeller's Licience" - must have been an early B side.

 

 

I flew back from some operational tour with Mr Dickinson at the helm of a chartered widebody - he has a licience and has to keep it current so does the odd charter job.  He did introduce hmself on the old tannoy as "The Bruce Dickinson", but when we landed he did come back and meet the lads and shake a few hands.  I'm told he is a nifty fencer as well - must get him round to Phear  House to look at the 6 foot panels.......

[Castle]

Hi MIB,

 

Thanks for the kind words! I will post a list of the ten tracks if nobody gets them all...

 

Mr Dickinson has also been in the cab of a locomotive with a friend of mine who is a huge Maiden fan and was reported to be a fantastic guy. It is nice when famous people like that turn out to be so friendly like that. My treasured memory is of one of my personal heroes, Mr Terry Pratchett. Likewise, he took a real interest in his fans and would spend loads of time chatting and having a laugh with all of us that were waiting to see him.

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[nigel newling]

Hate to mention this Castle but the brakes on your Mink don't work The Morton lever with the reversing cam should be on the side with the two push rods - but they look great. :-)

[Castle]

Hate to mention this Castle but the brakes on your Mink don't work The Morton lever with the reversing cam should be on the side with the two push rods - but they look great. :-)

Hi Nigel,

 

Err, I was wondering when someone would spot that - well done... Actually, I had missed it so thanks for the heads up! Like I said, there were no instructions and I got a little frustrated with it towards the end. I guess the walk away with a cup of tea clause should have been instigated.

 

It's not a tragedy as I can swap it round fairly easily. A little light surgery with the scalpel is due me thinks. Thanks for the compliments too.

 

EDIT: Right, I had insomnia (not over worry about this model I have to say - I just couldn't sleep!) and as I passed the offending van on a walk for a drink of water, I picked it up and looked again. It doesn't need a reverse cam, it needs the brake block etchings turning round the right way! I shall perform the 'Newling Modification' at the weekend!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

Edited April 8, 2017 by Castle

[gz3xzf]

Hi Castle

 

Excellent modelling, the attention to detail is amazing, keep up the good work.

 

Sadly I wouldn't know my Morton lever from my reversing cam, so that lot went straight over my head!

[57xx]

The Brassmasters detail kit really makes the already good Hornby model, really accurate and it it well worth the £10 or so I spent on it (usual disclaimer). 

 

I bought a 52xx at a very bargain price a while back too, BR black, with the idea of backdating it and respraying in Great Western livery. I had wondered about using the Brassmasters kit, but now seeing it in action it's a no brainer to add to the model!

[Castle]

Hi All,

 

Hi Castle

 

Excellent modelling, the attention to detail is amazing, keep up the good work.

 

Sadly I wouldn't know my Morton lever from my reversing cam, so that lot went straight over my head!

 

Neither did I until I got a wagon kit problem called the Didcot collection in miniature... We will have to discuss the finer points of the vacuum retaining valve and which surface really has to be in good order to make an effective seal. Hint: it's not the one you think...

 

Thanks for the compliments too Bryan!

 

I bought a 52xx at a very bargain price a while back too, BR black, with the idea of backdating it and respraying in Great Western livery. I had wondered about using the Brassmasters kit, but now seeing it in action it's a no brainer to add to the model!

I couldn't agree more Ric, it's really easy to do if you take your time and think through it. A superb product. I want to have a go with the Modified Hall update pack too but first, I need to buy a Modified Hall...

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[Castle]

Hi All,

 

There is a gala celebration at Didcot Railway Centre soon to mark 50 years of its establishment. By coincidence, these three wagons posted above mark the 48th, 49th and 50th vehicle completed in my own Little Didcot fleet to be featured here on RMWEB! It's more if you count the things I have done for other people and anything as yet to be finished, but for my own fleet, ready to roll, its 50! It's a massive coincidence but there we are. Many others are also ready to go too but have yet to feature here, usually those I built before starting the Little Didcot thread but we will get to those as and when. When you think that there are a grand total of about 140 vehicles at the real DRC (including the Barry 10 collection I just added) you will be pleased (or horrified!) to know that there are lots more posts to come! So I will list the vehicles featured thus far:

 

Tar Wagon No. 1

5 plank Open No. 18

6 wheel drinking water wagon No. 101

Oil tank wagon No. 745

BLOATER fish van No. 2671

LMS ventilated goods and Nos. 4166 & 4167

7 plank open Taff Vale No. 10153

IRON MINK No. 11152

TOAD A 20t brake van No. 17447

Twin MITE B single bolster wagons Nos. 32337 & 32338

CORAL A crated glass wagon No. 41723

TOAD brake van No. 56400

Loco coal wagon No. 63066

TOAD brake van No. 68684

TEVAN No. 79933

Ballast wagons Nos. 80659, 80668 & 80789

Articulated Wagons POLLEN E Nos. 84997, 84998, 84999 & 85000

OPEN C No. 94835

Shunter's truck No. 100377

MINK A vans Nos. 101720 & 101836

CONE gunpowder van No. 105781

MICA B refrigerated van No. 105860

ASMO motor car van No. 116954

5 plank OPEN wagons Nos. 117993 & 143698

Goods van No. 145438

Plywood sided goods van No. 146366

Collett full brake No. 111

Dean 4 wheel composite No. 290

Churchward SIPHON G bogie milk van No. 2797

Collett super saloon 'Princess Elizabeth' No. 9118

1361 class No. 1363

48XX / 14XX class No. 1466

2884 class No. 3822

Castle class Nos. 4079 'Pendennis Castle' & No. 5051 'Earl Bathurst'

5101 class large prairie No. 4144

43 class mogul No. 5322

4575 class small prairie No. 5572

56XX class No. 6697

Gas turbine prototype No. 18000

5205 class No. 5227

 

What we learn from this is that coaches are going to have to take centre stage soon! I do have an embarrassingly large pile of etchings in a cupboard at chez Castle... I want to feel like at least part of the collection is ticked off and I am pretty close to finishing the main 'Historic Vehicles' wagon list on the DRC Website.

 

http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/guide/wagons.html

 

I'm starting to get into the more oddball territory and that way kit bashing, RTR bashing and scratch building lies. The only two kits not In the pile at the moment are a Parkside V12 van to do the No. 89268 (the grounded body out the back of the locomotive works) and the Frogmore kit of the AA3 TOAD so I can bash it into the AA2 van No. 56867 that was rebuilt to become S&T mess van No. 263 in 1950. As much as I would like the S&T mess van, when you limit yourself to a specific collection, you have to take as many TOADs out of it as possible! This takes the Little Didcot total to 5 which, with NPC full brake types, will keep the little guards happy and give them somewhere to work!

 

No. 752 W17 Special Cattle Wagon, kit bash.

No. 2862 Y9 FRUIT C Van, kit bash.

No. 41934 C12 CROCODILE F Bogie Well Wagon, RTR bash.

No. 42239 V20 Grain Wagon, kit bash.

No. 42271 G13 LORIOT L Well Wagon, restoration / modification job.

No. 47886 Y2 FRUIT Van, kit build.

No. 82917 Pooley Workshop Van, kit bash.

No. 105599 Y7 Banana Van, kit bash.

No. S4409 Dia.3152 Southern Railway 6 Wheel Milk Tanker, Modify RTR.

No. 950592 AA23 TOAD, Kit build.

 

Then we have the scratch builds which, unless you know better and there IS a kit available that I don't know about, are

 

Dia. O58 ROTANK No. 3030

Dia. G22 HYDRA Carriage Truck No. 42193

Dia. DD3 Cylindrical Tank Wagon No. 43949

 

When you think that everything else has been bought, built or bashed out of RTR and kits we are pretty well served for this sort of thing! The only out of production kits I have needed to find are the D&S kit for LORIOT L No. 42271, the Ratio OPEN C for No. 94835 (although you can do this one with the David Geen kit) and the Kirk Ashby kit for the P17 Ballast Wagon No. 80789. If there is anything that you would like to see from the lists on the DRC website in model form, please ask (not the coaches of course!). I might have built it and not posted it...

 

It's been fun thus far and I hope that I am posting stuff that people continue to enjoy looking at. Here is to the next 50...

 

All the best,

 

Castle

 

PS: The Iron Maiden track titles slipped into the last Little Didcot update post were, in no particular order:

 

Run to the hills, A brave new world, Burning ambition, Dance of death, Deja-vu, Flash of the blade, Massacre, These colours don't run, The trooper and, of course, 2 minutes to midnight!

Edited April 11, 2017 by Castle

[Horsetan]

Railcar 22?

[Castle]

Railcar 22?

Hi Horse,

 

As I said before - I've got all the bits...

 

All the best,

 

Castle

[M.I.B]

Well done Mr Castle, and here's to many more pages of excellent inspiring modelling.  (raises coffee mug.........as the evening Call To Prayer is heard.)

Edited April 11, 2017 by M.I.B

[57xx]

Excellent, we expect at least another 80 pages on this thread then please Mr Castle!

[Siberian Snooper]

Soon be another milestone, with a thousand posts.

[Castle]

Alright me old China!

 

Hi All,

 

The O13 was a product of its traffic. The China Clay or kaolin mined in Fowey had been exported for many years even before the advent of the railways and indeed specialist wagons are known at least as far back as the late 19th century and there was indeed and illiteracy mark (a symbol that informed illiterate workers of the intended contents of the wagon) which was abandoned in about 1880, which existed and was photographed just once as far as is known on a dumb buffered 5 plank open.

 

The O13 diagrammed wagons were 5 plank open wagons with a tipping end door. 500 were built between 1913 - 1914 to supplement the 26 O12 wagons that were built for the same traffic. The O12 were then updated to O13 standards which enabled the withdrawal of about 400 old China clay wagons that had no diagram. The new wagons were hard worked during WWI as traffic by sea became dangerous due to the conflict. The wagons were lined with a zinc sheet as the kaolin can cause wet rot of the wooden planks. After 1939, a change to Ministry of Transport regulations meant that they were fitted with two sided lever brakes. They were very long loved vehicles with many lasting well into the 1950s and some into the 1960s. They also served beyond this time as their lining meant that they were useful in such fields as the coal industry and so on. This enabled a few of them to survive into preservation.

 

 

The Diagram O13 wagon at Didcot is No. 92943 and is part of Lot 750 in 1913. It has been thoroughly restored and is available for traffic having sported two different liveries since restoration. It is, as we speak, in the Carriage & Wagon workshops receiving its latest repaint.

 

The model again relies heavily on Parksidedundasium as a main material with a small sample of LMSite at each corner!

 

 

It is so simple to build, isn't really neccassary to do an in depth build diary - it is so good that it just falls together - so here is it being built...

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and here we are in primer.

 

 

BR unfitted wagon grey was chosen as the livery as I have transfers from the CCT range to go on...

 

 

...like this!

 

 

The weathering and couplings bring this build to a close!

 

 

 

Well, that was a nice, quick project with nothing much to worry about. On that note, I think we are done!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

 

PS: Thanks MIB & Ric! 1,000 posts Mr Snooper? Yikes! Nearly there...

Edited April 15, 2017 by Castle

[sjrixon]

Only just caught up.. Really like the gunpowder van, I've a Parkside one in the draw and now you have given me doubt about building it! You did a really nice job on that Dapol van. And the brass roof of the mink, very swish. 

 

Must get to Didcot over the summer..

[Zero Gravitas]

The model again relies heavily on Parksidedundasium as a main material with a small sample of LMSite at each corner!

 

 

Very nice indeed - but Mr. Franks will not be happy.  You had some of his lovely buffers to fit to the wagon, and then didn't use them... Are they earmarked for another project?   :-)

[57xx]

I couldn't agree more Ric, it's really easy to do if you take your time and think through it. A superb product. I want to have a go with the Modified Hall update pack too but first, I need to buy a Modified Hall...

 

I dug mine out today as I realised I hadn't given it a running in session and as I had the rollers out for 5814, thought It would be a good time to make sure it actually works! What I noticed when giving it a glance over was the rear guard irons are already fitted on my version of 4257. The box shows the model without and a quick search for images on Google shows a mix of versions with and without. I presume Hornby added these to the updated version they released. I'll still go for the Brassmasters kit as there is much more to it than just tarting up the rear frames, I was just surprised to see them on there. Good news is, it's an excellent runner right out of the box, from slow crawl to fast! (unfortunately the same can't be said for 5814)

[57xx]

Very nice indeed - but Mr. Franks will not be happy.  You had some of his lovely buffers to fit to the wagon, and then didn't use them... Are they earmarked for another project?   :-)

 

Looking at the pics of th painted wagon, I think you'll find the buffers have been replaced, they look too good to be the stock plastic ones. I reckon Castle has just skipped the pic/s where he replaced them.

[Castle]

Hi All,

 

Only just caught up.. Really like the gunpowder van, I've a Parkside one in the draw and now you have given me doubt about building it! You did a really nice job on that Dapol van. And the brass roof of the mink, very swish.

 

Must get to Didcot over the summer..

Hi Scott,

 

Thanks very much! There is nothing wrong with the Parkside van at all, it's just to diagram V2 and not V4. It is perfectly accurate. It would be good to see you at DRC over the summer - how about the RMWEB tour (link below)?

 

Very nice indeed - but Mr. Franks will not be happy. You had some of his lovely buffers to fit to the wagon, and then didn't use them... Are they earmarked for another project? :-)

Hi ZG,

 

I did use them - honest! The picture is missing because I splashed primer all over it before I realised!

 

Thanks for the compliments!

 

I dug mine out today as I realised I hadn't given it a running in session and as I had the rollers out for 5814, thought It would be a good time to make sure it actually works! What I noticed when giving it a glance over was the rear guard irons are already fitted on my version of 4257. The box shows the model without and a quick search for images on Google shows a mix of versions with and without. I presume Hornby added these to the updated version they released. I'll still go for the Brassmasters kit as there is much more to it than just tarting up the rear frames, I was just surprised to see them on there. Good news is, it's an excellent runner right out of the box, from slow crawl to fast! (unfortunately the same can't be said for 5814)

Hi Ric,

 

Correct - there are several versions with multiple levels of detail. Even the best Hornby offering has the incorrect brake rigging and a mediocre rear spectacle plate. It's also fun to do so well worth a try in my opinion! The running qualities of the model are excellent aren't they? I'm sorry you are struggling elsewhere with loco performance - I hope you get it sorted as it looks the business!

 

Looking at the pics of th painted wagon, I think you'll find the buffers have been replaced, they look too good to be the stock plastic ones. I reckon Castle has just skipped the pic/s where he replaced them.

Correct!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

 

PS: I notice this is post No.999. Who gets No.1000? I want to say thanks again for your continuing interest in my posts and the friendship and camradarie that you all, through RMWEB, have given me! Over 50 vehicles in and you are all still reading my scribblings... Cheers!

Edited April 16, 2017 by Castle

[sjrixon]

I did the tour last year, it was my nephew that got covered in filth ☺️☺️ I think one of the family days this year.