Wednesday 17 August 2011

MOTW - 116

In my jet-lagged state I've somehow managed to get a little behind with the Model Of The Week feature, so I suppose technically this should really be titled 'Model Of The Fortnight'

With me currently building a model of carriage 116 this week's post is a bit of a 'Blue Peter' job - here's one I made earlier...



The real 116 has been through a number of rebuilds in it's near 40-year career on the FR, and so have my model versions.

This is the 2nd one I made which shows 116 in the condition it ran between 1982 and 2007. During this time it had a first class compartment at the Portmadog end with a distinctive wider window and a smaller pane, with no opening, dividing it from the open third class saloon.

After the latest rebuild it is now a completely third class saloon, with six windows spaced evenly along the bodyside and better quality seats and fittings.

My first model of 116 was only the second carriage I ever scratchbuilt, and I still think it was a pretty good effort. The problem with it was I didn't have access to a drawing when I made it. I based it on the known dimensions of a 'Barn' saloon and worked out the window positions for myself. Unfortunately at the time I didn't realise 116 was almost a foot longer. Oops.

I have built a 3rd version of 116, in its current condition, which is languishing in the ever-growing line of carriages waited to be painted by Himself.




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