Parkside Dundas DM65 Hudson dropside bogie wagon.

I've not done much modelling recently, so to make up for a lack of effort and get myself back to building I've been finishing off a few projects, some of which have been hanging around for quite a while.

This kit was started last year, I got as far as the painting stage but then stalled, possibly because I'm not keen on painting...

Its rather a nice kit to build, the parts are all crisply moulded and fit together well. The floor is moulded in two halves with holes for the bogie pivot screws, and its worth putting the effort in to disguise the join. Two screws are provided to attach the bogies, the floor needs to be countersunk for the screw heads so they are just below the surface, then the screws can be glued in place and the heads hidden with a filler. After the body was finished I epoxied a strip of lead (aquarium plant weight) under the floor. Just for the record I managed to snap off the brake standard, luckily there's a spare included. Couplings are RT Models etches, using the larger NGWC003 loops, chosen as the smaller size suits the bogies better than any of the larger alternatives.

I was going to paint it black all over, so I started with a squirt of Hycote red auto oxide primer. But the red oxide looked just right so I left it at that, at least for the outer body. The inner body is a mix of Humbrol Leather and Citadel Rhinox Hide, and the bogies are painted with Phoenix Precision Dirty Black. A squirt of Testors Dullcoat finishes things off.

It sits nicely with my A1 Models diesel;

Which is partly why I bought it, I like to have stock that suits my locos.

Paul.