A Scratch built Brake Van (part 2)

Construction of the brake van holds no secrets. It's just a plasticard box placed on a Busch chassis. There are two types of chassis available to choose from, and I chose the longer one. Even so it's still too short to attempt an accurate scratch build without chopping the chassis up. I decided that just yet, I'm not up to that. Maybe when I get more experience working on other projects, perhaps I'll feel more confident. A cut up chassis would have to be perfectly square.

It did take a couple of false starts working on the mounting of the body to the chassis before I got the chassis width right and a system of tabs to hold the body in the right location.

Tabs on the underside of the body will locate the body in the
correct location on the chassis.

Once that was sorted the construction was simplicity itself. The size is nice. Being minimum gauge  the item is small, but being 4mm scale the detail is manageable. 

The model sits comfortably in the palm of my hand

Compared with the Gn15 version, proportions differ slightly

As construction progresses I find myself referring to the Gn15 model quite often, as well as the drawings in the Stand Hutton Light Railway book. The Gn15 version is tall and thin compared to the 00 6.5 version, that is because I didn't alter the width of the original Sidelines van kit. However, when I started the scratch build I stuck to the generous SHLR loading gauge of approximately three times the track gauge.

Small items of rolling stock can be trained to perch on your finger.

So far, so good then. Details to add to the model yet include some hand rails and a brake wheel. It's also very light so a little weight would be nice. but it does go through the one point on the layout without any problems. I really should have left the roof off to put some weight inside, but how much?  Would a neodymium magnet stuck to the underside of the van acting on the steel strip in the track serve the same purpose?
Keep an eye out for part three of the project.

A Scratch built Brake Van (part 1)

Over the past week or two, it seems like Busch HOn2 things have been on sale at US online retailers. Places like Walthers and Trainz.com for example. Some things as much as half price. So I had to take advantage didn't I?
One item I bought was the "Fahrwerke" or chassis as we English would call them. Two sets of underframes and wheels. I fancy having a go scratch building some items of rolling stock and this would be a perfect start point.

Some on sale goodies

I really want to build a Sand Hutton Light Railway Brake Van, as built by Robert Hudson Ltd. It's a great vehicle full of character. However a quick measure of the chassis proved that this wouldn't be possible without chopping up the chassis. I'm not ready to do that yet so that was a snag.
But not for long.
I remembered back to my Gn15 days when Sidelines bought out a box van. I snapped up a couple of them and converted one to be a brake van, inspired by the Sand Hutton vehicle.

Gn15 Brake Van.

I remember building this quite clearly. The whole process was a new thing to me. Cutting up parts, adding new bits. Everything worked together well and I came up with quite an interesting vehicle.
If I could do that in Gn15, then I'm sure I can do it in 00 6.5. Just take some measurements off the original model and scale them down. It's really only a box.
It can't be that difficult can it.