3 Foot 6 Metal 3D Printed UK review -2

 DB ends the year with:

As mentioned in the previous edition, it would seem a crime to add a bunch of containers on top of the lovely open decking of my second nice open-decked wagon - the 3 Foot 6 Models UK, printed in aluminium.

So in a first for me - I now have an empty container flat - the must-model idem for those who like the Beard bumble bee era.

I managed to glue back on the leg of the nice bogie that I snapped in the previous instalment and added a little reinforcement. I hope that it will hold, as such a nice wagon deserves some nice bogies, and at least there isn't a lot of force placed on that one axle bearing, because my couplers are body mounted, the pulling/pushing forces are borne by the frame, and with no containers, it won't have much weight to bear.

Recycled couplers were installed, the bogie screw holes were filled and sanded down, some more black was used to touch up these and other bits. 

I decided to put a number decal on the deck to add a bit of flair, as I think Russell Trackgang had done with some of his wagons. I found some BNSF patch decals that seemed a reasonable match, and found a few numbers in that sheet that would combine easily enough to match a little UK number decal that I had printed out previously for the sides. I checked with Gerald Petrie's 2000 rolling stock booklet, and it was indeed a valid UK number that was still in service then. The decals were added, some dullcote sprayed on top the next day, and then some weathering powders were applied. 

For some reason I then went mad adding some brake cylinders (turned up from Plastruct rod in the drill, with some piping stuck in one end. 

As this is a plain wagon, I wanted it to pop a little, so I added a handbrake lever to both sides. A little unprototypical, but its rare that people can see both sides at once... These were hung off oversize wire handgrabs that were painted white. (there should really be an inboard set of rodding for these as well).

I then remembered my trick from a dozen years ago of dabbing some white onto the twistlocks and 'painting in' yellow ferry hooks. Must do that to yesterday's wine wagon.

Looking pretty good I reckon. Will have to try playing trains with it to see if it needs any weight. Happy New Ones and all the best for 2025 from the House of MD.