Guards van and Cattle Class

With a week to go till Easter and the Bendigo Model Railroaders staging an Open Weekend I've set myself a task to complete some wagons in time for running on the club layout.

The ZF guards van is now ready for paint. The handrails, steps and vents on the roof have now been added:

Two weeks ago I attended the Sandown Model Rail Exhibition and was able to pick up the new Steam Era Models M cattle wagon kit. The original kit was as old as the GY before it was upgraded (the original tooling was 30 years old). The upgraded M wagon now includes thinner bracing above the boards and a fret of etched brass components that include shunter's steps, handrails, handbrake and brake rigging. The first it what will hopefully be many more of these wagons is now ready to join the ZF van in the paintshop:

 

 

And so begins a busy week to try and have both finished in the next 6 days.