Long bends or folds were made by supporting the part between two 12 inch steel straight edges (rulers) clamped in an engineers’ vice and using a third straight edge to apply even hand pressure when making the fold. It's often worth going past the ninety degree angle a little as there is usually a small amount of springiness at the bend and a slight tendency for the metal to bounce back. Small bends were made using a variety of pliers. I practised these techniques long before the days of holds and folds and other aids that are now easily obtainable and consequently have no experience of these.

I followed the instructions except in the springing of the buffers. The instructions suggest using a wire through the coupling hook with the ends bearing on the tails of the buffers. I prefer to use small coil springs and this requires a simple modification that can be seen in the pictures of the underside of the wagon.

There's a tiny bit of scratch building technique involved to make the pins and chains that secure the dropsides. Jim's describes this fully and it's fairly simple. A variation on this can be used to create an impression of the lifting rings fitted to the wagon's floor that enable loads to be secured. An etched impression on the floor that might satisfy some builders but since I wanted to secure the tractor with ropes, you can see what I did from the accompanying pictures.

I also added the through pipe for the vacuum brake and some wires to help trap the brake rigging, should it ever chance to fall off when the wagon is in service! It all helps with the illusion.

Painting was straightforward. A coat of Halfords grey primer, some Precision Paints LNER red oxide via my airbrush and then everything below the solebars had an airbrushed coat of Precision Dirty Black which is really a very dark and dusty grey. Transfers are HMRS methfix variety, applied after a very light sprayed coat of clear gloss lacquer. I've yet to give the wagon a bit of weathering. Screw couplings are those produced by Premier Components and it's worth giving the milled brass hook a bit of reshaping with some needle files before blackening and fitting in place.

All in all, the kit is a pleasure to build and I would thoroughly recommend it as a first venture into the etched kit construction of our great pastime.

Half relief etched rings in the floor
24swg copper wire wrapped round a suitable drill shank is the basis for the rings
The rings are separated by gently rocking a curved blade along the coil till the rings are cut through
A length of 28swg copper wire is twisted round the ring to form a tail that is fitted through a hole drilled in the floor The ends of the tails are trimmed to a suitable length

Premier Components screw couplings. On the right as supplied and on the left the hook has been reshaped to better represent the real thing and the adjusting screw has been shortened.