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Taff Vale Models	Julian and Sue Wynn
20 Slade Close	02920 026122
Sully
Penarth	Email: taffvalemodels@gmail.com
Wales	Web: http://taffvale.wales
CF64 5UU

Purchased and reviewed by Tommy Day
Source: Gazette Volume 19 No. 11 May 2016

Over a period of time I’ve acquired three of these kits, so eventually decided to build them as a batch. They are the first kits I have built by this manufacturer.

The kit comes in a flat pack and is mainly etched, very nicely and cleanly in brass, with a number of white metal castings and wire. Wheels and 3 link couplings are required to complete (correct 9 spoke wheels are available from GNSR Association).

The instructions are adequate and the build sequence was followed, but there are one or two things to be aware of. The wagon body is basically a one piece etching with some rather complex folding, to give the planking thickness and internal body detail. The instructions advise to deepen the etch fold lines using a square section Swiss file or similar, I found this to be essential to get a clean fold. You also need to think carefully about the fold sequence with this wagon. I used some home made bending bars in the vice to get clean right angle bends, and produced the plank thickness folds using a 12in metal rule to provide thickness during the fold-over. The instructions recommend using pieces of scrap etch as spacers between the folded body sides when soldering, but I found some 1 mm brass bar to be a lot nearer the required thickness, the end product being a nice neat square wagon body. Adding further etched strapping details after soldering gave a very attractive and rigid wagon body.

The chassis is built up to the body, I found the instructions rather unclear on the actual width of the solebars, to suit the axleboxes but I think I got it about right, gradually adding details following the instructions.

I found an RSU soldering unit invaluable during the building of these wagons along with the usual tools and equipment, and the earlier mentioned bending bars.

I used Taplow’s book on Scottish wagons for reference, the kit seems accurate, the photos in the book show a number of differences between individual batches of wagons.

The end result is a very pleasing model with a nice weight to it. All told the three wagons took about 20 hours to complete and I would describe it as a more advanced kit, but I thoroughly enjoyed building them.