Heljan Warship - a daring mod
Pete Burns - Photographs by the author
The finished Warship straight out of the paint shop
I was a little disappointed on seeing the Heljan O gauge Warship for the first time – the ends just did not quite
capture the elegance and look of the prototype. The rest of the model is excellent and therefore Heljan are to be
congratulated overall.
So I forgot about the idea of ever owning a model of my favourite diesel for a long time until one day the penny
dropped and I thought hang on a minute, with a bit of plastic surgery perhaps I could just about create an acceptable
looking front end.
I gathered together 12 front end pictures from the Internet and laid them out onto two pages of a Word document and
printed them for constant reference.
A maroon Heljan Warship was then purchased it being the only colour available to me then at an advantageous price. From the pictures I decided the following required modification:
- Front Ends
- Front Top Handrails
- Cab Side Steps
- Crew
- Cab Interior Lights Wiring
- Roof Vents
- Couplings.
Original unmodified Heljan front end
The model looks too bulky on the sides of the front, from under the front windows downwards, best if you see my work
in progress photos. It’s too curved, so I set about filing triangular areas of the lumps off, whilst constantly
referring to the Internet photos, and using masking tape to protect the destination indicator and windows and
fittings.
I half expected to break through the thickness of the plastic while filing but didn’t, and in the end was able to
produce a shape which looks very close to the prototype by using an assortment of different files, followed by
the use of wet and dry paper.
windows, with the correct three supports not two, and I also repositioned them higher up than on the unmodified
model.
The cab side steps were cut and filed and glued onto the bogie sideframes with Plasweld – the prototype ones are
attached to the body, but in model form are too delicate in that position. Also I’ve removed the steps on the side
of the buffer beams for the same reason.
A driver was painted and glued into each end diagonally opposite which suits each direction of travel. Back in the day, firemen/second men sometimes travelled in the rear cab.
Next, I changed the cab interior lighting wiring by cutting and connecting new wires to the opposite end LEDs so
that the trailing cab light was lit in each direction, not the leading. This seems logical when moving at night or
in low light conditions, and is borne out on YouTube videos.
The roof vents were glued in the closed position after inadvertently knocking off one or two.
Finally I adjusted the draw hooks by filing the gap open a bit more and also reducing the thickness.
As supplied, the hooks are too thick to accept a typical link from a 3 link or screw coupling.
The reshaping complete and ready for painting
Then it was off to the paint shop for an original green makeover, to become D811 Daring, using Railmatch paint,
followed a few days later by a polishing up using T-cut. I used T-cut gently and repeatedly, a bit at a time and
polished it off, to check I wasn’t going through the paint.
It will be a shame to weather it, but we can’t have it hanging around Swindon Works in this condition for too long
– it might get cut up. I’m pleased with the results – what do you think?
Next time, D870 Zulu calls, with the roofmounted air horn enclosure, but I will make it easy for myself and start
with a green one, although Heljan’s loco green has an emerald tint so I’ll have to adjust the Railmatch paint very
slightly.
Note that the top edge of the small yellow warning panels varied slightly back in the 1960s – I’ve spotted at least four different styles.
Close up of the finished front end. The central support for the
upper handrails can just be discerned as can the driver.
The differences. On the left is the loco as supplied. Centre is a view of the prototype, in this case D818 DFury.
On the right, Pete's version of D811 Daring.