• Gladiator Model Kits
• t: 01332510346 e: railwaycitytrains@btinternet.com
• www.gladiatormodels.com
• Reviewed by Peter Jary
• Photograph by the author

WHEN AT FIRST IT was suggested to me that a need had arisen to have another Brake Van to add to our list of stock, this was, I thought, some way out of remit for our club layout Grindley Brook. The layout is established on the Shropshire borders, far away from Scotland; but no, these vans did venture down south and two are even noted, thanks to David Larkin’s latest book Acquired Wagons on BR Vol 1, at Harrow in 1951. What they were doing there is anybody’s guess, as up until then, they weren’t classed as restricted-use stock due to the fact that they possessed no side duckets. Again thanks to these photos a lot of new detail can be gleaned which might not have initially been available to the kit manufacturer. I refer to the fact that although not shown on the carriage works drawings, there is in fact a mirror set of brake stand and wheel, and chests in the other veranda which can be gleaned from one of Larkin’s photographs.

Also of note is an odd set of 3ft 7in wheel size with four holes evident in the disc (Slater’s 7137) placed in the centre axle. I used a mixture of axles as was sometimes the case in this period in BR on unfitted stock. Also of note, one of the pictures shows clearly the differing lengths of grab handles that were apparent.

I purchased the Gladiator kit at Telford and was expecting, like their other van kits, a brass offering. When I opened the box, which incidentally is not large enough to accommodate the finished model, I was amazed how little there was in there for what I was getting and aghast at £74. But then I looked at the very crisp detail that was present on the body. This probably would have saved me hours of delicate work on strapping and other fine details. The white metal detailing on the axle guards is well within its limitations and has to be added to the all-in-one body/solebars. Other brass strapping from steps and running bars is best added with the aid of fine pins glued through holes made in both resin and brass surfaces to aid strength to the joint. I used ‘Ultra Fine Pins’ of stainless steel 26 x 0.40mm from Claire’s Lace and for £6.20 you get approximately 400 pins. The kit does however include four split pins which I guess should be used for the buffer extensions, but I used them as the end stanchions’ hand rails instead. Also there is not enough brass wire in the kit as the grab handles take a lot of fettling and this is best done in 0.5mm wire which better represents the scale. Gladiator have been informed of this and have promised to address the problem.

The other bone of contention is the fact that a second brake stand and wheel was omitted, which needs to be fixed at the other veranda end. I contacted Gladiator and they agreed that this was indeed omitted due to faulty packing instructions when they took over the business and readily agreed to supply a second set. Nice people.

The instructions are sparse but adequate, comprising two pages with plans taken from a book on Claytons Wagons Ltd. These can be used to further enhance the interior and are almost to 7mm scale. If the model is to represent the early BR period, the sand pipes should be omitted. Whether or not the cab sand boxes are dispensed with is open to question, but I retained them minus their dispensing pipes and also included the equipment chests, all scratch-built. The chest top had hinges taken from a set supplied by Grandt Line in the US which sadly are no longer trading.

The floor was cut to size from planked flooring by Evergreen. This was easily fitted whilst constructing the sides and front panels. Now this is important: the distance between opposing axleboxes is too great to place the wheel sets in the W irons. It can be overcome by setting the top hat bearings closer in. In other words do not drill the bearing holes Caledonian Brake Van circa 1953. deeply. This will help the bearing alignment to be more proud. Axle slop will still occur, but will be kept to a minimum. Also, when aligning the white metal W irons, make sure they are flat against the sole bar both horizontally and vertically which will influence the straight alignment of the wheel sets to one another. This is attained by making sure the seat of the spring is filed flat. A dry run is vital. To fix them I used a 5-minute Araldite.

Buffers are provided. Although the white metal housing can be screwed into the bodywork; the centres have to be cleared with the aid of a 2.1mm drill. I found the brass shank too short and without modification (split pins are provided) leaving the only recourse to glue them solidly in place. The brass buffers are easily blackened with Casey’s Gun Blue. The hook and three-link couplings of both brass and steel composition are also subjected to blackening.

Since this vehicle is quite light, it may be weighted down with the addition of a little lead glued in the cabin before adding the brass roof already roughly shaped to fit. I added a cover of plain tissue paper and then fixed the four curved rain gutters from Evergreen 121 plastic card strip, once the painted surface had dried. This, I think is a better and more realistic surface than just painting it, incorporating the odd surface wrinkle that was often present.

The underframe is sparse to say the least as there are only brake shapes. The hanger J guards are delicately provided in brass which have to be situated with the aid of plastic blocks, cut and positioned. Instructions on how to do this are given.

The lamp irons are made up from flat etches but I didn’t use them. Instead I used lost wax ones from the Laurie Griffin range (17-002 wagon/coach lamp irons). Known examples I think were painted overall dark grey in early BR periods in the 1950s, and most only had their identification on sole plates with the L & S painted over. There is one example that clearly shows its running number in white, M353070/20t, shown on the lower side body panel next to the veranda, which had short grab handles. Other recorded examples had numbers M353409, M353402 and M353204 which were almost totally obliterated and had longer grab rails.

The colour scheme was debatable: dark grey was the order of the day but the photographs show this example was clearly covered in dirt. Partslike the springs and wheels show dirt and grease. I used a mixture of wheel sets having the centre example solid. Wheels were sometimes swapped around during the life of a wagon or even on tenders.

This kit is lots of fun for the scratch-builder to improve on, and even a basic kit can with care be finished to look the part. The hardest part was the fashioning of the hand rails. I cannot really describe how to bend the brass wire except to suggest that it must be formed in a C with the loop returning on itself to fasten back into the attachment holes which the builder has to mark, measure and drill. I made up a jig from wire and a block of wood deep enough to take the wire pins.

These grab handles can vary in length, so photos are imperative. Either the long or short type is used. I used 5mm wire instead of the suggested 7mm, which is too thick in my estimation and also doesn’t look to scale. Information on the BR prototype I found hard to come by with very few photos available.

The foot boards are very delicate and when positioned over the wheel centre axle boxes are slightly out of true leaving a fit for the outer two and not the third. A longer recess has to be filed to fit over the axle box. “You have got your measurements wrong on your W irons”, I hear you say. But they are directly under the solebar crown plates. Or you can cut the board in half and insert a spacer. Now fix these temporarily to the solebar with super glue and pins in the solebar. Then, having previously drilled holes in the board stanchions, fix 0.4mm pins through these to the solebars with superglue. This gives much more rigidity to the piece. I drilled 0.5mm holes, going through a few drills I may add! The same procedure is given to the other four step boards. Finally the brass roof; a little on the small side in so much as its length should be increased by 4mm and width by 2mm.

I think that summarises the kit. Suffice to say that it is not a beginner’s kit if a modicum of accuracy is to be achieved but more bordering on a scratch-builder’s build. I also think in spite of the beautiful resin moulding, it is a little expensive as not all the wire needed was included. Gladiator has taken this advice on, when this missive was submitted to them. Of course no wheels or transfers are included. I had my wagon plate made up by Guilplates and transfers sourced from Fox 7800 series. Still, having said that, it makes a worthy addition to any LMS/BR(M) layout.