Bought and reviewed by Simon James

I have constructed several of Michael Rayner’s Smallbrook Models resin based kits, in 0/16.5 and 4mm scale. I utilised Hornby chassis for loco bodies as well as various other manufacturer’s similar items. However, the announcement of his Road Van in 7mm was something I had hoped for, having suggested to him some time ago that a Road Van was always a popular model ― well I wanted at least one anyway.

The kit arrives in a series of plastic bags together with a set of very comprehensive instructions. Michael makes a note that you should read these first and he is quite right, I made a silly mistake by not reading towards the end of construction which caused a lot of head scratching to correct. The chassis is a one-piece moulding which means that it has to be square and flat to get good running, I checked mine and it was fine.

With the wheels fitted the chassis is an excellent runner. The kit is constructed utilising cyanoacrylate ― super glue to you and me. Whilst the instructions mention a particular brand, I utilised a couple of the small tubes available from Poundland. As long as the glue is fresh, I have never found the additional expense of many named-brands necessary.

The construction was straightforward. Some may find the simplicity of the brake gear doesn't suit them. I can only see the brakeblocks, so I find the rest of the fittings are wasted on many models, causing difficulties in construction in excess of their need. One thing I did differently to the instructions was to paint and fit the internal veranda before the ends were fitted as this is all but impossible to get to after construction. Construction utilised the usual files and sharp (make sure they are) blades we all use.

I painted the parts of mine with Halfords grey undercoat primer prior to construction, ensuring mating surfaces were kept clean or cleaned afterwards with a glass fibre brush. The final paint job was with Railmatch and various other paints I had to hand. The picture was taken on my boxfile micro layout. The weathering remains to be done, the van itself wears my SR livery, retaining its LSWR fleet number.

The end result is a very pleasing representation of the LSWR road van. Oh and the silly mistake? I forgot to glaze the windows of the non- veranda end, not noticing this until after the roof had been fitted.