Monday 5 August 2019

Upgrading the Pilton Ponies

I have never been totally happy with either the cab roof on Lew which was a horrible big lump of white metal, perhaps even a scale 6 inches thick , or my terrible attempt at the cylinder covers on my old original Chivers Lew and the Stennnig Taw. By pure chance,  whilst pottering in my spares box , I came across some very handy left- over parts from the Backwoods Manning Wardle Kits. A spare unused cab roof for Lew and two sets of cylinder covers. Never throw anything away !
So two evenings later - due in part to not understanding how white metal and brass don’t bond easily and I now have much improved looking models. The cow catcher on Taw ,which is the Langley kits version, fell off in the process but will be re attached now that the cylinder covers are in place.
The cow catchers are in fact a much sturdier design than those on the Heljan and I need to invest in a few more sets to replace those on the Heljan. My Heljan models have lost theirs repeatedly! The chivers model of Lew awaits the same.