STRANGE SOUTHERN EMU

About a decade ago at a 3mm Society meeting, my curiosity got the better of me and I picked up a model of a BR Southern Region green liveried EMU driving car (from the secondhand sales stall), which had been cobbled together from various bits of Kitmaster TT Mk.1 coaches. There was no motor bogie (you could see where it had been though) and it came with no interior.

Looking a bit long, and sitting on temporary bogies.

I never really looked at it properly back then, and it got stuffed in a box and forgotten about until recently, when my interest in 3mm modelling returned after quite a while.

Studying this model I was a bit confused. It seemed overly long, a quick offering up against a Kitmaster Mk1 revealed it was about 20mm (3/4") longer. The roof had been extended, and I wondered where the extra length came from.

4CEP

4CEP

I didn't really recognize what it was supposed to be other than it was one of the BR Mk.1 based designs. Noting the car number (S 61369) and the set number on the end (7155) I consulted my refs and books and came up with the model was apparently meant to be a '4CEP' (Class 411 in later years). Whilst the car number is right for a 4CEP, the correct set would have been 7143.

I think whoever made the model appears to have been doing it from memory, as comparison with pics of the real thing reveals the extra length of the model comes from the fact it has a rather large guards/luggage area. Quite apart from that the whole layout - windows, doors etc is wrong anyway. On the other hand the cab end is quite well done, especially the route indicator box, making use of Kitmaster parts.

4CEP DMBSO

 

It's quite possible this model conversion could date back to the 1960's, and given the fact you were unlikely to ever get any sort of Southern EMU ready to run back then, hacking up Kitmaster Mk1's was probably an easier option than scratchbuilding, especially with a little planning. 

I've been using this model as a guinea pig trying out various green paints: note also the removal of the moulded on lines on the bodyside in the pic below which makes a big difference.

Green green or green

I'd decided to keep the model in my 3mm Museum as a historical curiosity...but that wasnt the end of the story.

A visit to the Craven Arms (Salop) Model Railway Exhibition last year saw me returning home via the Severn Valley Railway at Bridgnorth. The waiting room on the platform was full of boxes of old railway mags with a sign saying 'take what you want, put a donation in the box'. So I grabbed as many Model Railway Constructors and Railway Modellers as I could carry and put a tenner in the box. Then I wished I hadnt parked the car so far away.....

Again the mags got put to one side until early this year when a major change in my circumstances saw me left with just my five cats and more time than I know what to do with.

Rifling through boxes of magazines, I came across MRC for January 1961, which had an article on converting 'OO' gauge Kitmaster Mk1 coaches into a ...... 4CEP, by Alan Williams.

January 1961 Model Railway Constructor, includes an article on 4CEP's

This got me wondering whether you could apply the principles employed in the conversion to TT scale Kitmasters.

Unearthing my box of battered secondhand Kitmasters (I've amassed about 150 over the years) I picked four donors out with a view to creating a 3mm 4CEP. Well those lucky blighters have now got 4CEP's r-t-r in 'OO' and 'N' so now it's time to perhaps create one in 'The Premier Scale'.

I am aware that a 4CEP is possible from Worsley Works parts, and I do like the crisp look of brass kits, but I've always had a great fondness for Kitmaster kits, and I prefer to work with plastic than metal wherever possible.

Original formation of the 4CEPs was DMBSO-TCK-TSK-DMBSO. As in 'OO' the trailer cars are straightforward enough, being basically the same a loco hauled CK and SK's, so it's just a case of minor alterations here and there. The biggest job is creating the Driving cars, which involves cutting up and rejoining lots of pieces of bodyside to get the correct layout.

I hope in future instalments to show how I get on, but I am sure, like everything in 3mm, it wont be particularly easy, or quick.....

I've made a start on the DMBSO's, and am currently considering how best to make all the roof detail. Of course I had to be awkward and pick one of the Prototype units (7101-4) which had all the lighting conduit/wiring fitted externally on the roof!

Here is a shot of the two DMBSO's during assembly showing all the different bits from other kits that go together to make them up, and the oddball '4CEP' above.

4CEP DMBSO sides and a Kitmaster original floor. Not finished at this point- still door and some cab windows to cut out, and some raised detail to file off.

When I decide how to motorize one of these cars, I'll probably end up making a new floor to incorporate the motor bogie.

A later shot , still door hinges, handles handrails etc to make and fit.

almost complete sides of DMBSO

 I found a rare picture of 7104 in a Bradford Barton book, painted in early allover blue with small yellow warning panel- taken in the late 60's. I'd love to have one in green and one in blue, but when I think of the amount of work involved just making one.... and then there's the 4 BEP!