Gunpowder Van Samples

Gunpowder Vans: the full preview

“Drum roll please...

Here are the first samples of our 'OO' gauge Gunpowder Van!

What you’ve seen previously are crude 3D prints that simply proves that the CAD works. What you see here are fully injection-moulded Engineering Prototypes from the actual tooling.

GWR Diagram Z4 version of the GPV.

Needless to say, we're delighted with them.

Having overseen the final stages of the design process, I thought I knew what these wagons would look like. But nothing can truly prepare you for seeing what has only existed as coloured pixels on a screen in three-dimensional plastic reality. Quite how the mould-makers have been able to create some of the fine detail on these vans is beyond me. Yet they have. Highlights include the beautiful little chain links on the doors.

It's the amount of metal involved that makes these models really stand out for me. I knew what materials were planned but nothing could prepare me for actually seeing the brass buffer heads and the tiny brass lampirons. Even the ‘W’ irons and the tie bars are die-cast and they just shout‘quality and reliability’.

We’ve produced enough parts (wheels, buffers and doors)in order to model the Railway Clearing House GPV and the largely similar BR Diagram 1/260 as well as the GWR Diagram Z4. Key differences between them are the roof arrangements over the doors and the different headstock ends.

BR/RCH version

It's the amount of metal involved that makes these models really stand out for me. I knew what materials were planned but nothing could prepare me for actually seeing the brass buffer heads and the tiny brass lamp irons. Even the ‘W’ irons and the tie bars are die-cast and they just shout‘quality and reliability’.

We’ve produced enough parts (wheels, buffers and doors)in order to model the Railway Clearing House GPV and the largely similar BR Diagram 1/260 as well as the GWR Diagram Z4. Key differences between them are the roof arrangements over the doors and the different head stock ends.

GWR van

Out of interest, I decided to compare these EPs with a competitor's 12t vent van. This tooling is few years old now but it's still a highly regarded model. It wasn't until I started looking that I realised just how much more detail the GPVs have. The vent van has a flat plastic area underneath but we've included the chassis members, the draw hook springs and the brake linkages.

How many times, when suggesting a subject for a ready-to-run model, do you hear the phrase, “No problem, they’re all the same"? Very rarely is that assumption correct.

Here's the competition...

They might look outwardly the same but the various types of GPV are all different. I’ve mentioned some of the key variations above but you only have to study a few photographs to realise that there are some differences that we've not been able to include.

We have BR, GWR, LNER/LMS and Royal Ordnance Factory liveries in our first batch of models and all the prototypes had different roofs. We’ve had to compromise by tooling just two types.

Different wagon builders added extra small bracing plates to some of the stanchions. Again, because these parts are so small, we’ve not replicated them.

Yes, we could have tooled all these tiny variations but we would have ended up with such an expensive model that no one would want to buy it.

So why sour the first look of the GPVs by bringing this up?

All model manufacturers have to make compromises such as these. The difficulty is choosing which compromises will be acceptable and which ones won’t. If you can spot something on the real thing that we've not included by all means let us know. But there will likely be a practical reason why we've not tooled it.

So, what happens next? We’ve made a couple of tweaks to the tooling and the artwork is underway. I, for one, can’t wait to see painted samples”………………………………….Rapido