20-Sep-2008 17:46

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Manufactured by: Southwark Bridge Models, 7 Came Close, Chandler's Ford, EASTLEIGH, SO53 1HH. Tel: 023 8026 2414 07890 471158. ivansmith@talktalk.net  http://www.sbmodels.org/

At the 2006 Langley show I stopped by to chat with Ivan and saw these interesting little etched items.  My local club's (Epsom & Ewell) 0 Gauge layout "Horton Regis" needed some more.  So that gave me the excuse to purchase a few and the club presented me with five more barrows to build too.

What comes in the bag? or rather, bags since there were three of them.  Some very fine etched parts and sheets of instructions.  There are parts for two benches and two sack trucks in each relevant bag while the luggage cart has parts for a single barrow.  The parts are of course very delicate and, in many cases, tiny.  However, since they are also available in 4mm these must be quite hefty in comparison.

I began with the sack trucks.  Here are the main parts cut out and ready for assembly. You will need some 0.3mm and 0.7mm wire to complete them.  Included is a jig to ensure the correct angle is made too.

This time I did not clean up the cusps to start but left them until most of it was soldered up and cleaned them up then.  This makes for cleaner corners and edges and the parts are far stronger once soldered up.  A bit like dealing with laminated coupling rods.

The main body constructed.  All that remains is to clean-up, fit wheels and steel arch supports at the back of the handles.

The hand holds have been filed to shape and all that remains is to fit the steel "U" supports.

2 sack trucks ready for Ian's paint shop but before they go, some 0.7mm wire will be soldered into a hole drilled in the base of a wheel.  This is so they can be fixed to the platform.

               The Platform seat.

There are a number of jigs provided that makes this item relatively easy.  The seat supports are made by bending etched strip in jig C.  Here you can see one complete and another in the jig.  I found it easiest to start at the end with the tight curl and put the curl in with fine pliers before using the jig.  Three identical parts can be produced easily in a few minutes and then soldered up using jig D.

The seat slats are first put through Jig A to get the basic shape and then each end is forced into one of two Jigs B.  They are a very tight fit and some care is needed to avoid damaging the slats.

Here are a pair of the finished seats fitted on the platform of Horton Regis.  There are now plans to add a dozen or so more to complete the picture.

The Platform Barrow

There are quite a lot of parts, here shewn partially completed.  The main body is a simple fold-up to which are added another layer for the springs.  the instructions suggest making a "back-to-back" gauge for setting the wheels.  I did that for the first one and then measured the resulting axle.  The other five were made using an axle 21mm long.

The instructions are clear and anyone with some experience of etches kits should not find these barrows difficult.  One does however need to supply some square section bar for the legs.  The instructions say 1.75mm square but no-one makes any that I know of. 

I used one eight inch square bar from Eileen's (usual disclaimer) that comes out at 1.65mm, close enough for jazz.

Here are the six completed barrows for Horton Regis.  After the first one, to get a feel for how it goes together, the other five took most of a long Sunday afternoon to build as a batch.

The whole lot now goes off to Ian's paint shop to be painted and lettered appropriately and are shewn in the picture at the top of this page.

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