Later releases of the kits [the ones I'm building are earlier ones] frequently suffer from worn moulds and show considerable distortion. The photo below shows what I mean. I bit the bullet on this eBay sale and paid £23 for it. The price on the card [19/10] dates it from the mid-60's. The body sides show both bad distortion at the ends and also on the chassis frames. In both cases this will be extremely difficult to resolve. A recent attempt to straighten the frames and clean out the flashing / webbing around the springs resulted in everything just falling apart, the metal being too weak. I cut the frames away entirely and will use a Ratio four-wheel chassis to rebuild it at some time in the future. These models look simple: they can be extremely challenging however, in spite of their limited number of parts. And getting the 'chassis' to sit squarely is another matter altogether!

The kits, each of the three different models introduced by Keyser in the late '50s at 18/- each [and these are probably from then], arrived partly assembled and although bent, battered and partially primed, complete. Steeping them in caustic soda for half an hour removed both glue and undercoat and very little fettling was needed to restore their shape. A little dressing with a file was all that was required. A good start. This is the sort of condition that the three arrived in [after the sides were bent back into shape] and, below, what they looked like, typically, after dismantling and cleaning. The first photo is an All-Third and the second the Full Brake. The Brake has had the guard cut away from one side as Keyser moulded him looking out of both windows simultaneously!


The roof lights on the Brake are extremely prominent and will require glazing. That's going to need some thought.....
All of the coaches were fitted with really quite nice metal Mansell-type wheels: too good to bin. These were Keyser originals, the riveted Mansell inserts being just that, metal disks which could be attached or not. The wheels needed stripping of paint also and the axles will be given pin-points in due course by inserting them into a mini-drill and filing them into a point [they are blunt, very much the style of the time]. Whether the centre wheel-sets remain flanged is yet to be decided. Floors, glazing and interior partitions will also be required.
I do not intend building all three within the competition timescale, just one certainly and possibly two if time permits. The first one will be the attractive Full Brake. It, like the others, will run in a slightly stylised late-30's / early-40's LMS livery. The final photo shows one of the sides given a test paint and lining. The paint is Rover Damask Red [Halfords rattle-can] and the lining is by Pressfix. This is a test livery only and it will change slightly. I may - may - also decide to line with a bow pen as it is far easier than stringing out fine and fragile lining in a straight line [even though it looks quite reasonable I think]. Excuse the dust and gluey residue on the decals - it has since been removed.

So, this is where I'm starting from, but don't expect anything more for a while!!!
Tony