No. 165 A tale of two Hornby Super Detail ‘Britannias’, plus a Clan (Part 2)

This Post is a continuation of my recent foray into Hornby Super Detail Britannias https://longsheds.blogspot.com/2021/06/no-164-tale-of-two-hornby-super-detail.html

Back in 2014 Hornby sold off a lot of Diamond Jubilee boxed sets.  These included 70000 Britannia in ‘Special Duties’ livery.  This was Britannia’s preserved livery as featured in 2012 when Prince Charles was a passenger and included an Early Emblem and the original ‘dangerous’ pattern smoke deflectors.  The model also featured a speedometer drive which Britannia itself gained around 1956.   My Hornby model also had fluted coupling rods which on the prototype had been changed to solid rods in the early 1950s.


Hornby R3094 Diamond Jubilee Train Pack

In a past Blog Post in 2014 I described overpainting the cab roof of the Special Duties model and backdating the overhead warning plates.

https://longsheds.blogspot.com/2014/04/no91-shades-of-green-hornby-britannia.html 


My Britannia ‘Special Duties’ with repainted cab roof back in 2014

I had tried to convince myself that the combination of overhead warning plates, speedometer drive, ‘dangerous’ deflectors and Early Emblem might have coexisted in the 1950s.  David Hey https://davidheyscollection.myshopblocks.com/ did not agree and the model really needed BR (LMR) pattern deflectors and a tender with a Late Crest. 



Britannia in 1961 with London Midland Region pattern smoke deflectors (Courtesy Keith Long)

After my big bid for Morning Star mentioned in the previous Post I had another bid on some bits from Hornby ‘Clive of India’.  I was attracted by the prospect of some BR (LMR) pattern deflectors but as a bonus I was able to salvage a front step, large dome, some sand boxes and rear cab supports all for Morning Star.

Replacing Britannia’s ‘dangerous’ smoke deflectors with the BR (LMR) pattern from the donor was slow and fiddly.  Flexing the deflectors broke the glued joints between the deflectors and the dummy metal supports at the front of the smoke box.  Gently pulling the deflectors away from the smoke box eventually parted the top ‘pin’ fastening which pokes into the side of the smoke box.  In two cases this had not been glued, in two cases it had been well glued and I snapped the pin.  I finished up removing an intact fixing pin from a redundant deflector and gluing it back onto a deflector that I was keeping.  The bottom fixings into the footplate were the most difficult to separate and much time was spent with a small screw driver and craft knife poking around beneath the footplate.  Refitting is straightforward, the front metal fixings were loose fitted into their respective openings in the smoke box and only glued to the inside of the deflectors after the deflectors had been firmly fixed top and bottom.

Whilst modifying Morning Star and against my better judgement I acquired a ‘cheap’ model of Clan McLeod.  It was not quite as described!  Coincidently I had some etched plates for Clan Stewart.  A quick trawl of Flickr showed that 72009 Clan Stewart kept a tender with Early Emblem (with overhead warning plates) into the 1960s.  Also like most of its sister engines, it retained fluted coupling rods for its whole life. 


72009 Clan Stewart in July 1961 (Courtesy of Brian Townsley)

I had a plan, I would rebadge 72008 as 72009.  I could then swap tenders and rods between ‘Britannia’ and ‘Clan McLeod’ (that was) and I would have reasonable 1960s representations of two more engines.

Hornby Super Detail Clan McLeod alias Clan Stewart

The more astute readers will know that on Hornby Clan McLeod’s model, the top smoke box lamp iron has been lowered.  However from studying pictures of the prototype, Clan Stewart’s top lamp iron was only lowered when it gained its Late Crest, around 1963.  A modification that I have parked for a future occasion.


Hornby Britannia ex R3094 Train Pack with BR(LMR) smoke deflectors

Returning to ‘Britannia’ there was one final job to carry out.  I would over paint the yellow axle boxes in black.  I think another good outcome. Mind you I do wonder about the sand box covers.

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