Building the Drewry 153 hp shunter

I did start posting this kit under the Shelf Queen thread as this little shunter has laid forgotten in a box for a number of years, however the urge in me to complete a backlog of unfinished jobs and a desire to build this easy kit is a good opertunity to mark its construction progress. Originally this kit got won in a P1MRC competition organised by Toto and sponsored by Jim of Connisseur Models, I recently purchased a motor and gear unit from Jim and wheelsets from Slaters, so this one falls nicely into a budget build. It has really only taken about a week's time to build to this stage.

There has been a bit of scratch making additions incorporated such as the pipes from the air reservoir tanks and brackets to hold sanding pipes in position... I'll take a few close ups of these another day




I decided to make a hybrid version of this shunter by adding main line lamp brackets and marker lights on the cab end and using the tall cab version which comes with this kit. I also fancy painting this loco in Darlington Green with red wheel hubs and side rods... all a bit fetching for a tiny shunter.



And a rear view from the other side... I've used Jim's solid white metal buffers because they are just spot on for a Drewry loco.




The side view... next job is to build up the engine bonnet.

 

In the back ground behind the Drewry are more yet to be finished projects... tne next one will be the Stanier 2-6-4t which really only needs the lubricator pipework finishing and the cab internals then a motor fitting. The NSR M Class tank is a little more involved as a lot of rivet punching on the cab and other un assembled tank are needed, I'll add progress on these projects on the respective threads. Also to be seen is the Easybuild 104 DMU and three Malcolm Binns Sidelines LMS coaches and an Ian Kirk LMS Period 3 Full Brake.

 

The chassis recently completed with additional detailing added and running freely, next stop strip down and paint then add puck ups and motor / gears.

 

The cab interior has been primed ready




... and now painted in a buff cream colour with a mucky floor. A very metalic Jim McGowen is at the controls... sorry Jim but I will present you in proper blue overalls and railway cap.

 

Its not a kit I'd ordinarily build but as said previously its a fun one to do and has sat in my store cupboard for far too long. I'll start on the bonnet top and when that is shaped it will start to look a bit more boxy.

 

Here are a couple of profile images before I strip the frames down for painting and fit pick ups, the motor and gears are one Jim supplies and is a simple worm drive at 40:1 ratio.

 

Thanks Vinylelpea ... a bit more detail to add in yet once the bonnet is done. It will be finiahed in LNER Darlington green with red rods and wheel centres.

 

Well Happy New Year to all and I wish you all a great and enjoyable modelling year ahead in 2026.

So in between the down time of festivities, the cold weather and lack of good light the Drewry shunter chassis is finished and tested to run smoothly, I used some old NMRS pick ups from stock and filed the heads down by 2.5mm to just sweep the wheel edges as they were acting as brakes otherwise. The motor is supplied by Jim and is very responsive. So far the chassis is base painted into an industrial type livery and will be weathered once the body is fitted, i used dull black on the frames, Darlington Green on the wheels and Signal Red for the rods, flywheel and axle centres.




I slightly deviated from Jim's build instructions when it came to the flywheel rod as fitting it over the side rod bush made it appear to stick too far outwards, I filed the inner face of the flywheel rod around the bearing side so both rods would rotate freely on the main crank bearing. An easy fix and visually it looks better. Once the loco has been run in on the test bed I shall cut off the excess length on the crank pins





Following Jim's build instructions I opted to fit individual pick up wires onto a termination plate as oppossed to running a wire from the first pick up onto the second and then back to the motor.

 

Little kits are not always the easiest ones to build as they often come with their own challenges, this one did when it came to forming the bonnet profile curves down each side in order to make a good fit onto the framework of the engine. I guess a cold workshop hasn't helped either and today with bitterly cold wind blowing outside the studio it wasn't the best environment to work in... well at least the snow hasn't landed here yet even if only twenty five miles away Scarborough has turned white.

The bonnet etch was pencil marked on the outer face to indicate where the curve had to be made and Jim provides a white metal forming tool to do this, so once the etch had been annealed and cooled I put the bonnet etch in the vice aligned with the tool and formed the first curve to shape, not difficult except yesterday I was running out of daylight which meant the second curve wasn't the best. This niggled me a bit as both sides need to follow the same radiius in order for this little shunter to look good. Anyway today saw that issue rectified and now I am happy again because the fit is good and the bonnet curves just spring onto the frame, so when all pieces are soldered together finally the whole thing will pass muster.




I am going to solder in the handrail knobs before the bonnet lid is soldered to the body as otherwise there are some very awkward areas to get the iron into for making a fast joint. This deviates from the kit instructions but once done the bonnet top can be tack soldered into position and I can then add three bonnet cover strips and solder seal it all together. Panel handles, exhaust stack and fuel filler caps can be added after along with the radiator casting with etch mesh grill. More on this later.

 

A big push was had this last few days to get this little shunter over the line to completion, now its just a matter of tidying up the body which includes sanding back the Milliput filler around the edge of the bonnet casing and a general clean of brass surfaces then give a coat of Halfords grey primer and adding the step tread overlays. The glazing will be the last job after prime painting and I shall fit a strip of 3D rivet transfers along the bottom edges of the bonnet coverings, these will come from Railtec as that range has a much finer appearance than pushing out the half etched ones on the bonnet curves. I won't bother fitting names or numbers as this is simply a generic model of a Drewry 153hp shunter, in reality it is the tram version of the kit minus the skirtings but retaining main line marker lamps and single tone warning horn. I doubt I shall ever use this loco but it is a nice one to have in the collection.




I must get the cab roof to sit down properly before taking more photos... just shows how a camera can show up all the faults which the naked eye has missed... well my eyes do.





Well this completes the build so far and the Drewry is here sat on the Elton layout in front of the Gadiator 8F and an Ivatt 2 tank which are awaiting attention in the shelf queen queue.

 

I'm calling this one done for now until the painting and glazing stage, primed yesterday after testing pick ups and running on the test bed, photos taken on a sunny but cold day today.







Just noticed that corner on the cab end has pushed out... will look at that in the morning.

 

That always is the case Vinylelpea and in primer undercoat models do look good I think. I used to prime with an acid etch grey primer but using it didn't matter how much the brass was cleaned the acid etch would still chipped on edges... I have used Halfords primer for the past few years (I think the formula has now changed tho) the current primer has good grip but seems thin in composition.