Improving the Hornby Cement Hopper R8711

I started a topic on another forum some time ago about the proper location of these structures. The hopper is predominantly used for loading road vehicles. Cement is pumped from the wagons (JPA, PCA and Pressflos) into ground lines,and then pumped to the hopper.
It is unfortunate that Hornby show off their cement hopper as an 'above the rails' model. This is not the case...

Here I show how I improved the look of the Hornby Cement Hopper...

This is how the model is presented on the box...



and the model itself...



Compared to photos of the 1:1 hopper, a lot of little details have been left off. This is probably a good thing as it allows you to do what you like with it.
See photo here : http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/101538-how-do-you-properly-use-the-hornbyskaledale-cement-hopper/?p=1967354

So, as can be seen in the above link, there is a few bits and pieces that can be added to the model.

I used Evergreen Styrene for the ribs. Individual lengths of 0.25 x 2.5mm strip was cut to length and glued to the hopper. These vertical strips are spaced approximately at 4'8" centres. These are positioned in the off-set position on each horizontal section of the hopper. See below.



After allowing this to dry, Evergreen Styrene 1.5 x 0.25mm strip was glued in the cetres of these strips (shown above) to form a T section. I could have used Evergreen Styrene angle for this, but the smallest right angle is 1.5mm x 1.5mm. Personally I thought that would make the ribbing look too wide, although I have used 2.5mm strip for the top of the T section. This can be seen in the top row of ribs.



Above : After completing the T sections on both rows of the horizontal section, the top conical section (roof) requires ribs. This again was completed with 2.5 x 0.25mm strip and 1.5 x 0.75mm strip. Please note that I have not shown a picture of the ribs on the lower V section of the funnel. This was made exactly the same as the ribs on the roof.

I chose to model only four ribs in the roof of the hopper. These line up centrally with the lower ring of the hopper sides. I can't quite tell if there are any ribs on the throat/funnel (lower) section of the hopper or if it is rust causing streaks. Maybe they should be modelled regardless, keeping it similar to the top/roof.

One section that is lacking in any detail is the top, where the walkway ends.



The walkway was cut from styrene sheet after several attempts with a scapel and a template. I will say that I'm not that good at cutting perfect circles, especially when the centre section needs removing. In my stash box, I have a compass cutter which I never had used, until now. After two attempts with this, I got what I was after.



This circular section was trimmed up to fit around the existing handrails and the a piece of fine wire mesh was glued to the top, then trimmed to shape. The only way I could get the mesh to stick to the styrene was with heat, then glue. I had used Zappa Gap, Araldite and also Super Glue, but heating the mesh up on the stove then pressing onto the styrene worked best, followed by a flooding of Zappa Gap.



The above chequer plate walkway was glued centrally on top of the raised area and the hatch cover glued in place.



The inspection hatch is from an old white metal turntable kit which I didn't need anymore. It fits the bill quite nicely, although I was going to use an old brake wheel from a defunct wagon, but I never did find one.



The two extensions were removed and the rest was put into a drill and filed round, back to the circular section below the bolted detail ring.

Next up is the handrail for the top walkway, which is made from Plastruct handrails.



These were bent to shape by soaking in boiling water and wrappping around a Humbrol paint tin, tapped in place until cool.



To bring the handrail up to the same height as the existing wire handrails, 14mm long 1.2mm diameter rod was glued to the inside of the circular handrail, after trimming to the correct length to fit the walkway.



This was then glued to the edge of the walkway where I had glued in some bracket supports.



Following this, corrugated card was cut to the correct size and glued over the top of the existing dodgy looking iron work prior to painting and installing the ribs on the lower funnel section.



I had painted the model with automotive spray putty first, before applying a coat of grey (automotive) primer. The ribs on the lower funnel section can be seen in this pic below.



and from the top...



Some red paint has been applied to the legs and step ladder. I chose red as this will be a Tunnel Cement hopper...



A tunnel Cement sign was made by googling their logo and doing a copy/reduce/increase colour/resize then print. It was glued into place with PVA, held in teh corrugations using a scrap piece of card and some weight.



The end result with a little weathering, seen on Industry Lane...



Well, there you go, an upgraded cement hopper. With a few mods, the simple hornby model can be turned from a toy into a model !

Cheers, Gary.

 

Thanks Terry.

Here is a pic of the cement hopper in place on Industry Lane.



Cheers, Gary.

 

Thanks Kim, Chris.

To answer your question Kim..,

The concrete surface is scribed and scratched 3mm MDF. The cracks and expansion joints were painted in with black before the top concrete colour was applied. Using dry brush, weathering was applied, ie tire marks, water/mould marks etc.

I will endeavour to start a thread on the way I created the concrete surface shown above.

Cheers, Gary.

 

mattc6911 wrote:

...and I thought you were a hard drinking Bru Instant man !

Cheers, Gary.

ps. Thanks for the kind comment. The mesh was the only item on hand to replicate the non slip walkway. The bonus of it is the three foot rule !

 

Thanks Mark.

True to what you said about not costing a lot of money to turn an average model into a better model !

Cheers, Gary.