Some months ago I bought a job lot of ELC pony toys from eBay. In the lot was a very nice wooden toy horsebox which was just the right size for my Julip models. I decided to customise it a bit and repaint it in the Havillands livery of red, black and cream.

Here's the horsebox in its original grey and green livery. It has a painted on radiator grille and lights. The roof removes so you can play with the horses inside. The back tailgate drops down to make a ramp and the doors all open using elastic for hinges.

When I got hold of this box second hand it was in reasonable played with condition. there was damage to one of the front doors but it was not noticeable and didn't detract from the look of the box.

After masking out the windows and wheels I sprayed on a coat of acrylic primer to key the surface for painting.

I then used black Plastikote paint on the roof and red Plastikote paint on the main body of the box.

Using cream coloured Plastikote I painted the lettering on the front of the box, I used some guides but this is not a stencil, I painted it on by hand. I used a very thin brush to do this and took my time.

The back tailgate was painted in the same manner as the front of the box.

Here you can see where the insides were also painted red.

The Logo was hand painted on the sides and coach lining was added. I used masking tape to get the lines straight. I had to cut the curves over the cab with a craft knife to get them smooth.

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