Nystrup Gravel: July 2026

Bought back in august 2022 the Solido Citroen HY van is now in service on Nystrup Gravel. This is the second van on the layout with a French background and a real icon. The van needed a few tweaks and weathering before it was ready for display on my layout.

It's summer and much of my modelling at this time of year happens outside. Photographing a finished model, too.

With the investment pattern of Nystrup Gravel there is always something stored on the shelves to bring to the worktable. If lack of fortune should ever leave the little company poor there are projects for several years in storage, only needing paint and materials. The Citroen HY van is now out of storage. Not because the financial situation for Nystrup Gravel is worsening - I simply missed working on a car model!

As usual I begin with disassembling the model. It separated to a greater extent than planned! I hope the repair will be manageable. I worked outdoor as Denmark (as most of Europe) has had quite high temperatures (34 C in late June).

Before I disassembled the model I had made a list of things I wanted to add or change on the van. Nothing major, but just to make the Citroen a little more realistic and fit in on the Nystrup Gravel layout. Because let's face it: this is not a fine scale model, but a diecast car with added plastic detal that is often quite simple.

Paint headlights. Moulded in plastic and obviously so.
Rear axle. Bent and needs adjusting.
Interior details. Add coulour and details. Remove benches in cargo area and repaint.
License plates. Add Danish 1950's license plates.
Weathering. Slight dusting and basic weathering.

Seats frames were painted gloss black and the cushions leather brown. The bare metal floor under the seats were painted grey, as it was only the area in front of and between the seats that was covered in black matting. The prototype cab is very spartan and there really isn't much to add to the model. Having removed the seats in the cargo compartment and repaired the damage from the disassembly process, I air brushed the model's all black interior grey using thinned 991 'Dark Sea Grey' from Vallejo. I then weathered the floor very lightly. I skipped any further weathering and detailing as only the top rear door opens and the view of the interior is very limited. The glass in the rear door opening was missing on my model and I added a new one from a piece of clear plastic.

There aren't too many HY's in original condition. Most have been rebuilt into food trucks, mobile homes or restored almost beyond recognition. Here's a nice original one from the UK. The rear window is a different shape than on my model. This HY has weathered nicely!

The bent rear axle that made the left rear wheel sit off-angle was fixed by adding a 4 mm thick scrap of plastic behind the wheel. This holds the wheel in it's right position. I tried to straighten the axle but without success as I was afraid of ruining the wheel attachment completely. Painted black the rectangular piece of plastic isn't very noticable. While this really isn't a proper solution the trick works.

It was a quick job cutting and sanding a pair of license plates from 1 mm plasticard. With a few quick passes of a brush with gloss yellow paint they were soon ready to receive the decals from 'Skilteskoven'. The front plate was fitted under the radiator and the rear plate over the rear door. To make the rear plate fit properly I had to remove a small metal casting with a grinder attachment in my Dremel.

The license plates are fixed to a wooden stick during painting. Danish license plates during the 1950's were stamped metal plates with round edges. Using 1 mm plasticcard allows me to round the edges and obtain a good likeness to the prototype.

Decals added and the first weathering applied to the van.

The head lights were painted 991 'Dark Sea Grey' from Vallejo which is a decent match for the van's colour scheme despite not being metallic. Before I added the license plates I weathered the model with an intial air brushing of matt varnish on the lower third of the van. Once dry I added another layer of matt varnish, now with a touch of sand coloured paint added. I air brushed this on the lower quarter of the van giving the impression of a car that has travelled on dusty country roads. A wash of heavily thinned black oil paint was added around roof edges, handles and around the lid of the petrol tank. Very limited traces of rust were added. Not much as the van was a relatively new car in the Nystrup Gravel-period.