Today has been a quiet day just tidying up a few loose ends.

One of those was 3725, a Forest of Dean Pannier with the base model again being the excellent Bachmann high cab version. Its fine having a number of locos of the same type, in fact for many layouts that would be prototypical. For Albion Yard the high and low cab panniers have been just right in helping set the scene. With this one I wanted it to be slightly different to the others, so I’ve modelled it with a nearly empty bunker. That was no big deal, just cutting away the bunker top, thinning the edges and replacing it. I’ve also added the lasercut windows from Shawplan and opened the cab rear doors and roof vent. This was quite a common configuration and gives the locomotives a bit of character. I wanted this one finished today as next year, (see what I did there) the layouts being photographed for a magazine, and whilst they are all the same varieties I wanted detail differences to be seen.

One thing I get asked is how I repaint the locos, well heres a quick how to …

Often I use the Halfords Matt black plastic spray, but for this loco I’ve chosen Tamiya AS-6 matt black acrylic to add a variation to the color schemes. This will give a slightly different shade base color to the other three black panniers I have. The other items I used were Tamiya masking tape, and Humbrol Maskol.

The route restriction indicator on the cab side is nicely printed and I wanted to keep that. Just place a tiny bead of maskol over the indicator (see the pinky purle dot) and wait for it to go off, that means goes a transparent purple, takes about 10-25 minutes. Wrap the buffers and vac pipes/couplings with masking tape. The Tamiya is excellent for this as is ‘low tack’ but very flexible

Thats pretty much it, on this loco I’ve also applied a matt black wash to get into the restricted areas like corners and behind pipes. I also kept the cab roof color and that was masked too.

I use a Tamiya paint stand when spraying, thats the wire ‘thing’ the loco is sitting on, as it allows the model to be held and moved around ensuring an even coverage, particularly usefull when using an aerosol can. After about ten minutes all the masking can come off, I accellerate the drying with a hair dryer too, then Fox waterslide British Rail emblems were applied and varnished to hide the carrier film. I run some metal blacking across handrails and their stantions too, this dulls them down and colors any shiny metal that may have been scratched.

I’ve weathered this one lightly, just as well really as the cabside numbers (from Modelmaster), are a bit too low and they’ll need to be moved before the week is out! The black is a slightly different shade to the Halfords painted locos which has worked really well, it’s not enough to stand out but enough to be a realistic variation of the same base color. Also completed over the weekend is the Ratio 522 GWR signal box, a brilliant kit and well worth spending your christmas pocket money on! It came in for a straightforward review, but I may just see if theres a plausible location for it on my train set!

Finally, thank you again for dropping by, and have a good new year!

Not Everyone
Works For Peanuts …