Commission: Motor Rail 60hp 0-6-0 in 009...

A valued customer got in touch earlier in the year asking for me to design and build a set of four locomotives. These are actually all supposed to be the same machine, the driver faces forwards in a pair, backwards in the other pair... and pairs so that they can be rotated in use on an exhibition layout...

As I had to construct four near identical models it made sense to design it as a kit of parts, so the body is a 3D printed core, with etched overlay parts to provide crisp rivet detail and an air of finesse not possible by relying on the 3D print alone, especially around the buffer beams and cab windows.

A prototype was built to prove the concept, built around the Bachmann Plymouth N gauge chassis. This was successful so the parts were ordered for the batch of four, and then put together. They were painted and weathered as a batch, applying the finish one stage at time to each one in turn. This meant they looked the same. The driver figures are from the Dapol workmans set, suitable cut down to fit and painted in my usual Games Workshop acrylics for speed, and consistency of finish achievable, blue overalls, white shirt and a black hat.

The weathering consisted of washes, dry brushing and airbrushing to tie it all together...

These photos are not all of the same model, they are not identical but as close as so that no one could really tell when these machines go into service on my customers exhibition layout early next year. In the meantime, the kit will be available through Narrow Planet in Q4.

If you'd like me to design and build you a model, then get in touch using the contact form on my blog, Messenger on Facebook or the messaging services on the various forums. More soon...