Pride of Gwent in OO...

Gwent Coal in Newport had an ex BR Class 03, number D2181 as their internal shunter for many years. It's distinctive red livery came to my attention when looking for something else, as these things often do, and it stuck with me...

Since being in 'lock down' here in the UK I decided I needed an easier project to go alongside the etched brass kit I'm building at the moment. A simple re-livery I thought might be just the ticket.

The first step was to source a suitable donor model - it appeared the new Bachmann green liveried 03, bar it's conical exhaust, was a good match with the front radiator steps and lack of airbrakes. Once this was ordered I used my existing BR Blue example to measure up for transfers. These are designed to be two colours, the number is black with a dark red shading and the name is ivory with a black shadow.

Once the donor model arrived it was test run, run in and then stripped down and primed. I've also chopped off the vacuum brake on the chassis and replaced the Bachmann buffers with those from a Hornby Class 31 (available as spares, I got mine from Peters Spares). Next up is a coat of red paint and then I need to fabricate the name board - I've got to decide on whether to 3D print it, or try and make two identical ones in styrene. More soon...