Pride of Gwent: Orange or red...

Well, that didn't take quite as long as I hoped, my distraction project is nearly complete but it has been good fun and something a little more straight forward than other projects on the workbench...

I've airbrushed the bodywork in Humbrol Satin 132 'red' but it looks a touch more like orange than the prototype, but I like it. The buffer beams were filled, smoothed and painted with Humbrol Satin 174 by hand - a slightly different shade to the body and quite effective in the flesh. The side rods and handrails on the chassis were also painted black.

Once thoroughly dry the door, handrails and footsteps were all painted Humbrol Satin 85 black, along with the window seals on the large side and front windows. This is very fiddly and looks neat in the flesh although photos always show the ragged edges.

I applied a little gloss lacquer to the cab sides and then put on the shaded numbers I'd designed and the small first aid symbol (which came from an old Canadian Pacific sheet of decals from Microscale). The model was then sealed with dull-cote and re-assembled.

Posed on Mollington Road it looks the part, and adds a touch of industrial colour - I'm just waiting for a custom turned brass flower pot chimney from a friend - this will be a lot neater than the original Bachmann model and hopefully will give it a touch of class. Once it's arrived and been applied I will add a touch of weathering to bring it to life.

Meanwhile, work on Mollington Road and building kit wagons is keeping me sane, well just about.
More soon...