Breathing life into a Guilford GP40...

I picked up this Athearn Genesis GP40-2LW, sound fitted, towards the end of last year to experiment again with DCC, sound and it's place in my model railway plans...

Success, the completed model shows a well worn but generally intact paint finish.

It was a bargain, so I never really considered if I needed a Guilford livery, I toyed with patch painting for the HSWR, I toyed with suggesting Guilford even operated the HSWR, and change the MEC to HSW... but in the end, I realised actually I bought it because I liked it... in fact I'd go further, I really like the Guilford styling of dark grey and orange.

Complete, for now, although more work around the fuel tank is desirable.

From those who saw these in the flesh on occasion I here they were often filthy "the few times I’ve seen real Guilford stuff it was very dirty but you could tell the paint was still good underneath so there’s certainly flexibility in how they get weathered". I didn't want to go that far, but it certainly needed some work to relieve the slab sided effect of the all over grey body and chassis. In time, I may choose to add the yellow reflective striping along the sill these units received in the early 2000s as that really lifts the visual contrast further... applying these post weathering sounds daft, but would, I expect, result in a much more realistic finish.

So how did I go about this transformation? Well YouTube videos and photographs established the raw power of these road units, relegated in some cases to switching, and I wanted to make the model 'feel' heavy, with more presence. This involved treating both bodywork and chassis to some low lights and highlights as well as the road dirt, an opportunity to emphasises certain aspects, like the horizontals of the footplate, lengthening and lowering the visual - whilst adding some low light lift to the bodywork by panel line washing the doors.

Applying a low light wash, or panel line wash using Humbrol black wash...

Cleaned up with enamel thinners, and also applied to the under frame and trucks.

A custom wash from Humbrol 98 and 33 is used along the flat surfaces of the footways and pilots.

The basic washes were then blended together with the airbrush, using my 27004 / 133 / 245 mix, allowing a build up around the exhaust on the roof, and some vertical streaks blending the washes around some of the doors and grills. However, this is where it's easy to stop, but although you've added the low lights and the model looks a good deal better, there is no highlight...

Compare this above, to below...similar angle and lighting, but with the addition of some very subtle dry brushed gunmetal (53) to the edges it lifts the finish, and lowers the model, it hunkers down and is ready for a good operating session on my forthcoming layout...

Although this looks pretty good now, there are few things I want to revisit when it's hardened off and can withstand handling - mainly the fuel tank which doesn't match the photos I've seen of these Guilford units which seem a lot darker and oilier in this area. I've an idea how to approach that another time.

Hi lights along the edge of the footway, along with shadows added around the doors.

I wanted to finish with these two photos which show the subtle streaking on the cab around the window frames and rain strips, along with the less so panel line wash on the doors on the hood... and the effectiveness of the dry brushed (and stippled) gun metal to represent the worn paintwork from general wear and tear, and frequent passage of hands or feet.

The front pilot where there is signs of wear from frequent foot traffic is particularly effective here.

If you've got a model you'd like me to breathe some life into, from any scale or prototype I work with you, and from primary source material to produce not only a model, but one that attempts to evoke the same emotion inside of you that you get from the prototype. Get in touch for a proposal. In the meantime, more soon...