Commission: Linda in 009...

This white metal kit arrived in reasonable condition a few months ago, and had been built as Blanche with her distinctive cab and usual capped chimney...

However my customer already had a model of Blanche, and wanted me to repair, repaint and rework the model as Linda in midnight blue, for a period she carried a cab on her tender in this livery. The danger when working with older models is a build up of paint and glue so I took my time in preparation to ensure that things were returned to bare metal when possible. The chassis has also received a full service, and although very noisy runs as well as an Ibertren can, which is pretty good considering the price and age of the model.

The other problem with a model like this is how to finish it - and I wanted to be sympathetic to the 'era' of the model, therefore choosing hand lining with a bow pen over decals. I started with the navy blue, in gloss, and then hand painted the black edging, also in gloss. I then used a matt white in the bow pen (I find this flows better) and set about adding the straight edges, before free handing the curve on the cab. Spots were painted in each corner for the inverted corners, once dry a touch of gloss black transforms this splodge into a reasonable attempt at the corner lining.

Etched plates from Custom Nameplate Studio (at Light Railway Stores, formerly Narrow Planet) finish things off along with a custom waterslide decal of the FR crest on the tender. Sat here on my bench she is very attractive despite her obvious shortcomings in the chassis department. I hope my sympathetic approach to her transformation maintains the character of the prototype and honours the white metal kit the model is based upon.

If you have an old model you'd like repaired or transformed do get in touch for a personal proposal. In the meantime, more soon...