Commission: Rapido 15xx Weathering...

In 1949 Swindon completed a class of 10 Hawksworth designed ‘super Panniers’. Above the footplate similar to the 9400 class, they ran on a short wheelbase chassis with very un GWR outside cylinders and valve gear…

Burly but not particularly useful due to high weight (low route availability) and short wheelbase (not great at speed) they were scrapped or sold off to industry after a relatively short life and a three saw use at NCB Coventry colliery. The remains of these three ensured one could be built from the best bits and 1501 is today preserved on the Severn Valley Railway.

This Rapido OO model is full of the character of the prototype and has real mass helped by a similar diecast construction to our own ‘Victory’! I was asked to breathe life into her, and supplied with some reference photos that showed a curious blend of total filth and tender loving care I set to work with washes, airbrushing and dry brushing…

 

In the usual manner washes of 98/33 were built up on the chassis and flat surfaces. The boiler top was brushed from side to side with a wide flat brush too, moistened in thinners, and the wash was also brushed down the side tanks and cab. Once this was touch dry I burnished it off the side tanks with a rag to restore the sheen. Various further washes were added and then the finish softened with airbrush, this allows a subtle sheen shift from clean to dirty as well as building up dirt around the bunker for example. The final touch was drybrushed 53 along step edges and places where bare metal might be showing, or to add hi lights. A Modelu crew and real coal finish the look, and Light Railway Stores supplied the etched plates my customer desired.

The result has real presence. That’s not just because this is a beast of a locomotive, but largely I think to the love and care that has gone in to recreating its appearance from photographs and memories. If you have a model you’d like me to bring to life, then get in touch using the form here in the menu, Facebook (where you can email me) or the forums. In the meantime, I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing this Industrial behemoth and it has perhaps given you some inspiration in one way or another for your own project. Until next time, more soon…

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