Sulzer without a stage…

This should never have happened. I don’t model in British OO at the moment, what do I need another diesel for? At a price to good to miss, she was bought as a lead actor for those customer projects that have needed something I don’t own any more…

A Bachmann Class 24/0. Less than £125 delivered from Rails in their sale. Prime BR blue, big but small and a prototype I’ve always liked, a mix of ugly and purposeful combined with those smooth cab roofs that feels of a time, a time past. There is no grand plan, or even a micro plan, this model has been finished to look nice posed on commission builds in the future!

Out of the box it is a vast improvement on Bachmann’s earlier effort with the 24 - they’ve captured the roof profile and character very nicely. The depth of the detail in the bogies is superb as are the bag of goodies and pipework you can add to the model yourself - which I did - ahead of some weathering.

The Derbysulzers website is a treasure trove, and the locomotive history of his particular prototype yielded a couple of useful and instructive photos for weathering patterns. The ‘usual’ mix of 98 and 33 in various quantities used on the bogies and bodywork, working on a side at a time, checking to make sure it felt AND looked right. The roof, too, those distinctive dirty brown roof domes. Once dry I airbrushed 133/245/27004 mix to soften some of the edges and add some tonal variation. 33 was added around the exhaust to darken this up. 

The results shown here have actually seen a little further work, I’ve used 53 to dry brush the step edges and bottom of the doors to add a little visual relief to show worn paint and further life - but those photos can’t wait for another day, as this set provides a complete record of the finish achieved prior to these additions. I hope too, they snow that taking a box fresh model, fitting the details and weathering it transforms it from toy to memory, be it first or second hand. A lead actor to roam your layout stage. Until next time, more soon…

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