Heavyweight Coal…

I have a fascination with Modelmaking. How can we tell stories through our craft? More, convey a feeling, perhaps even an emotion. Out of the box our wonderful ready to run models are cold and toy like. Painting and weathering can help, but here, I’m telling the story of a heavyweight…

The model posed on Paxton Road, still awaiting weathering.

The Class 37 rebuild program swapped the DC generator for AC alternator and new traction motors. The 37/4 were fitted with ETH for passenger work, the 37/5 without for freight. The 37/7 had added ballast weight to increase tractive effort at the cost of route availability and these venerable Type 3s continued to prove their worth on coal, metal and oil trains through sectorisation and later privatisation - in South Wales especially they clung on despite the appearance of the Class 60… Heavyweight by design - and not represented by the Farish models tooling suite. 

I selected the Loadhaul 37/5 from the latest release as my donor - and chose a late model 37/7 because it matched the roof (roof strapping at the non fan end), the cantrail grilles (no middle separator indicative of the RSH build) and nose grills (retaining the score down the centre of each grill). However, more than just a repaint this was going to need the body window (Farish just painted over this for the Loadhaul livery despite even this 37/5 having it plated) filling and smoothing. Further study showed the fuel tank needed modifying.

Priming isn’t just about paint adherence with a project like this - equally it shows us if we’ve achieved a smooth finish with any modifications. Don’t drown the model in the stuff, just waft it on in thin short dusts, enough to show up any further areas needing attention. Once happy a slightly thicker coat can be applied but isn’t necessary, and in N I find tends to clog the detail. You may have seen my post before Christmas about this model - and the fact that apart from the warming yellow all other shades are Humbrol enamels either neat, or mixed, applied by airbrush for complete control, masked using Humbrol and Tamiya tapes, allowing crisp definition especially around the grilles.

This model wasn’t just a repaint though - it’s fuelled by a passion for the prototype. I’ve always loved the 37s, they seem to hug the ground with their low skirts. When you see one move, it’s not just the sound but the ground shaking, the movement between body and trucks very pronounced with the shape and juxtaposition… and whilst in OO Accurascale have nailed that aspect (but their windscreens, on my, awful) Farish have not! All is not lost! The work to lower one of these characterful models is not difficult - I’ve done a video (and talked about that too over the holiday again).

This work transforms the toy into an emotional response to the prototype.

Dropping the ride height (to prototype) doesn’t impede operation on anything but trainset curves - but absolutely feels right.

Just look at her, above, look at how she sits on the rails. This model is tiny, below, but feels heavy. It has mass, it has personality. It’s silent but the sound is all in my head as the EE power unit loads up and she rolls through the yard, chairs screaming on the rusty rails not used to such things…

Yet there is more to come! She is unfinished, dressed but not weathered. Ready for a layout project to make use of all those HEAs and cut down 08… oh yes, more on that soon, very soon! Until next time…

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