Talyllyn in N…

This model, this tiny wonderful model. It shouldn’t have been bought, it was a distraction. A wonderful distraction then…

97304, the hero of the story in ‘the chase’ before Christmas - the experience so visceral and emotional that a response was inevitable. Perhaps this is the lessor of the evils, recreating the motive power saves me building a layout! 

 

If you’ve watched yesterday’s video then you’ll have seen this model in my hands and have an appreciation of just how cruel these close up studio photographs are… she started out as a Mainline blue 37/0 on offer before Christmas for just over £100. A dip in IPA soon garnered me a paint free shell and work could begin in the conversion. I’ll admit, in my haste I didn’t spend as long checking I’d smoothed out the filled areas on the body wise as well as I might have done - as a result they show through the unforgiving yellow dip paint job. Other body alterations were limited to filling the small RETB aerial hole on the top of the nose. I lowered her (as described here and on YouTube previously) at this stage too, to avoid damaging the finish later. Applying the yellow was easy enough, the prototype has been repainted in a warning panel yellow all over - rather than the usual more lemony Network Rail shade which helped matters. Next grey (Humbrol 5), then the orange (Humbrol 82) cantrail added with a box pen. Finally details picked out in suitable colours before decals were applied and sealed - a special thank you to John at Precision Labels for modifying his set to include the lovely representation of the ‘Talyllyn’ name plate. 

The buffer beam pipework is a mix of parts from the spares box, the MU connection is modified by cutting off the plug, drilling 0.45mm through and fabricating a cable in 0.4mm copper wire. A DG coupling without loop is bent up and fitted behind the buffer beam. The prototype has the ERTMS aerial in place of one of the underframe tanks (presumable the old boiler tank). I cut the Farish moulding in half and knocked up a representation of the aerial in styrene. After adding a speedo drive to one bogie the lot was weathered in my usual 98/33 mix. Up top, the weathering was reserved but hopefully feels right with those that see these engines in use. Clean but dirty, signs of the silver buffers from a few months ago when she was named still evident under the grime. Loved by those that look after her.

So that’s the how, and yesterday was the why, and the result is certainly a lovely thing that I’m enjoying just having around the workshop. No plans for a layout, but I did accidentally buy a set of N gauge decals for 37405… we will see… until next time, more soon…

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