Commission: More IoW 02s for EM…

Last year I built an Alan Gibson O2 kit in EM. My customer, happy with the result asked me to work on a few more kits for him and so let me present the next pair to have graced the bench, 30 ‘Shorwell’ and 34 ‘Newport’…

These kits are complete apart from motor / gearbox, where I’ve opted for a high quality option from Chris at High Level. The etch artwork looks to have been older CAD, rather than hand drawn and the parts fit together well and assembly is relatively straight forward. I have documented the approach over a variety of Friday updates.

The pair illustrated demonstrate some of the variation seen between locomotives in terms of boiler bands, handrail knobs (both a little guesswork based on photos) and tank repair patches as well as ij this case, an interesting twist with the paintwork itself.

If you compare 30 (above) with 34 (below) you’ll notice the green on the boiler and cab is different on 34. This was a locomotive that had been repainted in an LSWR green in late Southern days due to an overhaul away from her usual home turf, iirc. Later, under British Railways just the tank was repainted to allow the new script to be added. 

The models are lined with a mix of Fox transfers and hand painted curves. The numbers are from Fox too but the British Raikways is a decal I designed and sourced specifically for the project. After being sealed with lacquer they were lightly weathered and a Modelu crew fitted.

Our back a real coal load finishes things off, applied to a piece of shaped foam to give the sense the coal is being used up from the centre. Etched plates sourced by my customer wrap things up.

Believe it or not, there are more to come - some detail adjustments and weathering to reflect an earlier period on some of my customers other models before, I hope, a few more kits in 2027.

If you have a kit sat in a box and would like some help in bringing it to life I love working with my customer to ensure the memories and details combine to give a result that just feels right to them. Get in touch for a no obligation fixed price proposal. In the meantime, as always, there will be more soon…

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