Take Three

Having managed a very minor refresh on my recent scratchbuilt i/c loco, I was enthused to carry out some rebuild work on another older O9 loco and after some thought the Shifting Sands workhorse, No.3, has emerged from the workshops resplendent in yellow livery for the first time in about 20 years.

I outlined No.3's history (Come in number 3) at the time of her last overhaul 12 years ago (The New Look No 3). When I first completed her in 2004 she was painted yellow and I always felt that at some stage I would restore that colour scheme, despite all the subsequent changes over the years. Back in January I dismantled the locomotive back to component parts and gave everything a bath in Dettol to begin the paint stripping process. 

After nearly 48 hours in the Dettol bath, the majority of the paint was gone. As the 2012 paint job was applied over the 2005 one, from outside in there was a layer of Dullcote, Citadel acrylic, primer, Railmatch varnish, Halfords topcoat and primer - it is hardly a surprise it took so long! One victim at this stage was the Black Dog casting used as a handbrake lever in the cab, an old break that had been reinforced with brass wire. I could have fixed this but...

...my intention was to enclose the cab and you wouldn't really see it, therefore it was removed, fixed, and used where it could be seen in the newer locomotive. The whole of the door-opening cab side was removed from the cab and replaced with a new fabrication. This did not follow the door position of the 2005 cab side but looked "right". At this stage I also shortened the main frames as the long front overhang always had the effect of making the bonnet look thinner than it already was. The cab and bonnet were moved forward and adjustments made within the cab. Where necessary all joints in materials were re-filled and sanding ready for a fresh coat of primer.

A coat of grey primer was followed by masking up for a coat of white primer in the areas to be painted yellow. The yellow was sprayed with Halfords 'Broom Yellow' and touched in with Vallejo Flat Yellow where necessary. The underframe was sprayed matt black and then over-painted with Vallejo Black Grey, the same colour being used on the various grilles on the bonnet. The cab interior is a lighter grey and a new brake lever has been added, created from an Airfix/Dapol mineral wagon handbrake lever.

Painting was concluded with a coat of Humbrol acrylic matt varnish from an aerosol, after which the task of adding the smaller detail parts was carried out, including an open sliding window on the cab side, a nod to the original 2004 model. The exhaust, headlights and air horns retain their original finish and the number plates were cleaned up prior to refitting with matt varnish. Lead window strip weights, removed prior to paint stripping, were reinstated to both body and underframe, where the primer from the previous rebuild was still visible as seen above.

I'm really happy that I have made this much progress in just two months. There is a little weathering to do to complete the model, this will largely be around the underframe area and the plan is to be as subtle as possible, although a workhorse it is still a miniature railway locomotive rather than an uncared for industrial machine. 

Colin