Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Brian gets his loco

 

Now I've fitted the radio control, there was only one job left to do on this loco - fit the correct nameplates. 

As far as I can work out, this was the last loco kit, and possibly the last kit, my father, Brian, ever bought. As expected, I built it, and even managed to show him some photos, which he liked, a few days before he passed away. Obviously, there was only one name it could have. 

Boot Lane Works provided the new plates. Dad always liked them, and their products, probably why he bought this odd-looking loco. 

Anyway, knowing who they were for, Andrew added a little extra detail to the 3D printed design, and handed them over at a show. 


All I had to do was paint. No problem. Whack some brass colour enamel on. Let it dry. Splosh red over it, and wipe the faces clean. 

Which is what I did. But metalics don't behave like normal paint, they don't dry hard in the same way. So, when I wiped, most of the brass came off as well. I let the red dry, and touched in the brass. And then touched in the red. And the brass. And the red. Until I was happy. 

The old plates, which had been attached with Glue'n'glaze peeled off easily enough, but left glue marks. I got these off, mostly, with damp cotton buds and bits of wood to scrape with. I wasn't happy though. To cut a long story short, the sides of the tanks have been resprayed. 

But, the new plates are on, and look great. Little Brian has been installed on the footplate, read to pull the coaches big Brian built a few years ago.  

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