Armstrong Whitworth Diesel Shunter

Armstrong Whitworth Diesel
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

What a handsome beast eh ?

This is the first finished model Armstrong Whitworth locomotive from the Mercian Models kit. Apparently she was called “Alice”.

Built and painted this is an impressive model. If I worked in 016.5 I would be sorely tempted. I know that there was (apparently) only one built but it looks like a very typical diesel shunter. At the head of a train of hoppers of other metal wagons the locomotives strong, purposeful shape would fit in fine.

Preserved railways often have something like this for shunting, works trains and when they can’t be bothered to steam a chuff chuff.

This isn’t a difficult kits to assemble. It’s etched in nickel silver – always a plus because it solders so much better than brass. There is a bit of forming to carry out on the bonnet but this isn’t too bad and can’t really be avoided on this sort of loco. Apart from the issue with the buffer holes (this is going to be fixed) then there isn’t anything wrong. There is plenty of space for a motor & gearbox. I would recommend a two stage unit as the model demands a very low top speed. Event with a flywheel fitted as well there would be loads of space for lead in that bonnet.

Best of all I’ve knocked off another of those projects from my list.

Grot

handles
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

Some models need to be dirty. The diesel I’m finishing is definitely a case in point. After airbrushing with satin green the locomotive looked flat and uninteresting. Dry brushing with a lighter green helped but with a light dusting of dirt it comes alive.

Weathering is easy with an airbrush. Mix a weak rust/dark brown paint up and spray it lightly all over the body. Go over the lower areas a bit more to deapen the effect. Dry with a hair dryer and take a look to see if a bit more muck is in order. One happy, repeat with a dark grey/brown mix.

I experimented with holding the spray further away from the model than recommended. This allows the paint droplets to dry slightly before impact and imparts a fine texture – just like real dirt has – to the paint.

A little dry-brushing in selected areas and the body will be finished. Now I just need to do the same with the chassis.

Little peg into a larger hole

Buffer beam
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

This is why kits have to be test built by idiots like me. As you can see the hole that the buffer is supposed to fit into is quite a bit larger than the shank. Actually it’s nearly larger than the buffer base (the square bit) that is supposed to sit on the buffer beam of this model locomotive.

Now as I’ve had a bit of practise at model making I managed, with only a little swearing, to fit the part with low-melt solder. The solder acts as both adhesive and filler in this instance and the result is not too bad.

Now I have to tell Trevor he needs to alter the etch. Still better to do this now than on the production batch.

Update: I think I know how this happened. If you look at the front and rear views on the plan there are circles for the buffer heads. I suspect that the designer managed to etch these instead of the correct size versions. Easy done and easy fixed.