Bachmann class 45/0 and a shock wagon

This weekend was the first in a while, with some 'freetime'. Chores such as cleaning out the car, repainting the bathroom ceiling, etc were put to one side and I settled down for several stints of modelling. Two projects I focused on were the weathering of a class 45/0 and also a shock wagon.

The shock wagon had a very simple coupling conversion and then was weathered with a mix of weathered black, frame dirt, track dirt and sleeper grime. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. Incidentally, it was photographed on a little diorama that my sun is building. More on this as it develops...

Weathered shock wagon

The class 45 is a project that had stalled recently, due to being away a lot. The locomotive is also being fitted with a DCC sound unit, so it was one of those projects that had stalled due to it being a bit more complex. The weathering was started a couple of months ago, before being finished this weekend. I would guess that in total it took about 10 coats of paint, but I feel it is my best effort so far. Hopefully I will get the locomotive reassembled this week and will take some proper photographs of it.

Class 45 body shell

I also installed the Howes sound chip over the weekend. One of those things that was ridiculously easy once you started, but seemed more complex before getting stuck in. I tested the chassis on the Georegham test track and it sounds brilliant. Really looking forward to seeing this working freight duties on Pottington Quay. Some 45's worked the ballast out of Meldon Quarry during the 1980's and they looked pretty grubby - I presume because they were no longer front line passenger locomotives (although I am not certain of this). The weathering job was inspired by a photograph of one of these stopping at Exeter St Davids signal box looking filthy with a train of grampus wagons c.1985.