O gauge class 33 repaint, a BSK and a SPV

 A happy new year to one and all!

I have been continuing to make some headway on several models over the festive period and it has been great to have some time to dedicate to modelling/painting each day. I stripped down a class 33 earlier in this year, which was the Heljan model I brought for a bargain price in BR green/FYE livery for a repaint. The chassis/underframe/bogies have all been weathered and are ready for reassembly. Once reassembled I will be able to add in the Loksound V5XL decoder and add a speaker to the fuel tanks - these are being ordered today. The body shell had a light priming (I ran out of primer part way through and need to order some more) and then had some basic pre-shading applied, before the first coats of yellow on the ends. One of the best bits about stripping a body shell is that the weathering process can be incorporated into the painting process, allowing some depth and subtlety to the finish. The locomotive will be finished in BR blue, suitable for the mid 1970s - so not too scruffy as the class 33s were repainted into BR blue around 1973/74.

Basic pre-shading work applied with weathered black from an airbrush, alongside some streaking grime enamel wash.

The second coat of faded yellow applied to the ends.

The BSK project has moved on a little. I decided to remove all of the coach side fittings, such as handrails, handles etc. In doing so I obviously managed to lose a few of these, so I have emailed Lionheart to enquire if they can send me some spares. The windows at either end have had some plasticard simply glued across them. Having a look at some prototype photographs on the web, coaches within the engineering fleet seemed to have various windows welded shut. So I have added a couple of these for variation. The coach sides are now ready to have a wash today and go into the paint boxes. I can see the repainting of this coach into engineering olive will be difficult, as the windows have pre painted divisions on them, so getting these to match the coach sides is going to be tricky. I suspect that I will have to keep the livery application pretty simple and add the windows in as soon as possible, so the different window frames do not stand out too much.

The BSK for the engineering Enparts train, now ready for a wash and to head into the paint boxes.

The BR blue parcels SPV wagon was also a complete repaint. The transfer application on the first attempt was rubbish, the wagon ran poorly and I also dropped it on the floor and dented the roof. So this also went into a bath of Superstrip some months (maybe years!) ago. It is just about finished, although I will apply one more coat of matt varnish this morning. This wagon has been an utter dust magnet, despite being kept inside a Really Useful Box. I have no idea how this happened, although the painting on this wagon started before we decorated the hallway - which is probably the reason. Anyhow, this wagon is a much better attempt than then the first version and despite the dust, I am pretty pleased with it. 

The Parkside SPV wagon nearly finished.

So some cracking progress and I have been thoroughly enjoying myself. With the SPV finished off today and a lowfit wagon nearing completion, it certainly feels like things are moving again after a longish hiatus this year. There are more wagons entering the paint boxes over the coming weeks and I also want to get the scenery moving on the layout - so as always plenty to do...hopefully more progress to report soon....