Bachmann Class 37 with DCC sound

I am continuing with my program to detail some diesels and add DCC sound to them. It is a bit of an eclectic mix at the moment, just locomotives that I had already purchased some years ago but never got around to updating.  The latest one out of the workshop is a Bachmann Class 37, in railfreight livery.  This was the first locomotive I ever purchased with DCC sound on board and it was a game changer for me.  Hearing a locomotive with sounds changed the direction and goal of what I wanted to model in future.  It was factory fitted with a lok sound ver. 3.5 decoder and Bachmann sounds, which to be honest were a little naff.  I had also never got around to undertaking the weathering on this locomotive, so it has just plodded around in a pristine state for years.  The railfreight livery is a bit outside of what I intend to model now, but I thought as I had this locomotive I would finish it off.

The finished class 37 running on Charlton.

Running into the station - the start off and idle on the Howes decoder is spot on!

As per normal the chassis was fitted with a 3 link coupling and the ends were detailed.  I dismantled all the components, such as bogies,removed the glazing and sealed off the lighting units.  I initially applied an all over body wash and removed parts of this with a cotton bud, before spraying various  shades of weathered black, frame dirt and sleeper grime over the locomotive.  The finish came out a little heavier than I originally intended and there was one coat of weathered black where the airbrush clogged and the effect was a little heavier than I was aiming for.  However, it looks ok, although there are a few areas I am not so pleased with - it definitely sits in my I could do better camp!

The finished class 37.

And heading back to Barnstaple junction.

The decoder was removed and sent off to Howes for reblowing.  Following this being replaced the locomotive was reassembled and given a test run.  I also gave it a little outing at the Pevensey exhibition last week, although as I was running 1970s BR blue, I did it when no-one was looking!!!! A class 47 and a class 33 are now nearing completion and I will update these on here soon, although I head away with work for most of August, so it could be a little while before the next update.