This is an Class 09 in O Gauge. It came factory weathered, and although I am not a fan of this type of weathering, I thought the fade application was quite good and decided it was a good base for improvement.

I added the extras pack of high level pipes and windscreen wipers.

From the start it was going to be what weathering I would remove and what I would add. Firstly the removal, using a cotton bud and some white spirit I cleaned up the con-rods, the many handrails and the windows. It became clear at this time that the ‘fade’ paint had been sprayed on over the top of all the handrails, I also suspect the cab was treated before fitting to the main body as there was no fade on it at all.

I then started re-weathering using a black wash and moist brush technique. There were several places that did not get any weathering at the factory, tops of footplate boxes being the most obvious, but there were a few more small places. I put some rust paint around the exhaust outlet on the roof before I resprayed the exhaust port.

I replaced the O/H warning symbols as they were 70’s early 80’s and I want to run the Loco in the early 90’s. The BR symbol had a blue tint to it from the fade operation, so I replaced it.

Finally the frame was resprayed with Railmatch ‘Frame Dirt’ as the original colour was very light and looked ‘washed out’ and then touched the springs up by dry brushing a little ‘Dark Rust’

I think I will revisit this loco when everything is well and truly dry – I have a few more things in mind!