Following on from my recent Talking Stock #38 The Adams B4 tanks post that included a brief history of the prototype and also a review of the recent range of Dapol ready to run models, I have added a few of these to my fleet for Canute Road Quay and therefore renamed and numbered to suit my preferred modelling period.
In all these instances I have not repainted the original model but used my time served method of a good quality enamel thinners applied to the original model printing and then after a soak of around 5 minutes or so rubbing off with a thinners soaked cotton bud. This does leave a shiny finish where the rubbing has been carried, but this is a good surface to apply fresh decals to.
I then leave the model to fully dry in a ventilated area for a day or so to ensure that no traces of the thinners remain. I then applied new decals from a number of sources depending on the model being created.
For standard Southern Railway post war lettering I use Pressfix transfers from the HMRS Southern Bulleid Sheet 10 as per my backdating of No 30084 to No. 82. Note also that for this identity change I also relocated the tank top tool boxes slightly further forward as per No.82 in real life.
For ‘Trueville’ that utilised No. 90 ‘Caen’ as the base model in Southampton Docks lined brown livery. I used modified Pressfix SR coach lettering, to form all the required letters that I applied individually, also from the HMRS Bulleid sheet 10.
When Normandy left the docks in 1946 she was repainted in to post war black livery at Eastleigh and instead of regaining her number 96, she retained her name but it was applied in Bulleid post war ‘Sunshine’ style. This was obtained from Cambridge Custom Transfers via friend and excellent modeller Matt Wickham. I used the BR version of 30096 as the basis for this backdating.
Once the decals have been applied I spray with Railmatch Satin varnish from a rattle can to both seal the decals and restore a consistent finish, I then like to brush paint the smokebox, chimney, cab roof and cylinders matt black prior to weathering etc.
For those wanting to renumber BR versions, or simply wnating to enhance the fact that Dapol only print the smokebox door number plate directly onto the door with no representation of the number plate, etched plates for all members of the class are available from 247 Developments run by friend and fellow modeller Brian Mosby.
Hopefully this demonstrates how quick and easy renumbering and renaming can be, as we can not expect a manufacturer to produce every number and variant that we might want. Should a full repaint be required then I have also adopted a reasonably quick and simple process and this is described in my Workbench Wittering #3 post here.