DON'T SPARE THE ROD 4

Project complete, ready for photo session

The modified Bachmann model is now ready for service, looking every inch a hardworking freight locomotive that has been pressed into service at short notice. The blacked out ROD number on the tender is a giveaway as to its previous life and the GWR may have added a few of its own fittings, but they certainly haven't pampered it or treated it to a coat of GWR green.

I've been impressed by the Harder & Steenbeck airbrush that I employed for the painting and weathering. The Infinity CR Plus 2in1 has proved versatile enough to cover a range of general and fine detail work, with the limescale streaking being particularly effective. I finished off the weathering with the loco on running at slow speed on a rolling road, allowing the paint to reach all of the chassis, wheels and motion without leaving any 'stencilling' effects. This idea was suggested to me by Tony at Wealistic Models and it's quite effective - just be sure to clean up the rolling road afterwards. Incidentally, this excellent rolling road is from the Marion Zeller brand - a fantastic bit of kit!

Look out for the full demo and the history of these fascinating 'ROD' locomotives in the next issue of Model Rail magazine (MR199), out July 31.