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Airfix "Biggin Hill" locomotive kit questions


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Having recently acquired a kit of this interesting-looking "Battle of Britain" class locomotive, I'm wondering if there are any hints and tips on building this kit or even any work-in-progress narratives anywhere. I know nothing about British rail. A search of Britmodeller turned up nothing.

 

I'm also wondering if there are any replacements for the kit decals, especially the nameplates, which I understand are printed in the wrong color.

 

And where do I find a tinlet of "S.R. Malachite Green" enamel? I acquired a large stock of Phoenix Precision paints on ebay a while back, but there was nary an "S.R." color to be found in the lot.

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If the colour is Malachite Green then I assume it is a pre nationalisation livery and the SR refers to Southern Railways.  So Malachite with Sunshine "Southern Railway" lettering.  

 

Post Nationalisation they initially just had the tender relettered "British Railways", before eventually being renumbered, repainted Brunswick Green and the British Railways Emblems on the tender (Lion with dart board, then Lion on a bike)..

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SR in this case refers to Southern Railway. This was the amalgamated set of companies formed in the 1920s that ran the lines radiating from London to the south coast of England.  

 

Precision Paints would be the best option for the right colour, in my opinion as a railway modeller 😉 They have a web site, which you can find by searching, but they may not be able to ship the paint to you. Not sure how to deal with that. Equally, there are companies such as Fox Transfers here in the UK who produce photo etch nameplates and suitable decals for lettering and so on.

 

 

 

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I had a thought that some references might be helpful.

 

First, Wikipedia, linked to the section on SR liveries.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Railway_(UK)#Livery,_traction_and_rolling_stock

 

The Southern Railway E-Group is very helpful. This is their page on the West Country/Battle of Britain Class locos.

http://www.semgonline.com/steam/blp01.html

 

i also happen to have an O gauge West Country in for refurbishment in my day job. I’ll get it out and take some photos in good light for your interest, as it is in the correct SR livery.

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Here's the O gauge loco.

 

41243293375_98c3ee63bb_b.jpgBulleid 4-6-2 "West Country" Class 34042 "Dorchester" by Heather Kavanagh, on Flickr

 

The West Country and Battle of Britain classes were really the same class of loco in all but name. They were known as a "light pacific" because the axle loading meant they could travel over most of the railway network without restriction. This model of 34042, I should point out, is in the transitional livery and lettering style that was used just after Britain's railway network and companies were nationalised in 1948. The so-called sunshine livery colour and style, however, is pretty good for the SR version, with just the company identity and correct continental style loco number being missing.

 

As for colour, if you find you can't get the "authentic" colours from suppliers in the UK, I would suggest you might well find a suitable light grassy green from any other favourite paint supplier. I doubt you'll get many railway enthusiasts to nitpick over it!

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26 minutes ago, Seahawk said:

If that's before refurbishment, I look forward to seeing it after!

It’s chiefly a mechanical refurb, and a new correct tender for this actual loco. Then it’ll be off to a pro painter for finishing.

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Quote

Here's the O gauge loco.

Nice 7mm model, which make ?

 

Space Ranger, which model do you have ? You mention Airfix in the title and AFAIK they only did a British Railways version. Dapol did numerous re-pops of the kit with a range of decals including SR though the accuracy of some are a bit dubious.

Depending on how far you want to go there is aftermarket stuff out there such as buffers, etched nameplates etc. Replacement decals:-

https://modelmaster.uk/24-4mm-steam-locos

https://fox-transfers.co.uk/transfers

If it is malachite green you need have an idea that a Tamiya acrylic might be close but can check if needed.

All the "air smoothed" pacifics whichever class they were were nicknamed Spamcans. The first Merchant Navies were built during WW2 hence the nickname.

This was my take on the kit and there's a short thread somewhere on here with the pics photobucketed out

8T1xmcy.jpg

 

Stu - who has fond (!) memories of 34102 Lapford in '67

 

 

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There's a one running past us fairly regularly at the moment: "SR Rebuilt Merchant Navy Class 4-6-2 no 35018 British India Line." Out of curiosity, did they all start out as "air-smoothed" and then have the casing removed at some time later, or were some built without?

 

best,

M.

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10 minutes ago, cmatthewbacon said:

Out of curiosity, did they all start out as "air-smoothed" and then have the casing removed at some time later, or were some built without? 

 

All were built "air smoothed".

Stu

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The Air Smooth casing was not aerodynamic as in the case of the Coronations and A4s but was there to reduce maintenance and cleaning requirements in war time.  The Locos had to be designed as Mixed traffic locos as design, development and build of purely passenger locos during wartime would not have been allowed.  The rebuilding was more than just removal of the Air Smooth casing it also replaced the Bullied designed chain driven valve gear and its oil bath, which gave maintenance problems.  Replacing it with Walschaerts valve gear which was considered more reliable. 

 

Interestingly my brother used to work on restored MNs, WCs & BoBs both rebuilt and unrebuilt and said had the better seals that are now available been available at the time then reliability would have been better and rebuild probably wouldn't have happened.

 

Now back to my aeroplanes...

 

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I don't think he's done a BoB, but @nimrod54 has shown what can be done with these kits in some amazing detail work. For nameplates, Fox Transfers seem to be the specialists

https://fox-transfers.co.uk/etched-plates?class=1707&scale=2235

 

With a good selection of the fleet available, then if you want you can also track down replacement wheels, couplings etc.

 

No pressure, but I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes along

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Gosh! Thanks everyone for all the interesting and informative replies.

 

This is the kit in question, Code No. 05651-7, Catalog No. R501:

 

s-l1600.jpg

 

If I understand the history of British railroading, this is the post 1947 British Rail nationalization livery, as there are no "Southern" titles, and the kit instructions call for "B.R. Orange" lining. Am I right?

 

I had already discovered Fox Transfers and its website, and I'll be ordering crests and decals from them. Their livery guide lists everything I need.

 

Thanks again, everyone. I'll try to post photos here as the build commences, but that may be a while as we are doing some home (re)modeling.

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If you check this Fox Transfers Southern Region link, then scroll down to B of B class, you will find the decals you need listed for both pre and post nationalisation They also carry Railmatch and Phoenix Precision paints but you would need to check on shipping.

 

If you want to replace parts for details such as handrails, smoke box door darts, buffers, couplings, vac-pipes etc, then I would suggest that you have a look at the 4mm range in the Alan Gibson catalogue. Again you would have to check on shipping and an internet search would give you some alternative suppliers, I found Alan Gibson handrail knobs available with an e-bay supplier.

 

Finally, just to give you some idea of what can be done with these kits, here are a two builds I started in last years Made in Britain GB. These are Dapol kits (ex Airfix) using Fox Transfers and Phoenix paints, for the Evening Star model, I replaced handrails, door darts, buffers, couplings etc., adding a couple of Modelu 3D printed crew figures.

 

37210971432_e2009bdb84_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

 

 

36519208914_0db1d80a79_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

 

and this English Electric Deltic prototype (DP1) just had a set of Fox Transfers and etch plates.

 

39890400641_47fc42228b_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

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