Scrapheap challenge - part ten (Castle)

Lots of pictures in this update.

To recap, I acquired a box of Hornby Dublo "bits" that included four very sorry looking locos and set about trying to restore them. Trouble was, I already had far nicer versions of all four of them so I decided to go down the neverwas route.

The next few pictures have appeared in previous updates but to recap, this is the state of the body:

The handrails and nameplates were removed:

The body was then stripped using oven cleaner:

Then primed:

Then painted:

Then the black bits were added:

And I also painted the chassis:

And that is where worked stopped. With the first two locos I was able to do their restoration work for next to no money. The third loco, the Abercorn, required proper brass-etched nameplates and LMS transfers but this wasn't overly expensive to do. For the Castle, this requires lots of transfers, boiler bands, tender linings, logos etc. To do this properly was going to take time and money, hence the lack of work while I saved up!

So with Christmas a dim & distant memory, I went back to Fox Transfers and placed my order.

These are waterslide transfers, which I quite like - they're very forgiving!

When first slid from the backing paper, this is how the tender looked:

But after some tweaking and sliding, I got the tender lining reasonably straight. I currently have two other Castles on the desk (both in need of restoration) and used these as a guide. In the case of one of the old Castles, my linings are a good deal straighter!

With the transfer dried, time to apply the British Railways graphics:

Once dried, the other side was given the same treatment.

Time to fit the bands to the loco body. These have to be cut around the moulding on one side so were done in two sections:

Making progress: 

Now for the graphics for the cab sides. The kit comes with a selection of cab side linings, these are the closest to the old Dublo & Wrenn versions:

Another demonstration of the forgivingness of the transfers, on first appearance this looks a total wreck:

But less than two minutes later, it's perfect:

Now this thing needs a name and number. I have Cardiff and Bristol, I want a Ludlow (and these are expensive!) but thankfully there are many names and numbers available. As a Dorchester lad, I had to have something local!

These are glued to the original nameplates. Nothing too scientific, just turned them around and stuck the brass plates into position:

Now for the cab numbers, again these are brass and are glued into place.

One minor problem is that the glue has a working time of approximately 10 seconds, then that's it.

Thankfully it's straight:

Managed to get the other side done with no issues. The loco is starting to take shape:

As I'd previously resprayed the chassis, I needed to refit the bands to the valve gear:

I purchased some gold paint to resolve the chimney issue and also paint the cab windows and above the wheels:

The next job (once this lot is fully dried) is to spray with matt lacquer, I can then reunite the motor with the chassis, completely rewire it, straighten and clean up the handrails and then once reassembled we're ready for testing.

The next Scrapheap challenge update should be the last!