Duncan

A few weeks back one of the three 009 GEM Douglas rebuilds reached completion:

For a bit of fun, this one was turned out as the Skarloey Railway's 'Duncan', wearing the red livery from the books rather than the yellow of the TV series (Yes, it is red, not pink, it's the lighting, I swear!)

There are actually some 'firsts' here though. My first time lining an engine with transfers, my first time adding transfer lettering (Surprisingly not as infuriating as I first thought adding tiny 1mm high letters one by one!) and as a result of this, my first time varnishing an engine.

Apologies to the die hard Railway Series fans, but it'd not meant to be an accurate representation of Duncan at any point in history or the illustrations, I simply found as many references as I could of the Talyllyn's No.6 in full Skarloey livery and went from there. Even then I made a big mistake. I couldn't find a reference for the cab back-sheet and so simply added blue lining to match the tank sides. Naturally, it was only after varnishing a reference appeared showing that there's no lining on the rear, in the obvious place I didn't check, Wikipedia! 

Still, it's a quirk unique to this model.

Partnered up with a Meridian Models 'Limping Lulu' and Rodney Stenning Corris Brake that I put together around the time of the original Bachmann Skarloey release, it makes a nice set.

It's nice to have a Duncan on the stock list, especially after the announcement from Bachmann that they were cancelling their own version. The red livery also has the added bonus that it wouldn't look too out of place as a guest or spare engine if a layout ever made it to exhibition.

Annoyingly, it's actually a really nice runner. Even better than some of the 'proper' stock!

I do not need a Skarloey layout, I do not need a Skarloey layout, I do not...