BR crews

Posted byTrevorPosted inMisc 7mm equipment, The Little Details
BR 26035 heads up a British Rail passenger train. (Or the beginnings of one: More coaches are on order.)
I’ve enhanced the appearance and operation of my BR diesels with some crews for the cab..

I like investing a little bit of time each day in the workshop – even if it’s only 15 minutes. A couple of recent projects for my British Rail fleet gave me a break from work-related matters while advancing some models towards completion. Adding locomotive crews is a good example:

Driver and second in BR 26035. Someone’s pouring tea!

Larger scale locomotives definitely need crew in the cab. My 7mm British Rail locomotives are a case in point: All have pretty sizeable windows and the lack of a driver is immediately apparent.

The driver and second in BR 37183.

Painting figures is quick and easy, although I like to do them in batches because it does involve spraying a flat finish coat on them, which means I need to spend time cleaning the airbrush afterwards. For my BR fleet, I ordered a suitable selection of figures from Modelu, to install in my Class 08, Class 26/1, and Class 37. These are excellent but – like most figures – they needed surgery in order to fit into the confined space of the cabs.

The crews for both my Class 26 and Class 37 needed their legs removed below the hips. Fortunately, the surgery can’t be seen once they’re installed in the cabs.

I sprayed the figures with white primer then painted them using a mix of Vallejo paints, Army Painter Tones, and Citadel Contrast Color washes. (If you don’t know about Army Painter or Citadel, check out your local miniatures gaming store. A top coat of Alclad II Flat finish protects the paints and – most importantly – kills the shine.

I suspect the crew is discussing who is going to do something about those dirty windows!

Published by Trevor

Lifelong model railway enthusiast and retired amateur shepherd who trained a border collie to work sheep. Professional writer and editor, with some podcasting and Internet TV presenting work thrown in for good measure.