A fairly simple task (albeit requiring steady hands) is to fit etched nameplates to locomotives to replace or cover printed ones.

Two more of my class 73s have now had the printed plates covered with proper etched versions: 73 004, The Bluebell Railway, and 73 129, City of Winchester, both look much better now with their Fox Transfers etched stainless steel plates. Both are on Hornby chassis, but 73 004 has a Lima body. I mix and match bodies on the Hornby chassis - I have eight of the chassis but around 12 bodies of both Lima and Hornby origins.

A banger blue Heljan class 47 also got the treatment. 47 508, S. S. Great Britain, now sports the Fox plates.

Another class 73 to receive etched name plates and shields is royal locomotive, 73 142 Broadlands, with Shawplan plates. This locomotive has a Lima body and chassis, with a Modeltorque motor replacing the Lima 'pancake', and the addition of a newer Hornby unpowered bogie with its better wheels, extra pickups and NEM coupling pocket.

I removed the printed Lima name plates and shields using a trick I learnt a long time ago: stick some sticky tape over the printed elements and press it on very, very firmly with a fingernail, then peel it off complete with the Lima transfers.

I roughened the backs of the etched items then used some Krystal Klear glazing medium as a glue - any that squeezes out can be wiped off with a damp cloth.

Not the best photo with limited light available, but here it is.

And still on Lima class 73s, E6012 in early blue has a Lima body on a Hornby chassis. It also has legomanbiffo sound fitted. I tidied the roof grilles up, much as I did previously with green E6002. Once again, this emphasises just how fine the original Lima moulding was - pity about the mechanisms!

(Edited to remove duplication if the previous blog entry).