There sat 'City of Lincoln', to all intents and purposes completed and needing only a coat of varnish to be finished.

I've recently bought a bottle of varnish from a (previously trusted) brand, which was reasonably priced, claimed not to turn yellow, water based, dries within 30 minutes and doesn't smell, and I decided to try that. With minutes of coating the loco, the varnish had turned a creamy, milky shade. It then dried and turned into a white, flakey powder that completely coated the loco. Wetting the stuff returned the model to a decent finish but as soon as it dried it went back white and flakey. Amazing how something claims to be 'water soluble' yet doesn't wash off when you get it wet...

I gave the model a good soaking to no avail, and then gave it up as a bad job and painted over the varnish. The bloom came through the new paint...

The only real option left to take is to strip the model back to bare metal and start over. Two months work, wasted.

Thanks, Humbrol.