Renumbering Royal 67 - 67006 to 67005
Having bought 2 of the Hornby "Limited Edition" (cough) Royal 67's in EWS livery, the plan for a long time has been to renumber one as 67005 Queens Messenger. At first glance it would be easy by just sticking new plates onto the loco and changing the cab end numbers. This is actually the first time I've tried this on locos. Despite modifying and renumbering rolling stock etc, I'ev been reluctant to do it on more expensive locos.
On doing research the main problem was found - the EWS Beasties plate on 67005 is higher up than on 67006, so some removal of the tampo Beasties would be required. This meant we had a bit more 'risk' than simply sticking plates on. But I wanted it to be accurate. Hornby supply beautiful full colour Royal plates for the centre of the loco body. The remaining plates came from Fox Transfers as a full set, plus a separate set of EWS Beasties.
As there is quite a lot of tampo to remove I started with the back of an old scalpel blade. This was reasonably effective, aided by some olive oil. I also tried T Cut but this didn't seem to do much. It doesn't look great, this is the not-so-good side. However the new plate is aligned with the bottom of the window framing (not the window itself) so the worst is covered.
Fox Transfer set with supplied Hornby plates.
Plates were positioned using masking tape. The plates were stuck on using Humbrol Mattcote as it was at hand. However I used Araldite for the Royal Crests as their contact with the body is very limited due to the ribbing and needed something stronger (I'd hate to lose them as they are full colour). The key to not having glue smudge beyond the plate is firstly use a tiny, tiny amount in the centre of the body - if there is excess use a sharpened match stick to lift it carefully. Aradlite strings to treat like spaghetti and spin the match stick to take up any string. The second element is let the varnish/glue harden and tack on the body slightly so when the plate is applied GENTLY it is less able to squish and run.
The end result looks fine in the flesh (and not under the scrutiny of a digital camera!)
I just need to find two small digit "5"''s for the cab end number. Not paying £10 for a sheet for 2 small digits! Have requested spares if anyone has them in Wanted section:
The next job is to plate up 67006. Was about to order plates when my research showed up something I'd missed - on the early EWS livery (pre-DB) the number and nameplates are different colours on both locos. The loco numberplate has a black background, whilst the nameplate directly underneath is claret to match the bodywork!
https://daverowland.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/Railways-2010-1/Bristol-Exeter-14-May/i-RVshrhc
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart166axe/4602440367
Not my photos, all copyrights acknowledged.
My set of Fox 67005 plates were black, but the current versions are claret for both locos. So I have the Royal crest plates, have EWS beasties in black, but need 67006 numberplate in black and "Royal Sovereign" nameplate in claret. And actually "Queens Messenger" in claret too, to replace what I've just put on! So will need to see if Fox can do black 67006, or order their plate set and get black numbers from Modelmaster.
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