I'm fairly new here (at least at time of writing...!), and very much a beginner compared to the quality of the work here, though when I was a kid (several decades ago) I used to make model aircraft and the like. I started doing a bit of modelling again as my son got his first train set, and my father retired and finally got round to getting a permanent layout setup (about 40 years after he planned to! I am chief electrical officer on that one...). 

Anyhow, I decided to have a go at some Parkside kits to start - I don't yet have a layout to run on, apart from a small 8x4 roundy type that my son has that I need to carry on trying to finish off - but my fledgling collection can still grow in the meantime. My interest is in BR Southern region around the 1950-60s - so spanning the BR Crimson and BR(S) time frames, with late steam and early diesel - I grew up in Surrey (a bit later than the 60s I should point out!), and so was very familiar with the railways of South London, and the Central Region.

First up (ignoring the Goods shed I made a few years back for the 8x4...) is a SOuthern Region CCT (with Plywood sides) - kit PC47. As my first Parkside kit, I was a little apprehensive, but it went together quite nicely. I airbrushed it in Railmatch BR Crimson (with black ends - Tamiya acrylic), and have used transfers from @cctransuk which went on very nicely :) The underframe was painted in Humbrol 173. Weathering started off with a dark wash picking out the door frames and external irons, and a little dark streaking down the sides and on the roof. Then airbrushed Railmatch Frame Dirt on the sides, with Railmatch Roof Dirt on top. I went for a fairly dirty look - not quite so bad that the numbers, etc are illegible, and you can still tell it is crimson, but it's very much toned down! Slightly annoying is that one of the cosmetic coupling hooks has dropped off (and I don't have a spare...). NEM pockets to follow - I'll wait until I have a few to do before sorting them out in a batch.

Feedback much appreciated - I've very much learning as I go, but with excellent resources here to look at, as well as YouTube vids, guides etc. Thanks for reading! (I've already started a Van C (BY) as my next item...)

"Works Condition" (pre-weathering)

Post weathering...