Masterclass
HOW TO CUSTOMISE YOUR RUSTON 48DS
THE RUSTON & HORNSBY 48DS
George Dent hand‐paints one of Heljan’s superb little Ruston diesels into a new colour scheme, improvising detailing parts and adding a footplate crew.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GEORGE DENT
O MODEL Heljan 9035 Ruston & AVAILABILITY Heljan stockists Hornsby 48DS r Price £199.00 Web: www.heljan.co.ukGAUGE 8 hrs
Heljan’s
‘O’ gauge Ruston & Hornsby 48DS is such a cute little thing and, with such an attractive price, they’re proving popular with modellers who already model in 7mm scale and those wanting to give it a try.
I still count myself as a dabbler in all things ‘O’ gauge but, for the past couple of years, I’ve been amassing stock, track and accessories for a small 7mm scale layout. Heljan’s model has certainly given me a push towards bringing my plans to reality.
As reviewed in detail in last month’s issue, the Heljan model has a huge amount of customisation potential. Like most industrial locomotive types, the 48DS lends itself to freelance modelling, so I decided to repaint my example into a more fetching colour and give it a name and number.
Circumstances dictated that this project would have to be quick and easy so, after a little thought, I decided to simply hand‐paint the model in its new colour. Spraying with an airbrush or aerosol would demand a degree of disassembly and/or the hassle of masking various areas, but hand‐brushing would require none of this.