Clearwater Models: 1804 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE (COALBROOKDALE / TREVITHICK)

This is the Airfix / Hornby 1:24 scale "1804 Steam Locomotive", sometimes known as the Trevithick or the Coalbrookdale Locomotive or the Pen-y-Darren Locomotive (kit #A05871).
Although there are no records of the first operations of the Coalbrookdale Locomotive of 1802-1803, and there is only a single drawing and one letter remaining, it is the mother of all steam locomotives and the first working version of what became the more famous "Pen-y-Darren" locomotive which hauled 10 tonnes of iron, five wagons, and seventy men over 16 km of plate tracks in Pen-y-Darren, Wales, in 4 hours on 21 February 1804. It moved an astonishing 4 km/hr, and Trevithick walked alongside tending the engine!
This is considered to be the first actual functioning steam locomotive to operate on iron plates (tracks) and to pull a multi-tonne load. The new machine utilized high pressure steam and was considered to be highly dangerous by other inventors.
More dangerous was the fact that the firebox door was located on the front of the engine directly below the single massive piston. On the first journey no further water was added during the run.
The kit came to me from the IPMS Ottawa club president at a swap meet, and it went together in a weekend. The body of the locomotive, really only the boiler, is covered in actual wood planks to both insulate the boiler and to protect people from the heat of the boiler. This became very common in early locomotives.
The body is painted Tamiya regular gloss black, and the wheels and gears Tamiya flat Hull Red.
The gear teeth and outer surface of the iron tyres is hand-painted Vallejo metallic black, then everything was sprayed with Vallejo matte varnish. Highlighting of the black metal edges and bolts and such was done with the old toothbrush silver up with a craft silver felt pen. This gave the black the look of actual iron. Rust powder (PanPastel 380.3 Red Iron Oxide) was applied to discrete places, but not too many as this machine was well cared for and only ran a short time before becoming a stationary engine in the mine. Soot and smoke residue came from Vallejo pigments 73116 carbon black; and some lightening was done on the wood siding with Vallejo pigments 73113 light slate grey. Oil and grease and water stains come from the new Vallejo 73813 "Oil Stains" weathering acrylic painted in with a tiny brush. It worked well to make the piston rod and guide rods look lubricated and real.
The base is a plain wooden oval from the dollar store sprayed with Floquil spackle "Gravel Gray", then weathered with a line of oil and water drips between the tracks. The plate tracks come with the kit, but I had to make small flat stones for the track bed (sleepers), then nail small spikes through the track and stone into the base. Same colours and methods as per the locomotive.
The finished model placed second in the 2016 annual 'all things British' contest sponsored by IPMS Farnborough, being beaten for first place by only one point and missing the Cody Tree Trophy! Damn!
It won a gold medal at the Montreal MIMM 2016 contest.