It doesn’t hurt to compare your model to prototype photos. The Heljan Class 26 obviously needs striping in that token recess. Because of shadows, the striping doesn’t show up too well in most prototype photos…

The most objectionable aspect of the Heljan Class 26/27 is probably the lack of relief in the bogie side frames. The equalizer coils should be recessed more deeply. It’s easy to pop the side frames off with a pair of needle nose pliers.

I used a Micro Mark scribing tool to scrape away at the top of the coil until it can be broken loose. A piece of plastic strip was glued to the back of the side frame with five minute epoxy; the coil was then glued to the strip.

The photo above shows the bottom of the bogie and the dimension between the coil and side frame. A plastic block has been glued inside the side frame (white area). The locomotive pictured is gauged for 16.5 mm track. I may well have overdone the coil movement to make up the gauge differential. I suspect if you are working to wider gauge, you might want to move the coil inward a tad less than shown here….

The crew isn’t very enthused with the Heljan Cab. “What’s that box in the back?” “Where do we put our frigging feet?” The box was removed and the cab floor painted dark grey to help hide the fact it’s about 3 feet too high…

The Heljan Class 26 comes with the same plow used under the SR Class 33. It has raised edges (bottom plow in photo). Although there is some photo evidence to suggest that some of these SR plows made it to Scotland, the plow used under the Class 35/47 (top plow) is more typical of those used in the green era, and specifically used under D5336. I didn’t discover this until after I had finished D5336.

The template I made from 20 thou plastic card to scribe nose lines in the door. It was taped to the front of the loco using double sided sticky tape, and then the fun began. I used the Micro Mark scribing tool for this operation too…

A photo of the scribed nose with some of the modification areas highlighted in red is shown above. A word of caution here- if you remove the beading around the body side windows, try not to build any paint up around the inside of the window frame. The body side glass has an almost interference fit and won’t tolerate a smaller window opening…

The horn shroud is there to keep snow out. The Heljan one supplied is wrong, chiefly because it installs in the same orientation as the front of the shroud- leaning forward. The prototype comes out further and then the front edge leans back. In order to produce something strong with the right angle of attack, I ended up filing the top edge of the shroud angled back, and then used epoxy to glue the Heljan shroud onto the model. After the glue was set, I filed the top flush. In retrospect, I wish I had filed the sides too, the Heljan shroud is a bit wide…

I could have matched the yellow on the nose a little better...

Outside, looking the part...