Like most of Accurascaleโs products, this tooling has been thought out carefully, with the design of the mechanism, the bodyshells and the detailing up to their usual high standards.
Thereโs no two ways about it: the Accurascale Austerity is beautifully austere. It is simple, plain, and perfectly formed.
A 1/76th scale model of the real thing right down to the plain coupling rods, welded tanks, and other items that betray the wartime origins of the class. If it looks a simple model, it is a simple prototype.
Yet look closer at the cab and the top of the boiler, and you see a wealth of additional details, put together beautifully.
The safety valve and whistle arrangement on top of the boiler together with the absurdly perfect back head in the cab look perfect compared to the prototype, just requiring weathering to finish.
The wooden floor in the cab also looks convincing, and the windows are finished with glazing that look very much like glass. Not sure how that has been achieved but it seems to distort in just the right way for the cab inside, looking in.
Thereโs a nice representation of the valve gear between the frames.
The model is mostly diecast metal and comes in at 230 grams.
Testing my Austerity - finished in the wartime sand livery as the LNERโs no.8008 - the mechanism was smooth running through all speeds and it easily handled my recent oil train build of 20 tankers, two barrier wagons and a brake van without breaking a sweat. It is obvious that it could have taken a lot more.
The livery is well applied, including the branding and numbering, with the desert sand colour a pleasing colour of - well - sand! It looked a bit garish in the promotional images online and in the flesh is more subdued, with a satin fashion to the model all round.
The bit which sticks out most for me is the face of the model. It really captures the shape and the character of these locomotives.
