Eastwood Town 9F gets weathered...Stage 3

[gordon s]

Encouraged by my first venture into weathering with my Ivatt 4, I got bored this afternoon and started fiddling with my 9F. Ten minutes later, this was the result. Past the point of no return....

 

 

First stage was to spray all the main body parts with Rustins Blackboard paint. It gives a lovely smooth finish and is the perfect base for weathering powders. The wheels are brush painted with Precision Paints, Dirty Black.

 

 

I'm using MIG weathering powders in both rust and smoke to get started. Rust goes on first and don't be worried about how bright it is, the black will tone it down. The chassis itself won't look rusty as such, but just have that well worn, dry, dirty and oily look.

 

 

Next stage is toning it down with the black, which will leave just a hint of rust staining under the black around the bolt fixings.

 

 

Add the pickup plate without the wheels and once again apply the rust powder first and then the black.

 

 

 

The next stage is very much an experiment for me and could all end in disaster. What I wanted to achieve was a slightly dirty and oily appearance around the moving parts. I guess you could use a glossy acrylic, but I have chosen to use the tiniest amount of lubricating oil which is virtually dry brushed onto the areas that are likely to have an oily film, such as the springs and sides of the hornblocks. I really must stress this is a very tiny amount, no more, but the effect is what I wanted to achieve.

 

 

 

At this point I added the wheels ensuring the quartering was correct, particularly the two sets of powered drivers. Although these were painted with Precision Paints Dirty Black, I gave them a good powdering to finally finish them. The next pic shows the difference between the plain painted wheel and the powdered one. Final pic is the draft finish for the chassis.

 

Stage two will be adding the valve gear etc, weathering the tender and finally basic detailing and weathering the body itself.

 

I'd be very happy to receive constructive criticism or answer any questions you may have.

 

 

[Allegheny1600]

Hi Gordon,

WOW!!!!!

Your 9F chassis is looking really nice, my hat goes off to you, sir!

I am particularly impressed with your dry brushed oil technique - never would have thought of that personally but it looks great!

Did you give the chassis any 'fettling' before you started, as you did with the Ivatt 4? I would certainly like to get a little bit more flexibility into my 9F chassis and am contemplating this.

Can't wait to see the finished item.

Cheers,

John E.

[gordon s]

Right, stage 2. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin....

 

The body on the 9F is split horizontally into two parts with a separate chassis and valve gear. What I tend to do is to apply weathering powder to each part and then assemble them together so the colours and contrast of each part match up and become one.

 

Here's the bottom plate with the firebox and lower boiler. Once again I used a little rust followed by smoke, which gives the effect of a well worn, dirty surface, that in places has got very hot.

 

 

Next stage is the align the lower body to the main section and add some basic colouring, above and below the footplate, to ensure a finish that does not dramatically change between the two halves..

 

 

I use the smoke powder right along the top of the loco.

 

 

From most of the pics I have seen of 9F's there appears to be water staining on parts of the boiler. I'm not a great fan of the pure white streaks you sometimes see on models, so use a more subtle shade of Industrial Dirt. It may not be prototypical but is far less of a contrast. In any case the whole thing will be toned down as we go along.

 

 

Don't worry if you blacken out the numbers and windows of the loco. A slightly damp cotton bud will soon clean it up and give the impression that part of the loco has been wiped with a rag.

 

 

OK, back to the chassis, still without the wheels. I sprayed the valve gear completely with blackboard paint and providing you don't overdo it, the joints etc are all fine. Put this back in position, but once again you will see an obvious difference between the cylinders and the body. These need to be weathered so they match.

 

 

 

 

So now we've got the body parts in a reasonable shape, we add the wheels, pickup plate and assemble the valve gear. Once they are all together, check for free running and adjust if there are any tight spots. I just use a taper reamer to open up the conn rod holes by a few thou, not much more.

 

 

It's at this point I add the smoke weathering powder, mixed with oil. I can't stress enough this is virtually a dry brush technique. I have a small reasonably stiff brush and I put a drop or two on a non porous surface. I used the weights out of the tender. Wipe the brush across the oil drop and then wipe on the metal plate to remove any excess. I have been dipping a brush into the weathering powder and wiping this on a newspaper to reduce the amount on the brush. Just wipe the oily brush on the powder and wipe the valve gear. With any luck, it should end up looking like this.

 

 

Nearly finished.....Assemble all the bits together and attend to any mismatch in the weathering. Just the tender to do now plus the addition of all the detailing parts such as vacuum pipes, brake rods and screw link coupling to the front.

 

These last couple of pics show the progress so far. There's probably a bit more tweaking to do, but you can see it's starting to take shape. Still very much a work in progress..

 

 

[Taz]

Superb stuff Gordon.

 

You've really taken to this weathering lark like a duck to water.

[Pugsley]

You can do it very well B) B)

 

It's good to see that you're developing your own techniques so early on, as well.

[davidw]

Top marks

!

[mswjr]

The locos look ace mate, you make weathering look easy, think ill try it on something smaller and cheaper than a 9f, looks a lot of bits as well.

the only trouble weathering your locos that good is that youve got to weather all your stock, but it certaintly looks real makes me envious.

mswjr

[John B]

Terrific job, Gordon - even better than the Ivatt so far. Major thumbs-up, especially that valve gear.

[HerbertHopkins]

Very impressive, I particularly like the close up of the chassis, that oily sheen really brings it to life. I think you're a natural at this.

[gordon s]

Well we're getting nearer.....I 'spect you're all bored by now. For those who have staying power, here comes Stage 3...

 

OK. The techniques I have used on the tender and final brush up are very similar to those I used in Stage 1 & 2. MIG weathering powder, dry brush oil and weathering powder and blackboard matt paint. In this part we're going to apply our eye make up which just adds a little something.

 

Tender chassis. The old favourites rust, smoke and a little oil.

 

 

Strip out the plastic moulded coal and form a base from Platicard and add real coal to suit. Apply a mix of rust and smoke inside the coal area.

 

 

The main body of the tender is blackboard paint, and rust and smoke, although this time I have streaked it with a cotton bud and a little water. It just adds a little variation.

 

 

Under the tender I have applied oil, rust and smoke to give the brake rodding a little lift.

 

 

This is the assembled tender.

 

 

 

Right, make up time. This is from the Tamiya range and it comes in four sets, each with three colours. This one is orange rust, gun metal and silver. They are applied using the brush or foam pad. I used the foam pad and just wiped over those metal parts which would have a well worn, clean metal finish.

 

 

The ends of the control handles.

 

 

Front edge of the tender steps.

 

 

The access ladder.

 

 

Now 'tis time to put it together and see how it looks. It bright sunlight there are a few colours that need a little attention but overall we're getting nearer. Still need to add crew, screwlinks and vac pipes.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the compliments along the way. I'm very flattered as I truly have not done this before. I hope you're enjoying the journey, so give it a go. Using powders is great, as any mistakes can soon be covered over or washed off completely.

[PhilH]

Gordon, I touch my forelock to you (some of us can...) - that looks terrific!

[phixer64]

Wow, just gets better..

[Pete Piszczek]

The 9F really looks the part! Well done!

 

Just one question Gordon-

 

Are you planning on spraying a final finish on the model to seal it? Just curious, because I was wondering how durable the finish will be when the model is handled.

[gordon s]

The 9F really looks the part! Well done!

 

Just one question Gordon-

 

Are you planning on spraying a final finish on the model to seal it? Just curious, because I was wondering how durable the finish will be when the model is handled.

 

 

That's a interesting question Pete and brings me full circle. When I first played around with powders, I felt they definitely needed sealing, but I tried Dullcote over the top and it took away all the variances in shades. I asked the question on the web and the general concensus was not to seal them. To be honest I would rather seal them completely to avoid any deterioration in the finish, so if you have any ideas how it can be done, I'm all ears.

 

I managed to buy half a dozen cans of the original formula Dullcote before they changed it and have experimented. The strange thing is that I have seen some variance in finish. Sometimes it is pure matt and great and others have dried with a sheen. I think it is temperature variation and have read you should warm the can in warm water before spraying. This gives a much finer spray and then a matt finish.

 

Seems to make sense to me, so maybe I'll give that a try.

 

I'd welcome your ideas/suggestions as your own work is a benchmark I want to get near.

[eldavo]

Super job Gordon. It really does look like a big heavy dirty machine. You should be well chuffed.

 

Cheers

Dave

[mswjr]

Yep just lovely really looks good , after reading and seeing this im going to try and weather using powders , only done paint before as MARTIN WELSHS book ,but your article is giving me some great insperation.

mswjr

[gordon s]

I've been asked about decoder fitment, so this is what I do. The 9F is fairly well weighted, but I wanted to add some more. Up front I've made a small plastic tub and filled it with Liquid Lead. Plenty of dripped on Superglue has held all the lead in place and the tub will sit on between the cylinders where I ground off the pips at the outset.

 

 

I've also added some lead strip to the groove of the motor housing and cut some small strips of lead to go at the back of the firebox.

 

 

I'm using a Zimo MX64 which just fits behind the cab bulkhead and is tipped at an angle over the lead strip. The angle follows the line of the bulkhead and will then slip under the main body. Hope that helps...

 

[Tim Lewis]

Very nice weathering job. Where do you get the blackboard paint? (Don't think you've mentioned this?)

[gordon s]

It was pure chance. I went to my local hardware shop to get some blackboard paint for painting the inside of the tunnels on Eastwood Town layout. I was pleased the way it covered and flowed so when I decided to attempt weathering a loco, I tried some in my airbrush. It needed very little, if any thinning and dried almost as soon as it hit the loco body. I like what I saw, so carried on using it.

 

It's made by Rustins and is about £3.50 - £4.50 per 250ml tin. A quick search found this possible supplier. (No link to company)

 

http://www.toolbank.com/p/RUSQDBB250/C11189

[ColinW]

Hi Gordon,

 

The weathering job you have done there is superb, as well as the one on the Ivatt.

 

Colin

[iak]

What a splendid "crap" heap

That is very impressive looking weathering sir - bravo...

Do you use a lot of ZIMO decoders mind? That looks a dinky wee beast you've use here.

[Ron61]

Awesome job, absolutely brilliant! It goes without saying that, as a relative "newbie", I don't think that I would ever have the confidence [or dexterity] to attempt such a transformation.

[gordon s]

What a splendid "crap" heap

That is very impressive looking weathering sir - bravo...

Do you use a lot of ZIMO decoders mind? That looks a dinky wee beast you've use here.

 

 

Thanks for all the compliments again, guys. I'm really pleased. I used to use Lenz Gold decoders as I had every intention of using Lenz equipment and block detection. I started down that route and found that life was too short and I'd never get the layout done, so abandoned the idea. This was also the time that Lenz gear became very hard to get, so I switched to Zimo and I must say the running quality is even better. They are a similar price, so no, not cheap, but very good.

 

I used a MX64 in the 9F, but now this little baby has come out. It's the MX630 and so much smaller than the MX64 and perfect for hiding inside steam loco's. I've now standardised on Zimo and will be replacing older decoders, mostly Lenz 1025's and TCS M1's as and when funds allow. The smaller decoder is not out of focus, it has a protective plastic sleeve encasing the decoder.

 

Edit: Just went to programme the decoder and the one shown in the 9F pic is a Lenz Silver not an MX64. I will change it over if there are any running issues. The one shown below is definitely a MX64 with the MX630 for comparison.

 

[Alex]

Have to say weathering is top notch.

will be pinchin a few ideas from you mate

[Chris_C]

The 9f looks fantastic. Really really good, amazing for a first, well, second attempt.

I have used the 'real oil' idea before, and I was also pleased with how it looked. however, you have persuaded me to go out and buy some MIG powders.

I look forward to more of your work, and I'm sure that other would also appreciate it if you posted a step by step how to again. I found this extremely useful

I don't suppose you fancy dirtying up a diesel next?

 

As for the blackboard paint, I think that Wilkinsons sell it. Did you have to thin it much to airbrush it on?

 

Cheers

 

Chris