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About this blog

A record of weathering work, intended to show both good and bad results, including explanations of what is used and how.

Entries in this blog

Weathering

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1. Step 5 - Finishing Off.

A dampened cotton swab is used to gently rub away the Dullcote from the glazing. The dampening is not achieved by dipping the swab into the white spirit, but by adding a drop from a brush or pipette to the end of the swab. If you're not careful, though, you'll take the Dullcote off the surrounds, as well!       I've achieved my aim with this model at this point, but I did go on to add another colour of pigment before adding a photograph to my flickr photostream.  
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1. Step 4 - Pigment Application 2.

The remainder of the vehicle is now treated to a complete cover layer of pigment. The bodywork receives just a thin layer, but the underparts have two layers and the wheel hubs even more. If the matt finish won't accept any more pigment then I apply another layer of Dullcote and repeat the exercise. Areas to receive more varnish can be easily masked with a couple of strategically placed pieces of card.              
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1. Step 3 - Pigment Application 1.

Now for the pigment application. Gloss paint and shiny plastic will not take pigment, it just slides off. My approach is to apply a layer of something that will give a matt surface for the pigment to 'grip'. My preference is Testor's Dullcote, and that is because it works, it is consistent in its form and application, and I have plenty of it. There are many matt varnishes that will do the job, though, so if you have a favourite there is no reason not to use it.   The Land Rover has had
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1. Step 2 - Dark Wash Removal

A wash as used in this example is a very thin enamel paint and thus has a lower concentration of pigment versus carrier. This results in a less dense coverage and means that manipulation is easy. I use this to advantage by wiping off what I consider to be excess or just moving it around the surface at various stages during its drying out. In this case I have waited a couple of hours for the carrier to evaporate and it has left a very soft pigment layer on the shiny paint finish. A soft coton swa
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1. Step 1 - Dark Wash

Diecast models in 1/76th scale do not have very finely detailed surfaces, mainly because of the depth of paint on them. This means that capillary action does not work as well as it does on plastic models or larger scale diecast ones. The purpose of the wash in this case is to highlight what detail is visible and also to introduce some false shadows to give a little apparent depth to panels.   Using a rigger brush to apply the wash, even though capillary action is not going to work all
Weathering

Oxford Diecast 1/76th Land Rover Series 1 - Introduction

Another Land Rover.   This time it's one that will ultimately appear somewhere in the scenery of Easton, Isle of Portland. The idea of this entry is to show what methods can be used to produce a facsimile of a working vehicle without covering up all the detail yet still make it look rather grubby. In keeping with previous examples there will not be very much used of any of the materials utilised.   Preparation consists of checking that the tyres are on the wheels concentricly
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Rails/Dapol SE&CR Diag 1424 Box Van

The roof.   In its pure, unadulterated, white and irregular/asymmetric form the roof will be loved by some and not by others. The markings are really strange and on my sample really can be seen from three feet away. Once covered with my favourite very light airbrushed wash for white roofs it takes on a life of its own:     There is nothing for it but to completely repaint it, so I've chosen Railmatch Roof Dirt. If I eventually want to vary the shade sightly, I'll u
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Rails/Dapol SE&CR Diag 1424 Box Van

The sides of this van are similar on texture to the ends, although I have to say that the vertical striations on the plank surfaces are not as noticable. The use of a wash was rejected because of the reaction when doing the ends, so the plan was to use pigment(s) on one side and thinned wash applied like paint to the other.   The starting point:       A thinned wash (MIG Productions Dark Wash) applied with a damp (as opposed to wet) wide flat shader diagonally
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Rails/Dapol SE&CR Diag 1424 Box Van

Attacking one end with my standard wash on a rigger method produced this:     Just as I expected, capillary action has taken the wash into wrong places as well as right ones. The striations are at right angles to the detail that I want to highlight, so all may not be lost. I may still be able to remove the unwanted material by dragging the wash downwards with a damp brush. I tried it but met with limited success:     The edge of the roof at this end has
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Rails/Dapol SE&CR Diag 1424 Box Van

When tackling weathering subjects I usually start with the underparts and this is no exception, as you have already seen.   The Dullcote application has given a good matt finish for the pigment to be applied. I have used MIG Productions (now Abteilung 502) Dark Mud in this instance and although it has produced a very slightly textured finish it has not hidden the striations completely, which is pretty much as I expected.         On the other side of the v
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Rails/Dapol SE&CR Diag 1424 Box Van

This model will present several challenges to my approach to weathering. It is 3D printed, so there will be print layer striations to deal with, and the capillary action that I rely upon to highlight detail will, I am sure, not work very well if at all.   When Rails announced the first run of this type of model, I hummed and hahed for too long. They sold out before I decided to do anything positive about it and when the second run was announced I plumped for a pair of SR liveried ones.
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

3
Weathering

Bachmann C Class - Video Version

I have created a YouTube channel in an attempt to illustrate methods of weathering rolling stock and other model railway related items.   The first entry is available for viewing, created in the form of a playlist so that one step at a time can be selected.    
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

3
Weathering

Dapol Mogul 6324

No blow-by-blow account for this subject, just a photograph of the end result.   Airbrushed Railmatch Frame Dirt for the underparts, with Weathered Black addded for the sides and ends. Weathered Black for the tops of smokebox, boiler and cab, with Mig Productions Black Smoke pigment on the smokebox and cab roof. Small quantities of Mig Productions Industrial City Dirt, Dark Mud and Track Brown in appropriate places around and about and some AMMO by Mig Fresh Engine Oil on the coupling/
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

White Coach Roof Weathering

I have been asked, and sometimes see questions, about weathering colouring of white coach roofs. I have ploughed through books and looked at photographs and decided that in the days when such roofs were in mainline service they discoloured fairly evenly and quite quickly. I have seen many references to such roofs in preserved service and it seems to me that they do not weather in the same way because their use differs.   This is a personal view!   I have attempted to replicat
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

5
Weathering

Accurascale O Gauge HUO/HOP24 (Not HOP21) Variations

The fourth one, almost completed. Things left to do are random small rust spots, painting the tops of the strengthening ribs and removing some of the grot on the various levers to reveal the white paint.   Only when looking at the photograph did I notice that this one has no footsteps at the left-hand end of the solebars.       Then there was one.  
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Accurascale O Gauge HUO/HOP24 (Not HOP21) Variations

It occurred to me that I could do something about making initial airbrushing tasks a bit easier with these models. Most of the photographs that I have been working from show much corrosion on the strengthening ribs all around the hopper body, and for the first couple of examples I airbrushed these freehand and didn't worry too much about the slight overspray that got onto the panels. For the third example I cut out a piece of 2mm greyboard to use as a mask that would allow me to airbrush just th
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Accurascale O Gauge HUO/HOP24 (Not HOP21) Variations

Two members of a set of 5 Accurascale hoppers to be finished differently. A bit of a challenge, but I thought that if I tackled each one completely separately I ought to be in with a chance of success.   I selected the paints and pigments before I started and will restrict what I use to just those choices.   Railmatch Sleeper Grime Railmatch Roof Dirt AMMO Dark Earth pigment AMMO Russian Earth pigment Revell Matt Enamel No. 84 MIG Dark Mud pigment
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

10
Weathering

Dapol O Gauge Jinty

A touch-up job this time. A friend had fitted sound, crew, coal and working lamp to this Jinty and removed paint from the coupling rods and brake gear in doing so.  A half-cupful of Railmatch sleeper grime, weathered black and matt black soon sorted out that little problem.  
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

0
Weathering

Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

Who hangs on to old tins of paint, wherein gloopy remains stick to the bottom? I have an old tin of Humbrol 27004 Metalcote Gunmetal, most of which was used for airbrushing onto wheels and smokeboxes in a black/gunmetal mixture. During a search for suitable buffer head grease I found that the otherwise unusable pigment that remained in the bottom of an improperly closed tinlet had an interesting property. A lump of this goo was attached to a buffer head, smeared about a bit and left to dry. Once
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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Weathering

Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

Almost there now. Some MIG Dark Mud pigment has been used to indicate the beginnings of surface corrosion on the chimney, and some Gunmetal metallic pigment has been used to indicate the beginnings of shiny handrail portions in the most used areas. Small amounts are crucial to the success of this type of effect. All pigment applications were done with a filbert brush.   Only one more day to go.    
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

3
Weathering

Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

A dark mix of Railmatch Weathered Black and Frame Dirt has been airbrushed over the top of the boiler, the cab roof and the driving wheel centres. This is to represent the soot present on the former two and the oil on the latter. The photograph that I have been using as a reference shows a much more marked contrast between the wheel rims and the wheel centres, but it does not look quite right to my eye so I have reduced the contrast by using a slightly darker shade of brown.   Black Sm
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

3
Weathering

Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

A layer of Sleeper Grime/Frame Dirt mixture was prepared for airbrushing the sides, using more than the usual amount of white spirit. I wanted to be able to apply very thin layers, even thinner than my usual approach. Why a mixture of the two colours? Laziness, basically. My pot of one was empty and I couldn't be bothered to find another. The two colours are so similar that I didn't think it would matter.   The whole of both sides and ends was given a thin application of this mixture a
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

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