Andy's Plop Shop

[Andrew F]

Hello There!

 

As the summer's here I've decided to have a go with some loco's downstairs, painting,decals,weathering and other fun.

I'm a total novice having just sprayed three vehicles at the end of last year. I was down-hearted with the results and shelved the projects, the main problems were using a too dark primer for the yellow warning panels, bad masking and filled in detail...yep, everything!

Well, I've T-cutted the 'Railmatch' green on these and I'm pleased with the glossy finish and just maybe, once they're weathered, the yellow won't look so bad.

The main idea for me is to acheive subtly weathered loco's but with glossy work-worn paint showing underneath as I don't really like the satin and matt finish paintwork on rtr models. Also I want the models to look like they are built from metal and have seen some use; no mean feat!

 

The Gloucester 100 twin has aluminuium shells and the paint polishes up quite nice

I'm not looking forward to putting lining on it. I can't even source any straw lining decals at the moment. Any ideas?

 

The Lima Class 27 is an experiment to try to re-create bodyside rippling where the loco's ribs are showing through the outer skin. The approximate location of the subframe was marked on in pencil and then scratched away at either side with a craft knife and other areas were sanded down too.

The idea is for sunset style photo's.

 

I plan to use HMRS methsfix decals on the 27 and pressfix HMRS white lining but I don't like the idea of using varnish as my dodgy airbrushing has filled in details already.

Would it be OK to weather using emulsions and water colours followed by a Matt Acrylic varnish? I'm thinking of this method followed by T-cutting it back for the areas that I still want a shine on.

 

Any help or comments would be appreciated

 

Thanks

 

Andy

[Guest Max Stafford]

Well, you've certainly made a dramatic entrance with these Andy! That Gloucester will get the attention of many on this forum who model ScR! The 'rippled skin' effect on the 27 is superb and I among others would greatly appreciate a 'show and tell' - that really is an enormously convincing special effect you have managed to create there!

Nice '60s avatar too!

 

Dave.

[Steve K]

That bodyside rippling is very effective - the underskin crossmembers really show up well in the "sunset" conditions you've created. Can you give a little more detail on how you created the impression of a frame beneath the skin?

[Will Vale]

Another fan of your rippling here - I tried doing some battered wagons using heat, but it was really hard to control. Carving and sanding looks to produce a much better result, I'll have to give that a try at some point.

 

Will

[Jon020]

Andrew, I think that you've hit on something here. That bodyside rippling appears most effective. It's all very well and good dirtying locos to get a "used" look but to get a similar feeling of realism with a clean bodyside screams out for this effect. Please - show and tell... I feel some work on my next Deltic will follow your approach.

Good luck with the finishing and I look forward to reading further posts.

Jon

[coachmann]

We used to laugh about building Tenders with ripple effect for realism because we knew they would be unacceptable to most people who expect 'perfect' models. Andy has created something here and I too look forward to seeing how the framing behind the outer skin was done.

[Jamie]

 

Would it be OK to weather using emulsions and water colours followed by a Matt Acrylic varnish? I'm thinking of this method followed by T-cutting it back for the areas that I still want a shine on.

 

 

Firstly that looks excellent work on the 27, and a reminder on how decent the Lima moulding was as a basis for work.

 

What you propose as quoted above, is something I've considered, but so far haven't tried. My fear was that whilst a matt paint finish would polish up, a matt varnish might either need to be pretty thick, or may just wear through and leave a sharp division between matt and gloss.

 

I wonder if an alternative approach of thinly building up a gloss where you want it over a matt basis would be easier to feather out.

[Andrew F]

Cheers lads! The 27 picture does flatter the model though.

 

Jamie. I could do with a wee word with you. It was probably looking at your 27's the other day that's spurred me on; exquisite weathering! What is the salmon coloured discharge that appears to originate from behind the roof fan grille? It features in many of the pictures of 27's in the books I have but only the Green loco's.

I can't get my head around the gloss and matt's and which one to rub or use as a base just yet. I need a day or two on this forum with a notebook I think.

A rippled Deltic would be great Jon and some intensive work I would imagine. Those little dents they got on the curve of the nose top would be great too.

 

The ripples on this 27 were easily done.

photo's from a preserved railway would be a good source for inspiration. My favourite colour books are the Ian Allen ones. The little Derek Cross book and the big Verden Anderson

After marking with a pencil where the underframe would be (not sure exactly where they would be, just guessing from pics) I used a small Excel/Exacto handle with long blade (side on) to scratch the main diagonals and verticals and a little to the side to give the impression of the bars behind the bodyside (not too much, just enough to fool the eye).

 

 

With more smaller verticals added:

 

Probably best to work in a dark room with an angle-poise lamp because it's really hard to know how much or how agressive are the scratchings.

Same view in normal light

Using various abrasive papers...erm I think about 120 down to at least 400 grit (wet) the aggresive nature of the shaving is smoothed out (not enough in this case ) and they all begin to flow and be rounded together

It would maybe have been better to have made the smaller scratches a bit taller and less pocky/denty, oh and possibly more numerous.

Then Halfords primer followed by Railmatch Enamel and then T-cut and a suitably blurred shot to prove it worked

It's actually very difficult to photograph the reflective qualities and get a clear shot with the right lighting but it should make for a lot a photographic opportunities in the future If I manage to weather it Ok.

 

Cheers

 

Andy

[Jamie]

Jamie. I could do with a wee word with you...

Any time, and thanks I'm going to have to try what you're doing here sometime.

 

What is the salmon coloured discharge that appears to originate from behind the roof fan grille? It features in many of the pictures of 27's in the books I have but only the Green loco's.

I can't get my head around the gloss and matt's and which one to rub or use as a base just yet. I need a day or two on this forum with a notebook I think.

 

I asked the same when I did the 'dirty' one of my pair. I thought it looked like emulsified oil, but the consensus said coolant, which makes sense. What the ScR did to stop it sometime in the '70s I don't know, but it is distinctive. It's also unclear exactly where it exits the bodyshell.

 

There's a brief post here on the old forum with a wee spiel on the matt:gloss effects, and representing the coolant spill on mine:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=779073#p779073

[Pugsley]

Wow, that 27 is incredibly effective! B) B) B) I've been thinking about this for a while now with regard to my 7mm 37, experimented a bit with a couple of techniques but couldn't find anything that worked to my satisfaction - I'm definitely going to give your method a try.

[Bangor Lad]

That ripple effect looks really impressive. I seem to remember an article in 'Finescale Modeller' a US publication about using the same technique on aircraft. Haven't had the guts to have a go but steam era modelling in N gauge doesn't really provide the same opportunities!

 

BL

[Guest Phil]

Thanks Andrew for sharing this very interesting project with us.

 

Firstly the Gloucester class 100 - hmmm very desireable. I'm guessing it's an MTK "kit".

 

The distressed panelling on your 27 is very good and is actually taking "modern image" modelling up a level IMHO. I've seen plenty of examples of how people cut and shut, stick all manner of fine detail, then magnificent paint and weathering, but bodyside ripples wow !!!

 

Great stuff.

 

I'm fascinated to think of what Pugsley is going to do to his O gauge 37 now !!!

[Guest Phil]

One thing I want to ask Andrew - The ScR tended to modify the 27s with a rectangular opening with or without the bodyside window in it. I always thought it was the window in the bodyside door which received this treatment but yours is different. Maybe they were different on either side of the loco ?

 

 

Thanks again

[Guest Phil]

A link to one of Geoff's excellent piccies for someone seeking prototypical inspiration

 

http://geoff-plumb.fotopic.net/p54684053.html

[Andrew F]

A brilliant photo there Phil! The frame is far more complex than the pictures I used suggest and it appears that the panels are spot-welded from the inside causing heat distortion. A marathon pin-vice modelling session required for that

I'm glad you've linked that picture as it's definately one I'll use in future.

That body side window cut-out I just copied from a picture in W.J Verden Anderson's 'Diesels in Scotland'. I've not got any technical information just yet.

This Lima 27 is just a practice experiment and the Craftman detail etchings for the roof grilles sit way too low and aren't honeycombed anyway. After browsing Jamie's excellent link to his 27's from the old forum, I kind of had another look at the Lima one .

Oh, by the way, the 100 twin is an MTK (well, No-nonsense-kit, ex MTK.) and needs a lot of work yet.

Thanks Phil!

Going back to Jamie's old thread. The matt/gloss finish thing cleared up in my head, I immediately went to work with the T-cut. Thanks Jamie! Your dirty 27 has convincing body work without drastic body alterations. Excellent work!! I hope you don't mind me blatently using your methods. I tried the T-cut on the upper parts of the body of a Bachmann 24:

Before:

After:

To me it looks like a nice model has now becomes a more realistic model before weathering.

The Bachmann satin finish is harder to T-cut than the Heljan finish and although the printed decals are pretty tough, T-cut will remove them if you're not careful or if you want to.

As Jamie found, paint will adhere better to the satin finish leaving you to polish up the glossier areas.

I used Humbrol enamels, brush painted on the 24 and a Bachmann 37 that had been T-cutted also.

I'm happy with these attempts. They need finishing off with the airbrush I reckon and a few bits need tidying.

The paint job is quite poor close up though:

Finger prints. etc cruel. Does thinned enamel ever dry?

 

Thanks for following. Advice/critism and ideas much appreciated.

 

Andy

[Jamie]

Yes, they're looking the part, 5087 particularly.

 

Where this technique poses problems is in renumbering. Typically, one would spray varnish to seal the new decals, but this instantly creates a uniform gloss, satin or matt finish, losing all one's hard work. It may be possible to locally varnish them with an airbrush (my experience is that patch-varnishing by brush looks dire!), but I've settled for using a very thin wash of the weathering coat alone to seal. This has proved fine with reasonably careful handling.

[James Hilton]

I've always wondered if this would be possible in 4mm - and thought 'nah, it would look naff'... however your results in the Lima Class 27 are superb! Great modelling - I look forward to seeing this finished

[Guest Max Stafford]

Andy, I imagine you may have already done this by now, but I think it would be worth your while to run some dark washes over the bogies of these locos which will create further depth. Below is what I use and they do the same thing in other shades for different applications.

 

http://www.netmerchants.co.uk/product.php/12769/430/dark_wash

 

 

Dave.

[Rugd1022]

Wow Andy, this is certainly inspirational stuff.... those models look like 'locos' to me!!

 

Your rippling technique is one to be remembered! The small Sulzers were particularly prone to this and you've captured their character perfectly. Love the T-cut work on the 24 too, must try it out some time.

 

Nidge

[Southernboy]

Excellent work on that 27 Andy: I know you've been thinking about how to achieve this effect for some while - and your quiet perseverance has certainly paid off. You've really pushed the boundary!

[Andrew F]

Thanks Dave, Nidge and Mark

 

That's the sort of help I'm looking for Dave. I hadn't thought of a dark wash afterwards; that would get into the corners and would make sense.

There's not been a lot of progress to be honest and the only thing I've done recently is T-cut some Bachmann Mk1's.

 

What I have found (it's probably been covered on the forum) with regards to T-cutting rtr stock that has lining and printed decals is that it's possible to rub over the decal/lining with the cloth in a fairly dry state or rather, at the 'cutting' stage. A cloth wet with T-cut will lift rtr decals very easily and any wet T-cut left on a decal for more than a few seconds will result in the decal being swifly removed next time the cloth rubs it, which is perhaps a more effective way of removing unwanted numbering etc, than using a fibre pen .

To be safe it's worth cutting a slither of Tamiya masking tape to cover the length of something like a straw/black coach line and rubbing the T-cut cloth horizontally down the length of the tape to give a shine to the paint on each side of the line.

I'm not sure if it's down to the variables of T-cut viscosity, but I've found some decals more resilliant than others by the same manufacturer.

 

Cheers

 

Andy

[Andrew F]

I've had a go at weathering some rtr steam loco's. Despite my inspiration of G. Morrisons 55A Heyday colourbook, I wanted some shine and Scottish niceness so yeah.

 

I had a go with an old V2; washing a Ravell gloss black onto the flanks to see what would happen. Actually I T-cutted both Hornby loco's first but they just still looked plasticky. I got some tips and the bits for the A3 from Max Stafford. I was mesmerised by his shiny and dirty loco's and from then I wanted to do something similar. I used  the gloss black rather than the oil wash that he uses(can't find that stuff). You can add more gloss to the wash in certain dark areas of course, and then finish with some powders or a quick blast from the airbrush....I rubbed some of the piping off and had to hide that mistake with the airbrush.

The loco's are finished off with powders, thinner and dry application.

I've been working on these so long, I don't know if they're good or not. At least they're better than that abortion of  a 37 I did.

 

Cheers

 

Andy

[Jon020]

Andy,

I'm no expert when it comes to the subject, but streuth! They're lovely. Superb effect... that A4 and A3 especially ! What technique did you use for the A4 nose and body top?

Jon

[Andrew F]

Yes, me neither Jon. I just blew the nose and body top with matt grey and brushed on some Carrs or Mig powders. I think I mixed the powders with white spirit and manipulated it once dry. I find the Mig thinners far too aggressive and it lifts the bottom paint coats.

  Powders tend to stick better to matt varnish but when feathering powder into surrounding paintwork, things can get a bit blotchy with the varnish. I'm a bit scepticle about the longevetiy of powders anyway and when I've sprayed varnish ontop of the powders they lose their dusty effect and darken far too much. Maybe it's time to experiment with some blackboard paint as I've seen some great results on here.

 

Here's a couple more I've been messing with. Two A2's

One sneeze and it's back to square one

 

Cheers

 

Andy