It's been a bit quiet on the blog, but not on Wednesford.  I've turned my attention to weathering,  I had a go at weathering some rolling stock with Tamiya weathering pigments, which my brother had pointed me in the direction of.  I've really enjoyed weathering using these powders, although my brother has pointed out that ladies face paint is a similar pigment but can be bought at a fraction of the price.  It seems that rust, road dirt, toilet effluvia and brake block dust are this year's eye shadow on trend shades, although I don't suppose they have that name in the world of cosmetics.  Also, Goths and the like seem to have cornered the market in oil soot and coal dust eyeliner, so I decided to buy a couple of packs of two dozen suitable eyeshades for less than the cost of one pack of modelling pigment.  I'll try them out on a variety of scrap bodies to see how they work, and will report back.  The other idea I had was for weathering the track ballast.  I had used a mix of black, brown and grey to simulate old weathered ballast but it still didn't look right to me.  So, I thought I'd try an experiment with the powdered paint pigments you buy for children, a black and a "brown", which I figured I could brush on, but because I'm not handling the track, leave neat without fixing, which is a requirement for rolling stock to stop the pigment powder wearing off or smudging.

Having received the two pots of powder paint pigment, ordered in 200g pots from the Bay of Tat from a seller called "Mr Chips", I found the black is actually more charcoal, whilst the "brown" was actually almost a red sandstone colour, and I suspect they are natural pigments. I tried the "brown" neat but it looked more like a sand spill so I mixed one part black with two parts brown and got the shade I wanted. I applied the pigment neat, using a combination of brushes including old toothbrushes which really got into the ballast and spread the pigment nicely.  Overall, I can recommend paint pigment as a track ballast weathering medium, it's cheap, easy to use and if you gradually build up combinations or mixes of pigments can give a really good, dusty dirty effect.

The "brown" pigment.  More a sandy colour

The black, which is slightly more charcoal.  Both are very natural shades which is perfect for use neat.  Some poster paints can be very artificial.

One part black to two parts "brown" gave a nice brake block - toilet effluvia dust effect

A trial patch of the brown "neat".  A bit too red for brake block weathering



A quick brush of the black along the centre of the tracks, using an old toothbrush, gives a nice dusty effect



A heavier application of the black on approach to the station where you would expect more oil dropping, and it also helps give a neglected feel to the platform road.

The mixed brown and black brushed over the trackbed on the curve.  I think I could do with adding another layer of black over the top 

the station approach with the mixed brown and black added to the outside ballast shoulders.

Over the next few days I'll add the pigment powder to the main line trackbeds.