Just a quick update on the various steelworks internal user wagons on my workbench. The Workington scrap bogie opens have made it as far as the paintshop - all three have had a good blast of grey primer. I have also splayed out the sides on the wagons as per the prototype photos. The next stage will be painting (in "rust" livery) followed by some fairly severe weathering with a mixture of dry brushing and powders.

Two of the wagons will be finished in a fairly poor condition, but I've really gone to town on one with bent bits of reinforcing angle, splayed sides, dents etc. I'll post further images of the painting and weathering process.

Secondly, I've not sprayed the rapid prototyped wagon body shown in my last update. The paint shows up the ribbed finish which is an unfortunate side-effect of the layering method the rapid prototyping machine uses to build up the model. However, it doesn't take long with some wet and dry paper to get a smooth surface finish. In the photo below, the central panel has been rubbed down whilst the rest are yet to be treated. I suspect the rivets won't survive the rubbing down process, and will need to be added afterwards. Whilst this is disappointing, the whole idea of the wagon bodies was to find out what is and what isn't possible using the process.