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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

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

6
Weathering

A Pannier

There's no step-by-step account for this one, just a summary of what's been done with what. My close-up camera is off for servicing, so these were taken with the standby.   Underframe airbrushed with Railmatch Frame Dirt, then sides with a mix of Frame Dirt and Weathered Black. Top surfaces and cab front and back airbrushed with a darker mix of Frame Dirt and Weathered Black. Wheel centres and coupling rod joints were given a quick waft of Weathered Black.   The tank and cab
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

6

Hornby Peckett 0-6-0ST 'Westminster'. Step 3 - Chassis 1.

Before starting work on the chassis, some protection is needed for the fragile whistle on the cab roof. I learned the hard way from working on the Peckett 0-4-0STs that these break off with only the slightest touch. The locomotive will be inverted in a foam cradle for chassis painting, so a large lump of BluTack is used to prevent the whistle from touching the cradle.     To help with the application of paint to the coupling rods and motion I usually position the wheels so t
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

6

Hornby Peckett 0-6-0ST 'Westminster'. Step 2 - Dullcote..

There will be some weathering powders (pigments) applied to 'Westminster'  at a later stage, so some preparation is being done to ensure that the particles stay put once applied. My preferred medium is Testor's Dullcote, so off we go. . . . . .    I'm protecting the underframe in this particular instance, mainly because the detail there will be highlighted using an airbrush and enamel paint, to which pigments 'stick' well enough without help. I've shown the components inside the spray
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

6

Peckett W4 No. 883. Step 1.

In much the same way as D3721 was started, the loco is upside down in a foam cradle and has been airbrushed with Railmatch Sleeper Grime, the enamel version. The wheels were rotated 1/4 turn after each light spray so that there were no shadow areas behind wheels or motion. This process also helps the pickup wipers to clear the wet paint from the rear of the wheels if any strays that far.   The airbrush in use this time is an Iwata HP-SB Plus, one of my two favourites, which allows me t
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5
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

Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

A full story for this subject - I remembered to take photographs with my newly serviced camera while doing it. The plan is to weather it in a used but serviced condition, working from a photograph in a book from my reference library.   I'll be using a selection of materials from my usual stock and will hopefully remember to introduce them as the steps progress. Being a small engine it sits quite comfortably on the painting turntable.   Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll b
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

5
Weathering

A Pair of Bulleids

Two recently completed tasks, one rebuilt Battle of Britain and one unrebuilt West Country.       The camera has gone away for a jolly good seeing to so, with any luck, normal service will be resumed soon.   The same colours have been used for both of these locomotives. See if you can work out what they were.
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick in Weathering

5

Hornby Peckett 0-6-0ST 'Westminster'. Step 4 - Chassis 2.

There is more than one way to weather wheels!   For this project I have chosen to show how to use a 9 volt battery to turn the wheels a quarter of a revolution at a time to avoid paint-less shadows behind the connecting rods and motion assembly.   The sequence of photographs should demonstrate how successive light coats of paint can be applied after each quarter revolution to cover up these areas.             Yo
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5

Hornby Peckett 0-6-0ST 'Westminster'. Step 1 - Cleaning.

In order to establish just how much grease needed to be removed, the chassis keeper plate was unscrewed and the result was:     All this was tackled with a cocktail stick and some clean paper towels. Even though lots og grease was removed, there was still a plentiful layer left to lubricate all the moving parts. I thought I'd better check the top end of the transmission mechanism as well, and found this:       Back to work with the cocktail stick an
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5

PDK Maunsell L1 class 4-4-0 No. 1783. Step 4 - The Sides.

The aibrush now turns to the sides of the locomotive and has been loaded with a mix of frame dirt and weathered black. The former is prominent - only a small amount of the latter has been added to the mix. A very light coat has been sprayed along the bodywork and immediately manipulated by brushing downwards with a dry 1/2" flat shader. The paint was drying fairly quickly and the use of a dry brush moved it downwards inconsistently. The result is a deliberately uneven layer of dirt.  
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5

GWR 70' Post Office Sorting Van - Step 5. The Underframe.

The panels and the rest of the sides are now completed, and it's time to attend to the underframe. The shade of black used to paint the underparts represents a fairly worn state, so the only work required is to add something to break up the evenness of colour. Once again, AK Interactive Dark Earth pigment is used for this in the main, but some small amounts of MIG Productions Russian Earth were used as well. When looking at the carriage through a camera lens the difference is barely noticeable,
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5

Accurascale O Gauge HUO. Step 6 - The Rust Gets a Hold.

The old rust application is now finished. Greater volume of pigment (although still only small quantities at a time) has been applied in corners and at edges, and now it is time to add a different tone of rust where more recent corrosion is taking place. For this stage I am using MIG Dark Mud. Once again, small quantities at a time and gentle application, building up the effect gradually.   You'll have noticed that there is plenty to do on the underframe.    
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5

Bachmann Air-Braked Vans - Summary.

And finally . . . .   Here's a photograph of the two vans together, so that you can see the similarities and differences between them.     Very little material has been used on both subjects but, nonetheless, the effects have produced vehicles that have been in use for some time and suffered the ravages of time and weather. Both would probably benefit from some more work on the roof, but that would merely be an additional thin coat or two of Dark Wash, left to dry
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5

Bachmann COV AB / VDA van. Preparation.

The plan is to use a dark wash and a couple of pigments to replicate as much of the dirt as possible that can be seen in the photograph. There may need to be some additions as I progress, but they will be identified as and when appropriate.      
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5

A Land Rover Series 1 of indeterminate length. Step 9. Summary.

That's all I plan to do with this subject, remembering that it was an exercise in weathering for as little cost as possible/practical.   I have attempted to clear an area of windscreen where the wiper would have cleaned, but on reflection (!) that was not such a good idea. The wheels were only made muddy on one side.     Just for comparison, the topic started here:   http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/2349/entry-21469-a-land-rover-seri
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5

A Land Rover Series 1 of indeterminate length. Step 2. Wash.

The first thing done with high gloss diecast models is to add the wash, if dirty areas are to be depicted. It's done at this stage because enamel washes work very well on a high gloss surface. Using the rigger brush and my trusty Mig Productions Dark Wash (because I can't find the one I bought to do the original Land Rover!) I've added fluid to all the corners, edges, lumps and bumps to highlight detail and prepare for dirty areas. Note that there are many blobs and runs that look a right mess.
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5

Peckett W4 No. 883. Step 5.

It's all been left to dry properly for 36 hours.   To represent well worn but properly maintained underparts, a layer of AK Interactive Fresh Engine Oil has been brushed onto the rods and wheels. This fluid has some strange characteristics in that it will react with not-quite-dry enamels and make them wrinkly (maybe I should not get quite so close to the bottle in future ). Once again, to keep the applied layer even and consistent, the wheels were rotated during the process with the P
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

5

GWR 70' Post Office Sorting Van - Step 3. Applying the Pigment.

Very small amounts of pigment are placed, using the tip of the brush, into the panel edges to create a strong shadow effect. At first the effect will be too strong, but later work will reduce the contrast. Because the pigment will go everywhere if given the chance, the work area is being kept as clean as I can possibly make it. When working on the panels the vehicle is laid on its side, and if there is any excess pigment lying on the paper towel, it will transfer itself to the coach side when ap
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

4

Accurascale Cemflo. Step 4 - Encrustation 2.

The idea of using the Dullcote is to create a quick-drying sticky surface upon which the pigment can be plonked. Sorry for being technical.   No attempt has been made to be careful where the pigment goes because the Dullcote dries very fast, and the pigment needs to land on it while it's still wet. You would have been amused had you been able to see me struggling to spray Dullcote, plonk (sorry again) pigment and take a photograph all in the space of 10 seconds.    It looks a
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

4

Accurascale O Gauge HUO. Step 9 - Interior Afterthought.

I mentioned in the beginning that this blog would record good and bad. Here is an example of the latter.   You have probably noticed an absence of interior shots for this hopper. Firstly, it didn't turn out as I wanted it and, secondly, the photographs are completely out of focus.   You can verify that now:    
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

4

Peckett W4 No. 883. Step 9.

Final step. Some Mig Productions Dark Mud has been added to the firebox sides that show through the frames under the cab to represent the rusty state of that area, but it's difficult to see in photographs. The whole locomotive has been subjected to cleaning up and running tests to make sure that all pickup surfaces are clear of paint. This is achieved by wiping the surfaces with a Tamiya cotton swab dipped into isopropyl alcohol, which will remove even hardened enamel paint. Wheels were turned w
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

4

Peckett W4 No. 883. Step 2.

Now to remove some of the paint applied to the motion and wheels. Remembering the intended clean state of this loco, the coupling and connecting rods will be portrayed as 'wiped clean'. The sleeper grime thus needs to be removed from the areas where that wiping would have taken place, so some clean white spirit was applied with a small brush and rubbed gently to remove some paint. I have also removed some from the slide bars and whatever else might have been kept clean or wiped clean in normal u
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

4

D3721. Step 23.

Similar treatment has been given to the other side, and you might just be able to see where the same pigment has been applied to the cab end.   I thought that the shine from the oily finish under the running plate was a bit too bright, so it has been dulled down a little with some dark brown pigment. This was applied in small quantities (heard that before?) with a soft brush.     I think I'll finish this subject right here. Resist the temptation to fiddle!  
Mick Bonwick

Mick Bonwick

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