sb67

I've been using these Lifecolour Liquid pigments on the Dogfish and learning a few things about them. The two panels on the right have had a coat of matt Varnish applied and the left hand panel has not. The pigments are very thin and there is a bit of a difference with adherence, though not much. They do, however spray very well at a lower pressure than normal and that is built up with thin coats. It was left to dry over the weekend, and I found that it could still be removed using the remover that come in the box. I was going to use that as a base for more washes but I'll have to give it a coat of varnish first otherwise I fear it all coming off. I may well take a bit more off first allowing a bit of the livery to show through, I'll have to find a suitable pic to work from.

With all my modelling taken up with late 80's wagons I somehow succumbed to buying one of these in green, how did that happen! Looking forward to getting it. 😀

More stunning work James, love the effects you've got, the BR Blue showing through in places and the nameplate scarring are just sublime! I'm trying to put some 'scratches' on a TOPE wagon and working from a photo, I'm using a 5/0 brush but I can't get them to look right yet, they just look like blobs of paint on top of the faded livery colour. Do you thin the paint at all when you do work like that?

Nice set of photo's, the 07 looks very much at home there. 🙂

Both look very nice indeed! I'll have to have a re read of your thread, I'm very drawn to the Dogfish in the background, they are inspiring me to get on with mine!

When you say paint it wet, do you just mix it with water, and once dry a water-soaked cotton bud to remove it? I find the airbrushing a bit hairy but very effective and by no means essential, one slip of the finger and way too much paint comes out! I've also learnt that things take a lot longer to dry sometimes, I'm in the James Makin school of thought now of waiting weeks for a coat of varnish to fully harden. The enamel washes take a while to dry I found as well.

Good to see an update Steve. The 08 is looking very nice, love the fading. something I want to do myself at some point. I've been practising fading on some wagons, the one on the right is the original colour and the one on the left has had a pass of a Lifecolour dust wash from an airbrush. I also faded this using Humbrol Dust wash and a flat paint brush. I really like the Dogfish as well, something I've started on. I'll be happy if I can get them to look half as good as yours! 👍

That's so wrong to pass comments like that about Rusper Road, glad you've reported them. I think it's a fab micro layout, love the Terriers and the simple track plan and the viewpoint across the platform is something I've thought about but never tried. I'll look forward to more updates as things progress. 🙂

Carried on a bit if work on the Dogfish, I could not get the liquid pigment to stay on the factory finish using a brush so resorted to the airbrush, I'll let it dry for a few days, this will be a base coat for the other rusty colours to put on. While I had the airbrush out I started on this Tope, I'd like to replicate the rust scars seen on the wagons, caused by unloading using a grab, not sure how to do that yet but I made a start on the interior and fading the paintwork.

Glad the exhibition was ok, I did my first show this year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I noticed the Buffer stops in one of the photo's, who makes those?

Started on a Dogfish, using a Lifecolor liquid pigment I painted the inside of the hopper, according to the magazine article. As you can see it's not covered it well at all and looks too streaky/patchy, maybe I should have put some matt varnish on first, but it's only the first coat and maybe subsequent coats will look better.

@Enterprisingwestern Nice work. I have thought about replacing the handrails, how did you do that? I was thinking about cutting the old ones off then drilling a hole through the top of the support uprights, then threading them on to some shaped 0.5 mm brass wire

That coach is looking good David. The lazerglaze makes a big difference over other glazing, I've used glue and glaze sparingly in the past, applied with a small paintbrush, it's not too thin and could get messy on those small windows, but I've found it dries almost invisible. Good tip to blacken the edges of the glazing but make sure the felt is permanent and won't react or run with any glue or varnish, maybe do a test first, how do I know...........! Good luck with those small windows.

One thing I'm learning that isn't always mentioned in books or magazine articles is when applying enamel washes or paint over a factory finish at least a day or two or even longer is needed for the paint to harden sufficiently to enable another layer to be put over the top! So, while I wait for the washes to dry, I'm going to have a go at these Dogfish, I've got a magazine article from BRM to follow that uses Lifecolour acrylic paints, so I'll see how I get on with those. First up the handrails are pretty shocking so I'll try and straighten them then make a start on the interiors.

A fantastic set of photo's, thanks for that link 👍

I've repainted the grey on one of the wagons and removed all the transfers, did a bit of work on the interior as well. Bit of a cruel close up but I've started to introduce a fade and discolouration using Humbrol Dust wash, it looks a bit streaky in the pic but not too bad in the flesh. The citadel paint did not paint so well on a factory finish but I worked most of the streaks out.

Thank you, I might do that, but I only want them for 1 wagon and I've found a prototype photo of a weathered wagon with the lettering barely visible, so that's another option!

Thanks David, I've just got them but with the lighter grey it was the black lettering that I was after. That said there were so many variations that I could probably use them rather than get a whole sheet of transfers for one wagon. There used to be a sheet from Appleby Engineering I think but I don't think that they were made when they moved the stock to Cambridge.

That's a mouthwatering purchase, they look stunning models, look forward to the East Anglian branch, what Livery did you get?

I'm sure Broadhaven will go down a treat, I do like the boats, you've done well to fit them in without them being overpowering.

Does anyone know who makes Departmental transfers for a Seacow wagon but with black lettering? I found Fox transfers make individual lettering and data panels but I wondered if there was anyone that made them ready completed?

Thanks for confirming that @griffgriff a lot of the ones in that directory are pretty clean too, not how I remember them!

Thanks @westernviscount, @Mark Forrest I looked through the Paul Bartlett photo's and did a bit of research and it does seem that the grey varied massively due to weathering and fading etc so I might leave one light grey, the other one I'll repaint using Games workshop Dawnstone Grey. It looks like the Sealion variant had a thinner yellow stripe at the top and black solebars. I think the Hornby Livery represents a 2006 wagon so the data panels and warning panels will be replaced, although the data panels are varied too. With the Seacows, the solebars seem to be painted the same colour as the bodywork as well so I'll address that, as the black on the solebar is painted on the body too, although yet again, weathering played a part. There does seem many variants and anomalies so I'll have to pick a photo and try to copy that. Ordered my transfers from Railtech in preparation!

More mouthwatering modelling with that underframe, great stuff! 👍

I've a question regarding the Hornby Seacow model, can anyone tell me what era it would represent as the ohw panels are more modern and the grey looks more like rail grey than departmental grey? Just wondered.