sb67

I'm lucky, touch wood my back's ok, more than be said for many other Draymen I know! I find painting what you see difficult and get caught up in a method or product and want to try that rather than replicating a photo, I'm trying to get the hang of it though!

Those barrels look superb, the bigger ones are Hogsheads, I've worked in a Brewery and moved them around more times than I care to mention, they are bloody heavy too! How did you paint them, the colouring looks spot on? Sorry for the questions but I like the weathering on your wagons, how did you get that look?

The vans are all done and have received a coat of Matt varnish, all but one was MIG Ammo lucky strike, and the other was Windsor and Newton Galleria Matt varnish, which dried fantastically matt, through the airbrush. I'll leave them alone now for a month at least before any weathering, for it to really harden, and find something else to get on with. I'm really pleased with the 'Dutch ZRA' and thinking I'd like to model some more departmental wagons.

Just found this layout, and what a cracker! I like the train on the overbridge and the use of a double slip, I got one of those I've never found a use for! Hope to see some more photo's before you move on to your next project. 🙂 Edited as I've been looking through the thread and I'm amazed by the amount of detail and realism you've got in such a small space, I love the stream running through the middle. Great stuff and very inspiring! 👍

I'm waiting for that too, it did look interesting.

Ok, ta Chris.

Thanks Chris, that all makes perfect sense, it does seem a good idea to use the factory finish to your advantage. I've sometimes added pigments while the oils are wet as done in the video, it does help to flatten the finish a bit butt in 4mm scale I don't want too much texture. I've run out of dulcote and have been using MIG Lucky varnish which seems ok. I've just finished re painting some Hornby VDA's but I'm not sure how I'm going to weather them yet.

@GilbertThose wagons look great and a good descrption of the method, one to copy and keep for reference! I tried using oil paints after watching that video and found them very workable and if you use odourless thinners non smelly! I've seen Neils work on Western Thunder and it leaves me speechless! I did find they took a while to dry and adhere to a factory finish but maybe a coat of matt varnish would help with that. I used some of the excellent MIG Ammo oilbrushers as well as regular oil paints. I weathered this little chap using mainly oils as well.

Sound like some interesting developments will be happening on Woodhey Quay, look forward to that 🙂

I Love the fade on that 08, was that airbrushed?

Thanks James, I've bought some Games Workshop paints the other day after hearing and seeing some good things about them, strange names but some colours are good matches for liveries.

The Vallejo primer is acrylic and I used their brand thinner, which, I'm sure has got some IPA in it. I could have used water but I think thinners give paint an easier flow through the airbrush. I did give the primer a few days to harden and the GW paint was put on in thin coats thinned with a touch of water. I think the paint has worked well as the primer dried very matt and gave a good key for the top coat. I'll have to give them a go over a basic factory finish. I've seen a few modellers brush paint and been impressed by the results. I think the trick is to use a minimal amount of paint.

Hi Ian. I used Vallejo grey primer through my airbrush. I think you can use it straight from the bottle but I did add a few drops of thinner into the airbrush cup first, then mixed in the primer. Hope that helps.

Thanks for looking, I had trouble finding rail colour conversion charts. I think Games Workshop used to do a bauxite colour, not sure what it was called though.

Thank you. I sprayed a grey undercoat on and put 3 thin coats of yellow and 2 of the grey, the paints thin with water and brush really well. I might give the yellow another coat but the grey is fine.

I wanted a departmental van so I brush painted this one using Games Workshop paints, they painted really well over an undercoat, I could become a fan of these and there's a shop in town so I can actually go get some! Strange names though, I used Dawnstone and Yriel Yellow. Apparently you can spray them too.

Waking In Rhythm - The Blackbyrds

They look superb James, understated but obviously used! I'm struggling to get a certain effect on some VDA wagons, I think I'm colour blind in the sense that I look at a prototype photo and can't work out which colours to use. Do you have a list of your weathering colours at all? What's also frustrating is I haven't got a decent paint stockist near me, only a limited Revell or Tamiya stock in Hobbycraft. That said I'm determined to get the hang of this! Also, is it dark colours first then light of the other way around?

There are a few examples of what I'm aiming for on here, you can still see the maroon/brown at the ends, but the body has weathered to a browner shade, but you can still see the original livery under it. I fear I may have bitten off more than I can chew! https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brvda Link to the excellent Paul Bartlett site.

Thanks Matt. I might try that woth a biege/brown colour, a lot of the pics I have the vans seem to fade to that colour, or I also have a light dust colour that I could use. I'll have to do some tests. I've also got some liquid pigments by Lifecolor, they tend to pool on a glossy surface but could work on a matt surface. I'll have to do some testing!

Love To The World - L.T.D

Those wagons look fantastic, what browns have you used for the Bauxite? I've just sprayed a couple of wagons Railmatch Freight Brown and it looks too dark, not wrong for the wagons I did but I would have liked a lighter colour.

The current state of play with the vans. I've resprayed two of them Railmatch freight brown, a couple of coats of Klear then transfers and next up another coat of Klear then Matt varnish. With hindsight I would have liked a more faded, lighter brown appearance to one at least, not sure how to get that now though, never mind.

I like weathering on those vans, how did you get that? The fading of the panels looks good 👍

Thank you. Yep, you paint your base colour, let it dry thoroughly, then a couple of coats of the fluid, let that dry, then your top coat, which should be waterbased according to the instructions. When thats dry re wet it and rub away until you get the effect you want. I've seen people do similar using hairspray but not tried that myself.