Warren Branch

[Nick C]

Merry Christmas to you and your family Chris! 

[NHY 581]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to ewe and yours, Chris. 

 

Sheepbloke. 

[chuffinghell]

I don’t really enjoy painting figures but I think he looks quite good at a distance

 

 

He’s not quite finished yet and I need to paint up a suitable driver too

 

I’ve got a selection of Modelu figures to choose from that I bought quite a while ago (I chickened out on the painting at the time)

[CoombeTown]

27 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

I don’t really enjoy painting figures but I think he looks quite good at a distance

 

 

He’s not quite finished yet and I need to paint up a suitable driver too

 

I’ve got a selection of Modelu figures to choose from that I bought quite a while ago (I chickened out on the painting at the time)

That Fireman looks great Chris!

 

Merry Xmas to you and your's.

[Rowsley17D]

Hi Chris, can I recommend that you give your figures light a brush-over with either black or brown weathering powders? Takes the shine off and emphasises the creases. If you put on too much it will wash off.

 

Edit to add:

 

I use Woodland Scenics paints for figures. I got several sets as part of a job lot of scenic stuff a while ago. They dry dead matt unlike some acrylics.

Edited December 19, 2021 by Rowsley17D

[chuffinghell]

27 minutes ago, Rowsley17D said:

Hi Chris, can I recommend that you give your figures light a brush-over with either black or brown weathering powders? Takes the shine off and emphasises the creases. If you put on too much it will wash off.

 

Edit to add:

 

I use Woodland Scenics paints for figures. I got several sets as part of a job lot of scenic stuff a while ago. They dry dead matt unlike some acrylics.

Thanks for the tip, once finished I had intended to give them an all over coat of Citadel nuln oil but I’ll give weathering powders a try first

[lezz01]

Here you go Chris. As promised a photo of my mini vac.

As you can see it's a nice little unit and unlike very many other vac it's quite powerful.

Regards Lez. 

[Martin S-C]

Merry Christmas to you as well Chris!

[chuffinghell]

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 

[Graham T]

And to you Chris!

[AlfaZagato]

Merry Christmas, y'all

[chuffinghell]

Hope everyone had a good day yesterday and Santa made his delivery

 

I’ve finally finished the fireman and glued him in place, hope he looks okay. I’ve stolen @Adrian Stevenson’s idea regarding the shovel through the handrail

 

 

painted a driver today, still need to give him a coat of varnish and nuln oil the same as I did with the fireman.

 

Still playing about with positioning though….does this look feasible/natural?

 

 

I had to cut his feet off to get his arm resting on the door though 

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by chuffinghell

[longchap]

21 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

I’ve finally finished the fireman and glued him in place, hope he looks okay. I’ve stolen @Adrian Stevenson’s idea regarding the shovel through the handrail

 

 

 

Painted a driver today, still need to give him a coat of varnish and nuln oil the same as I did with the fireman.

 

Still playing about with positioning though….does this look feasible/natural?

 

 

 

Hi Chris,

 

I wonder if there’s any royalty payments for nicking that idea, as I’ve a pile of shovels to stick in appropriate places!

 

As for the driver, I’m was tempted to say that he appears to have dozed off, but that might get him on a fizzer, so I better not

 

This is a great thread, which may take me a while to catch up with!

 

Best,

 

Bill

 

Newton Regis, 1920’s to 30s GWR, 4mm, DCC

[Adrian Stevenson]

Looks great Chris!

 

Cheers, Ade.

[chuffinghell]

6 hours ago, longchap said:

 

Hi Chris,

 

I wonder if there’s any royalty payments for nicking that idea,

I never thought to ask, hope it’s not classed as a copyright violation

 

6 hours ago, longchap said:

As for the driver, I’m was tempted to say that he appears to have dozed off

 

you’re right he does 

 

6 hours ago, longchap said:

This is a great thread, which may take me a while to catch up with!

 

Thanks Bill 

 

6 hours ago, Adrian Stevenson said:

Looks great Chris!

 

Cheers, Ade.

 

Thanks Ade, hope you don’t mind me pinching your idea. Royalty cheque is in the post 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by chuffinghell

[Andrew P]

Belated Christmas wishes Chris and a Happy 2022 and beyond.

[chuffinghell]

The 57xx now runs quieter and better in reverse, it also no longer runs quicker in one direction than the other

 

I appreciate this is a good thing but all I’ve done is added a driver, fireman, shovel and a lamp

 

before

 

after

 

Therefore I can only conclude that fitting figures, shovels and lamps on to your locos makes them run better 

 

I assume a lot of the noise is normal when running on ballasted track without cork or foam?

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by chuffinghell

[MrWolf]

Having had a train set running on a hardboard top when I was very young (complete with square wheeled Tri-ang GWR clerestory coaches!) I can tell you that level of noise is nothing to worry about!

 

[chuffinghell]

The next victim

 

 

 

I’m struggling to paint the figures to the same standard and detail that others do but at normal viewing distance they’re still better than proprietary pre-painted mass produced figures (just keep telling yourself that Chris, you might eventually believe it)

[Rowsley17D]

Chris, that's very well done. I do the finer features looking through a lamp-lit magnifier. The detail of 4mm scale figures isn't all that crisp and must be at the limits of the printer. I have the ModelU webpage open at the figure I am doing too to see what goes where.

[chuffinghell]

30 minutes ago, Rowsley17D said:

I do the finer features looking through a lamp-lit magnifier

I’m ashamed to admit that even with a lamp lit magnifying head set I struggle.

 

I appreciate that I tend to be very self critical but I’ve definitely seen much better

[KNP]

Figures look great to me.

We all fall into the same problem that we look to close at them when in reality we should be looking from a few feet away.

[chuffinghell]

They are glued in place, tomorrow I’ll look at adding fire irons etc to the rear of the loco

 

 

 

I also need to fit the stay alive thingy.

 

I’ve ordered a decoder and stay alive for the 64xx and I need to look at ordering suitable figures from either Modelu or Hardy’s Hobbies

 

If anyone can suggest suitable figures for the 64xx it would be appreciated

 

[longchap]

15 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

I’m ashamed to admit that even with a lamp lit magnifying head set I struggle.

 

I appreciate that I tend to be very self critical but I’ve definitely seen much better

 

I have and use a large illuminated magnifier for work on stock, when fitting tiny detail parts where precision is essential, but do practically all my figure work by naked eye, finishing with washes to bring everything together and highlight clothing and facial features.  

 

As Kevin says, we all suffer from self criticism, as we look too closely at our little people, while from 3 feet away, they'll look just fine.

 

I once spent a frustrating 45 minutes attempting bright red lipstick on a blond driver of a tiny Austin 7 with my big glass and smallest paintbrush and failed miserably. After a cup of tea, I sharpened a cocktail stick and splashed the warpaint on a treat by eye, so it's often a case of being fresh and adopting a different approach.

 

Figure painting however, improves significantly with practice, so please don't worry. It's all part of the fun!

 

Bill 

Edited December 31, 2021 by longchap

[longchap]

3 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

They are glued in place, tomorrow I’ll look at adding fire irons etc to the rear of the loco

 

 

 

I also need to fit the stay alive thingy.

 

I’ve ordered a decoder and stay alive for the 64xx and I need to look at ordering suitable figures from either Modelu or Hardy’s Hobbies

 

If anyone can suggest suitable figures for the 64xx it would be appreciated

 

 

Yep, your dark grey wash nailed 'em!

 

Best,

 

Bill