Private Siding - Lockdown Cakebox

[ManofKent]

I decided the early BR/ex. Lowfit kit from Parkside would make a suitable wagon for packing cases/ barrels etc. I have remembered why I normally stick to rtr wagons - fitting the brake gear was fiddly enough but adding the miniscule transfers is a task that is in danger of surpassing my dexterity. I can't read half of them without a loupe, and weathering will make most of the rest indecipherable at a few inches. The temptation for a dot or two of white paint is growing!

[ManofKent]

Transfers applied to wagon in pretty much the right places, although I'm not sure the supervisor would have been entirely happy! Opted for large packing cases as a load as I a) didn't have enough barrels of the same size and b) know packing cases were valid loads for the prototype, but I'm not sure about barrels...

 

More fiddly work today - painting the two figures. A finer paintbrush might have helped, but I think my dexterity is more of an issue. They'll do... No prizes for guessing the source of these models. Most used figures in layout history?

 

Edited March 24, 2021 by ManofKent

[Andrew D]

That's a fine job you made of painting the figures there. 

[ManofKent]

2 minutes ago, Andrew D said:

That's a fine job you made of painting the figures there. 

 

Thanks - although having seen some of what the Wargaming crowd manage with figures barely any larger I know I've got a long way to go.  

[ManofKent]

Finally named and a sign made!

 

The cats have kindly ensured that I've had time to do an hour or two's model making before work by waking me up around four in the morning - obviously for my benefit not for an extra breakfast, so they get the dubious honour of the name.

 

I've not currently got a printer so the sign was constructed the old fashioned way - wood strips given a thin coat of white paint. The red letters are waterslide, the black dry rub (Decadry - very much like the much missed Letraset). The cat silhouettes are waterslide nail transfers - a little thick and glossy but you can buy assorted packs for next to nothing - they're a handy size (and you can decorate your nails too!). All covered in a coat of matt acrylic artists binder with a thin was of off-yellow paint and framed by more stripwood.

 

I'm aiming at 1950 ish for the model period and wanted the sign to look like it had been up a while. I think it fits the period.

[ManofKent]

I thought I was done bar gluing a few bits in place, but I had another look at the cobbles/sets and decided they were too uniform in colour... So I spent a happy time individually painting them. Then I decided they were now too contrasty, so  applied a brown wash. Then I decided it was too brown toned, so went over with grey weathering powder, gently wiping the top surface cleanish.  I think it looks better, but this led on to deciding the window frames were too white and the black boarding too black... Oh and the brickwork didn't have enough colour variation. It's a good thing April is a long way off...

Edited March 30, 2021 by ManofKent
typo

[ManofKent]

200 words written - not an easy part of the challenge for someone who has a tendency towards verbosity 

[ManofKent]

I spent a bit of time touching up painting today and accidentally found out some thing useful... As my backscene is effectively structural I'd installed and painted it early. Not being any great artist and it only being a small piece I'd just given it a spray with cheap auto acrylic (Ford Bermuda light blue). I'd got a few marks on it from subsequent modelling and masking those areas off for a re-spray was impractical so I sprayed some paint into a plastic tray and quickly applied by brush. The finish applying by brush and the tone was of course subtly different. At first I was annoyed but then I realized that I could dab patches  with a sponge and add a very subtle tonal variation to the backscene. It may be too subtle to show on camera when I take the photos, but does add a degree of realism in real life.

[ManofKent]

All done photos taken, words written etc.

 

There's the odd thing I'd have done differently with the benefit of hindsight, but apart from a small shrub/tree becoming a bramble patch, mainly  to avoid view blocking the finished model matches my sketch pretty closely. I've fulfilled my person aim to produce a creditable model that I'm pretty happy with. Yes there is room for improvement, but it's my first model since I was 15 and it's 35yrs on...

 

The tiny size really does force you to fully consider composition and space - good lessons for all of us.

 

Mostly though I've enjoyed seeing other people's very different takes on the same challenge  - I've learnt as much from following other threads as I have from attempting my own creation.

 

Now the dilemma... Do I get back to the 'main project' a massive 3ft by 18" or do I try something in between first... Oh, and a confession - train operation doesn't particularly interest me - modelling does and I like railways - I just don't have a great interest in operation.

 

Thanks all.