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Reproducing Varnished Teak - Improving Latest Hornby Thompsons


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Thompson teak: second attempt.

 

Taken a different approach this time. Started with my usual light orange base coat over white primer. Apply masking tape over both lower panels and using an airbrush feathered Villejo Orange Brown along the 'seam'. With a post-it note quickly masked along various verticals and also applied shadow. For variety did the same with Sunny Skin Tone.

 

Peeled off masking and remasked just the lowest panel and repeated the shading on the waist panel trying to randomise the shading. Peeled off last of the masking and shadowed the lower edge. This is the result:

 

post-3717-0-40593300-1380382223_thumb.jpg

 

post-3717-0-19507000-1380382237_thumb.jpg

 

The Vallejo paint is very fine. It was thinned with Revell Aqua Color Mix and gave good coverage with no paint build up along the masking.

 

Masking reapplied along the lower edge of the windows and teak graining applied to the upper panels with Burnt Umber oil paint and Liquin as before. I found a slightly higher content of Liquin worked well on the Thompsons:

 

post-3717-0-42096500-1380382418_thumb.jpg

 

After leaving the paint to dry overnight, the masking was removed and new masking applied over the top graining to provide a good line for the lower panels. Teak graining then applied to the lower panels:

 

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post-3717-0-85447900-1380382510_thumb.jpg

 

post-3717-0-71411100-1380382522_thumb.jpg

 

The results are very subtle, with the panel demarcations just being visible, just like the prototype. Unlike my first abortive attempt I can live with this one!

 

 

 

 

 

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As hinted at last night, here is a Hornby Thompson Coach as supplied. Due to printing limitations there are prminent dark frames around the doors which distract from the overall appearance. Likewise the printing process has been unable to get into the corners of the droplights also leaving them dark brown:

 

post-3717-0-44554300-1380440844_thumb.jpg

 

It did oocur to me that I might be able to use oil paints and Liquin to apply the missing overgraining. Here is the result:

 

post-3717-0-91213000-1380440915_thumb.jpg

 

It totally transforms the vehicle!.The graining was applied using Windsor and Newton Chrome Yellow Hue to which a VERY small amount of Burnt Umber was added. Liquin used to thin as before. The graining was painted over the dark surrounds and any overspill cleaned up with a dry brush. Unfortunately I did this in artificial light last night nd it suffer for it as a result. In daylight it is clear how badly I cleaned up, however I do believe the effort worthwhile as the vehicles look much better. As an aside the roughness around some of the windows is not where I have gone off line with the paint, it was already on the windows on the coach as supplied. Honest.

 

post-3717-0-42974800-1380441158_thumb.jpg

 

post-3717-0-59600600-1380441175_thumb.jpg

 

post-3717-0-31072600-1380441188_thumb.jpg

 

The only down side is that the Chrome Yellow Hue does seem to take longer to dry than the Burnt Umber

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Just to prove that a neater (hopefully) job is possible.

 

The mix:

 

post-3717-0-63578800-1380442804_thumb.jpg

 

Applying the graining:

 

post-3717-0-61978000-1380442834_thumb.jpg

 

Graining applied. Some clean-up required:

 

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After clean-up with a clean brush dipped in Turps and most moisture removed:

 

post-3717-0-45951800-1380442915_thumb.jpg

 

And yes the marks on the windows are down to me. I am hoping these will disappear after a coat of Clear once the oil is dry.

Edited by MikeTrice
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A word of warning for anyone wishing to follow my lead and modify their Hornby Thompson's. As I discovered putting some photos up for a sister thread, thinners/turpentine will dissolve the Hornby overprinting so to ensure this does not happen give the body a coat of Acrylic Satin varnish first. I have use the Vallejo Satin varnish which goes on thinly and gives a superb finish, in fact it is difficult to see where it has been applied.

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Applying the acrylic varnish before overpainting the brown has worked very well. I have also adjusted my paint formular to give an even close match the the Hornby paint scheme:

 

Yellow Ochre with just a touch of Burnt Sienna thinned with Liquin as before. Here are some doors treated straight from the paint shop (so paint appears slightly glossy). Some hours later I spotted some smudges on the windows in the photo and have since removed them with turps and a fine brush.

 

Untreated door on left.

 

post-3717-0-95552700-1381090046_thumb.jpg

 

 

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Mike

        The lines/gaps in the Hornby lining are much too dark thay are emphasing the gaps instead of concealing them .

 

        I now have two Thompson 3rds. I will be leaving mine as they are. At a normal viewing distance they look fine IMHO

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It is probably over zealous clean up. The oil top coat is semi-transparent by design so you will still see hard edges however I really should do this under magnification with good lighting.

 

Bear in mind how small this is in reality (and my eyesight is not what it once was). In my opinion it is still better than the untreated door on the left and is much improved at normal viewing distance.

Edited by MikeTrice
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Mike,

 

I think the enlarged picture helps see the improvement your brush work creates as I found the unweathered roof and underframe a bit distracting. To me some weathering on the rest of the coach will help with the overall effect. Also I feel that the Hornby printing on the panels is a bit too much of the same thing. It needs more variety of graining, longer streaks, waviness etc... less of the elliptical shapes/knotting and, perhaps, a bit more colour variation. Well done with what you've done so far. It is showing us the way.

 

Cheers....Morgan

Edited by mlgilbert30
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As had been stated previously, something had to be done with those roofs. So I have been experimenting with a technique known as "Oil Wash" which gets mentioned in posts occasionally. This involves a smidgen of oil colour thinned with Mineral Spirits. So a few experiments first:

 

A wagon with a fairly heavy application:

 

post-3717-0-11594500-1381697815_thumb.jpg

 

And a thinner application just toning down the lettering:

 

post-3717-0-01299900-1381697863_thumb.jpg

 

Streaking applied to the roof:

post-3717-0-64429800-1381697892_thumb.jpg

 

So encouraged by the results I braved applying it to one of the Hornby models. I was after a very light weathering rather than a heavy application and after application wiped a lot of it off with tissue paper resulting in:

 

post-3717-0-69914700-1381698028_thumb.jpg

 

and

 

post-3717-0-17095000-1381698043_thumb.jpg

 

Much better than the original off white.

 

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