Chuffnell Regis

[Graham T]

The latest batch of wagons has now had a spray of matt varnish, and so weathering has begun!  First stage is a Mig dark wash, left on for 15 minutes or so and then most of it removed with a rigger brush dipped in thinners.  I couldn't get at the inside of the open wagons properly with the brush, so used a cotton bud instead.  Next will be some frame dirt airbrushed onto the frames, and then perhaps some powders too.

 

Here they are varnished...

 

 

 

And looking far too pristine, but the dark wash soon puts paid to that...

 

 

 

[longchap]

Rather effective weathering there Graham and I particularly like the difference to the beast box, which has had years of use added to it .  .  . wonderful, although the lettering is still too clear !

 

 

[Nick C]

I agree, it's amazing how much difference a simple wash can make. I must get on with doing some of mine!

[Graham T]

47 minutes ago, longchap said:

Rather effective weathering there Graham and I particularly like the difference to the beast box, which has had years of use added to it .  .  . wonderful, although the lettering is still too clear !

 

 

 

Thanks very much Bill.  It's rather tricky getting the wash to do anything to the lettering; I might have to try something different there.  Maybe some powders, or perhaps I'll roughen the lettering a bit with a fibreglass pencil and then do another wash...

 

What do you think?

 

[Graham T]

39 minutes ago, Nick C said:

I agree, it's amazing how much difference a simple wash can make. I must get on with doing some of mine!

 

It takes a bit of time, but is very satisfying!

 

[Neal Ball]

2 minutes ago, Graham T said:

 

Thanks very much Bill.  It's rather tricky getting the wash to do anything to the lettering; I might have to try something different there.  Maybe some powders, or perhaps I'll roughen the lettering a bit with a fibreglass pencil and then do another wash...

 

What do you think?

 

 

Yes, I would try the fibreglass pencil... carefully though in case too much comes off! 

 

Ive started to have "handed" vehicles.... Well you only see one side at a time 😎 It makes it so much easier!

[longchap]

2 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

Ive started to have "handed" vehicles.... Well you only see one side at a time 😎 It makes it so much easier!

 

Now that's a good idea and I might try it with a Mallard carriage kit, that I think has lost a side!

 

[Andy Keane]

20 minutes ago, Graham T said:

 

Thanks very much Bill.  It's rather tricky getting the wash to do anything to the lettering; I might have to try something different there.  Maybe some powders, or perhaps I'll roughen the lettering a bit with a fibreglass pencil and then do another wash...

 

What do you think?

 

I would try overcoating the letters with a second coat of varnish - you could also try the trick of dirty varnish.

I have recently found this: https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/paint-products/precisionrailway/buildingetc/weatheringbuildingetc/14p982

It is basically varnish with small amounts of crud in it. While I know you cannot get these where you are I guess some crud in your acrylic matt varnish would do the same thing.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Andy Keane

[Graham T]

Good idea Andy, thanks.  I'll give it a try.

 

[Andy Keane]

The interesting thing about the phoenix stuff is the crud is a fine powder that is not dissolved by the Matt varnish it lives in so it ends up like a dry powder but set in varnish. Hence the instructions on the web page about very thorough stirring before use.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Andy Keane

[57xx]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

 

Thanks very much Bill.  It's rather tricky getting the wash to do anything to the lettering; I might have to try something different there.  Maybe some powders, or perhaps I'll roughen the lettering a bit with a fibreglass pencil and then do another wash...

 

What do you think?

 

 

BIB: I have done this before on pressfix. They are quite thick compared with water slides and do look a lot better when thinned down. Go very gently with the pencil and If you want a well worn look, just keep rubbing. I'll see if I still have the pic of one I did this way.

[57xx]

Here it is, a Cambrian kits D1666 that was built ground up to be well worn.

 

 

Looking back on this, the inside now looks too yellowy, with the age being presented on the outside I think I should have gone more grey/silvery for the bare planks.

[Graham T]

1 hour ago, 57xx said:

Here it is, a Cambrian kits D1666 that was built ground up to be well worn.

 

 

Looking back on this, the inside now looks too yellowy, with the age being presented on the outside I think I should have gone more grey/silvery for the bare planks.

 

That looks very good.  I need to give some thought to the transfers on my wagons; some of them should be looking a bit more distressed than they are at the moment (apart from the NE cattle wagon, where I was a little - ahem - over-enthusiastic with the fibreglass pencil.  Pic to follow shortly...)

 

I should add some rust here and there too.  Thanks for the photo.

 

[Graham T]

Another sitrep on the wagons.  I attacked the lettering on the cattle wagon with a fibreglass pencil, and overcooked it slightly!  We now have a slightly truncated E...  I might replace it, but probably not 🙂  I'm quite pleased with how the fish van is looking at this stage though.

 

 

The GWR steel opens have also had the Mig dark wash applied, but as you can imagine it hasn't made very much of an impression.  I'll try some black powder on the loco coal wagon, and am thinking about applying a little bit of rust on both wagons as well.  

 

[Graham T]

A closer look at the fish van, just for fun 🙂

 

[MrWolf]

Scruffy. I like that a lot.

[MrWolf]

5 hours ago, 57xx said:

Here it is, a Cambrian kits D1666 that was built ground up to be well worn.

 

 

Looking back on this, the inside now looks too yellowy, with the age being presented on the outside I think I should have gone more grey/silvery for the bare planks.

 

I like that, particularly as I've had similar thoughts about the internal woodwork on some of my opens.

Judging by the quality of the scruffiness there, I'm obviously trying to teach a 57XX how to suck (Duck, obviously) eggs.

But I've dry brushed medium and light grey followed by a little metallic gunmetal to give that bleached out wood look, although not as heavily as on telegraph poles.

[57xx]

8 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

I like that, particularly as I've had similar thoughts about the internal woodwork on some of my opens.

Judging by the quality of the scruffiness there, I'm obviously trying to teach a 57XX how to suck (Duck, obviously) eggs.

But I've dry brushed medium and light grey followed by a little metallic gunmetal to give that bleached out wood look, although not as heavily as on telegraph poles.

 

This was one of my earlier attempts so my technique has developed since then (before I got in to my "yellow phase", the tones I was using were too brown) and like you, I have been using light greys and metallic gunmetal (the one you can buff up) for a while now.

Regarding sucking eggs, it's always good to see/hear about other people's techniques, there's always something new to learn! I saw one of your posts where you used the greys for the inside of a wagon and there was a key difference to the way I usually do it, that I thought "I must try that!" - I use white as a base coat with the theory it would keep the overall tone light. You used a black base coat which ended up giving those nice black streaks you get in silvered wood, I thought that really added to the overall air of things.

[Graham T]

While I was in the weathering mood I decided to darken the roof of the Dapol Fruit D (the rest of it had already been dirtied up).  I used black powder for the roof.  Note to self:  clean roofs before powdering them.  I shouldn't really have been surprised to find that the powder shows up any fingerprints rather well!

 

[Graham T]

The weathering mood has now passed, I think.  Nine wagons completed, save for another spray coat of matt varnish.

 

All of them had a light spraying of frame dirt on their chassis with the airbrush (which I had to strip down, clean, and re-assemble before it would play nicely).  The steel opens and the Cordon had a bit of rust applied here and there, with a couple of different shades of acrylics, and then some black powder on the bodywork.  The wooden opens also had a touch of rust added, and the Dapol five-planker, which looked very plasticky before, has also benefitted from some black powder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The vans had their roofs darkened with powder.  Surprisingly I remembered my own advice about fingerprints, and so gave them a very light sanding first.  Unfortunately I can see that the edges of the roof on the cattle wagon still look a bit lighter than the rest - doh!

 

 

 

I also put a few small touches of graphite on some of the axleboxes, to simulate wear and/or oil, then put some rust powder onto the w-irons and so on.  I think that was about it.  Time to do something different now though!

 

 

[NHY 581]

Nice job, Graham. 

 

All look excellent. I'm particularly keen on the cordon which is both unusual and very nicely finished. 

 

One question if I may. Decals. How do you apply and get them to settle ? 

 

Rob. 

Edited February 11, 2023 by NHY 581

[Graham T]

21 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

Nice job, Graham. 

 

All look excellent. I'm particularly keen on the cordon which is both unusual and very nicely finished. 

 

One question if I may. Decals. How do you apply and get them to settle ? 

 

Rob. 

 

Thanks Rob, very kind of you.

 

I like the Cordon too, and decided to model one after seeing one living at Lambourne, which Chuffnell R bears some passing resemblance to.  It was a bit of a devil to build though...

 

The decals are all from Pressfix, and have just been applied according to the instructions provided:  

 

1. Place decal in position (easier said than done with the smaller ones, which have a habit of pinging off in all directions)
2. Press down gently.  In theory, the decal can be re-positioned if required...
3. Then press down firmly.  I used a cotton bud for this, but need to come up with something better, as I noticed very small threads of cotton stuck behind some of the decals once I'd finished.
4. Wet the decal, just with plain water.  Again I used a cotton bud for this.
5. Wait 20-30 seconds then remove the tissue paper covering the decal.  A cocktail stick works for this.  I sometimes found that the decal would still move at this point, which is something to watch for.  Another firm press down seemed to fix them.
6. Use water to wipe away any excess gum from around the decal.  In practice I rarely saw any of this.
7. Dry the decal - I used paper towel for that.

And Robert's your mother's brother 🙂

 

I'm a big fan of Pressfix.  They're a bit fiddly, but no more than waterslides, and there's no need to varnish before applying them, as there's no glossy carrier film.

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by Graham T
spelig

[57xx]

3 hours ago, Graham T said:

The decals are all from Pressfix, and have just been applied according to the instructions provided:  

 

1. Place decal in position (easier said than done with the smaller ones, which have a habit of pinging off in all directions)
2. Press down gently.  In theory, the decal can be re-positioned if required...
3. Then press down firmly.  I used a cotton bud for this, but need to come up with something better, as I noticed very small threads of cotton stuck behind some of the decals once I'd finished.
4. Wet the decal, just with plain water.  Again I used a cotton bud for this.
5. Wait 20-30 seconds then remove the tissue paper covering the decal.  A cocktail stick works for this.  I sometimes found that the decal would still move at this point, which is something to watch for.  Another firm press down seemed to fix them.
6. Use water to wipe away any excess gum from around the decal.  In practice I rarely saw any of this.
7. Dry the decal - I used paper towel for that.

 

 

I wet the decals at step 2.5, it allows you to see if they are lined up better when the paper goes translucent, then press down with the cotton bud once happy with the positioning (I use buds too, it needs to be something soft-ish). A meths/water mix can also be used for cleaning up and softening them a bit when pushing into the plank gaps with a cocktail stick.

[Graham T]

41 minutes ago, 57xx said:

 

I wet the decals at step 2.5, it allows you to see if they are lined up better when the paper goes translucent, then press down with the cotton bud once happy with the positioning (I use buds too, it needs to be something soft-ish). A meths/water mix can also be used for cleaning up and softening them a bit when pushing into the plank gaps with a cocktail stick.

Those are useful tips Ric, thanks.  I’ll try to remember them when I start on the next batch of kits!

 

[Graham T]

Most of today has been spent messing about with locos.  I started by taking a look at the Collett Goods, with the idea of getting into the tender to see if I could beef up the output from the speaker, which is a little bit timid.  But a cursory look reminded me that I'd had to hardwire the decoder from its location in the tender to the motor in the loco itself, so I decided that discretion was the better part of valour.  I was quite likely to foul up the wiring, and then I'd have a loco that doesn't even run, never mind make any sound, so I think a loco that runs, albeit quietly, is better!

 

Next target was to try fabricating some brake rods for the 27xx pannier.  Rather than being straight, these are cranked, which complicates things considerably.  I've tried making some up from plastic strip, but I suspect that isnt going to be strong enough.  I also have some brass strip now, so might try soldering some of that together.  Otherwise the project will go back on the shelf and 2732 will have to make do without any brakes!

 

The last attempt was a bit more successful, although it seems to have taken a long time to achieve only a few small improvements.  Bachmann small prairie 4550 needed a crew, amongst other things, so I took the body off.  Not something I was especially keen on, as I remembered that when I converted the loco to DCC I'd had some trouble getting everything back inside!  But as it happened things went back together without any snags (and the loco still works, too!)  Shame that the crew is almost invisible, as you can see from the photos - or maybe not...

 

I also added brass number plates.  The printed ones are of course slightly larger, so I had to remove those first.  I tried isopropyl alcohol but that made no impression at all, and then toothpaste, which didn't work either.  The loco smells fresh now though.  So I had to use a fibreglass pencil instead.  The subsequent pics show that there is still some more clean-up needed!  I've also managed to get a tiny splinter of the darned stuff in my thumb.  Buffer beam numbers also had to be removed; I hope that Steve at Railtec soon starts making those!  Then of course the loco needed re-programming for her new number.

 

The last steps were to pop a fire iron on top of one of the tanks, and to add Alan Gibson smokebox darts.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Graham T