DerbyLNWR Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Happy New Year. Inspirational blog. I know videos might be a bit time consuming, but instead might you consider doing some very basic photo posts on how to do things like fit scale couplings or the wire bar couplings that you seem to add to your locomotives ? All best Jon M Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted January 13, 2023 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2023 On 15/12/2022 at 19:03, sb67 said: James, when you remove the numbers like that do you apply the new ones over the factory finish or put a coat of varnish down first? Hi Steve! For this I'll be adding a coat of gloss varnish onto the body before the decal gets applied, and then topping off with an overall coat of matt varnish afterwards to seal everything in, things like the windows will get masked with Humbrol Maskol fluid (I find this much easier than taking the windows out and refitting!) during the varnishing process and the overall matt finish I do prefer - after this it'll get a final coating of airbrush track grime/exhaust weathering when the cobwebs are next dusted off the airbrush! Cheers, James 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted January 13, 2023 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2023 On 11/01/2023 at 17:10, DerbyLNWR said: Happy New Year. Inspirational blog. I know videos might be a bit time consuming, but instead might you consider doing some very basic photo posts on how to do things like fit scale couplings or the wire bar couplings that you seem to add to your locomotives ? All best Jon M Hi Jon! Thanks for the kind words, as it happens I've got a ready made response and pictures ready just like that from the other month, hope this helps! :) On 02/05/2022 at 21:25, James Makin said: Thanks, that's a good question, no worries! I've always liked doing the wire loops/hoops (or 'goalposts' as they sometimes get nicknamed) as a great way of being able to fit all the bufferbeam pipework and still work with the tension lock couplers on my wagon fleet. I have found wide hoops work best for me, as my stock runs on Worthing MRC's Loftus Road which has some tighter curves in the fiddle yard, and longer-wheelbase wagons can otherwise have trouble if the hoop is a bit narrow! Using a Bachmann 47 extracted from the donor pile, here's a quick overview of what takes place, hopefully the red bufferbeam will help things show up better. Firstly, the holes are drilled with a small modeller's archimedes drill, just on the inside of the buffer shanks, and a hoop of 0.45mm brass wire (my stash is normally obtained via eBay or Eileen's Emporium) is put through - For bending the brass, I will bend a 90 degree right angle in it, pop it through the first hole as a test, and then using a permanent marker pen, make a mark as to where the next bend should be, I'll then remove the wire and do the other right angle bend to make the 'U' shape here. The next stage is to then superglue the joint at which the hoop goes into the bufferbeam, and once dry, I'll bend in the sticky-out parts behind the bufferbeam, and add some more glue at the rear, it's not going anywhere at that stage! After everything is dry, it's just a case of bending the hoop down to a height where a wagon can couple up on it's own to the hoop, and away you go! From experience on my tighter curves, the front beam of the hoop is generally good if it's just projecting ahead of the buffers, and be aware that once you bend the hoop downwards, it'll bring it in closer to the loco - it's often a bit of trial and error before getting to the glue stage! Hope this helps! James 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted January 13, 2023 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted January 13, 2023 (edited) Happy New Year guys..! One of the benefits of the festive season is ideally getting a bit of time off to push on further with some modelling projects, and there's been a bit of a blitz lately! There should be something rather fun appearing on one of the Accurascale threads in due course, and aside from this I've been catching up on a few OCA wagon projects started earlier in the year, here goes... OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr As longer term readers may remember, I've tackled quite a lot of the Bachmann air-braked opens over the years, but I've always loved the sight of a 'Dutch' OCA, so with a stack of cheap ones bought from shows gathering up, 3 were taken and given a seeing to! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet today are OCA No. 112012, 112066 and 112214, with each wagon modelled on photographs available on Flickr. The starting point was the Bachmann EWS release of some years back - OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The main bugbear with Bachmann's OCA is the thickness of the plastic sides, which look extremely beefy! This was filed down to as thin as my patience and the basic structure would allow, I did get a bit carried away at the end of one wagon and ended up going right through it..! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once all of the interior was filed back, and external branding removed, each wagon was given a coating of Railmatch Rail Grey aerosol paint, topped off with a faded yellow stripe layer, and black painted bits where required, matching to the prototype pictures. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Each wagon was glossed with Railmatch varnish and given decals from Railtec - Steve's lovely (then new) stencil decals were cobbled together for the TOPS detail, matching up to what I could glimpse from the Flickr pics for each wagon, and then the whole model was given a coating of Railmatch Matt Varnish to finish, before the weathering fun could begin! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Here, the truly superb soundtrack of Rose Gray is recommended for any Dutch OCA projects, as we see the initial layers of browns being applied and then wiped away with cotton buds. Humbrols No. 62, 186 and 113 are layered on over the course of a few days, building up a range of colour. Little streaking can be created by not fully taking all of the paint away, which would be ideal for creating some of the rusty streaks seen where rainwater runs down the side of the wagon body. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr After the paint-on/wipe-off stage, a fine 5/0 paintbrush is then used to highlight some of the rusty scrapes and damages on the bodysides of each wagon. About 5 different shades of brown are layered on, starting with Humbrol 62, 186, 113, 133 and 262, with the darkest shade at the epicentre of the rust outbreak. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The chassis is painted in a sloppy mix of Phoenix Track Dirt and Humbrol 32 dark grey, with a bit of Humbrol 27004 Metalcote Gunmetal, highlighting the edges of the chassis and oily deposits with a bit of a sheen! Now I do love the opportunity to do a bit of graffiti..! OCA 112012 had some interesting 'artwork' at one stage, so I had to replicate this in model form. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The start point is to paint on the backing colours, carefully keeping an eye on where the graffiti sits on the wagon itself, and then once dry, start by adding in the lining on top - in this case a simple black & white artwork, being lined out with a 5/0 brush. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once completed, the interiors received a bit of a weathering. I've always been meaning to do some decent loads for the OCAs but until I get round to it, I'm finishing each wagon as empty for now, so the wooden plank floor is painted in first, followed by the sides. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Similar to the OTA timber wagon floor techniques tackled a few pages back, the weathered 'wood' effect is a couple of shades of mid brown paint, later dry-brushed over the top with shades of light earthy greens and greys, and then light grey, simulating a little bit of woodgrain by using a large, slightly scratchy dry brush. After adding several layers of paint shades, the effect builds up but it takes some patience and trial & error to match to photographs of OCAs. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The insides of the wagon doors and ends were painted in a dark brown colour, with lashings of dark grey mottled in, and once dry, more shades of greys and browns were dotted in on top, building up the very dark and battered effect that these wagons seem to pick up after many years hard service. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr OCA 112012 was one of the earlier examples of the fleet, and later in life being plastered with graffiti down one side, ironically the paint helping to cover the rusty sides where most of the old BR 'Dutch' livery was flaking away! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The fun part on this wagon was definitely in the weathering, with some many little scrapes and damages, all built up with a paintbrush using light brown, topped off with the darker shades. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Over here is OCA 112066, another Dutch one with a lot of the rust marks! These are primarily from where they have been damaged from the inside of the wagon, and a peaked dent formed, with the external paintwork flaking away and becoming exposed to the elements. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Some of the interesting details on this include electrification flashes applied at wonky angles, as well as the newer data panels and info being applied on black patches over the original wagon TOPS panel and details. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One finishing touch on the Bachmann wheels is to add in Colin Craig brake discs (now available via Wills Workbench), the version for the 12mm wheel was glued on using a spot of Microscale Kristal Klear and then weathered in. The wheels are all painted dark grey/brown, but wiped away on the face of the brake disc to leave the effect of dirt in the holes, and to make sure the shiny metal of the original wheel is obscured. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Last of the trio was OCA 112214, which was in a faded grey livery in the condition modelled here, together with evidence of diamond markings on the side - possibly Hazchem explosive markings linked to MoD workings, which made for a fun model. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The other side of the 112214 had a series of dark grey patches painted on, though the reason why is unclear, whether a series of body repairs or even just covering graffiti, we may never know! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr After all of the weathering was completed, each wagon was then given a complete all-over spraying with Railmatch matt varnish to seal in the weathering - often the application of the rust marks will lead to shiny patches appearing so the matt varnish is essential for smoothing everything out and flattening it down. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Here below you can see the interiors, crying out for a load at some stage! OCAs do seem to have some very fiddly loads, pipes, track components and all sorts, it will take a little thought but I'll do something at some stage! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr And there we have it! The wagons will join the lengthy train of other OCAs and OBAs already formed, and their 'Dutch' livery will add some nice extra balance to the liveries already depicted. I try to keep an eye out in Rail Express magazine each month for the long list of OCAs that keep getting scrapped in Gareth Bayer's fantastic Wagons section, and though I've not spotted them, I'd imagine the prototype OCAs here may well be long gone by now as the railway seems to move towards big bogie box wagons everywhere! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It was great fun to get these completed and off the workbench, and to get tucked into some juicy new projects for the year ahead, coming soon! Cheers, James Edited January 13, 2023 by James Makin . 37 13 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted January 13, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 13, 2023 Did you just chamfer the top of the side to give the impression of reducing the ridiculous thickness, or thin the whole side? I have 3 or 4 of these sat in a stock box untouched, cant decide if I will attempt to improve them or sell off and buy some Cambrian kits Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted January 13, 2023 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2023 6 minutes ago, The Fatadder said: Did you just chamfer the top of the side to give the impression of reducing the ridiculous thickness, or thin the whole side? I have 3 or 4 of these sat in a stock box untouched, cant decide if I will attempt to improve them or sell off and buy some Cambrian kits Pretty much the whole sides to the floor, in the end Rich! It did take a while and was a bit of a pain! Theres more of a chamfer on the ends where the thickness of the plastic between the deep rib bits and the inner flat plated bit is thinner, so when I did try and file the entire end back, I suddenly had some daylight visible! 🤣 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCML100 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 47 minutes ago, James Makin said: Happy New Year guys..! One of the benefits of the festive season is ideally getting a bit of time off to push on further with some modelling projects, and there's been a bit of a blitz lately! There should be something rather fun appearing on one of the Accurascale threads in due course, and aside from this I've been catching up on a few OCA wagon projects started earlier in the year, here goes... OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr As longer term readers may remember, I've tackled quite a lot of the Bachmann air-braked opens over the years, but I've always loved the sight of a 'Dutch' OCA, so with a stack of cheap ones bought from shows gathering up, 3 were taken and given a seeing to! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet today are OCA No. 112012, 112066 and 112214, with each wagon modelled on photographs available on Flickr. The starting point was the Bachmann EWS release of some years back - OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The main bugbear with Bachmann's OCA is the thickness of the plastic sides, which look extremely beefy! This was filed down to as thin as my patience and the basic structure would allow, I did get a bit carried away at the end of one wagon and ended up going right through it..! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once all of the interior was filed back, and external branding removed, each wagon was given a coating of Railmatch Rail Grey aerosol paint, topped off with a faded yellow stripe layer, and black painted bits where required, matching to the prototype pictures. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Each wagon was glossed with Railmatch varnish and given decals from Railtec - Steve's lovely (then new) stencil decals were cobbled together for the TOPS detail, matching up to what I could glimpse from the Flickr pics for each wagon, and then the whole model was given a coating of Railmatch Matt Varnish to finish, before the weathering fun could begin! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Here, the truly superb soundtrack of Rose Gray is recommended for any Dutch OCA projects, as we see the initial layers of browns being applied and then wiped away with cotton buds. Humbrols No. 62, 186 and 113 are layered on over the course of a few days, building up a range of colour. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Little streaking can be created by not fully taking all of the paint away, which would be ideal for creating some of the rusty streaks seen where rainwater runs down the side of the wagon body. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr After the paint-on/wipe-off stage, a fine 5/0 paintbrush is then used to highlight some of the rusty scrapes and damages on the bodysides of each wagon. About 5 different shades of brown are layered on, starting with Humbrol 62, 186, 113, 133 and 262, with the darkest shade at the epicentre of the rust outbreak. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The chassis is painted in a sloppy mix of Phoenix Track Dirt and Humbrol 32 dark grey, with a bit of Humbrol 27004 Metalcote Gunmetal, highlighting the edges of the chassis and oily deposits with a bit of a sheen! Now I do love the opportunity to do a bit of graffiti..! OCA 112012 had some interesting 'artwork' at one stage, so I had to replicate this in model form. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The start point is to paint on the backing colours, carefully keeping an eye on where the graffiti sits on the wagon itself, and then once dry, start by adding in the lining on top - in this case a simple black & white artwork, being lined out with a 5/0 brush. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once completed, the interiors received a bit of a weathering. I've always been meaning to do some decent loads for the OCAs but until I get round to it, I'm finishing each wagon as empty for now, so the wooden plank floor is painted in first, followed by the sides. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Similar to the OTA timber wagon floor techniques tackled a few pages back, the weathered 'wood' effect is a couple of shades of mid brown paint, later dry-brushed over the top with shades of light earthy greens and greys, and then light grey, simulating a little bit of woodgrain by using a large, slightly scratchy dry brush. After adding several layers of paint shades, the effect builds up but it takes some patience and trial & error to match to photographs of OCAs. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The insides of the wagon doors and ends were painted in a dark brown colour, with lashings of dark grey mottled in, and once dry, more shades of greys and browns were dotted in on top, building up the very dark and battered effect that these wagons seem to pick up after many years hard service. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr OCA 112012 was one of the earlier examples of the fleet, and later in life being plastered with graffiti down one side, ironically the paint helping to cover the rusty sides where most of the old BR 'Dutch' livery was flaking away! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The fun part on this wagon was definitely in the weathering, with some many little scrapes and damages, all built up with a paintbrush using light brown, topped off with the darker shades. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Over here is OCA 112066, another Dutch one with a lot of the rust marks! These are primarily from where they have been damaged from the inside of the wagon, and a peaked dent formed, with the external paintwork flaking away and becoming exposed to the elements. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Some of the interesting details on this include electrification flashes applied at wonky angles, as well as the newer data panels and info being applied on black patches over the original wagon TOPS panel and details. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One finishing touch on the Bachmann wheels is to add in Colin Craig brake discs (now available via Wills Workbench), the version for the 12mm wheel was glued on using a spot of Microscale Kristal Klear and then weathered in. The wheels are all painted dark grey/brown, but wiped away on the face of the brake disc to leave the effect of dirt in the holes, and to make sure the shiny metal of the original wheel is obscured. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Last of the trio was OCA 112214, which was in a faded grey livery in the condition modelled here, together with evidence of diamond markings on the side - possibly Hazchem explosive markings linked to MoD workings, which made for a fun model. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The other side of the 112214 had a series of dark grey patches painted on, though the reason why is unclear, whether a series of body repairs or even just covering graffiti, we may never know! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr After all of the weathering was completed, each wagon was then given a complete all-over spraying with Railmatch matt varnish to seal in the weathering - often the application of the rust marks will lead to shiny patches appearing so the matt varnish is essential for smoothing everything out and flattening it down. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Here below you can see the interiors, crying out for a load at some stage! OCAs do seem to have some very fiddly loads, pipes, track components and all sorts, it will take a little thought but I'll do something at some stage! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr And there we have it! The wagons will join the lengthy train of other OCAs and OBAs already formed, and their 'Dutch' livery will add some nice extra balance to the liveries already depicted. I try to keep an eye out in Rail Express magazine each month for the long list of OCAs that keep getting scrapped in Gareth Bayer's fantastic Wagons section, and though I've not spotted them, I'd imagine the prototype OCAs here may well be long gone by now as the railway seems to move towards big bogie box wagons everywhere! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It was great fun to get these completed and off the workbench, and to get tucked into some juicy new projects for the year ahead, coming soon! Cheers, James great work as always James! these type of projects always inspire to get me into doing some weathering techniques such as you display... I have several VGA/VKA's and OCA's for MOD workings to do as well loads other various low sided wagon which will need the same treatment. A quick question when you are layering with the 'paint on / wipe off' - how many coats do you do? and how soon after do you wipe off? consistency of the paint etc? Need to get round to trying it myself sooner or later! Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted January 13, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 13, 2023 1 hour ago, James Makin said: Pretty much the whole sides to the floor, in the end Rich! It did take a while and was a bit of a pain! Theres more of a chamfer on the ends where the thickness of the plastic between the deep rib bits and the inner flat plated bit is thinner, so when I did try and file the entire end back, I suddenly had some daylight visible! 🤣 Thanks, I think I might have a go at setting the Dremmel up in the pillar drill attachment and using it to mill down the side thickness. Worth a try at least as I would always rather not have to paint Dutch on an engineers wagon... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDG Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 3 hours ago, James Makin said: Happy New Year guys..! One of the benefits of the festive season is ideally getting a bit of time off to push on further with some modelling projects, and there's been a bit of a blitz lately! There should be something rather fun appearing on one of the Accurascale threads in due course, and aside from this I've been catching up on a few OCA wagon projects started earlier in the year, here goes... OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr As longer term readers may remember, I've tackled quite a lot of the Bachmann air-braked opens over the years, but I've always loved the sight of a 'Dutch' OCA, so with a stack of cheap ones bought from shows gathering up, 3 were taken and given a seeing to! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Joining the fleet today are OCA No. 112012, 112066 and 112214, with each wagon modelled on photographs available on Flickr. The starting point was the Bachmann EWS release of some years back - OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The main bugbear with Bachmann's OCA is the thickness of the plastic sides, which look extremely beefy! This was filed down to as thin as my patience and the basic structure would allow, I did get a bit carried away at the end of one wagon and ended up going right through it..! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once all of the interior was filed back, and external branding removed, each wagon was given a coating of Railmatch Rail Grey aerosol paint, topped off with a faded yellow stripe layer, and black painted bits where required, matching to the prototype pictures. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Each wagon was glossed with Railmatch varnish and given decals from Railtec - Steve's lovely (then new) stencil decals were cobbled together for the TOPS detail, matching up to what I could glimpse from the Flickr pics for each wagon, and then the whole model was given a coating of Railmatch Matt Varnish to finish, before the weathering fun could begin! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Here, the truly superb soundtrack of Rose Gray is recommended for any Dutch OCA projects, as we see the initial layers of browns being applied and then wiped away with cotton buds. Humbrols No. 62, 186 and 113 are layered on over the course of a few days, building up a range of colour. Little streaking can be created by not fully taking all of the paint away, which would be ideal for creating some of the rusty streaks seen where rainwater runs down the side of the wagon body. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr After the paint-on/wipe-off stage, a fine 5/0 paintbrush is then used to highlight some of the rusty scrapes and damages on the bodysides of each wagon. About 5 different shades of brown are layered on, starting with Humbrol 62, 186, 113, 133 and 262, with the darkest shade at the epicentre of the rust outbreak. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The chassis is painted in a sloppy mix of Phoenix Track Dirt and Humbrol 32 dark grey, with a bit of Humbrol 27004 Metalcote Gunmetal, highlighting the edges of the chassis and oily deposits with a bit of a sheen! Now I do love the opportunity to do a bit of graffiti..! OCA 112012 had some interesting 'artwork' at one stage, so I had to replicate this in model form. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The start point is to paint on the backing colours, carefully keeping an eye on where the graffiti sits on the wagon itself, and then once dry, start by adding in the lining on top - in this case a simple black & white artwork, being lined out with a 5/0 brush. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Once completed, the interiors received a bit of a weathering. I've always been meaning to do some decent loads for the OCAs but until I get round to it, I'm finishing each wagon as empty for now, so the wooden plank floor is painted in first, followed by the sides. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Similar to the OTA timber wagon floor techniques tackled a few pages back, the weathered 'wood' effect is a couple of shades of mid brown paint, later dry-brushed over the top with shades of light earthy greens and greys, and then light grey, simulating a little bit of woodgrain by using a large, slightly scratchy dry brush. After adding several layers of paint shades, the effect builds up but it takes some patience and trial & error to match to photographs of OCAs. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The insides of the wagon doors and ends were painted in a dark brown colour, with lashings of dark grey mottled in, and once dry, more shades of greys and browns were dotted in on top, building up the very dark and battered effect that these wagons seem to pick up after many years hard service. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr OCA 112012 was one of the earlier examples of the fleet, and later in life being plastered with graffiti down one side, ironically the paint helping to cover the rusty sides where most of the old BR 'Dutch' livery was flaking away! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The fun part on this wagon was definitely in the weathering, with some many little scrapes and damages, all built up with a paintbrush using light brown, topped off with the darker shades. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Over here is OCA 112066, another Dutch one with a lot of the rust marks! These are primarily from where they have been damaged from the inside of the wagon, and a peaked dent formed, with the external paintwork flaking away and becoming exposed to the elements. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Some of the interesting details on this include electrification flashes applied at wonky angles, as well as the newer data panels and info being applied on black patches over the original wagon TOPS panel and details. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr One finishing touch on the Bachmann wheels is to add in Colin Craig brake discs (now available via Wills Workbench), the version for the 12mm wheel was glued on using a spot of Microscale Kristal Klear and then weathered in. The wheels are all painted dark grey/brown, but wiped away on the face of the brake disc to leave the effect of dirt in the holes, and to make sure the shiny metal of the original wheel is obscured. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Last of the trio was OCA 112214, which was in a faded grey livery in the condition modelled here, together with evidence of diamond markings on the side - possibly Hazchem explosive markings linked to MoD workings, which made for a fun model. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The other side of the 112214 had a series of dark grey patches painted on, though the reason why is unclear, whether a series of body repairs or even just covering graffiti, we may never know! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr After all of the weathering was completed, each wagon was then given a complete all-over spraying with Railmatch matt varnish to seal in the weathering - often the application of the rust marks will lead to shiny patches appearing so the matt varnish is essential for smoothing everything out and flattening it down. OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Here below you can see the interiors, crying out for a load at some stage! OCAs do seem to have some very fiddly loads, pipes, track components and all sorts, it will take a little thought but I'll do something at some stage! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr And there we have it! The wagons will join the lengthy train of other OCAs and OBAs already formed, and their 'Dutch' livery will add some nice extra balance to the liveries already depicted. I try to keep an eye out in Rail Express magazine each month for the long list of OCAs that keep getting scrapped in Gareth Bayer's fantastic Wagons section, and though I've not spotted them, I'd imagine the prototype OCAs here may well be long gone by now as the railway seems to move towards big bogie box wagons everywhere! OCA Wagons by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It was great fun to get these completed and off the workbench, and to get tucked into some juicy new projects for the year ahead, coming soon! Cheers, James Suberb James. There's a couple of photos in another thread, freight in the Southeast, of a short rake of oca's top and tailed with 66's. I think they are loaded with scrap recovered signal components. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted January 13, 2023 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 13, 2023 3 hours ago, WCML100 said: great work as always James! these type of projects always inspire to get me into doing some weathering techniques such as you display... I have several VGA/VKA's and OCA's for MOD workings to do as well loads other various low sided wagon which will need the same treatment. A quick question when you are layering with the 'paint on / wipe off' - how many coats do you do? and how soon after do you wipe off? consistency of the paint etc? Need to get round to trying it myself sooner or later! Thanks Thanks very much! With the paint on/wipe off weathering I tend to very it depending on the result I’m looking for, but here it was neat Humbrol enamel paint, applied and then removed within just a few mins while still very much wet! If it starts to dry out, I’ll add more paint on top to get it back wet again and then take it off, working with cotton buds and/or kitchen towel if needed! Other projects, especially the locos, I tend to water down the initial paint to just a light wash, mostly enamel thinners with a tinge of paint, it’s a case of playing around with different consistencies and working out what you want for the finished effect you’re looking for! The only downside I’ve found is that working with such strong thinners-paint ratio means that the wash can easily strip away varnish or branding if not protected, so I’ll normally allow a month’s drying & hardening time for varnish over the existing paintwork before starting on the weathering just to be on the safe side! 2 hours ago, The Fatadder said: Thanks, I think I might have a go at setting the Dremmel up in the pillar drill attachment and using it to mill down the side thickness. Worth a try at least as I would always rather not have to paint Dutch on an engineers wagon... Best of luck there Rich! I like the sound of the pillar drill arrangement, I did ponder using a minidrill to make light work of it, but without a securing arrangement like that then I would’ve been all over the place..! 1 hour ago, KDG said: Suberb James. There's a couple of photos in another thread, freight in the Southeast, of a short rake of oca's top and tailed with 66's. I think they are loaded with scrap recovered signal components. Thanks for the pointers there, I’ll do some browsing! I do love the fun loads you see in photos of these types of wagons, I’m sure I once saw a pic of some Portaloos going for a ride, so that might well have to feature one day haha! Cheers, James 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted January 13, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 13, 2023 51 minutes ago, James Makin said: est of luck there Rich! I like the sound of the pillar drill arrangement, I did ponder using a minidrill to make light work of it, but without a securing arrangement like that then I would’ve been all over the place..! I would still need to work out some sort of jig to hold the wagon in place, but I think it has potential. Will dig it an old Hornby toy to test on first though… 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 9 hours ago, James Makin said: Hi Steve! For this I'll be adding a coat of gloss varnish onto the body before the decal gets applied, and then topping off with an overall coat of matt varnish afterwards to seal everything in, things like the windows will get masked with Humbrol Maskol fluid (I find this much easier than taking the windows out and refitting!) during the varnishing process and the overall matt finish I do prefer - after this it'll get a final coating of airbrush track grime/exhaust weathering when the cobwebs are next dusted off the airbrush! Cheers, James Ta James. Which varnish do you use? I'll have a loco to varnish soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted January 15, 2023 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 15, 2023 On 13/01/2023 at 21:18, sb67 said: Ta James. Which varnish do you use? I'll have a loco to varnish soon. I think my favourite are the Railmatch varnishes, bought in the aerosol format to save airbrushing, they are getting pricey these days but generally you do get good results! I’ll spray a gloss varnish coat across the bodyshell before the decals go down, a matt varnish coat after the decals and then a second matt coat after the paint-on-wipe off weathering stages, prior to the final blow over with airbrush traffic weathering. I normally buy regular small batches directly from main distributor Howes of Oxford with the aim of getting the freshest batch, to ensure maximum success and hopefully minimal clogging or malfunctioning aerosols, and they’re all stored indoors in the warm! The danger of buying the aerosols elsewhere other than Howes is it’s not immediately obvious how long it’s been sitting on their shelves! Hope this helps! :) James 3 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerbyLNWR Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 On 13/01/2023 at 11:31, James Makin said: Hi Jon! Thanks for the kind words, as it happens I've got a ready made response and pictures ready just like that from the other month, hope this helps! :) Thanks so much ! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 (edited) 23 hours ago, James Makin said: I think my favourite are the Railmatch varnishes, bought in the aerosol format to save airbrushing, they are getting pricey these days but generally you do get good results! I’ll spray a gloss varnish coat across the bodyshell before the decals go down, a matt varnish coat after the decals and then a second matt coat after the paint-on-wipe off weathering stages, prior to the final blow over with airbrush traffic weathering. I normally buy regular small batches directly from main distributor Howes of Oxford with the aim of getting the freshest batch, to ensure maximum success and hopefully minimal clogging or malfunctioning aerosols, and they’re all stored indoors in the warm! The danger of buying the aerosols elsewhere other than Howes is it’s not immediately obvious how long it’s been sitting on their shelves! Hope this helps! :) James Thanks James. I'm going to try and airbrush my matt varnish as the gloss went on ok. I always seem to be heavy handed with rattle cans. I might also do some pin washes around the grills etc while I've got the gloss coat on. Edited January 16, 2023 by sb67 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhysb Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 James, Aerosols (paints) have a 10 year shelf life from production, most if not all manufacturers put the production date on the can (normally on the bottom or the neck of the can) for example: P2219 will be "production week 22 of 2019". A lot of people moan about varnish/sealers turning milky or chalky or white in colour. The only things that cause this are nothing to do with the paint or can. Its because the surface/paint/substrate your spraying it on is still wet or not fully cured or the humidity/damp/water content in the air is too high. I know you leave your models a month between major coats of paint/varnish which is probably why you get no reactions! Just a bit of advise ;-) Rhys 3 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted January 18, 2023 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 18, 2023 21 hours ago, Rhysb said: James, Aerosols (paints) have a 10 year shelf life from production, most if not all manufacturers put the production date on the can (normally on the bottom or the neck of the can) for example: P2219 will be "production week 22 of 2019". A lot of people moan about varnish/sealers turning milky or chalky or white in colour. The only things that cause this are nothing to do with the paint or can. Its because the surface/paint/substrate your spraying it on is still wet or not fully cured or the humidity/damp/water content in the air is too high. I know you leave your models a month between major coats of paint/varnish which is probably why you get no reactions! Just a bit of advise ;-) Rhys Thanks Rhys, hope you're doing good! I thought I was just the one trying to decipher those codes on the cans haha! The Railmatch ones seem to be printed on a little white label on the sides of the cans, and Phoenix do the classic reverse date on the sides. There's one well-known modelling supplier that I've bought Railmatch aerosol cans from over the years and they have all failed on me prematurely it seems, shaken well but blocking during their first usage leaving you with about £8 of varnish you can't get at, or exchange heads and still can't unblock! I think it may be down to how they store the stock between shows possibly, maybe being left in a cold van or warehouse, you never know what happens to it before you get at it! I did once have a milky white finish with a project, my BR Green 47004 I did in 2013, it was a Winter project and I was rushing to get it finished, sprayed it on too cold a day and very recently after weathering, and it went a bit ghostly! Fortunately it just managed to be saved with some over coating with more varnish but that was a good lesson learnt! Cheers, James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Humbrol cans do the same. Just suddenly stop. Hornby customer service has been good enough to replace one so far…..may be more when the garage thaws enough to do some more. I use an airbrush for weathering but becuase it is such a colossal throbbing pain in the arse to clean, I don’t use it for varnishes 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 On 13/01/2023 at 18:51, James Makin said: The only downside I’ve found is that working with such strong thinners-paint ratio means that the wash can easily strip away varnish or branding if not protected, so I’ll normally allow a month’s drying & hardening time for varnish over the existing paintwork before starting on the weathering just to be on the safe side! That's an interesting tip James, will use that when I've finished varnishing my 31. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted February 7, 2023 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2023 Last year I was given the irresistible opportunity to weather up some of the brand new Accurascale MHA 'Coalfish' wagons, and now that they've been shared as part of the recent Accurascale 'World of Railways' coverage and featured on their weathering blog, it seemed the time was right to share a few more gratuitously dirty wagon pics here! Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The MHAs have long been a favourite, as most will know, they owe their existence to the old HAA merry-go-round coal hoppers, with large batches being built on redundant underframes from the late '90s onwards, and the second, revised body style appearing in the early 2000s, as depicted by the recent Accurascale model. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr My mission was to show how these models can be turned into typical examples of the breed during the mid-2000s era when the wagons had a few years service under the belt and the conversions had already started to show their age. The full step-by-step weathering guide is shown on the Accurascale website, but here's a whistle-stop tour to get a flavour of the process! Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr What you get out of the box is rather fun! The wagons are so red, almost too pretty to weather, but needs must! There's the option here to change the running numbers if need be, otherwise the wagons are given a coat of Railmatch matt varnish and left for a month to harden, before some fun weathering would begin. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I went with the tried and tested paint-on/wipe-off methods to initially bring out some of the detail in the ribs, creating shadows and dirt deposits that are normally sheltered from rainfall in real life. Several layers of Humbrol paints were added, looking at prototype pictures to see what kind of shades would work, painting on almost neat and then wiping away vertically downwards using a cotton bud. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr More of the superb Rose Gray accompanied layers of Humbrol's 62, 186, 113, 119 and 32 being applied - each layer leaves a residue over the matt varnish layer which tones down the bright EWS red to a much duller well-used shade as seen during the onset of the 2000s. Depending on the specific wagon and the life it led, the weathering could vary from sandy shades to darker grey appearance, so my advice is to pick a wagon photo for each model from Flickr/Google/Smugmug etc, and copy it exactly - otherwise there's a risk of getting more of a generic weathering finish. Next it came to weathering the all-important insides! Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr From the start of the project I wanted to show the variety that was possible - one wagon would be 'empty', with a bit of ballast, and the third would be filled with sand - a commonly-seen load in the MHAs, alongside the usual ballast. The insides of the 'empty' wagons tended to be a rich mix of sandy, earthy shades, reflecting the loads seen in the wagons. A large scratchy brush was dipped in paint and then wiped almost clean of paint, before drybrushing against the wagon interior, creating upward streaks on the inside walls, and then across the floor working from side to side and mottled downward. It's a good idea to use an old dedicated dry-brush for this as it will fray your brush hairs in no time at all! Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr At first it can look a bit rubbish, but after building up 6-7 colours, soon the effect starts to look more convincing, all range of greys, beiges and browns start to mix in, following the prototype pictures for guidance all the time. Next, the noticeable panel marks could be added in, using a few layers of brown paint - Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr These panel lines match to the position of the external ribs, I believe this to be where the thin sides gently bow outward between the stiff strengthening ribs, making the ribs touch more against the interior load and therefore more susceptible to wear. Layers of light brown and darker brown were added with fine brushes, and working from pictures to try not to overstate the appearance. If it goes overboard at this stage, just rub over with a cotton bud and flatten out the effect accordingly. I couldn't resist having a little fun at the same time! Back when I did research ready for tackling my old Hornby MHAs many years ago, I remembered how many had been subject to graffiti attacks, so it was this in mind I set about recreating an MHA that had been similarly abused here..! Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr It was a fairly simple two-colour 'mural', alongside a few extra tags. The backing colour was carefully painted on in the right place, and then this was lined out in black, using a fine 5/0 paintbrush. As always with this kind of work, it's all down to having the right tool - the brush hairs must all line up in a specific point in order to get a clean sharp finish. It's amazing how many new paintbrushes don't end in a point, so I always buy face-to-face and I'm that crazy guy at the brush stand at Warley, individually sorting through the hundreds of brushes to buy a stack of pointy ones... 😄 As well as graffiti, the 5/0 brushes came out again for recreating the little damages seen on the sides, normally where being unloaded by a mechanical grabber dents the inside, damaging the paintwork on the outside. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Tiny marks were painted on in very light brown, Humbrol 62 and 186, then overlaid with dabs of more dirty, rusty shades, 113, 133 and 251, building up the shades gently as needed, and matching to pictures. There were also lots of little spots and dings that can be recreated too like this. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Next, the stark black underframes were painted in a range of colours - Phoenix Paint's 'Track Dirt' or 'Frame Dirt', together with some Humbrol 251 dark brown, 32 dark grey and a bit of 27004 Metalcote Gun Metal. From looking at photographs, the darker shades were concentrated around the oily moving parts such as the brake levers and suspension components. After this came some more fun! So many MHAs have received markings on the side, from various engineering possessions, often the loads or position within a train are chalked or written on, and seem to survive in traffic some time after first being written. An example here had a giant 'E' and a 'Rail' marking on the side! Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The last bit was to tackle the loads, and for the sand wagon, I wanted to try out the range from Attwood Aggregates - their bucket of 'dust' caught my eye at a show so I had to give it a go! I'm pretty impressed how it has come out. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The dust was applied on top of a false-floor load, being a bit of foamboard and a smoothed-down Peco/Parkside coal load from an HAA hopper, then just painted sand colour, covered in PVA glue with the Attwood product sprinkled on top. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Loading the other two wagons was fun as well. From what I've seen rarely is there ever a truly 'empty' MHA, their lack of doors means that there's invariably some trace of load left in the hard-to-reach places, whether it's sand, ballast or some other spoil debris, it is fun to model! The 'emptyiest' of the trio had small lumps of Attwood Aggregates ballast applied in the corners of the wagon and at various places further in, mimicking patterns seen in real life where the grabber-boxes scoop up most of the load, but always leave some behind. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Down on the chassis, the final layer of Humbrol Metalcote Gunmetal brings out the harder edges of the underframe, whilst the wheels themselves were weathered too. A layer of Humbrol 32 dark grey was painted on and wiped away, taking away the bright appearance of the brake discs and giving the appearance of oily dirt residue in the recessed bolts on the discs. The rest of the wheel and axle is carefully painted in a brown/grey mix to finish. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The side profile of the MHAs is always fun, one of the things I liked about these was the ability to see right underneath the wagon, and Accurascale have really managed a good job here with the separately-applied ribs showing their extra detail caught in the light here! Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The 'graffiti wagon' was a lot of fun to work on in particular, I've always thought it amusing when graffiti pays no attention to the surface on which it sits, resting over the contours of the ribs and continuing on! The smaller tagging was added also with the fine 5/0 brushes and using beige sandy shades. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Eagle-eyed viewers will see the graffiti itself has been weathered on top of too, often with wagons, graffiti is never removed and simply becomes part of the finish, just as seen here, with layers of dirt and even rusty damage patches showing through. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The front wagon above here also shows a few additional drybrush passes of light stone/grey shades, if a certain wagon has been used for loading a very dusty material then it will weather differently to the others in the batch, so it makes it even more fun when picking out prototypes to model. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The sandy-load wagon is an unexpected favourite! I am hoping to do a few more with MHAs and some MTAs too in due course. Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I'll stop sharing pics now as you'll be getting bored of them but it's been a great fun project to tackle, so glad that these often unsung heroes have a definitive model, let's hope for an early-body variant too in due course please! Accurascale MHAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr I'd like to extend a massive thanks to Fran, Gareth and the rest of the superb guys at Accurascale for letting me rip with their wagons, a very brave move!! Cheers, James 29 1 2 1 9 9 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ruggedpeak Posted February 7, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2023 Absolutely superb job on the MHA's, James. I might try something similar on some Hornby ones before I put Accurascale ones at risk! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCML100 Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 (edited) Great work as always James. I am currently setting about tackling my own spoil rake made up of MTA’s, MHA’s, and MFA’s - and taking great inspiration by your weathering techniques. I am hoping I can replicate your fine work to some extent 😃👌 Edited February 7, 2023 by WCML100 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted February 7, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2023 Really nice work, the article on the Accurascale website proved very handy when doing my EFE sea urchin the other day. now crack on and do a similar how to guide on CDA please ;) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
101Voodoo Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 Absolutely spot on - spend plenty of time shunting these round in real life and you’ve captured the shall we say ‘used’ look of them brilliantly 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post James Makin Posted June 1, 2023 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted June 1, 2023 (edited) My latest weathering challenge from Fran, Gareth and the Accurascale gang has been the lovely china clay CDAs, which have made for a great fun project! I've put together a 20-step weathering guide that features on the Accurascale website here, but below is a whistle-stop tour the main elements. Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr My inspiration for these was the condition of the wagons around the turn of the century, somewhat older than Accurascale's EWS/DB release, so it has been fun to back-date these and repaint into the original ECC colour scheme. Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Below you can see what you get, the versions tackled by Accurascale mostly feature the EWS red framing, suitable for the early 2000s onwards, with sharply-printed detail and a lovely satin finish. Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Seeking to get these into a fun late 1990s condition meant removing the existing branding, which just lifts off with a little Humbrol enamel thinners, and repainting the frames into a faded ECC blue. Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The wagons were given a coat of gloss varnish prior to applying the superb Railtec Transfers, before giving a good coating of Railmatch matt varnish, and leaving to harden for a month. Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Next up came the weathering fun! The soundtrack came from the superb Sussex-based Maisie Peters who's already rolled out a number of pop bangers this year and is the go-to recommended listening for CDA weathering projects. Having varnished the wagons, a layer of neat Humbrol white was painted all over and removed with cotton buds, the varnish allowing the white paint residue to cling to the wagons and give an all-over pale white finish. Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Following this, the rusty streak layers were added, these are notable on the prototype pictures, emanating from the vents, and in model form, just a drybrush of Humbrol 62 matt leather down the sides gave the right effect, which would soon be toned down with an overall dusting of more Humbrol matt white, applied with an airbrush. Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr A small amount of the white dusting was wiped away with a cotton bud dipped in enamel thinners, the corners of the frames seem to be cleaner than the sides, and areas like the wheels were painted, first in dark grey and then dry brushed white over to represent the clay dust build-up. Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Little extra details included repainting the yellow parts on the axleboxes, hopper lid handle mechanism and brake levers, using a faded yellow - Humbrol No. 74. Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr The hoods were given an overall weathering alongside the rest of the wagon, and the faded ECC blue looks rather pleasing! Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Moving onto the ends, the now-white buffers were given a dabbing of dark brown to represent greasy parts, and the shanks themselves painted mid-brown, following prototype photographs of the CDAs. Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr Accurascale CDAs by James Makin by James Makin - Account 3, on Flickr These made for a great fun project, and have definitely reignited my dormant interest in modelling Cornwall (my first ever layout represented this!) - thoughts are turning to creating some quaint china clay mini-layout just to accommodate these! Thanks as always go to Fran, Gareth and the lovely team at Accurascale for letting me have a crack at these awesome wagons! Cheers, James Edited June 1, 2023 by James Makin . 21 11 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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