BRealistic

That's a b*****r... I'm modelling c1960... !!

Really appreciate your comments guys, expert or not! ... and Dave, your idea of a bit more 'overall' weathering on 68901 will probably do the trick for me. Cheers for that. As I'm not doing very many, (budget constraints!) I've stuck with the same approach/technique to give the rake a certain 'togetherness'... so there's two 'personal preferences' straight away! Maybe I'll try another technique for an 'on it's last legs' wagon left to rot, all alone, in the yard! Re the coal loads, Dave (all 'real' and sitting on easily removable see-saw bases), for variety I've done different piles/sizes in other grey wagons, but I also wanted a consistent little group comprised of wagons that had obviously been filled in the same way (two drops, I suppose you'd call it). 'Tis based on a photo of a long coal train in Wales (bird's eye view) which I thought was very appealing. All destined for the local gas works, maybe.

Hi Ian, and thanks again. You must mean 68901 in the bottom shot (the least successful), which is the unweathered example, and the one I was least happy with too. 'Funny' that the same colour enamels were used for all three... followed with a smudge or two of Dark Mud MIG pigment. I recall I was trying for a less weathered appearance for this one on account of it's 'newer' bauxite colour. Will have a ponder on how best to improve it's subtlety. And I've just noticed, too, I forgot a 'weathered white' treatment for all the brake handles.

Back in post 449 I mentioned I was about to attempt the weathering of my first 3 Bachmann bauxites... and to prove I wasn't lying, here they are... done in similar fashion to the greys I've done previously. Don't be afraid to criticise... I'm still on a learning curve! One photo shows the two that were 'already weathered', and the other (with half a grey on the left) includes the one that wasn't (already weathered). They will enlarge if clicked...

Lovely pieces of kit, David. They look so... professional! As I'm attempting a 'less professional' version for manual operation, I'd be really interested to know whether, in practice, you've found the 6mm holes (through which the brass tubes/wires reach up to the point blades) to be 'just about right', and give you the leeway to make fine adjustments at the server end. Maybe it's the recognised 'norm', I don't know. (My version is for peco points, less their spring mechanism, so only one hole needed) Thanks for your help... and inspiration

Gosh that's nice Jamie... very like some of the prototype examples earlier in thread... and very much in line with Ian's advice methinks. Off to mix some more enamels, as I'm sure my 'last lot' will be solid by now!

Just ran through all 18 pages and the only weathered bauxites are those at the top of this page! (Nice work 37114, but I was left wishing the pics were a bit sharper!). I'm looking for inspiration as I couldn't resist picking up 3 of the wagons at the Newton Abbot Fair last Sunday... all perfect, and got 'em knocked down to £3.00 each! They do age differently to the greys... or so it seems. I've not weathered bauxites before, and it seems I might not be the only one. .. or are there examples out there???!!!

The sand I used in the photo in post 3 all went through a 1mm sieve... as I did what you suggest, Paul, and measured some (not far from Staverton) on the South Devon Steam Railway. Maybe it's because the photo isn't pin sharp that it doesn't look the business? .... and maybe I won't be chucking it onto the garden just yet! Others have said, though, that 2 inches is the max, not 3.

After viewing your ballast, Gordon, I think I'm gonna use my sieved sand to improve my garden soil (heavy clay)! ... and go for Woodland Scenics!

Thanks for that Simon. Looks like I'll have to get my sieves out again! Can't remember where I got the 3 inches from... althought I thought I'd actually measured some on the South Devon Railway!

The colour on my previous upload was awful, so I've taken another in daylight. Much better rendition! I think it improves appearances if you try and leave a bit of a gap between the rail and the ballast. I use a coffee stirrer (McD) with one end cut straight and shapedinto a wedge, which is good for poking around. As it happens, it's the same width as the space between the sleepers! ... so I think I'll be making a spacing jig out of them. (They're a fraction under 5mm wide)

Hope the upload works this time!

I'll be using a gritty sand collected from a river bank near where I live... suitably sieved so that it's no more than a mm (scale 3 inches) in size, which I understand is about the max of the real thing. The river's nice and clean... so no probs with salt etc. Here's a photo of a trial I've done using a 10cm piece of 'old', code 75, peco track. Also trialled spacing the sleepers... Hope this helps!

Is there an advantage in cutting the pieces of plastic (between the sleepers) away completely? Just cutting through them would save a lot of time... and avoid the need to find all the bits that have shot across the room!!

That's good news. I'm another with more than a passing interest!

I know it's a selfish request.... but as I'm about to start weathering all my wagons.... can we lots of wagon shots please???!!! ... maybe with a note on how 'the effect' was achieved.

Absolutely jaw-dropping artistry, Tim. Spent ages drooling over every image last night, marvelling at your techniques, including one of the latest using gouache. Superb results.... which is why I found this little snippet I came across tonight on a website called scalemodelguide.com quite amusing. ( Actually it's a really useful site... but when describing all the painting mediums, this is what it said about gouache..) "Gouache (sometimes called Poster paint) is a water based paint similar to water colours. It differs from water colours in having a coarser pigment and an additional inert white pigment such as chalk added. It has no practical use for modellers and is included here for completeness". How wrong they are!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, keep 'em coming to inspire us all!