Eric & Gripper

simply gorgeous work.

Hello again Barry. As you can tell i am a big fan of your work. I probably love weathering as much you. All the different techniques we use to achieve "reality".It really is the Dark arts. I would wholeheartedly agree you can't expect an airbrush to create the depth and texture, that building up layers,creating highlights and shadows does for a model. Your work has that lovely feel and texture to it. Powders permanent or otherwise are definitely the answer to this texture in a world of Soot and pollution ., I tend to go down the permanent route.which isn't for everyone but stems from my military modelling background.I can appreciate the benefit you get from removable weathering. It does seem to have taken the railway modelling fraternity a long time to come to terms with weathering. It effects, (yours especially) are simply stunning and well worth the time and effort to finish this "reality". It is often underestimated how much time and reference goes into weathering.since it isn't an official livery,but without it something is obviously missing. Keep up the excellent work sir For my own part I the delivered finished wagons and was promptly given a box of green diesels and maroon Mk1s to "have a go at" happy days. Best regards, Eric & Gripper.

Some fine work and skills on display here.As ever I'm really enjoying this thread,and will in due course have a go. It is a baautiful method and closer to "art" than can be accomplished with an airbrush. Thanks again for explaining what have mysteries until now. The step by step is very good. I feel a trip to Hobbycraft is on the cards next time i'm in hull. Warmest regards (it speeds the drying time too) Eric & Gripper. I only wish my fingers would type as fast as my brain

Thank you Gentleman. I have been assured its Locos next. Diesels first then the fun begins. I have kitbuilds too do as well for variety.I'm still easing myself in gradually. Thank you for the kind words,and again I hope it inspires. Best regards Eric & Gripper.

Psssst,Don't tell the others I am supposed to be all things NER BR(NE), But I,ve always loved the Westerns. The crispness of the Heljan offering really shows how far the hobby has com, since the Lima and Hornby models of the last century(yes i do overuse that phrase). I repainted/detailed many Lima Westerns back in the the day.Western Talisman is a favourite and i do feel a china Clay rake coming on a future Blog of mine.Lion looks to be a beautiful model too looks like I've got some collecting to do.I am inspired thank you. Best regards Eric&Gripper.

Beautiful work so far.Its that feeling of space that comes comes across in the top photo.Best wishes for success with this one. Eric & Gripper.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/5732810365/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/5732809847/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/5733355230/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/5732807711/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/5732807091/in/photostream /http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/5732807091/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/5733370876/

Hello Sir, I too am returning to this lovely hobby after a 20 year gap shall we say( to stock up on women and beer). I will help out if i can and follow your posts as best I can. N/2mm is good for its operating potential if space is an obstacle. OO /4mm still has all the best stock Reference material is plentiful i would recommend Flickr as a good source of inspiration. My objectives and projects differ from yours but the outcome will be the same. Good luck and i'll try and give Padstow some thought. Surely China Clay is an option in that part of the world. Best regards Eric & Gripper..

Beautiful sir. With these eyes i can't wait to try 7mm.I feel a garden railway coming on. Best regards Eric and Gripper

It has been an interesting return to this hobby so far. One observation I have to make. There are some very beautiful layouts out there,finely detailed,brilliant landscapes,photo realistic backdrops etc. They are a million miles away from anything in my Railway Modeller's magazines of the 1980s. The one thing, thats stick out in these truly beautiful landscapes is the ex-works locos and stock. From a military modelling perspective I wouldn't dream of building a diorama of the battle of Falaise with a bunch of ex works King tiger tanks even though they would be quite new at that time.Weathering of your stock is the finishing touch.Come on be Brave you've built and moved moutains lets blend your stock into the landscape. Bachmanns BR Vans are the focus of this blog. These half-timbered tudor boxes on wheels are a thing of beauty and an inexpensive weathering exercise too.(As a footnote here don't forget to add the the tie bars between the wheels it does make a hell of a a difference) My reference recommendations for this project are: The Art of Weathering by Martyn Welch a fine tome and a good introduction to weathering and a source of inspiration for me. British Railways Wagons the First Half Million by Don Rowland all the diagrams and plenty of inspirational photos. Wagons of the Early British Railways Era: A Pictorial Study of the 1948-1954 Period by David Larkin Railways in Profile No. 3: British Railway Vans. by Geoff Gamble. http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/paulbartlettsrailwaywagons should be all you will need.. http://www.scalemodelguide.com/painting-weathering/painting-guide/all-about-paint-brushes/ Full of excellent advice, I will try and crossover some military reference when its appropriate. The base models for this project. BR Planked sided/Planked door vent van. BR Plywood sided/Planked door vent van. BR Insulated Van Wood is an excellent material for weathering.Its ability to rot,warp,shrink and shed any preservative has be captured in model form. Since this is once again mainly a painting exercise you should try and get some painting reference. Rotten pieces of unpainted timber will help capture the tonal quality of natural wood.Grain,patina and the effects of erosion from the elements can be found in driftwood.If you can lay your hands on some decayed timber for your workbench reference it will make the task much easier. These are some of my examples Again i have chosen to mask of the original numbers,tare weights and lettering,maskol is excellent for this and shows up as the pink patches in the photos. Firstly we need to roughen up the surface texture of the planks/plywood. Some fine emery or wet and dry paper on the plywood should give it a much more careworn realistic appearance.Down ward strokes with the emery nice and light gives some patina to the otherwise plain surface. For the planked van a a horizontal motion to try and create some grain I resorted to a scalpel blade to get real wounds in there. then a rub over with the emery to soften things up a bit. Now for some drybrushing. Raised area with always take the paint first so your nicely roughened areas will be highlighted in bauxite and the a run over with Freight stock Brown.The lighter roughed represent the worn original paint and the two drybushed colors the various stages of patch painting and fading/chipping.The overall variance is what we are looking for here. A thin wash (size 1 brush) of weathered black into all the nooks,crannies framing Chains and hinges,wipe the the first attempt with some tissue or a cotton bud 59p locally. Then reapply the thin wash and remove again. another repeat should build up enough debris where it would normally catch and stay. A thin wash like this, way more thinners than paint with always form in the nooks etc,It will form rings round bolt heads and rivets.So as you can see Drybrushing for raised detail,dip brush wipe 90% off. Drybrushing will pick out the detail and bring it forwards. A wash will find all the corners where dirt and debris would collect,It will also add blend and tone to the surface paint if you have grain in that wood a wash will find it. by far the quickest van to do so far was the Insul van for all the stages listed above this was the result after an hours work on it drying times aside. Since my Patron the penguin of doom is using his insul vans for fish traffic the addition of corroded framework wheels and chains is what really sets it apart. All unpainted ferous metal will corrode in a very short time. I work in the motor trade in Scarborough and even brand new vehicles can have rusty looking brake discs in no time at all.Fish vans on the quay side at hull,subject to the salt air,water ice and anything else would rust away quite happily its tell tale streaks then leaves (dry brushed) stain streaks on and in the paintwork.A very light wash along the bottom edge of the body highlights the dripping nature of this rusty water. Underframes would suffer in these hostile conditions.Some dark rust with talcum powder stippled on the wheels,springs and morton gear is a start,/dry brush in some lighter rust shades in streaks and pickout the bolt detail with this light rust shade since in the damp it would be fresh rust.in the midst of all this rust some oily steel can be added to the framing to highlight the constant wearing down of the paint,rubbed,knocked areas etc.Less is more with oily steel though so go carefully. A light dusting of frame dirt with an airbrush or a careful wash should tone down the lower half of all these vans the Insul van the had some gloss varnish streak down its underframe to further highlight its damp world environment.a top down wash of roof dirt or careful spray withe airbrush should then blend in the top half of the vans. A further thing to note.the doors on vans appear cleaner than the rest of the vehicle.due to there being open and pinned back whilst unloading they didnt quite suffer the filth of the rest of the vehicle.New doors were sometimes fitted,freshly painted in complete contrast to the rest of the vehicle so at this stage you could lighten up the doors with some fresh paint or just a wash fresh paint,alternatively clean thinners will lighten these areas up nicely. The final van was quick half hour light/traffic weathering using the above techniques. If you have plenty of Van stock you may wish to try another little one off project,a peeling/split felt roof. The method for this quite simple scribe some parallel lines into the roof with a sharp scalpel or Stanley knife.Roughen up this area with emery to put some grain into the wooden roof.Paint the created planks a with nice coat of grey/beige mix paint.leave to dry then a wash roof dirt in the newly created furrows.Leave to dry for 24 hours then mask over your to be peeled area.Leave again for at least 24 while the Maskol dries.Then a good daubing of Roof dirt around the edges of you Maskol and paint the remainder of the roof as you would normally. 24 hours later carefully pick off the maskol to reveal your rather (a)peeling roof. with you 5/0 brush puts some dots in for nail heads and further wash over/airbrush spray over with roof dirt and your done.All this covered in Martin Welch's book,this then is my interpretation and hopefully inspiration for you all. Now you have some lovely vans for your pickup goods too. I'm very happy with the results this far.I hope,I have inspired you to try some of this. If you are interested in having similar work done to your stock please contact me at : https://www.facebook.com/groups/356502814462332/ .

Thank you Gentlemen for the kind comments and inspiration. My patron the penguin of doom has many locos to be weathered so you shouldn't have too long to wait. I know I have a a Pannier tank to do and I'm sure there must be a Western or two knocking about. I'm thinking China clay traffic ,always good for weathering. The next blog will be the lovely collection of vans I have subjected to the camo treatment. Wood is such a good recipient of weathering and deterioration. I am personally looking forward to doing a faded/washplant 03 too. The dear penguin has plenty of coaching stock to be done too so it looks like i'm going to be quite busy. With regard to the Brush/Aerosol/Airbrush debate. Brushes are excellent for the sheer detail of weathering,The amount of paint you expect to use on a single vehicle would be on the underside of the lid after you had shaken it. Aerosols.I can't get on with ,too much too often for me. I saw plenty of disasters due to aerosols in the last century. The penguin swears by them and his results speak for themselves.I have never seen better. His full repaints are the equal of any airbrush work i have done or seen. Aerosols are hard to master and i never have. Airbrushes are still expensive.They are excellent for full repaints.blending ,toning down and as area misting device you cannot depend on a airbrush to fully weather anything. I would say for effective weathering its going to be about 90% brush and 10% airbrush.If you don't have airbrush there are ways around it.We will come to them in due course hopefully.

I am returning to this lovely hobby of ours after twenty years away. I haven't neglected my workbench in that time, it has been full of German Armour, and the calender has been set at 1944 forever.Everything else in this hobby has changed.From the outside looking in quality has improved exponentially. Some dear friends have encouraged me to return to my previously devoted hobby. Armed with my military modelling knowledge i have been trying to edge my way back in slowly. My friends have suggested I try some weathering,Though i had no stock of my own that too has been readily nay eagerly supplied. I have read plenty in the last century and this .On the worry some people have of actually starting out in the weathering process.I shall aim with this blog,to show how i achieve my results based purely on my long experience. So if you fancy having a go come along with me on this blog of weathering mayhem. The first concern for me ,(being of the Yorkshire version diagram 1/1) is cost. Paint is my primary source of weathering solutions I have never used weathering powders and my projects therefore have never been temporary. If it goes on it stays on. Be brave people be brave. Paint as i say is my weapon of choice. Railmatch is my preferred choice but i still have some Precision and Humbrol pre-millennium. You will need some brushes but don't buy the expensive stuff.Between 2/0 and 2 just te cheapest option they will get wrecked and you will be buying them again soon. 5/0 to 3/0 get some nice stuff quality pays in the smaller brushes, Railmatch do some natty brushes at £3 a go in the smaller sizes and a range of fine stippling/hammering brushes above 2/0. Always keep the sprues from your kits they make lovely stirring sticks for paint and save you using the handles of files and brushes. Maskol £3 a jar locally brilliant stuff ,we will come back to it later,yes you will need it.you will also need some brushes for the maskol cheap is best size 1 should do; First things first what are you going to try your skills on? Don't go for that two tone class 25 you had a go at with an aerosol. Thats for another day try something small,Something you can afford to lose.Something you can easily coat in Brake Fluid if your not happy. Brake fluid small bottle £2.99 locally ,plus brush for same size 4 and above. Well lucky me,I was deluged with vans and minerals.The minerals will be the focus of this blog entry.I should at this stage mention a lovely book i bought in 1993 before the Sturmtigers and Nebelwefers took me away. The Art of Weatheringby Martyn Welch ISBN-13: 978-1874103110 at £20 its quite pricey but contains all the vital information to get you started and spur you on. It is a railway weathering book so if you end up with a fire damaged Panther check the ISBN number above. Right so you,ve been on Ebay and bought a rake of Bachmann Diagram 1/108 16 ton minerals.You will as ever need some good reference material: British Railways Wagons the First Half Million by Don Rowland (1996) £9 for a used copy is a good start. David Larkin/Geoff Gamble are names youshould type in to Amazon they have plenty of books for you to go at. http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/ should be all you will need on the net. Right, so we have our stock materials and reference you won't need transfers on this project since we willkeep the original numbers and lettering this time. You will have already have your chosen period and region.These are of course as vital as ever.It may seem that 16 steel minerals have been around forever.Well they have but you still have to be careful. Rebodies running alongside your topflap stuff ! mid sixties you would want to show a difference. Light weathering on the rebodies but you can go to town on the topflap wagons. 1950s you could have a variable collection.By the 70s your back to the heavy weathering really on your unfitted minerals.Due to various miners strikes in this period the acidic coal in the very ferous wagons ate one-another mercilessly. I think at this stage you should consider a painting reference for the corrosion you are about to recreate. A lovely piece of scrap metal with plenty of a rust upon it.Something not too unwieldy,something you can leave on your bench as an actual colourchart .All the pictures in the world will not improve upon the real thing. I found this lovely piece on Barmston beach. Perfect for our needs,what all good 16t minerals are made of. How many colours can you see? this is what your up against. Rust is not just one colour its about six in scale terms.Then there's the texture.Talcum powder 79p locally from bodycare is the answer here. MartinWelch recommends it his book. The principle is simple since rust rots from the inside out so underneath the paintwork.Each spot of rust generally spreads from its centre outwards in pattern. So out with the maskol, mask off all those lovely markings,numbers and tare weights.The end door stripe and the centre door markers will also need to be masked off.The following method is that recommended by Martin Welch.the areas you want to be rusty you stipple on now Your cheap brushes are very necessary now.Dark rust with a mix talcum powder.Remember at the stage rust needs to be scaled.Less is more since what you put on is unlikely to flatten,So by all means build it up in coats but just don't leave too pronounced.this is my first attempt. To my mind it is a little overscale in terms of corrosion but since its destined to be a hotbox static,stuck in a siding it can still be justified. This is my second attempt. A more subtle approach here. Left to dry for 24 hours then masked of in patches with maskol. Left to dry for another 24 hours then its painting time.As the corrosion happily munches it way through the metal the beautifully applied grey paint is history,From now on its battle to survive till the next overhaul 5 plus years away. So now a good daubing of freight stock grey for your chosen period,applied quite thick over your chosen patches.Leave to dry for another 48 hours then its time to carefully pick off your maskol patches with tweezers.Your basic rust patches are now revealed. Now to pull out that rust reference and apply miniscule amounts of the various colours using a drybushing method (dip in jar wipe 90% off,apply).Following your reference rust carefully as a colour chart and corrosion tracker you should now have rust patches in a multitude of colours Always apply in light strokes barely touching the surface. build it up over time.If it looks right it is right in weathering.try and balance out the ratio of colours too much of one colour will create an unnatural effect. This was my first attempt at this stage, I highlighted the edges of the curling paint with some weathered black,this gives shadows and depth close up it can look odd but a normal viewing distance its quite an eyeful. Obviously this is all a little too bright for everyday use.so a wash of weathered black should level it all.If you have an airbrush now would be good time to blend the top half.Pick out some areas with oily steel, top half done.The interior can recieve all this treatment if you wish. For the underframe i like to pick out wheels spring and the morton brake gear in dark rust with light rust on the wheels.Blend all in with a wash or airbrush full of frame dirt. bingo your first masterpice can now take pride of place in the pickup goods. I urge you to have a go.You only have a mineral wagon to waste. If you followed all this and still ended up with battle damaged Panther tank,well there's always that brake fluid you bought earlier. Rule number 1 Build up texture in layers Rule number 2 Always leave to dry between stages,at 24 hours don't rush it. Rule number 3 Never use straight matt black it is too black use very dark greys instead Rule number 4 Matt varnish will level everything off nicely. Rule number 5 Only paint what you can see in the quantity you see it. If you are interested in having similar work done to your stock please contact me at : https://www.facebook.com/groups/356502814462332/