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Mick Bonwick

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Blog Entries posted by Mick Bonwick

  1. Mick Bonwick
    Reference to many photographs of working Pecketts  has indicated that there are several areas where dirt seems to accumulate more than others. I have continued to apply the dark mix of frame dirt/weathered black to areas such as the leading edge and corner of the saddle tank, the upper corners of the coal bunker and the join between cab and tank. A simple waft was all that was needed, just to hint at the discolouration.
     
    I also applied a small amount of this same colour to the wheel centres and the coupling rod joints, to alter the monotone already applied.
     
     
     

     

  2. Mick Bonwick
    The upper surfaces of a steam locomotive receive copious amounts of grot from the exhaust and, sometimes, the surrounding environment. This locomotive is intended for use in a quarry, so there will be some dust added to represent that. Later!
     
    To begin with, the soot from the chimney will be represented by a predominantly black mix of Railmatch Frame Dirt and Weathered Black. Application is from my trusty Iwata Eclipse SBS, with successive light coats aimed roughly at the top of the smokebox, saddle tank and cab roof. Why roughly? Because I don't want a sharp edge to the colour, but a fading away as it gets lower down the sides.
     

     

  5. Mick Bonwick
    Many areas of the locomotive accumulate dirt (says he, stating the obvious), and one way of representing this is to make use of a suitably coloured wash that will be attracted to corners and edges by capillary action. There is a vast quantity of washes available from many manufacturers, but I have been using MIG Productions Dark Wash for several years, still the same bottle as when I first started this weathering lark. I apply it by wetting the brush (a rigger) with white spirit and then dipping it in the wash bottle so that the fluid reaches up to the ferrule. The shape and length of the bristles allow plenty of fluid to be held and to then be deposited with accuracy.
     

     
    By touching the tip of the brush to a corner of detail, the wash runs into all the crooks and nannies. In the picture below you have a first-hand view of what happens when you lose concentration . . . . . . 
     

     
    I will leave the stray wash application where it is and it will contribute to the random dirt effect yet to be described.
     
     
     
     
  7. Mick Bonwick
    The ends of the chassis are tackled next, repeating the application of light coats to start the discolouration process. The locomotive is left in the pretty blue cradle and a piece of card positioned to mask off the area above the running plate.
     

     
    This process will have left the top of the buffer beam without paint, so off comes the cradle and the piece of card is repositioned to protect the bodywork again.
     

     
    The same process is utilised to do the other end of the locomotive.
     

     
    In the last step you will notice that there is some overspray on the bodywork. This is left in place and will contribute to the random dirt effect to be applied soon.
     
  8. Mick Bonwick
    The glazing is currently covered in a coat of Dullcote, so the driver and any passengers who might be present will have difficulty seeing where they are going. Not to worry, the trusty cocktail stick is close by. A wooden cocktail stick will absorb white spirit, and white spirit can be used to remove even hardened Dullcote from glazing without doing any damage. As long as the cocktail stick is gently rubbed against the glazing using the side of the tip rather than the point of the tip, a clear patch can be created in fairly quick time.
     
     
     

     

  9. Mick Bonwick
    Ever since failing my driving test for the second time, in a Land Rover in Cyprus (exotic lifestyle!), I have had a soft spot for the machines. When at Railex in 2017 I found an Oxford Diecast 1/43rd version and decided to use it for a minimum cost weathering exercise.
     
    The idea was to spend as little as possible to weather this model, but end up with the wherewithal to continue weathering as many more models as possible with the materials purchased. My purchases were:
     
    Testor's Dullcote - £5.50
    AK Interactive Dark Earth pigment - £4.45
    AMMO by Mig Tracks Wash - £4.00
    Daler Rowney System 3 Filbert brush - £2.50
    Daler Rowney System 3 Round brush - £2.50
    Wickes white spirit - £2.50
     
    I used some items already in the tool box, so haven't included them in the cost:
     
    Cocktail sticks
    Cotton buds
     
    I didn't take step-by-step photographs of the process(es) at the time, but will endeavour to explain how each aspect of the model was done.
     
    Here's the starting point:
     

  12. Mick Bonwick
    The underframe in my reference photograph doesn't show too much in the way of rust colours, being mostly built-up track grime. To replicate this appearance, I have used a thin airbrushed coat of Railmatch Sleeper Grime to form the basis. There was already some deliberately unmasked overspray from the Revell 84 used on the hopper body at the beginning of the process.
     
    The airbrush (Iwata Eclipse) was held at about 4" from the underframe with the vehicle upside down on the turntable and moved from one end to the other several times, with only the faintest trace of paint leaving the nozzle.

  13. Mick Bonwick
    An O Gauge HUO hopper from Accurascale is the next challenge.
     
    The first thing to do is to choose the colours that will be used for this, and another seven to follow. Each of them will be tackled as a separate task, in the hope that the completed set will all look similar, but definitely not the same as each other.  The plan is to use Revell no. 84 as the basis for the rusty look, MIG pigments Dark Mud and Track Brown for shading in corners and around edges, Railmatch Sleeper Grime for the underframe and some other pigments for touching up at the end - probably Rubble Dust and Black Smoke from MIG.
     
    Edited to add: When you reach Step 6 you'll find that I've been remiss in not mentioning that I started with a coat of Testor's Dullcote, so that the pigments would 'stick'. Thanks for pointing it out, Steve.
     
    To check that the Revell no. 84 will not be too dark as a rust effect, I have airbrushed a thin layer onto some of the external bracing and hopper interior to see how it looks.
     
     

  14. Mick Bonwick
    The old rust application is now finished. Greater volume of pigment (although still only small quantities at a time) has been applied in corners and at edges, and now it is time to add a different tone of rust where more recent corrosion is taking place. For this stage I am using MIG Dark Mud. Once again, small quantities at a time and gentle application, building up the effect gradually.
     
    You'll have noticed that there is plenty to do on the underframe.
     
     

  15. Mick Bonwick
    Out come the filbert brush and the MIG pigments.
     
    Track brown is the colour to be used here, for the older rusted areas, and is applied small quantities at a time to build up the deposit where appropriate - mostly corners and edges of panels. By restricting the volume of pigment on the brush some really subtle effects are produced, implying the beginning of holes to come.
     
     

  16. Mick Bonwick
    The random (failed) splattering of the hopper interior has now been treated to a wiping by thinners-dampened 1/2"flat shader. I attempted to keep the wipes vertical because that is the direction water would take any dirt and dust that it encountered. It is quite probable that any effect thus produced will be entirely obliterated by whatever is to follow, but, just in case. . . . . . 
     
    This was followed by an airbrushed application of very thin Railmatch Weathered Black - plenty of thinners and not much paint. The main idea of this was to dull down the orangey tone of the Revell 84.

  17. Mick Bonwick
    The paint used for the rust spots was enamel, so was easily removed with white spirit. The approach was to place a few drops on the bristles of a 1/2" flat shader brush and then wipe the brush downwards from the top edge of the body, all the way round the hopper. The eventual effect was to remove most of the thinned application but leave the first application of unthinned spots, and leave vertical streaks of residue. Although irritated at the original look, I'm fairly happy with the situation now, bearing in mind the amount of work still left to do.
     
     

  18. Mick Bonwick
    The intended state is 'pretty grotty.'  A few random rust spots would be needed, so an old toothbrush was dipped into the Revell 84. Not too far, just enough to leave some drops on the end of the bristles. An old screwdriver (my tin opener)  was then dragged across the bristles with the brush aimed in the direction of the model. The result was too few random spots, so I dipped the toothbrush in some white spirit before dipping it once again into the 84. Another attempt at the splattering exercise failed dismally:
     
     
     

  19. Mick Bonwick
    Even though the car is pretty grotty, I thought that the driver might make an effort to keep the windows clean. Clean white spirit has been used to remove the Dullcote layer. Soaking a cocktail stick (wooden variety) in the white spirit will allow a gentle rubbing action to gradually remove the dried Dullcote a little at a time, and if you don't go right into the corners it can leave an accumulation of 'dirt' there. The tiny flakes that will be left adhering to the plastic windows through static electricity can be removed by wiping with a cotton swab or a blast of air from the airbrush.
     
    This would have been the last stage for this model, but recent information received suggests that there are some areas where rust should be, and isn't. More to come. . . . . . . . .
     


     

  20. Mick Bonwick
    The second application of pigment is AK Interactive Dark Earth. This has been used to represent areas of bodywork where rust is only just starting to show through the paintwork, and also to impart a dusty appearance to the whole model. Note that it has been used on some of the chromed areas (bumpers and hubcaps) to give the impression of rust taking hold. Application was achieved with the filbert brush.
     
     
     

  21. Mick Bonwick
    The Dullcote has presented a nice matt surface for the next stage - pigment application. The aim is to use two colours to represent various rust tones. Well, two, at least!
     
    The first one is MIG Productions Track Brown, now marketed as Abteilung 502 Track Rust. It is used here to augment the rust spots by creating a larger rusty area with surface rust just starting.
     

  22. Mick Bonwick
    And finally . . . .
     
    Here's a photograph of the two vans together, so that you can see the similarities and differences between them.
     

     
    Very little material has been used on both subjects but, nonetheless, the effects have produced vehicles that have been in use for some time and suffered the ravages of time and weather. Both would probably benefit from some more work on the roof, but that would merely be an additional thin coat or two of Dark Wash, left to dry and then rubbed with a soft cloth to remove excess pigment.
     
    Merry Christmas everybody.
  23. Mick Bonwick
    On this vehicle I have used a black pigment to replicate the dark colours seen underneath door handle areas. Once again, only a very small quantity was used on the filbert brush and worked into place by gentle 'scrubbing'. A small touch was added to the buffer beam area as well, which can just be seen in this photograph. It wasn't until I'd taken the photograph that I noticed one of the buffers was trying to break free from its housing.
     

  24. Mick Bonwick
    The underframe and lower bodyside edges are now attacked with Dark Earth pigment. Once again, only very small amounts are loaded onto the brush (a filbert) and dabbed in place, followed by a generous redistribution in the direction of dirt 'flow'. By using small amounts the effect can be controlled quite nicely, resulting in discolouration rather than in-your-face stains. The edges of the Dark Earth areas are then supplemented with Rubble, to ease the transition from heavy to light discolouration.
     

  25. Mick Bonwick
    Out with the rigger brush, white spirit and Dark Wash. As previously described (if you've been following closely) the thinned wash is applied via a rigger brush to panel edges, corners and other detail to highlight it and create dirty shadows. Wherever dirt would build up on the real vehicle it can be replicated by adding a small amount of thinned wash, remembering that it will dry lighter by a couple of shades than it appears when first applied.
     

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