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Mick Bonwick

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Blog Entries posted by Mick Bonwick

  1. Mick Bonwick

    D3721. Step 6.

    By Mick Bonwick,

    Round to the other side of the chassis now. Same process, but you can see where the last rotation of the wheel has yet to be sprayed. Still no masking, and the small spray area resulting from coming up close has kept the overspray off of most of the frames. Turning the wheels with the battery is still keeping the backs of the wheels clear because the wiping action of the pickups is removing the still wet paint.
     

  2. Mick Bonwick

    D3721. Step 7.

    By Mick Bonwick,

    Clean wheels.
     
    With the aforementioned battery applied to a pair of wheels, a cotton bud soaked in isopropyl alcohol has been applied to the wheel treads and the backs of the wheels. You should be able to see that all of the dried enamel paint has been completely removed from those surfaces that need to be clean for conducting electricity. Isopropyl alcohol will remove all enamel and acrylic paints from these surfaces, so you will need to take care with where you apply it.
     

  3. Mick Bonwick

    D3721. Step 8.

    By Mick Bonwick,

    The frame dirt has now been airbrushed onto the frames as well, taking some care not to get overspray onto the body. This is not critical, but it helps to keep extra work to a minimum if I decide to spray the bodywork a significantly different shade of filth. With the locomotive upside down in the cradle, it is quite easy to ensure that the underneath of the running plate is covered. The accuracy of the airbrush also helps to keep unwanted paint off the wheel treads.
     

  4. Mick Bonwick

    D3721. Step 9.

    By Mick Bonwick,

    The locomotive has been removed from the cradle and further light coats of frame dirt applied. The next task is to spray from above the chassis components to cover areas inevitably missed while it was upside down - particularly the steps, axleboxes and sandboxes. There is some overspray, but that will all help to make the bodysides and running plate look grimy once the next steps are completed . . . . . .
     


     

  5. Mick Bonwick
    In response to a recent request, there follows a summary of materials used in this project with the blog entry numbers where they appeared.
     
    Railmatch Frame Dirt - Step 3.
     
    AMMO by Mig Panel Line Wash Black Night - Step 12.
     
    Railmatch Weathered Black - Steps 13 and 15.
     
    AK Interactive Fresh Engine Oil - Steps 14 and 21.
     
    MIG Productions Dark Mud - Step 18.
     
    MIG Productions Track Brown - Step 18.
     
    MIG Productions Black Smoke - Steps 18 and 22.
     
    There is another photograph of the (almost) finished locomotive in my flickr photostream at:
     
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/laughinglobster/43570994831/in/dateposted/
     
    The techniques, tools and materials used in this project can be used for many different weathering tasks. If there are any queries about anything shown here, then don't hesitate to ask.
  6. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol Mogul 6324

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    No blow-by-blow account for this subject, just a photograph of the end result.
     
    Airbrushed Railmatch Frame Dirt for the underparts, with Weathered Black addded for the sides and ends. Weathered Black for the tops of smokebox, boiler and cab, with Mig Productions Black Smoke pigment on the smokebox and cab roof. Small quantities of Mig Productions Industrial City Dirt, Dark Mud and Track Brown in appropriate places around and about and some AMMO by Mig Fresh Engine Oil on the coupling/connecting rods. Wet paint was manipulated with a white sprit dampened wide flat shader brush and a couple of areas were tackled with a soft cotton bud to impart a vague sheen. A hint of Weathered Black was added to wheel centres and axle box covers.
     
    I noticed that the Railmatch jar I opened for this model has a new lid arrangement, and it seems (so far) to be much better than the previous fragile plastic lid with paper insert.
     

  7. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    Who hangs on to old tins of paint, wherein gloopy remains stick to the bottom? I have an old tin of Humbrol 27004 Metalcote Gunmetal, most of which was used for airbrushing onto wheels and smokeboxes in a black/gunmetal mixture. During a search for suitable buffer head grease I found that the otherwise unusable pigment that remained in the bottom of an improperly closed tinlet had an interesting property. A lump of this goo was attached to a buffer head, smeared about a bit and left to dry. Once dry, it was gently buffed to bring out the metallic sheen.
     
    On 1444 I have used this simple process for the buffers, after treating them to a layer of Dullcote and some MIG Dark Mud. These two final photographs show the end result.
     

     

     
    Now I'm off to work on the Golden Arrow.
     
     
  8. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    Almost there now. Some MIG Dark Mud pigment has been used to indicate the beginnings of surface corrosion on the chimney, and some Gunmetal metallic pigment has been used to indicate the beginnings of shiny handrail portions in the most used areas. Small amounts are crucial to the success of this type of effect. All pigment applications were done with a filbert brush.
     
    Only one more day to go.
     

     

  9. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    A dark mix of Railmatch Weathered Black and Frame Dirt has been airbrushed over the top of the boiler, the cab roof and the driving wheel centres. This is to represent the soot present on the former two and the oil on the latter. The photograph that I have been using as a reference shows a much more marked contrast between the wheel rims and the wheel centres, but it does not look quite right to my eye so I have reduced the contrast by using a slightly darker shade of brown.
     
    Black Smoke pigment has been used on the smokebox and its door, with a very light application of the same to the front corner and edge of the tanks to show where water continually runs if the filling process means the tanks overflow.
     
    Not far to go now. Thanks for sticking with it!
     

     

  10. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    A layer of Sleeper Grime/Frame Dirt mixture was prepared for airbrushing the sides, using more than the usual amount of white spirit. I wanted to be able to apply very thin layers, even thinner than my usual approach. Why a mixture of the two colours? Laziness, basically. My pot of one was empty and I couldn't be bothered to find another. The two colours are so similar that I didn't think it would matter.
     
    The whole of both sides and ends was given a thin application of this mixture and then a wide flat shader brush was used to drag it down the tank sides before it dried compeletely. This was to give an impression of dirt being carried down the side by rain and generous tank filling exercises.
     

     

     
    It worked better on one side than it did on the other.
     
     
  11. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    A full story for this subject - I remembered to take photographs with my newly serviced camera while doing it. The plan is to weather it in a used but serviced condition, working from a photograph in a book from my reference library.
     
    I'll be using a selection of materials from my usual stock and will hopefully remember to introduce them as the steps progress. Being a small engine it sits quite comfortably on the painting turntable.
     
    Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin . . . . . . .
     

     
     
    What might we use a Sharpie for?
     
     
  12. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    The Sharpie is indeed used for removing the bright shiny finish of the wheel rims, and the coupling rods, too. I have found in the past that airbrushed paint on these bare metal surfaces can rub off too easily, and even flake off  if applied too thickly. I read, many years ago somewhere, that this could be prevented by blackening the surfaces before applying the paint. At the time I didn't fully understand the term, 'blackening', and used a marker pen. That looked blue to me, rather than black (yes, I did use a black marker!) so immediately rejected the idea. If I now work on something with bright surfaces that will be airbrushed, I will apply a coat of black (still looks blue to me) from a marker pen before airbrushing starts.
     
    You might be able to see the difference in this photograph, where the wheel rims and coupling rod have been done, but the flanges have not.
     

     
    Perversely, they look pink in the photograph rather than blue.
     
     
  13. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    Buffer beams get dirty. They're not alone in that, obviously, but this aspect of weathering doesn't always get the attention it deserves, and I include myself there.
     
    There is much opportunity for detail weathering in O Gauge, so I decided to put a little more effort into this subject by applying a wash to the varied protruberances on the buffer beams. A straightforward process, involving a rigger brush, white spirit and MIG Dark Wash.
     
    The brush bristles are first loaded with white spirit and then dipped into the bottle of wash. The tip of the brush is applied to the edge of a detail (bolt head in this case) and capillary action will take the fliud as far as the consistency permits. The thinner the wash the further it will travel. You should be able to see just where it has been applied by studying the photographs. Note that the colouring will be lighter once the wash has dried, as is always the case with the paints we apply to our models.
     

     

  14. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    The chassis of this model includes a representation of the inside motion, visible in the gap 'twixt boiler and running plate. It's bright red!
    I didn't want to hide this completely, so decided to add a layer of wash to the parts that were visible. The rigger brush was ideal for this task, enabling just enough wash to be deposited.
     

     

  15. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol o Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    It's the turn of the airbrush now. The inderframe will be discoloured using Railmatch Sleeper Grime, applied with an Iwata Eclipse SBS. The driven wheels are turned while the paint is sprayed, to prevent there being a patchy finish to the rims. With N Gauge and OO/HO Gauge engines this can be done with a PP9 battery, but this doesn't work with O Gauge. I use two pieces of scrap OO Gauge rail screwed into place through a piece of wiring terminal block set at the width of the wheel treads and bent to the width of the battery terminals on the other side.
     
    The wheels are airbrushed first and then the rest of the underparts, not forgetting the buffer beams.
     

     

     
    The wheels on the trailing axle are turned by hand. After I thought I had finished I saw from the photographs that I was wrong. I had to return to the spray booth and finish off the patchy bits I thought I had avoided!
  16. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    Out of the box this locomotive has a rather shiny smokebox, much more so than I would have expected. Before going any further I decided to apply a layer of Testor's Dullcote to that area so that pigments could be applied at a later date and that I could be sure that they would stick.
     
    Dullcote dries very quickly into a usable state. These photographs were taken only two minutes apart.
     

     

     
    My masking wasn't very good, so the Dullcote has landed on part of the leading wheels. I'll need to load up the airbrush to cover that small patch with another layer of Sleeper Grime. This was a good example of the change in appearance a layer of varnish will make to a carefully planned and coloured area of rolling stock, whether it has been done with paint or pigment.
     
     
  17. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge 14xx No. 1444

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    The cab roof comes off!
     
    Heart in mouth moment when I removed the engine from its wheel-spraying cradle - something fell on the floor. Only the roof, though, not being held in place by the two small magnets any more. This gave me the idea of adding some grime to the easily accessible cab interior, so out came the MIG Dark Wash again and some was applied to the brightly coloured pipework. Not covering the whole assembly with grime, but just hinting that there had been some work going on in that area.
     
    Nothing more than a white spirit dampened rigger brush being dipped into the wash and then applied to pipe joins from the tip of the bristles.
     

     

     
     
  18. Mick Bonwick

    Dapol O Gauge Jinty

    By Mick Bonwick,


    Weathering
    A touch-up job this time. A friend had fitted sound, crew, coal and working lamp to this Jinty and removed paint from the coupling rods and brake gear in doing so.  A half-cupful of Railmatch sleeper grime, weathered black and matt black soon sorted out that little problem.
     

  19. Mick Bonwick
    Modelling commitments for December are minimal (a bit of planning was involved), so there should be plenty of time to work on another subject. He said, confidently.
     
    One suggestion received involved a modern image van, VDA or similar, so I've found one in a box and will now look out for some suitable photographs to work from. There will be hundreds, if not thousands, on the Internet for me to investigate, so I'll just have to knuckle down and get to work on the keyboard.
     
    Just to add a little interest to this post, I'll include a photograph:
     

     
    A Hornby M7. Working on models with this level of detail is an absolute joy. Even the smallest amount of weathering 'stuff' can bring visual rewards.
  20. Mick Bonwick
    Something a little bit different, for me, at least.
     
    This coach is to be lightly weathered, to represent a vehicle running in the 1930s. I don't envisage using large quantities of anything, but the difficulty will be to portray a very light coat of dirt without making it look blotchy.
     
    I plan to use pigment for most of the work - AK Interactive Dark Earth. Application will be done using small brushes, probably a round no. 2 and a filbert no. 2 or 4. Being a panelled coach, the real challenge will be to represent the dirt buildup around panel edges, and then to photograph this so that it can be seen.
     
     
  21. Mick Bonwick
    The main pigment to be used for this model is AK Interactive Dark Earth. This choice comes from studying photographs of lightly weathered brown and cream coaching stock from many eras, including preservation examples. The paint finish on the model is such that it will hold pigment very well, so care will need to be taken in where it goes in the first place.
     
    Most of the application will be done using a normal round (or candle flame) brush, size 2. This gives a fairly narrow point for positioning the pigment, although this will 'widen' as the process continues - pigment build-up will gradually force the bristles apart. A filbert brush and cotton buds will also be used for manipulating the pigment once it is in place.
     
    Pigment is placed on the tip of the brush by picking it up from the inside of the jar lid. This will nearly always have a very thin layer of pigment adhering to the plastic liner of the lid. The particles will be the finest of the jar's contents, therefore ideal for our purposes.
     
     
     

  22. Mick Bonwick
    Very small amounts of pigment are placed, using the tip of the brush, into the panel edges to create a strong shadow effect. At first the effect will be too strong, but later work will reduce the contrast. Because the pigment will go everywhere if given the chance, the work area is being kept as clean as I can possibly make it. When working on the panels the vehicle is laid on its side, and if there is any excess pigment lying on the paper towel, it will transfer itself to the coach side when applying to the uppermost side. Guess how I know that.
     
    The application is continued to fill in all edges and corners of all panels. It takes a while . . . . . 
     
     

  23. Mick Bonwick
    Continuing the panel work, the same method as in step 3 is used to place pigment in all edges and corners, making an absolute mess of everything. Please note that I didn't do this without first testing on something that didn't matter!
     
    Once all the pigment has been applied, work begins on modifying the appearance. Clean cotton buds were used for this, but not the type that fall apart as soon as you look at them. The ones I use are intended for use with make-up rather than with small child things. They are more tightly wound and last much better. The method used is rather wasteful in terms of numbers, but the dirty ones can be used again for other weathering tasks.
     
    The photographs show the sequence followed, applying more pigment, distributing it to the corners and finishing off:
     
     
     



  24. Mick Bonwick
    The panels and the rest of the sides are now completed, and it's time to attend to the underframe. The shade of black used to paint the underparts represents a fairly worn state, so the only work required is to add something to break up the evenness of colour. Once again, AK Interactive Dark Earth pigment is used for this in the main, but some small amounts of MIG Productions Russian Earth were used as well. When looking at the carriage through a camera lens the difference is barely noticeable, and the photographs don't give any hint of it at all, so I don't know why I bothered. 
     
    You may be able to see that the pigment has been tucked into corners of doorways and the recess for the nets.

  25. Mick Bonwick
    The filbert brush has been used to pick up the 'dust' remaining in the pigment pot lid, and the brush is then gently wiped on a paper towel to remove the larger particles.  The brush is then gently wiped against the panel edges, at right angles, so that the very edge of the detail collects the 'dirt'. Easier to do than describe. No need for precision, this group of panels was done all at the same time by wiping from the left hand end of the coach along to the right hand end, without stopping, and back again, repeated several times.
     
     

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