Mick Bonwick

Who'd have thought that an 04 could pull 50 vans? I think that's outside your plan for small and simple, Rob.

......... then that's what you must do. You will find plenty of support and encouragement, even if you keep it simple. Sorry, especially if you keep it simple.

Iain, Use small quantities! As far as I am aware the advanced weathering workshops are still going ahead: https://pendonmuseum.com/events/advanced-weathering-with-tim-shackleton https://pendonmuseum.com/events/advanced-weathering-with-mick-bonwick

GROAN

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.

Creek and Groan. Trending!

Me.

I did have an impulse buy, but it has now moved on, along with all my other O Gauge impulse buys.

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.

I agree with that, my Captain. My use of the stuff didn't start until after the EU approved concoction arrived here, so I was surprised to see the difference when shown it. I only use Dullcote as a surface preparation, so the lack of a totally matt finish is not an issue for me. The finish of the paint or pigment is what I need to retain, rather than a finishing or protective coat of something.

Definitely to be done before they're installed. Any problems can then be addressed without lying on your back underneath the layout. Experience talking!

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.

Not until we've been vaccinated!

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!

Inevitable question - what did you use for the wall covering(s)? Looks very good.

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.

Don't forget to change your filters. They've been working very hard, by all accounts.

A splendid account, Chris, but can you slow down a bit, please. I can't read very fast.

I wonder.

It was a J15 that once aroused my interest in things Eastern. It ran beautifully, smooth and silent. It was the most difficult decision I've had to make about railway modelling, but it had to go (along with many others) in order to make room for Easton stock. Its place was taken by a Wainwright C Class, though, so it wasn't (quite) the end of the world. Whatever you choose (have chosen!) to do, Rob, it's going to make for interesting and, most probably, entertaining reading. What is it they say these days? Bring it on. Or is that already out of date?

....and every time the lamb got out, Mary tried to put it back in again.

The sountrack is very effective, too. I subconsciously looked out of the window to check how heavy the rain was!

Have a look here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blogs/entry/21241-set-732-introduction/

Already done!

I saw what you did there! You can't pull the wool over my eyes. Oh! Sorry. Wrong topic.