Mick Bonwick

Rapido J70

Poor light or not, looks pretty darned good to me, my Captain.

Etched concrete? Now there's a thought to conjure with . . . . . . .

The original poster was asking for help, not criticism. All of the other responses offered advice, suggestions and help, while yours did not. You gave us the benefit of your opinion, I have given you the benefit of mine.

If you read through the complete thread you will see that this has been done on a regular basis. Whilst what you say is true, the way that you say it is not particularly helpful.

To finish things off, some Black Smoke has been added to the wheel centres and the tender axleboxes and springs. I have also applied some Dark Mud to the seams in the tender, to indicate the start of rust, and some Rubbel Dust to the horizontal surfaces of some of the steps. The requirement was for a very grubby workhorse, which might suggest that piles of paint and pigments are to be applied, but it is just as effective to apply small amounts of both to achieve the effect, adding more if really necessary at any stage. The principle of only using small quantities at any time to achieve dirty effects is illustrated in many of the images in my flickr photostream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/laughinglobster/ That's it for now. I expect there will be more after the Great Electric Train Show at Stadium MK. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nice work with the powders, my Captain.

What a splendid scene!

More work with pigments now, to add to the random dirty bits that have been created with Black Smoke. I normally use MIG Productions Industrial City Dirt or Rubbel Dust (that's what it says on the jar) for lighter stains, like ash and sand, and Dark Mud and Track Brown for rusty bits. In this case it will be Rubbel Dust (ash and sand) and Dark Mud (rust). The lighter colour represents ash staining under the smokebox door and sand staining around the sandbox fillers, and the darker colour is applied to seams in the tender and then brushed outwards from there in random directions. The aim in both cases is to just hint at discolouration rather than have large deposits of different colours, and this is effected by using very small quantities (heard that before?) and brushing them out until the effect is achieved.

It's a commission, my Captain, but I wouldn't object to it being mine.

There are several areas on a steam locomotive where dirt buildup is of a very dark nature. The smokebox, the cab roof, the coal space, the running plate and so on. I like to represent this with a brushed pigment (in this case, MIG Productions Black Smoke) rather than with airbrushed paint. The pigment is applied with a filbert brush and is taken on the brush from the lid of the container, because there is (nearly) always a thin film there consisting of the finest particles. The pigment is added to the model a small quantity at a time and gently brushed out in the direction of either airflow or water flow, depending on area. In this next photograph, the smokebox and the cab roof have been treated. Finally, you may just be able to see that some of the pigment has been placed on the running plate in random places. Further pigment applications will be done to the running plate, but with different colours.

I thought I'd seen it somewhere, but don't remember it being upside down!

Yes, but I haven't seen it lately. It must be around somewhere, because I was showing it to somebody just the other day. I think.

The Tamiya cotton buds will certainly do the trick, you'll just have to be a little more patient.

You have only missed the things you didn't see. Everything else is still the same.

It's just around the corner. It must be. Mustn't it? Are we there yet?

We are still on page 13. This is a bit of a worry. That number is unlucky, isn't it? Or am I just being superstitious?

There's no need to get personal.

The upper surfaces of this steam locomotive are shown with a heavy layer of soot-based grime. This is achieved by adding more weathered black to the mixture with frame dirt. If you look at the attached photograph you will see the difference between the wheels and the cab roof, for example, but I doubt (hope?) that you will see the join. By gradually changing the proportion of black and brown in the mixture, as work progresses upwards, the chance of 'tiger stripes' is significantly reduced. Once the dark mixture is applied the brushing downwards process begins yet again. One obstacle around the boiler is the handrail, which prevents a smooth movement from the top to the bottom of the curve. I almost overcome this by pushing the brush bristles down into the gap 'twixt rail and boiler and dragging upwards before starting at the top and dragging downwards. This method is then repeated from the handrail downwards. Not perfect, but it does produce random streaking and uneven patches. The dark mix is also applied to the top of the tender in preparation for the rust and water that are to follow, being careful to avoid the real coal that has been placed therein.

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Hello, my Captain. Just in case you ever need to know a little bit about brushes and their uses . . . . . . . . Thank you, Mr Bonwick, Sir. I appreciate your comments (now that you've told me about them and I've found them!) and I most humbly abase myself in front of your Glorious Personage in apologetic humblitude for not having checked beforehand.

I decided that it would be easier to clean him up at the end rather than try and mask him off.

The next step was a repeat of the previous, really, but I have deliberately posted separately to illustrate the difference that one light coat can make once manipulated. The process is the same - a light airbrushed coat from one end of the locomotive to the other, followed by a vertical brushing with a dry flat shader. It is possible that the paint has dried too quickly for this to have an effect, so there is a process that can address that. The flat shader can be slightly dampened by adding a couple of drops of white spirit to the bristles. This is not done by dipping the bristles in white spirit, but by using a disposable pipette (or similar device) to add a couple of drops and then briefly work the bristles in a circular motion on a paper towel. The damp brush method can be used at any time during weathering to manipulate small amounts of paint, and it works just as well with acrylics as with enamels. You have to be much quicker with acrylics, though, because of the faster drying. With any luck you should be able to see how the manipulation of thin layers starts to have an effect on the airbrushed surface:

Be careful on the stairs, then.

Have you tried back-flushing? If the blockage is a small (!) piece of detritus, this will possibly clear it from the nozzle. Don't be tempted to eject the remaining fluid through the nozzle, just tip it out. Are you able to see through the nozzle from the wide end? Remove the nozzle and look through it at a piece of white paper. If you can't see the paper the nozzle is the problem. Sharpen a wooden cocktail stick to a very fine point, soak it in white spirit and use this to poke through the nozzle. If you still have a problem, send me a PM and we can go through several processes to clear this type of blockage.