sb67

That's a mouthwatering purchase, they look stunning models, look forward to the East Anglian branch, what Livery did you get? 

I'm sure Broadhaven will go down a treat, I do like the boats, you've done well to fit them in without them being overpowering. 

Does anyone know who makes Departmental transfers for a Seacow wagon but with black lettering?  I found Fox transfers make individual lettering and data panels but I wondered if there was anyone that made them ready completed? 

Thanks for confirming that @griffgriff a lot of the ones in that directory are pretty clean too, not how I remember them! 

Thanks @westernviscount, @Mark Forrest

I looked through the Paul Bartlett photo's and did a bit of research and it does seem that the grey varied massively due to weathering and fading etc so I might leave one light grey, the other one I'll repaint using Games workshop Dawnstone Grey.  It looks like the Sealion variant had a thinner yellow stripe at the top and black solebars. 

I think the Hornby Livery represents a 2006 wagon so the data panels and warning panels will be replaced, although the data panels are varied too. With the Seacows, the solebars seem to be painted the same colour as the bodywork as well so I'll address that, as the black on the solebar is painted on the body too, although yet again, weathering played a part. 

There does seem many variants and anomalies so I'll have to pick a photo and try to copy that. 

Ordered my transfers from Railtech in preparation!  

More mouthwatering modelling with that underframe, great stuff! 👍

I've a question regarding the Hornby Seacow model, can anyone tell me what era it would represent as the ohw panels are more modern and the grey looks more like rail grey than departmental grey? 

Just wondered. 

16 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

If you spray matt varnish onto shiny surfaces before weathering commences it improves things no end.

 

Mike.

 Thanks Mike. 👍

Next up these Hornby Seacows. I've painted the wheels with Railmatch sleeper grime and made a start on the interiors and shutes using Humbrol washes. I also used the Dust wash and faded the paint as a bit of an experiment and I'm pretty pleased how it came out. 

I have had trouble with the washes adhering to the ridiculously smooth surface of the models so may need to leave the washes to dry a bit longer before putting on another layer. 

I've also noticed that I've got to change the warning flashes and possibly the data panels as I'd like to replicate  80's wagons. 

7 hours ago, Kylestrome said:

That‘s a bit difficult for me to answer other than to say, with brushes and and enamel paints. In a previous life, I worked as an illustrator (before Photoshop, Illustrator, et al) so I might have a slightly unfair advantage when it comes to painting what I see.
 

One thing that I find important though, is to have good reference material in photographic form. Also, when it comes to weathering, don‘t be afraid of making a mess of it. With opaque paints you can always overpaint any mistakes and, with so much prototypical variation, who‘s to know what it should look like anyway!? 😉

 

David

 

PS. I hope you didn‘t do your back in with those hogsheads!

 

 

 

I'm lucky, touch wood my back's ok, more than be said for many other Draymen I know!

I find painting what you see difficult and get caught up in a method or product and want to try that rather than replicating a photo, I'm trying to get the hang of it though! 

On 14/11/2023 at 18:35, Kylestrome said:

Roll out the barrel(s)

 

 

I'm making an effort to finish as many outstanding projects as I can before the end of the year. The first of these are two more Parkside kit open wagons for transporting barrels to, and from, the whisky distillery. They've been finished for some while but still needed a good dose of 'weathering' and a load.

 

 

 

The small barrels are from Base Toys and the larger ones (Hogsheads?) I have turned, on the lathe, from suitable wooden dowel. The metal hoops were cut from pre-painted masking tape and sealed with an overall coat of matt varnish.

 

David

Those barrels look superb, the bigger ones are Hogsheads, I've worked in a Brewery and moved them around more times than I care to mention, they are bloody heavy too! 

How did you paint them, the colouring looks spot on?

Sorry for the questions but I like the weathering on your wagons, how did you get that look? 

The vans are all done and have received a coat of Matt varnish, all but one was MIG Ammo lucky strike, and the other was Windsor and Newton Galleria Matt varnish, which dried fantastically matt, through the airbrush. I'll leave them alone now for a month at least before any weathering, for it to really harden, and find something else to get on with. I'm really pleased with the 'Dutch ZRA' and thinking I'd like to model some more departmental wagons.

Just found this layout, and what a cracker! I like the train on the overbridge and the use of a double slip, I got one of those I've never found a use for! Hope to see some more photo's before you move on to your next project. 🙂

Edited as I've been looking through the thread and I'm amazed by the amount of detail and realism you've got in such a small space, I love the stream running through the middle.  Great stuff and very inspiring! 👍

3 hours ago, sleepyrider said:

I'm also a big fan of Ian's layout, my favourites being Newcastle Haymarket and Victoria Park, both of which I've been lucky enough to see. I'm intrigued by the curved version of Haymarket that was teased in the November 2020 Railway Modeller. I've waited patiently for this to appear, to no avail. Anyone know if its been featured or appeared anywhere and I've missed it?

I'm waiting for that too, it did look interesting.

1 hour ago, Gilbert said:

If you have a Halfords nearby seek out their Matt Lacquer.....test first obviously...

Ok, ta Chris.

11 hours ago, Gilbert said:

I like those 16Ts Steve

FWIW I find the factory finish is useful if you want the oils to run or use them as a wash.

I've used Sansodor as an odourless thinner - available in Hobbycraft

My preferred sequence is:

1. Wash or oils
2. Airbrush (enamels) This provides a better surface for the pigments to stick.
3. Pigments
4. Drybrush or brush paint
5. Possible light airbrush again

I tend to dulcote once they've had a few days to "dry" - longer may be better but there is so little paint actually left on the model its usually not a problem.

Chris

Thanks Chris, that all makes perfect sense, it does seem a good idea to use the factory finish to your advantage.  I've sometimes added pigments while the oils are wet as done in the video, it does help to flatten the finish a bit butt in 4mm scale I don't want too much texture. I've run out of dulcote and have been using MIG Lucky varnish which seems ok. 

I've just finished re painting some Hornby VDA's but I'm not sure how I'm going to weather them yet. 

@GilbertThose wagons look great and a good descrption of the method, one to copy and keep for reference!

I tried using oil paints after watching that video and found them very workable and if you use odourless thinners non smelly! I've seen Neils work on Western Thunder and it leaves me speechless!

I did find they took a while to dry and adhere to a factory finish but maybe a coat of matt varnish would help with that. I used some of the excellent MIG Ammo oilbrushers as well as regular oil paints.

I weathered this little chap using mainly oils as well. 

Sound like some interesting developments will be happening on Woodhey  Quay, look forward to that 🙂

I Love the fade on that 08, was that airbrushed? 

9 hours ago, James Makin said:

 

Thanks Steve!

 

It is definitely tricky trying to interpret the colours! It's taken gradual investment over many years but I've got the entire Humbrol enamel range and a lot of the Phoenix range, and this is one way of always having something to match up - the rest is down to a bit of mixing and just studying the colours, especially in the recesses where the dirt builds up. For example with the Railfreight Distribution 47s tackled a couple of posts above, I was looking at the colours of the dirt in the handrail recesses - asking myself, is that medium brown or a dark brown? Then this governs the shade I used for the washes for example. Also, what other colours can I see, and are there any stains over certain parts of a prototype that need to be added?

 

With the roofs on the VDA vans etc, I'll have these images on my phone and zoom in as much as possible to check the individual colours that make up the complex pattern of weathering, there's a lot of trial and error it has to be said, and only after having a go at adding the paints that I think match up, you can see if it's worked and if not, go for another. I've often found that the more shades you add to something, the deeper the weathered finish becomes, so if in doubt, add a bit more paint!

 

I often tend to go from light colours to dark colours but there's always exceptions where I'll go the other way too, I know it's not too useful but you sometimes get a feeling when it will work better the other way round! 

 

 

Thanks James, I've bought some Games Workshop paints the other day after hearing and seeing some good things about them, strange names but some colours are good matches for liveries. 

10 hours ago, 03060 said:

Thanks Steve,

I can never remember which way around acryllic and oil based paints will or won't work with each other, I presume the Vallejo primer is oil based as you've used thinners and that the GW paints are acryllics as you've thinned them with water.

 

Sorry for the 'basics' question but it's been a while since I've gotten around to painting anything and particularly for N gauge models brush painting appeals more than airbrushing for some reason and I do like the smooth finish that you've achieved on this VDA.

 

Regards,

Ian.

The Vallejo primer is acrylic and I used their brand thinner, which, I'm sure has got some IPA in it. I could have used water but I think thinners give paint an easier flow through the airbrush. I did give the primer a few days to harden and the GW paint was put on in thin coats thinned with a touch of water. I think the paint has worked well as the primer dried very matt and gave a good key for the top coat. I'll have to give them a go over a basic factory finish. I've seen a few modellers brush paint and been impressed by the results. I think the trick is to use a minimal amount of paint. 

13 hours ago, 03060 said:

Hello Steve,

 

What sort of undercoat did you use please ? I have a few departmental N gauge wagon kits which will need painting once built and I like the look of what you've achieved.

 

Regards,

Ian.

Hi Ian. 

I used Vallejo grey primer through my airbrush. I think you can use it straight from the bottle but I did add a few drops of thinner into the airbrush cup first, then mixed in the primer. 

Hope that helps.

1 hour ago, jessy1692 said:

I can't seen to be able to find it but I think it was something like Citadel colours to Vallejo colours which then matched to some of the Humbrol Rail Colour range. There's a couple if sites which seem to have gone now, possible the RAF Kinloss MRC had it?

 

Just had a look again and the actual Humbrol conversion download doesn't seem to have the rail colours on! Frustrating

James

Thanks for looking, I had trouble finding rail colour conversion charts. I think Games Workshop used to do a bauxite colour, not sure what it was called though. 

2 minutes ago, MJI said:

 

Surprisingly good for brush painted

 

 

Interesting

Thank you. I sprayed a grey undercoat on and put 3 thin coats of yellow and 2 of the grey, the paints thin with water and brush really well.  I might give the yellow another coat but the grey is fine. 

I wanted a departmental van so I brush painted this one using Games Workshop paints, they painted really well over an undercoat, I could become a fan of these and there's a shop in town so I can actually go get some! Strange names though, I used Dawnstone and Yriel Yellow. Apparently you can spray them too.