Will Vale

Looking good Rich - the backscene seems much more natural now, and I agree the fence is a good addition. I found my Ratio hair-net so I need to follow suit If you have time/inclination, I think toning down the black sleepers would make a big difference. [edit: multiple posts - I didn't press multiple buttons, so I'm not sure what happened. I've removed the text in lieu of deleting the comments.Sorry!]

You definitely aren't alone - finishing things is really difficult. At the beginning of a project, I hem and haw and dodge around it because I don't want to make the first cut. Once I'm started things go quickly - everything makes the model better. As I get to the end I get more and more nervous because (like Jan says) there's more to spoil if I go wrong! Sometimes I just get stalled due to indecision - my little Ruhrthaler sat in a box for nearly a year because I couldn't figure out what to do with the axle boxes! Blaming Hattons is fair game though - I do exactly the same thing, plus check the New Releases list *far* too often to see if the Autoballasters have come in

Thanks for the links - it looks like 60011 is patch painted on the same seam as my patch, which is good for justification. Now you've got me wanting a blue one again, after resisting that desire last year I did touch in the steps with silver but it looked a bit garish so I toned it down. Going through the pictures again it looks like I need a bit more - it's odd that the rub marks extend across the whole width of the step rather than just being in the middle.

I bought some neutral wash the other week and liked it so much I went back for two other colours the next day. Fantastic stuff, I've been using it to streak my class 60: Thanks heaps for the tip - probably the most modelling fun I've had since I discovered the Mig powders

Thanks for the kind comments and encouragement. I think maybe gutted was too strong a word to use - annoyed maybe? I haven't thrown my toys out of the pram though :D What I have done is strip the patch off (again, probably for the last time since there's not much paint thickness left there) and replaced it with a patch of Humbrol matt 28, slightly darkened with an off-black from the same range. It's lighter but closer to the right hue, I think. This also went on a bit better - I lifted the tape almost immediately and the edges are less steppy. I did lose the stencils from the switches, but that's not a problem since the real loco looks different to the factory markings in that area. I'm going to leave it to cure really hard before trying to do anything else though - I don't want to take the patch off by mistake... After that I'll have a look at buffing and/or sanding it (possibly, gently) and then re-apply the neutral wash. But it's not urgent since as you point out I don't need to show that side. It's definitely a learning experience, but I reckon I could manage a renumbering now - it should be a lot easier to remove something which doesn't have the extra layer of metallic paint. So that's quite exciting. One little thing I was *really* pleased with is that you can see the hi-vis through the cab window! I didn't set the shot up to make that happen, but it was a treat when I saw the close-up

Had a fun time today applying powder and paint to 60014's roof: Had a less fun time trying to make good after botching truncating the printed nameplate so it doesn't stick out from behind the etched ones. I did both sides the same way (enamel thinners, cotton bud) but the first one I was too rough and removed some of the base paint. I had a go at matching the base paint colour but it wasn't too hot, so I decided to try and make it look patch painted. I think the real loco may have been patch painted or at least very neatly cleaned in this area so it's not a crazy idea. My acrylic patch is not good though - it's too cool, and too thick I might strip it off and have a go with a tin of Humbrol I found which looked like a close colour. Obviously it's a bit rubbish and I'm kind of gutted, but the other side is pretty good. I need to pay a bit more attention to the soot on the cantrail, tidy up the bogie frames and buffer beams, silver the window frames, and I think it's otherwise there. The nameplates are stuck on with tape at the moment awaiting a final decision on the patch paint.

I know what you mean about changing eyesight and poor light. I have a pair of +1.5 reading glasses which give me just enough of an edge, but it still helps to be in daylight!

Seconded - it's incredibly fine work. Should make a great addition to your fleet!

Thanks James! Yes, I was planning to paint the exhaust unit first and then add powder and bring it forward over the roof. Thanks for the varnish advice - I got an airbrush for my birthday too, but I'm still scared of it I can see that it should be great for unifying things, but I'm not sure if I'm going to pluck up the courage for this one. I'll start with powders, very gently, and see where that goes.

I've been messing about with a new (to me) product - MIG enamel washes. This is also the first time I've used enamels of any kind (except pigments, I suppose) since I was a nipper. The aim was to get some streaks on 60014's flanks and ends. I took some pictures to have a look in close-up before the second set of washes harden, so I thought I might as well post them and get some feedback I based what I was doing on a series of prototype pictures of the loco at Peak Forest around 2006, when it was still pretty clean, before the beasties got torn and whatever unpleasant thing happened that sprayed oil down one side! The washes are some kind of pre-mixed enamel, probably with a flow agent added although they have some surface tension still. I've seen them in shops before but hadn't tried them - they were recommended to me by RMWebber Invercloy who was getting very nice results - many thanks for the tip! The reason I took the plunge is that I thought my usual acrylics would dry far too fast to get a good result on the large loco bodysides - it's already touch and go using acrylic washes with wagons. I didn't want to go totally pro and try gouache since I'd rather not have to apply a varnish coat afterwards if I can avoid it So what are they like? In short I'm really pleased - they're fun to use and have (coming from acrylics) what seems like limitless working time. The colours, as is usual for MIG, are excellent - I used mostly "neutral" and then went back the next day to get "dark". 60014 had an overall coat of neutral (a warm grey) on the sides and ends, worked off with a 10mm square brush before the recommended time, so as to leave fine streaks. Tonight it's had the bigger hero streaks added using dark (dark brown) and neutral as appropriate. This time I left it to dry longer and then worked over the streaks with a mixture of flat, round and varnish brushes. The roof had quite a heavy wash to define the panels which was polished off with a rag. Lots of interesting techniques seem possible - you can spread out the wash into a smooth toning coat with a rag or cotton bud by buffing it. You can edit and push it around with various brushes dipped in enamel thinner, and if you get the brush moisture right it's possible to pick up and put down colour in the same brush stroke based on how much pressure you apply (more to erase, less to apply). I had best results with relatively stiff brushes - the Taklon-bristled square brush was really good, and you can turn it edge-on to define streaks a bit more. I realise this is probably old news to people who use enamels a lot, but I was pretty excited by the extra workability. I tried not to go overboard, but I think a few of the triangular streaks need dialling back still, I'll see how that goes. After that it needs to dry and I'll work on the mucky roof. I also need to bring some track colour up the lower bodysides (probably with powders) and work on details.

Thanks Mick! I looked at the handbrakes and decided not to do anything, but you're right, I should get them sorted out. It definitely makes sense to have them "off" for Whitemarsh, since stock doesn't rest on the layout - the main yard is off stage, the longest they'll be still is while the pilot takes over from the train loco before moving them into the yard proper.

They are ridiculously long! Whitemarsh is as long as I can reasonably make it, so I have some hope of longish engineers' trains - 7 or 8 4w wagons look quite impressive, but I can only get 3 MOAs and an OCA or OBA on. Luckily Whitemoor sees some quite short trains as well as the huge ones, and three 66s coupled together is not an unusual loco move I have some non-prototypical but very nice JGAs - they're quite a good balance in that they're bulky modern wagons, but they're still quite short. Seacows are good too, although rather less modern. I very much doubt the JGAs will be ready for the show though. Thanks for the kind comments!

I finished off the other two MOAs last night, and went back to give them all interiors - better to finish things straight off giving the impending deadline. The splotches and marks are photo-based for these two, at least on the 'A' sides. I also added some graffiti to one - it's a simplified version of a tag which was on every other panel of one MOA I saw, but I ran out of steam after two The other new one has a yellow X in the corner, again from a picture. I realised too late that I've got one the wrong way around, so when they're marshalled in a rake not all the A sides are visible. I can fix this quickly by duplicating the X and turning that wagon around. I skipped a step on these and didn't do the final drybrush on the body - I forgot - and comparing the pictures I think that would be worth spending 10 minutes on later. The wheels looked OK last night, but the acrylics rub off easily and there are already shiny patches visible. I suspect the right thing to do is strip (by looking at it!) the existing paint, then prime them properly and paint with Humbrol. Probably after the show, when I get to replacing the knuckles with screw links and doing something about the buffers. It's also possible that an artists acrylic might do a good job of these - they form a thicker paint film and are pretty resilient. In other news, 60014 has a slightly dodgy silver door and maroon wiper plate (thanks GrimleyGrid!) and I've gingerly applied some MIG wash to the sides - so far so good. Watch this space! Edit: found a picture of the MOAs just after I'd bought them at the beginning of August. Things have moved on a bit since then, it's quite gratifying!

Thanks Grimley! I'd spotted the buffer (and chosen to ignore it for now - I don't have a suitable replacement) but not the wiper plate. I went back and sure enough, it's in the pictures I have - amazing how these details fade into the picture sometimes. I've admired your 60s before, thanks for posting the pictures - the last one is extremely realistic. Be interesting to see how they compare when I get mine done.

Thanks for the tips - that sounds about right. I've got your MR article somewhere too. The Cotswold one is probably easier than other 08s since it doesn't need paint fading. I started with a handful of EWS bits when I got into the modern UK scene, and shifted focus to Whitemoor later when the layout seemed to fit the prototype - which partly explains the mismatch. Luckily, while the yard is operated by GBRf on behalf of Network Rail, other operators do run workings in and out, including EWS (60s and 66s) and Freightliner (66s). I don't know if I've seen MOAs at Whitemoor, but I'm happy to believe they'd go there - plus they're lovely wagons EWS also have a depot at Peterborough which is not far away.

I know what you mean I do have an EWS one which I'll take as a spare, but it wasn't used at Whitemoor so it's probably not going to get treated in time. EWS work trains to and from the yard, but it's run by GBRF who have tended to hire in shunters from places like Cotswold and RMS Locotec. 08871 is a Cotswold-liveried machine - the one I fitted sound to last year. http://ttm-photography-archive.fotopic.net/p38509588.html One interesting question - is the roof silver, or the same grey as the sides? It's really hard to tell from pictures because the cantrail stripe gets in the way. Hornby have it as grey all over.

Thanks James - the underframe was definitely a bit of a pig's ear the first time around. A loco is coming - promise! I have that half-done 60014, but I wanted to get my hand in first - it's a while since I've put brush to wagon. I want to do a pass on the roof and sides of that one, and get 08871 dirty as well. Although not very dirty since it's pretty well looked-after in the reference I've seen.

I went back to the MOA for another hour or so and hopefully fixed some things. It's getting closer to the prototype pictures. It makes a bit of a change compared to yesterday, I think: The wheels have been touched up and the backs painted. I also applied some powders to the bogies to correct the colours, add detail, and dull them down a little. It's odd, they still look glossy here, whereas they look very matt in real life - possibly the location of the layout at the moment means there's a bit too much light coming from the side. More interestingly, I've added more track dirt to the air tank - they seem to get dirtier on the ends - and to some horizontal surfaces in that area. I also added a few photo-based "hero" spots and streaks in a lighter colour on the body and the bogies, in the hope that this will make things crisper and get closer to the generally rain-streaked and mud-spotted appearance of the real thing. They're an interesting study - at least one batch seems to be pretty clean with just dust and load marks on near-pristine maroon paint, whereas another has a darker grimy look more like other types of EWS ballast wagon. Final changes were to touch the "safety" areas back in with neat white paint, add more defined rust marks to the lip, and paint the buffers. This last is more difficult than it needs be since Bachmann appear to have made them the wrong way around - the "piston" part of the shank should be at the wagon end, not behind the head So it's hopefully a bit better, though still rather done-on-the-cheap. I'm happy enough that I've gone on to the next two using roughly the same approach.

Cheers James. It's a tricky thing to half-execute, since you might need to take some off as well as put more on when you revisit it, and that's not always possible. I'll see if doing the details lifts it at all.

I haven't posted anything that wasn't Whitemarsh for a while, but I had a play around with some stock yesterday, fitted Sprat + Winkle couplings to the outer ends of my 3-MOA rake, and then set about applying some weathering. Fitting the couplings took a couple of attempts to figure out a good solution, but it turned out to be pretty easy. The coupling bar is a wide "staple" shape fitted into 0.4mm holes drilled up into the buffer shanks from below. The coupling itself hangs from a small staple glued into similar holes drilled up into the headstock where the coupler pocket was. It's nice and thick there so there's plenty of room. Fitting them this way up (with the staple points going into the surface) makes bending the staple harder - if it's not dead square you can get a ever-so-slightly stiff action. This can occasionally stop the couplers from returning to horizontal from the delayed position - there isn't much travel in that situation, so they're more likely to stick. I had to redo them once, and rubbed off most of the blackening in the process. I also adjusted the position of one of the uncouplers and added another so I don't have to uncouple on the headshunt and then push the wagons back into the loop. The magnets are 3mm diameter by 6mm deep Neodymium ones - I think the same that John Teal was using for Kadees? They work really well for the S&Ws, with one magnet per uncoupling site being plenty, so you only have to drill a hole between the sleepers, push the magnet in, and ballast over it. This afternoon I thought I'd see if I could get some weathering on, and if it was possible to do this quickly. Rather than working from a specific photo I looked at several, mainly from Martyn Read's collection, then went downstairs and worked on it without referring back so I wouldn't get bogged down. I'd be interested to see what people think of the results in comparison to e.g. the MKAs which were each based on a specific photo, at least to start with, and had a lot more time spent on them. The MOA above took about an hour and a half to get to this stage. It looked like this originally: And the B side, which got a bit dirtier than I wanted it to. It still needs details (buffers, grabs, etc.) painting but see what you think. Looking at it now, the body is better than I thought, although rather blotchy from the acrylics, but the bogies need to be more brown, less grey, and have less contrast. Oh, and those wheel rims are nasty - must fix. For reference - not that I'm suggesting anyone should follow this slapdash recipe, but it helps me to find the colours I used - this was a couple of washes of GW Graveyard Earth, wiped off with sponges and a wide brush, and more added to the flat brackets and other horizontal edges near the steps. I painted some spots on with a small brush, and drybrushed the yellow lip with the same colour and Calthan Brown (rusty-ish) using a large brush. I added a final drybrush over the whole body with Graveyard Earth to finish. The underside was drybrushed with Vallejo Leather, using more paint on the brush than is usual, and this was brought up onto the lower sides. The bogies are a mix of this colour and a dark grey from the GW range, slopped on and wiped off the axle boxes. I washed them with the ever-useful Devlan Mud and touched in the springs with some MIG Old Rust, then drybrushed with the Leather again (if I remember it right). The wheels had a coat of the brown/grey mix with some MIG Dark Mud, a la Pelle Soeborg's US stuff.

You can drybrush the Silflor tufts to get more colour variation - e.g. putting dead-looking brown colours on green tips, or vice versa. I've also been hiding the odd spring green tuft among slightly darker greens which adds variety without burning my eyes out - they are, as you say, pretty bright!