Boxing Day saw me finally getting around to a little modelling. As well as finishing 6110 Royal Scot and painting James Herriot, (see my last post) I also weathered three wagons, one of which also gained a little repaint.
The repainted wagon is a Bachmann SR design 2+2 planked unfitted vent van, formerly painted in LMS grey.
However, a little freehand brush painting – I didn’t use masking tape as I have none – and there is a whole new wagon.
No particular prototype here (as with several of my wagons) as I had no prototype photographs. – I based the markings on my fitted SR van (also Bachmann) and the tare weights on the LMS livery. Good luck reading the numbers, these were also copied from my fitted van (heresy, I know) but since they are illegible I’m sure it’s fine.
Here’s how I did it:
First I painted black blocks around the numbers and tare weights. I did not raise it to the plank with LMS on as my bauxite version only has the “12T” on the third plank.
Next I took a grey paint (old Citadel ‘Codex Grey’ to be precise) and painted out the letters LMS. I then painted individual planks and groups of planks on all sides with this as well as one ventilator.
I picked out a small number of planks in Humbrol matt Dark Earth – my favoured bare wood colour.
Next I took a large brush and aggressively dunked it in Citadel ‘Badab Black’ wash. I then coated the entire model in this, leaving it to soak for a few seconds and then wiped it away with a tissue, especially away from strapping.
You could call it quits here but I used Citadel ‘Ogryn Flesh’ (another wash) to simulate rust. I used a medium brush and again dunked it in the pot, heavily applying it around (in this case/side) the left – hand door’s bottom strapping and the chains on the door.
This should then be left for about an hour or two until it dries. Unsurprisingly it takes ages as there is loads slapped on and drying time between coats is blissfully ignored! Further improvement can be gained by mixing matt Dark Earth (or similar) with a matt black so it is almost grey-black and coating the underframe in it, as well as gently dry-brushing the lower body. If this is too much for you, brown and grey pencils or chalk will do nicely on the underframe.
This Bachmann RCH 5 plank open has been treated in very much the same way. However the bare planks are of interest. These were painted matt ‘Dark Earth’ as before, and although the paint was allowed some time to dry before the washes it was only touch-dry (if that)
Rubbing the large brush in a sideways motion along the planks (whilst heavily laden with wash) scrubbed off some of the brown on the right hand side producing the wood grain effect. I assure you this was entirely by accident. The left hand plank is supposed to represent peeling paint, this was achieved using a fairly dry brush and stippling it on to the plank. This leaves a scratchy, speckled effect perfect for this. You can tell I worked left-to-right on that plank as the brown is more concentrated on the left hand side. You should notice that this wagon is fairly rust-free but it still looks acceptable. Again, improvements could be made by dirtying the underframe. A sooty black would also be worthwhile on the body sides, streaked from the top downwards, especially around the door.
(please note that none of these Citadel paints are made anymore – although the makeup of their new range is roughly identical. Thinned matt black paint would work fine for the first wash and a pinky-red for the latter)
If you want to try these, best of luck. If you need any help let me know!
Addendum
My last post didn’t post so here is an image of James Herriot enjoying the sight of 6110 in the yard.
Ramblings of a funny man 