Mick Bonwick
Active Member
Your best building yet, in my humble opinion.
Tales from The Room of Doom. Dipping a toe in various bucolic backwaters.
Your best building yet, in my humble opinion.
NHY 581
Western Thunderer
That's very kind of you Dave.
Like you, I'm not very good with paint and certainly do not see my myself as having any degree of expertise. Far from it. The weathering powders work for me. I make mistakes and I like to think I learn from them.
I have a limited palette courtesy of Humbrol and I'm getting to know what they can and can't do. For example, use iron oxide on its own and its far too bright. Tone it down with a bit of 'smoke' then add few specks of rust and its much better..
This is the kit I use on everything.
Humbrol powders, Humbrol acrylic paint, a selection of cheap make up brushes, plenty of patience, cups of tea/coffee and music.
I weather as I go. To do it to a reasonable standard takes time. I would find a whole layout a bit daunting. Thats why I am doing bits and bobs as I go along for the next two. As an example, the track is laid, painted, then weathered with powders and sealed with varnish.
Once happy, I ballast.
Thanks Mick. . Your opinion is much valued and I'm inclined to agree. I'm learning all the time though, trying new things and will shortly write things up properly regarding the station building.
What went well and not so well.
Rob.
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Those sleepers look really good, Rob. Did you achieve that finish with just hand painting and weathering powders?
Regards, Ian
David Hall
Western Thunderer
Rob - that is really interesting to see how you approach things. Thank you very much for taking the time to share.
You are far, far too modest mind. Honestly, it is some of the very best weathering/colouring I have ever seen. Trust me, you have a great deal of expertise.
It is inspirational. If I can achieve half the effect you have then I will be a very happy fella.
Cheers,
Dave
You are far, far too modest mind. Honestly, it is some of the very best weathering/colouring I have ever seen. Trust me, you have a great deal of expertise.
It is inspirational. If I can achieve half the effect you have then I will be a very happy fella.
Cheers,
Dave
NHY 581
Western Thunderer
Evening Ian.
Short answer, yes.
The track, as you have probably gathered, is PECO Code 75. It is sprayed using a Humbrol acrylic dark earth aerosol. The sleepers are then painted using Humbrol 173, Track colour.
Rail sides are then coloured using Iron oxide weathering powder which is then toned down with smoke powder.
The sleepers are then individually coloured using black, dark earth iron oxide, sand, smoke and white weathering powders.
Once happy the powders are sealed with Matt acrylic varnish.
Rob.
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NHY 581
Western Thunderer
Thank you for your kind words. Just have a go. Take your time, find something to practice on and experiment.
For me, the use of make-up brushes is key. I use cheap packs bought for a couple of pounds from Amazon.
Rob.
simond
Western Thunderer
NHY 581
Western Thunderer
You're not wrong. Chuffin' autocorrect strikes yet again...
AdeMoore
Western Thunderer
Wonderful work Rob, looks bob on. Amazing transformation.
Grahame Hedges
Western Thunderer
Nice patina and muted colours on the building. A very impressive finish.
NHY 581
Western Thunderer
Thank you all for your kind words.
I have written a start to finish which I have posted elsewhere and repeat here to round things up. The photos above are repeated to complete the description so I apologise for the duplication.
What I will describe below has been carried out over the course of a week and proved to be both good fun and thought provoking. .
The subject of all of this palarva is a bog standard Hornby Skaledale Butterley waiting room.
Photo below as per Hornby.
My example was acquired s/h for very reasonable sum.
The platform side, as you see below, had been repainted in Midland Railway colours whilst the back of the building was as per factory finish.
Proceedings commenced with popping out the windows and cleaning up any webbing on the inside of the apertures which could be seen through the windows.
The windows were then set to one side to be weathered separately once the rest of the building was finished bar any tweaks.
First up was a removal of the Midland Railway colours. Pretty certain its called Midland chrome yellow but I could be wrong. I dug out my tub of Modelstrip. It was solid and utterly unserviceable.
Plan B then. A 2mm glass fibre brush was employed on a plank by plank basis to scrub away the paint on the walls. The roof and chimneys were fine and left alone. I wasn't too worried about the finish as I wanted a bit of a rough finish anyway.
This removal took quite a while and I acquired more than a few splinters along the way. It did however do the job.
Next, I deepened the grooves between the planks using a couple of pointy pokey probe jobbies. These were also used to add a bit of distress to the planks. There were a couple of slip ups which I hope are not too noticeable. However, I did take a couple of chunks out of the window sills at the back of the building. I didn't want to risk filling them so have left them for now. I have a plan to suggest a bit of rot and moss but I have left it for now.
The walls were repainted with Humbrol 103 enamel cream . I wasn't too precious about the finish as the below image shows.
The lowers, doors, frames and uprights were then painted in Tamiya XF64 Red Brown though to me it looked very choclatey.
I painted each plank individually and some were repainted to provide a bit of tonal variation. Bits were however missed and I decided to leave it as was. It suggested to me that the brown paint had flaked off here and there. Once dry, the paint was sealed with Humbrol matt acrylic varnish. I then moved onto the weathering using the usual powders Humbrol weathering powders. I refer to the colours as described by Humbrol.
Iron oxide was then added, streaking on working in on each plank individually. Rust was used to 'taper' the colour as it was slightly lighter and more orange. Some planks were coloured using Sand, others were lightened using White. Some were toned down using Dark Earth or Smoke. I just made it up as I went along, blending until it looked right. Once happy the powders were sealed using Humbrol matt acrylic varnish.
Some of this was then removed using our 2mm fibre brush on a plank by plank basis. I did over do this on a few planks which required repainting and further weathering. The perils of listening to Planet Rock radio!!
The brown lowers simply had Iron Oxide and Rust powders applied here and there. This was toned down using Smoke powder to blend it all in. Uprights had a bit of Iron Oxide added as did the doors in the midst of the panels. Some Smoke powder was added to the tops and bottoms.
Once again, all was sealed using Humbrol matt varnish.
The brown lowers were then lightly buffed using a large soft brush flicked over as were the doors. Doors and uprights were also buffed. It seems to deepen the colours and highlight and raised details. Door handles were picked out using a soft pencil.
At this stage I left the gutters and barge boards as I was handling the building so much and probably have rubbed the paint off.
I then moved onto the ridge tiles and painted them using Humbrol 70 Enamel. Not sure of the name but it looks Brick Red. I then moved onto the roof and began picking out individual tiles. A variety of greys , all Humbrol enamels, were used including Feld Grau, Extra Dark Sea Grey, a light grey seemingly something to do with Israeli aircraft and a couple of others. By the time I had finished, I had painted every tile. The roof was then varnished.
Black weathering powder was applied beneath the ridge tiles before the entire roof was dusted with Smoke powder. You have to be careful to avoid daubs or streaks ( and finger prints...) but the powder did settle into the grooves and serve to blend the various grey paints used on the roof. Ridge tiles were also toned down using Smoke powder.
The brink plinth was painted using Humbrol 70 enamel. Again I painted each brick, leaving the grey base colour of the mortar clear. I then looked and saw I had the same colour but in Humbrol acrylic. It looked lighter and I picked out a couple of bricks here and there and it did indeed dry lighter and provided contrast. A few other bricks were picked out in Humbrol 173 Track Colour.
The chimneys were done at the same time but just few bricks were picked out as they were already factory painted in brick. I was a tad troubled that the mortar was white instead of grey as per the plinth but decided to let it go. Smoke powder was then applied and this served to tone down the mortar.
I was less troubled.
Last to be painted were the gutters and barge boards. The only weathering powder added to the barge boards was Iron Oxide, daubed here and there as per the gutters. Again, once varnished a spot of buffing was conducted using a large soft brush.
The windows then were simply varnished to act as a key, dusted with dark earth powder, revarnished to seal and replaced.
The pre-printed notice boards had the white printed highlights coloured in using a 0.5 black Sharpie. I pressed quite hard and the the resulting indent happily seems to suggest a frame.
They were the varnished before Black powder was applied to hide the posters etc. A bit of iron oxide and dark earth was tried to suggest wear. White weathering powder was daubed here and there to try and suggest the residue left by posters that had been removed. Two boards were then added to the building. The third I will hang onto for now. I will probably leave them as is but if I see some posters I like, then we could see something applied thereon. Just not sure what yet.
And there we have it. I shall add fire buckets and a few other bits and bobs just before I plant it on the layout but I will leave them off to prevent damage.
That then is my station building.
Next up will be the engine shed but I need to give that a bit of thought. However, I do anticipate it will be a tad more distressed that the station building
Rob.
I have written a start to finish which I have posted elsewhere and repeat here to round things up. The photos above are repeated to complete the description so I apologise for the duplication.
What I will describe below has been carried out over the course of a week and proved to be both good fun and thought provoking. .
The subject of all of this palarva is a bog standard Hornby Skaledale Butterley waiting room.
Photo below as per Hornby.
My example was acquired s/h for very reasonable sum.
The platform side, as you see below, had been repainted in Midland Railway colours whilst the back of the building was as per factory finish.
Proceedings commenced with popping out the windows and cleaning up any webbing on the inside of the apertures which could be seen through the windows.
The windows were then set to one side to be weathered separately once the rest of the building was finished bar any tweaks.
First up was a removal of the Midland Railway colours. Pretty certain its called Midland chrome yellow but I could be wrong. I dug out my tub of Modelstrip. It was solid and utterly unserviceable.
Plan B then. A 2mm glass fibre brush was employed on a plank by plank basis to scrub away the paint on the walls. The roof and chimneys were fine and left alone. I wasn't too worried about the finish as I wanted a bit of a rough finish anyway.
This removal took quite a while and I acquired more than a few splinters along the way. It did however do the job.
Next, I deepened the grooves between the planks using a couple of pointy pokey probe jobbies. These were also used to add a bit of distress to the planks. There were a couple of slip ups which I hope are not too noticeable. However, I did take a couple of chunks out of the window sills at the back of the building. I didn't want to risk filling them so have left them for now. I have a plan to suggest a bit of rot and moss but I have left it for now.
The walls were repainted with Humbrol 103 enamel cream . I wasn't too precious about the finish as the below image shows.
The lowers, doors, frames and uprights were then painted in Tamiya XF64 Red Brown though to me it looked very choclatey.
I painted each plank individually and some were repainted to provide a bit of tonal variation. Bits were however missed and I decided to leave it as was. It suggested to me that the brown paint had flaked off here and there. Once dry, the paint was sealed with Humbrol matt acrylic varnish. I then moved onto the weathering using the usual powders Humbrol weathering powders. I refer to the colours as described by Humbrol.
Iron oxide was then added, streaking on working in on each plank individually. Rust was used to 'taper' the colour as it was slightly lighter and more orange. Some planks were coloured using Sand, others were lightened using White. Some were toned down using Dark Earth or Smoke. I just made it up as I went along, blending until it looked right. Once happy the powders were sealed using Humbrol matt acrylic varnish.
Some of this was then removed using our 2mm fibre brush on a plank by plank basis. I did over do this on a few planks which required repainting and further weathering. The perils of listening to Planet Rock radio!!
The brown lowers simply had Iron Oxide and Rust powders applied here and there. This was toned down using Smoke powder to blend it all in. Uprights had a bit of Iron Oxide added as did the doors in the midst of the panels. Some Smoke powder was added to the tops and bottoms.
Once again, all was sealed using Humbrol matt varnish.
The brown lowers were then lightly buffed using a large soft brush flicked over as were the doors. Doors and uprights were also buffed. It seems to deepen the colours and highlight and raised details. Door handles were picked out using a soft pencil.
At this stage I left the gutters and barge boards as I was handling the building so much and probably have rubbed the paint off.
I then moved onto the ridge tiles and painted them using Humbrol 70 Enamel. Not sure of the name but it looks Brick Red. I then moved onto the roof and began picking out individual tiles. A variety of greys , all Humbrol enamels, were used including Feld Grau, Extra Dark Sea Grey, a light grey seemingly something to do with Israeli aircraft and a couple of others. By the time I had finished, I had painted every tile. The roof was then varnished.
Black weathering powder was applied beneath the ridge tiles before the entire roof was dusted with Smoke powder. You have to be careful to avoid daubs or streaks ( and finger prints...) but the powder did settle into the grooves and serve to blend the various grey paints used on the roof. Ridge tiles were also toned down using Smoke powder.
The brink plinth was painted using Humbrol 70 enamel. Again I painted each brick, leaving the grey base colour of the mortar clear. I then looked and saw I had the same colour but in Humbrol acrylic. It looked lighter and I picked out a couple of bricks here and there and it did indeed dry lighter and provided contrast. A few other bricks were picked out in Humbrol 173 Track Colour.
The chimneys were done at the same time but just few bricks were picked out as they were already factory painted in brick. I was a tad troubled that the mortar was white instead of grey as per the plinth but decided to let it go. Smoke powder was then applied and this served to tone down the mortar.
I was less troubled.
Last to be painted were the gutters and barge boards. The only weathering powder added to the barge boards was Iron Oxide, daubed here and there as per the gutters. Again, once varnished a spot of buffing was conducted using a large soft brush.
The windows then were simply varnished to act as a key, dusted with dark earth powder, revarnished to seal and replaced.
The pre-printed notice boards had the white printed highlights coloured in using a 0.5 black Sharpie. I pressed quite hard and the the resulting indent happily seems to suggest a frame.
They were the varnished before Black powder was applied to hide the posters etc. A bit of iron oxide and dark earth was tried to suggest wear. White weathering powder was daubed here and there to try and suggest the residue left by posters that had been removed. Two boards were then added to the building. The third I will hang onto for now. I will probably leave them as is but if I see some posters I like, then we could see something applied thereon. Just not sure what yet.
And there we have it. I shall add fire buckets and a few other bits and bobs just before I plant it on the layout but I will leave them off to prevent damage.
That then is my station building.
Next up will be the engine shed but I need to give that a bit of thought. However, I do anticipate it will be a tad more distressed that the station building
Rob.
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NHY 581
Western Thunderer
Hi Phil. Your're bang on. That's exactly what it is. The prototype is in Dinorwic. The model is from Bachmann tinkered with.
Rob