Matt's kitbuilding page

I like them, especially the primer. However, it doesn't sand brilliantly and is difficult to feather smoothly if you do have to sand any imperfections out. I had to refill and sand a couple of areas on the tank and was left with a less than perfect finish. However I'm not going to lose sleep because fixing it would mean totally stripping the paint.

Matt

 

Hi all!

Progress has slowed recently as a result of life getting in the way as it sometimes does.

I need a break from the station building so thought I'd post an update of some stock progress/projects.

The tanker has been painted and a start made on weathering. I'm pausing here before I decide if I need to do more work:



Some wagons that have been on the back burner - a Parkside Pipe wagon, built and painted bauxite about ten years ago. It's lain untouched since then. A 13t medium wagon that you may remember I'm building to go with the Cowan's Sheldon crane and a Red Panda sand tippler that I built years ago, but didn't line the brakegear up with the wheels, which has finally had this work carried out:



Finally a trio of 16t minerals. The first two are waiting to be painted. The third, a Parkside kit, has been re-weathered tonight to represent a patched up version with rusted doors:



One day I'll actually finish something and have a layout you know!

Matt

 

Thanks all for the positive comments!

Feel free Gary, hope you're not in a rush though

Matt

 

Hi all!

Here's an in-progress shot of my next 16t mineral.



Matt

 

Hi Gary,

My first attempt at this wagon was the hairspray technique, but using AK's worn effects instead. I just can't get this technique to work to a level I'm happy with so I stripped it down and started again.

Version 2, above, uses a combination of salt and liquid mask to create a rusting effect that is far more convincing to my eyes at least.

I'm taking a series of photos as I go so I can hopefully do a step by step at the end if anyone is interested.

Matt

 

Very limited progress due to illness, but managed an hour at the bench tonight.

All I can say at this point is it's getting there slowly!



I've given it a coat of Klear, mixed with a drop or two of Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth to warm the colour up ever so slightly. It's also evened out the bumpy look Gary pointed out!

Matt

 

Hi all,

Here's a step by step guide to how I painted the mineral wagon. I still need to finish the underframe, hence no photos of the completed wagon yet but thought this may be useful. Any questions, give me a shout!

Firstly, this is a combination of an unpainted Dapol RTR body, and a Parkside chassis cobbled together in an attempt to save money! I built two of these about 9 months ago.

The starting point:



For painting the "rust", I used the following two colours, both from Ammo - Shadow Rust and Old Rust. You could easily mix your own using colours like Hull Red and Flat Earth. I usually do, this time I just couldn't be bothered!



Anyway, whatever colours you use, it's not really too important, just apply a coat to the whole wagon. Using a piece of sponge, I then dabbed random spots of masking fluid over the body - you can just make out the green specks in this photo:



I then oversprayed the doors and end using a darker mix of the original colour, although again it's not essential. Over this, I applied more masking fluid:



Next it's time to add the salt - nothing fancy, just regular salt. Wet the sides with plain water, sprinkle the salt randomly and leave it to dry overnight. If you use a hairdryer to speed things up you run the risk of dislodging the salt:


Once everything has fully dried, spray the topcoat. I mixed an approximation of BR Freight Grey from XF-54 Dark Sea Grey, XF-80 Royal Light Grey and a drop of X-2 White:



You'll probably get some blooming of colour - a result of the paint and salt reacting together. This doesn't overly bother me though. Next is the hardest part, removing the salt and the masking fluid. Try to get rid of as much masking fluid as possible because it reacts with oil washes and turns into a slimy substance!



After that, you can do whatever you want with it - add more chipping with a fine brush or sponge. Cover up any not so good bits by adding a patched repair etc.

Washes will give it more depth and life, that's the stage I'm at now. Hopefully once I've finished I'll take some photos.

I hope that was useful!

Matt

 

Thanks again Gary!

Ever since I rebuilt the ex-LMS Stanier BV last year, the thickness of the original roof has been bugging me. Yesterday saw me replace it with plastic sheet and also correct the rainstrips.



Obviously the roof needs painting - while I'm at it I'm considering repainting the whole lot into Bauxite.

Matt

 

Then there were two...



Top one is based on a photo of a replated wagon on the Bartlett site. Note that I've represented the replating with paint only as even the thinnest overlay of plastic sheet is overscale.

I've really enjoyed these Dapol/Parkside hybrids. Note that I've not touched the underframes on either wagon!

Matt

 

Bit of plastic surgery to correct the W-Irons, or at least make them more acceptable!



Matt

 

Thank you Sir!

Not another project!



That's right, the Cambrian Catfish kit. Bit nostalgic because the first wagon kit I ever built was a Dogfish.

Building one of these wasn't really on my radar until I recently purchased the 4mm wagon book by Geoff Kent. There's a lovely photo of one and I knew I had to build one for myself!

Matt

 

Morning all,

I'm calling these two 16 tonners done. Underframes have had a coat of weathering - I'll still do a little bit of additional weathering, but not until the next time I'm using the airbrush.

First up is the regular wagon, painted to represent a rusting example:



Second represents a replated example:



The replating and patched paintwork is based on photos from the Bartlett site.

Hope you like them, questions and comments welcome!

Matt