One down, one to go. The first Garratt is finished. Well apart from a crew (on order) and some nameplates (struggling to track these down) but apart from this, it's done. The locomotive runs under it's own power along the test track, or at least it does now I've wired the motors up so they run in the same direction !
The new owners plan to display the model in a scenic setting eventually and so agreed to some light weathering. Let's be honest a clean industrial steam loco looks a bit odd - their condition varied from grubby to absolutely filthy according to the pictures I've seen. Having said that, crews often did take a bit of pride in their machines so some evidence of cleaning looks nice.
Weathering started on this loco with a wash of very weak weathered black around all the pipes and rivet lines. Then the rivets were dry-brushed with a bit of rust followed by the cylinder ends and ash pan. This mixes a touch with the black and takes the edge off the redness.
With the paint still not completely dry I then spray the model with three colours - an overall dark brown (Humbrol 170 if I can get it, why was it discontinued ?) followed by a dark earth for the underpinning. Finally some black is drifted onto the top to simulate soot.
Finishing touches include glazing (Krystal Klear) and grease on the buffer heads done using an ordinary HB pencil. A touch of weathering powder gives texture to the very rust bits.
The satin varnished paint shines through the muck when the light catches it giving an oily impression. The main body colour was a good choice too as it's bright enough to stay visible under the dirt, something the much darker blue used on the last Garratt I built didn't.
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