Suncole PO coal wagon now with added weathering

Having fiddled with the Skytrex wagon over the last few days, it came time to slap on some paint.

As I've mentioned before, all the black bits on the model are self-coloured plastic. While the body looked OK, and repainting it would defeat the object of buying a RTR model, the chassis was horrid and shiny. Nothing that a coat of matt black paint wouldn't cure though. Thanks Mr Humbrol.

Since I couldn't be bothered to fire up the airbrush, weathering is pretty old-skool. A dry-brush with rust, then tank grey, gunmetal and track colour. These were left to dry overnight so the next stage, a wash of thinned matt black, wouldn't wash them away.

Finally, a good dose of black weathering powder imparts some texture to the dirt.

Inside, the coal load has had its legs cut down and a layer of the real thing glued over the top.

At the end of all this, it's a nice looking wagon. Pedants will notice that I haven't sorted out the safety loops yet. Sadly, I was busy with other jobs so these will have to wait for another day and me to be sufficently bothered to find some strip metal for the job. In this respect, 4mm models are lot easier as you can use old staples.