I can't be taking out a model railway with locomotives straight from the box can I?
The P Class has been treated to a light dusting of Humbrol weathering powders. Nothing heavy, the new owner might not want a really filthy loco after all. Basically dark brown brushed everywhere, rust on the smokebox and smoke over the boiler top and cab back.
No fixatives are used, the powders are usually sticky enough as long as the model isn't handled too much. Again, the new owner could look at cleaning them off if they prefer.
To my eyes, even a light weathering has improved the model a huge amount. Pride of Sussex always looked, in the photos I've seen, a bit careworn. Never really ratty, but a working loco with all the dirt this entails.
The crew is from Monty's Models. I know a ModelU "proper" crew is available, but not when I needed them and anyway, everyone will have those and I like to be different. Poking the figures in through the cab sides was "interesting" though. Care required to keep superglue from the painted bits. I had a dry-run with the driver and was glad I did.
Phil,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry - I don't see the point of all this weathering malarkey.
After all, "as everyone knows", there's only ever been one correct finish for any model locos and rolling stock - and that's "mint boxed" (and kept somewhere it'll never be touched).
Of course, it's always possible that I might have had too much contact with the few people who can actually afford new RTR prices these days - I am, of course, talking about collectors.
Somehow, I doubt if these guys would be too keen on some of those American forum sites I'm a member of - scary sites where people post photos of themselves doing nasty things to model locos (things like tearing them apart and converting them into something that bears little resemblance to the original donor models) - sites where no "entry level" loco seems to be safe.
You could almost imagine some people this side of "the pond" cringing at the prospect of what might happen to some of that lovely Bachmann "Spectrum" On30 stuff - or at least what might have happened before availability "went south" and prices went stratospheric.
Just imagine what could be achieved if somebody got one of their On30 coaches - "harvested" the domed clerestory roof for a different project (and replaced it with something simpler) - removed one of the bogies and replaced it with the "business end" of an entry level steam shunter. At the end of the day, you'd end up with something not a million miles from that "Coffee Pot" that's been preserved somewhere in Australia.
Something like that could be a really great build project for somebody.
Could it be a great build project for me? I'm not sure - after all there would be some really serious problems with something like this:
* Getting the stuff I'd need, at an affordable price.
* Far more serious than this, it's STEAM. I know - some people prefer locos to feature a Diesel engine or a pantograph. Some of these people might only see one really good use for a "kettle" - and that's filling a Cafetiere.
Anyway, if I were to have a go at any project like this, it would need to join a long build queue - behind loads of exciting "D&E" projects - so please don't expect it to get completed any time soon.
Seriously though, a conversion like this really could make an amazing build project - and it's something I'd really like to see in a future TV model railway challenge. Will this sort of thing ever find its way into one of these programmes? I doubt it - but it would be fun to watch (and even more fun to do).
Of course, there is one thing RTR manufacturers could do to encourage people in the UK to put "entry level" loco and rolling stock models "under the knife" - they could always try making entry level models available at entry level prices.
Well, they could ... .