Painting the Midget didn't start well. I chose some Humbrol satin grass green for the body colour, but my airbrush was playing up. In fact every airbrush I tried played up, until I dug out an Badger 200 which seemed happy to throw paint around.
In the garage, the results looked OK. The next day, less so. Although there was good coverage, it was far from smooth, there was actually some texture. Paint or tool? I didn't know, but the die was cast, this model was going to get weathered.
Another bit of web searching, and I failed to find a single photo showing a dirty Midget. Contemporary images all seemed to be taken of new vehicles. I was on my own...
On the shelf are a couple of Vallejo colours - brown and rust. I slapped a mix of both on the sides with a sponge, didn't much like the result so wet them with a brush and wiped the resulting mess away with a paper towel.
Result - surprisingly good. Once dry, REALLY good. And so simple.
Defintely a happy accident. The acrylic seems to cling to the rubbish enamel base coat in a way that looks realistic to me. Maybe there is skill in knowing how much to wipe away, but I'm not claiming that this is all down to me.
Around the doors, I have fiddled with some MiG weathering pencils, but the results don't wow me at the moment and I can't work out if they are just another toy, or something that will make a big difference to my modelling. I've watched a few videos, but aren't convinced yet. More research needed.
I love these old 3 wheelers. I speak as someone who cut his teeth at 18 with a Bond Minicar MkD.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if these trucks were a result of some particular Japanese legislation, like all the microcars now, or whether therir existance was just because they were cheaper to make.
I guess that the Scammell Scarab was our equivalent.
I understand it was a tax thing - 3 wheels being cheaper to tax than 4. A lot like the UK.
ReplyDeleteI was about to buy some expensive weathering pencils when I bought a cheap set of watercolour pencils instead, that appear to do the same job and cover a much wider range of colours
ReplyDeleteI have wondered about the pencils. They don't seem that special, apart from the branding on the outside.
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