Well after a lengthy delay, I have finally managed to get moving on weathering 1754D after we installed a sound unit in it last chapter. The first step was to apply a small amount of white artists acrylics with dry brushing to the body.
This was done to help mute the blue shading in areas where it would have faded the most. The other area was the logo which tended to fade to light outline.
Once this was done and let to dry (for a month as it turned out), I masked the windows and sprayed the entire model with a very fine mist of white paint. In this case, I used Humbrol Matt White thinned with GP thinners. You can see the difference between this image and the previous one.
As I’ve mentioned previously, this is done to help blend the colours on the locomotive and to leave the white and blue looking far less stark. At the time this was done, I also gave the model a quick, light coat of Tamiya Flat Clear (TS-80).
The Flat Clear gives the surface some tooth for the powders to adhere to later on. Once this had dried, the next step was to start applying the powders. Firstly, I applied a small amount of AIM Dark Rust to the roof.
I did this in small patches along the roof. This helped to simulate how the roof is actually uneven on the prototype and rust develops on the flatter sections between the ribs supporting the roof. After this was done, I applied a small amount of AIM Dark Earth powders to the roof.
This helps to blend it all together and give the roof a worn look. At the same time, I added small amounts of Dark Rust to the exhaust and the center of the panels around this area. This was then muted with a small amount of Dark Earth.
Next I added small spots of Dark Rust to the edges of the top of the body and drew them down using a dry, flat brush. This helped to create little streaks and faint rusting. I also did this on the edges of the cab.
I applied Dark Earth to the bogie sideframes and the cable runs on the underframe. Most of this was blown off and then brushed in. This helped to highlight the detail on these parts.
The buffers received a small amount of Dark Rust which was rubbed in with a small, stiff brush next. Essentially this entire model was done using ONLY the two colours of powders. Another option would have been to apply either a black powder or a wash to the grills, which I still may do.
Once all of this was done, I re-masked the windows and gave the entire model another light coating of Matt White with the airbrush.
Next, I sprayed the entire model with Tamiya Matt Finish again to seal everything in place and to remove any unwanted shine.
This model still needs to have the wheels painted, but that aside it is pretty much finished. Overall, I am happy with this model. It was a pretty quick weathering job that took around about 2 hours to do.
As I’ve mentioned, I still need to paint the wheels on this locomotive to complete the model and possibly apply a light wash to the grills.
And of course, there is still two more units that need weathering also, 1728D and 1733D to complete my collection of blue Driver Only 1720s… for now.
As always though, we shall see how we go.