Graham's Workbench

[Noel]

8 minutes ago, irishthump said:

Just finished weathering a Bachmann Class 20. 
Done mainly with washes and a little airbrushing on the bogies.

Stunning job. Sublime.

[irishthump]

Something a bit different on the workbench. Figures I painted recently for tabletop fantasy gaming.

 

[irishthump]

Back to railways!

Finally finished my scratch built brake van. After applying Des’s excellent decals and a bit of weathering she’s ready for the layout.

Seen here with a lone tanker wagon and loco 182.

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by irishthump

[jhb171achill]

Lovely little item, and superb weathering on both it and the loco and tanker!

[Galteemore]

Great job. Scratch building can be so satisfying ! All ready to trip that fuel wagon down to Broadstone...

[Noel]

What a treasure. Superb job. Reeks of atmosphere.

[irishthump]

Finished weathering my small rake of tanker wagons. This was another project that took a couple of years!

All 6 were weathered in one batch but I tried for a distinctive look for each one.

 

 

Edited November 14, 2022 by irishthump

[irishthump]

Short video of them on the layout with 080.

 

[irishthump]

First try at a cement bubble.

Any thoughts?

 

[Dempsey]

Nice job. How did you go about it? 

[irishthump]

4 minutes ago, Dempsey said:

Nice job. How did you go about it? 

I started off with Tony Mirolo’s tutorial to get the streaking effect down the sides of the bubble but I went for a heavier application. The layer of crusty cement on the top was made of plaster of Paris mixed with a small amount of black and brown weathering powder to give it a grey colour. I brush this on the top of the bubble and streak it down the sides. Then mist water over the plaster with a spray bottle to make it set hard. You can repeat this several times depending on what effect you’re looking for. 

[popeye]

Looks great, your an artist.

I think adding people helps a scene. 

[WRENNEIRE]

I hope you didn't sell the drums.........   

[irishthump]

The arrival of the new A Classes have inspired me to do some work on the layout which has been neglected for a while!

I wanted to replace a bridge on the layout, the existing one being made from brickpaper from Scalescenes. It looked ok but I was never very happy with it. I decided to use XPS insulation for the new structure. It was cut to size and shape and the brickwork was then carved in by hand.

 

Most people use PVA to seal foam before painting but I prefer to use a coat of Mod Podge mixed with black paint. This creates a harder shell on the foam. Then I painted it using a tan colour acrylic paint.

 

Next I add some variation by painting some of the bricks various different shades. I used the following colours…

 

The affect looks a little stark but it will be toned down with a wash.

 

[irishthump]

Subsequent layers of black wash tie it together and tone down the brightness.

 

A lot of detailing and weathering is still needed, but I thinks it’s an improvement. 

[irishthump]

Next step was to use a coating of plaster to fill the mortar lines. 
I used normal plaster of Paris, spread it on then wiped it off the raised stones leaving the plaster in the recesses.
 

 

Last step was apply powders and washes to blend everything in.

End result…..

 

[irishthump]

And a quick shot of it in place on the layout (including the obligatory A Class)!

I plan on replacing the platforms with ones made using the same techniques used on the bridge….

 

 

[Noel]

Class. Subtle blending. Like those platforms too.

[irishthump]

Right. Those A Class locos need drivers! Unfortunately I only had one figure left on hand, so he went into 054.

 

 

I did manage to pick up some Preiser HO scale loco drivers online. Tried one in a 141 and they seem fine.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2021 by irishthump

[irishthump]

@Galteemore did that pic upset you?

[Galteemore]

Not at all. Simply my elderly fingers mixing up ‘angry’ and ‘like’ on the iPhone…..sorry! I really liked the image of 142 - reminded me of the glory days of 80s CIE….

Edited November 13, 2021 by Galteemore

[irishthump]

5 minutes ago, Galteemore said:

Not at all. Simply my elderly fingers mixing up ‘angry’ and ‘like’ on the iPhone…..sorry! I really liked the image of 142 - reminded me of the glory days of 80s CIE….

Oh I’m sorry man! I thought you were throwing me a disapproving look! 
“How dare he put a HO scale figure into a OO gauge loco!”

[JasonB]

7 hours ago, irishthump said:

Right. Those A Class locos need drivers! Unfortunately I only had one figure left on hand, so he went into 054.

Simple touch, but always very effective. Great stuff. 

[irishthump]

41 minutes ago, JasonB said:

 

Simple touch, but always very effective. Great stuff. 

Thanks!

Just need to get back in the cab and wipe the dust from the window!

[irishthump]

Some weathering on a few of my cement bubbles.

 

[irishthump]

Took a break from the bubbles and made a start on my Tara’s….

 

[JasonB]

Very impressive finish on the Tara's, especially on and around the lids. The Bubbles look great too. 

[Past-Avenue]

Excellent work they really look great

[irishthump]

So the 8 Taras are now finished….

 

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by irishthump

[irishthump]

 

[the Bandon tank]

That rake of Tara,s really looks realistic, fantastic work.

[irishthump]

Finally finished the rake of 12 cement bubbles. I wasn’t entirely happy with how thy looked; I’d deliberately tried to make each wagon unique but it didn’t quite work. So I gave the whole rake an overall coat of grey with the airbrush and it seems to be a better look.

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by irishthump

[murphaph]

Good call. The flaked off areas look much more realistic now that you've toned them down a wee bit I think. They really do look the part now. I'll be very happy if I can ever get mine looking like that.

[scahalane]

looking good.

[JasonB]

On 16/12/2021 at 7:28 PM, irishthump said:

Finally finished the rake of 12 cement bubbles. I wasn’t entirely happy with how thy looked; I’d deliberately tried to make each wagon unique but it didn’t quite work. So I gave the whole rake and overall coat of grey with the airbrush and it seems to be a better look.

I encountered the same problem when working on mine. I over complicated things, and ended up going around in circles on an 18 wagon rake.

The dusting you've given them with the airbrush has blended everything together very nicely. Great work.