It was time to bite the bullet, take a brave pill, and weather a whole batch of not exactly cheap Bachmann ready to run locos. The techniques are the same as described in the last post - water soluble oils and a faint misting of black from above and brown from below using the airbrush - the aim being for a clean but working preserved loco finish.
I must confess this was done a couple of weeks ago and the locos have sat around, doing test runs on the layout to check couplings etc., and now I see these photos seem to show a little dust picked up by the camera which I'd not noticed!
Dorothea has been kept largely clean but the motion is oily and the smokebox dulled. The crew are by Model-U and were rather tricky to get stuck in place in the cab! All these Bachmann locos come with etched name and works plates which have been stuck in place with matt Modge Podge.
I've just noticed the mould line on the cylinder, must be less visible to the eye, but it's not easy to deal with without needing to match paint colour so I'll have to ignore it.
The black wash toned down the brass dome and copper pipes nicely, as well as the prominent motion. The Model-U crew must be posed for the FR Ladies as the chap this side is in a driving pose, fortunately it's not too obvious and his hand rests on the bunker rather than the cab-side. The bunker had a sliver of sponge foam inserted topped with crushed coal.
The other crew member leans both hands nicely on the cab side, which is slightly worrying if he's meant to be driving! The prominent injector pipework looks much better for the black wash.
Linda shows a little dirt on her buffer beam as well as a dulled smokebox and oily motion, but the paintwork still shines.
The Model-U "open cab" crew fit nicely, the driver the correct side this time and does appear to be in control, and I've posed the fireman in the tender because it looks interesting and allows the best view of the cab detail (and firebox glow). I couldn't see if the moulded coal load could be removed (and didn't fancy taking it apart to find out), so it's coaled up like it's about to haul the Flying Scotsman up the East Coast Main Line.
The Double Fairlie got a little grime around the frame below the cab, the bank of whistles and the area behind the dome got the oily wash treatment, and the top of the boiler shows slight evidence of soot (black spray). A Model-U crew was the only way to go with this tight cab and even they don't seem keen to be inside it! The driver is reaching for the regulator, sadly his arm is about a scale 6" too short to reach but no-one can see that!
The fireman is looking a bit confused, perhaps he lost his shovel. In this case I found the coal loads could be popped out of the bunkers, which are of course only as deep as the tank tops, but at least the coal didn't have to be piled quite so high. The real coal makes a big difference here as it does with Linda, plastic coal just doesn't pass.
These locos don't show obvious signs of weathering, and probably at a glance they don't look weathered just as a preserved loco looks clean. However, the subtle changes make a difference and they seem more natural and at home on the layout.
All locos ready, all stock tested, hopefully all ready for Hexworthy's first exhibition tomorrow. There were a few last minute jobs, I'll update on those next week...
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