Friday, August 03, 2007

Painting the cab roof


I’ve mentioned my fear of painting before (well, a general fear of screwing up, really) but I remember that the reason I bought this kit was to learn a few things, so... a deep breath and here goes.

I’m using Phoenix Precision dull blue with a small flat brush. I find that diluting 1 part thinners : 3 parts paint seems workable, in fact it takes to the resin quite nicely.

But it’s awkward to hold the cab roof between my fingers, and very soon specks of dust and fluff start accumulating on the wet paint.

Have to clean the paint off and start again, this time with the roof glued atop a “handle” of 10cm of styrene strip.

So much better this time.


Second coat



Three coats and the rivets are still visible, but I’m beginning to get a build-up of paint on one edge (see left side above). The resin texture is still visible in this photograph, but from viewing distance this looks smooth and a good representation of diesel blue, so I think I should quit while I’m ahead.

4 comments:

Peter Whitehead said...

Hi Graham

What I do is to superglue a cocktail stick to the underside of the model (part) I am painting. Obviously you need to cut the point off so that you have a flat end. When you are done, break it off, the glue comes away.

Peter Whitehead

Gram said...

Thanks Peter

I'll try that shortly

Graham

Mike said...

Graham

I was looking at the first photo and think what an excellent weathered BR blue that you had achieved. See this photo for even lighter real life version.

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/markshipman/railway/images/08/08904a.jpg

So with your weathered look was it literally brush paint BR blue and then wipe off with a cloth?

Gram said...

Hello Mike

I wish I *could* do that sort of thing effectively.

Actually the first photo was taken after I’d cleaned my previous effort off completely then applied a first coat as thinly as I could. It looked very patchy, but you could probably achieve a good light effect in one coat with a bit more skill (or an airbrush).

Nice example of 08904, with the darker colour on the bonnet and trace of yellow on the axle-boxes.

Best, Graham