Ruston Proctor in 006.5: painted...

It's had a few false starts, the finish on the Ruston Proctor, but I'm finally happy enough that I can being to add some weathering...

The trouble is, there aren't really any decent records or notes on the colour. I know from a few sources that they were supplied often in a 'intricately lined dark colour' but that's about it... Now this thing is small, tiny even, and there was no way I was going to be able to add lining to her so I wondered what to do?

I ended up plumping for a matt/satin dark green finish, with brown chassis and red buffer beams. Pretty non-descript really but I think it looks well on it. The last attempt to add some paint wasn't a great success, first to thick, then to thin - so this time I took my time and mixed the paint properly before adding to the airbrush. I always use Humbrol enamels and when airbrushed in thin coats it dries quickly with a lovely smooth, hard wearing finish that withstands handling quite nicely.

These cruel photos actually show it larger than real life - so you can see a few areas of the print where I've not managed to remove all the residue left after removing the support wax especially around fine details on the chassis. The rivets on the body are tiny, and a little lost after three coats of paint, and there are a few tiny hairs here and there...

However from normal viewing distances it looks great. It went together very easily, there are a few comprimises - I've not made the folding cab front quite the same as the prototype, the sides don't have the handle cut away, I feared this would be easily bent out of shape when folding them up. The front airscoop on the curved bit of the bonnet is also a little bit of a fudge and should have a bit more relief. But come on! This model is barely 14mm wide! I'm happy! I'll be weathering this one over the coming weeks - along with the Hunslet. Next up in 006.5 is some suitable industrial rolling stock... More soon...