Commission: Heljan 05 weathering…

The Heljan 05 is a lovely model, and I’ve been tempted to get one myself many times, so it’s a pleasure to be asked to work a second one over…

A few years ago I worked on the Bulmer’s liveried example, this time it is a Scottish BR green model. I find that BR green is a terrible livery to weather as it ends up darker and dingier than your intend very quickly. To that end I started with a panel line / pin wash in a lighter green, followed by a dark brown pin wash on the bonnet seams and grill. A general black/brown wash was used on the wheel rims, chassis, rods, footplate and buffer beams. The same colour was used to apply something between a wash and pin wash on the roof.

I followed this with a fine airbrushed layer of chassis dirt, the usual mix (245, 133 and 27004). A darker shade was used for some exhaust on the bonnet top.

Dry brushed gun metal 53 brings the edges of the footplate, steps, handrails etc to life…

It looks very much at home on Renfrew, and is now just awaiting a driver before I can say ‘finished’. I know I might follow the same steps in each locomotive’s weathered finish, but the results vary based on the inspiration and the prototype. I love sharing these finished models, each one is of my hand, I’m proud of them all and it’s amazing to think of them earning their keep on customers layouts. If you’ve got a model you’d like me to breathe some life into, weathering projects fit in neatly amongst other larger commissions so I’m happy to work up proposals and the wait might not be as long as you’d imagine. Get in touch (email via Facebook, contact form, Messenger or the forums) for a personal proposal. More soon…