Tanks a lot (gosh these puns are getting terrible)...

This pair of wonderfully detailed Revolution 35t tank wagons arrived here a few weeks ago and the United Molasses tank was hurried through a quick weathering to be ready for use on Paxton Road at Doncaster...

The de-branded Esso tank is for the Cambrian project and hence required a different approach, plus I felt there was the opportunity to enhance and refine the finish on the UM example so first of all both were treated to the usual frame wash of a custom mix of Humbrol 98 (chocolate) and 33 (black). I vary this from wagon to wagon and usually touch in some neat chocolate on brake shoes. The same wash was then applied to the base, yes base of the tanks to about half way up. A wide flat brush moistened in thinners (and frequently cleaned and refreshed) was used to drag this up and over the top of the barrel, taking care not to leave any heavy deposits. This produces subtle streaks in the finish which would be impossible to achieve with a cloth in this scale. It also leaves a lovely road dirt to the underside of the tank that you couldn't get with just an airbrush.

The fuel oil tank then had a liberal spillage applied, based upon photos of examples at Machynlleth. Humbrol 98 and 33 were used and then once dry a thinned 'oil spill' from the Humbrol washes range was applied in the centre of the streaking leaving a 'wet' look. On the UM tank some dirt accumulation was stippled to the top of the tank and I noticed the white paint was streaking down the sides of the wagon in photos too so I added some thinned 28 to the numbers and base of the UM circles and dragged this down with the same wide flat brush. 

Once these 'details' were dry I airbrushed on some road dirt to smooth the finish a little, this is tricky in N and on the paler Esso tanker not quire as effective. I think the subtle pattern is caused by the 27004 in the paint and I will need to consider this on any future pale wagons or locomotives. Once dry some gunmetal 53 was dry brushed onto the ladder and walk ways to bring the wonderful tooling to life. So there you have it, a very pleasant few hours work, a light touch really, bringing these already fantastic models up another notch. They now feel very much at home on the layout and I look forward to seeing the Revolution 128 DPU when it arrives!

Until next time, more soon...

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