Commission: Gwyneth the Austerity…

A whole variety of work crosses my bench and that is a truly wonderful gift. On occasion a project allows a deeper collaboration with my customer to develop a deeper back story, often layout design related but in this instance, I introduce Gwyneth…

She started life as an EFE J94 in BR black so first step was to remove those features and make good and during this period a discussion on what we were trying to create, which is a locomotive near the end of its life, ex NCB, just pre-preservation but almost. Channelling Gwyneth from Gresford and Walkden with a decent dose of Henbury from Bristol Harbour and you’ve a good idea of what we ended up with…

 

Custom decals were drawn up and I had them made which included the shaded lettering name, pin stripe lining and the Powell Timber on the bunker. These were applied over my old favourite Humbrol 131 and sealed with satin lacquer before weathering with enamel washes were applied. The ‘new’ lacquers I’m using are superb, they go on easily with the airbrush straight from the bottle and dry smooth. 

Washes of 33/98 applied first and removed in vertical streaks along the cab and bunker, and up and across strokes on the tank. A little detail painting here and there to suggest ash build up, rust or general grime before air brushing dirt and soot with my usual 133/245/27004 mix, which always results in a wonderfully subtle finish, blended edges but with something going on besides the air blown dirt. Using gunmetal 53 to dry brush and hi light  metal edges and suggest wear on the footplate finished things off nicely.

The result will really help tell the story on my customers layout, and not only that, we’ve created a fiction that lends weight to the experience. Plausible alternative reality, brought to life. If you have a project you’d like to collaborate on then get in touch for a personal no-obligation proposal. The contact form is in the menu here on the blog, or you can use Facebook through my business page or the forums where I’m ‘jameshilton’. Until next time, more soon…

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