Mundane mineral in N…

Two staples of BR for many years were the humble class 08 shunter and the 16t mineral wagon. Long lived stalwarts, unsung heroes, battered, bruised and full of character…

Often we see all sorts of exotic vehicles represented in pre-Speedlink pick up goods, but by far the most numerous should be the humble mineral wagon, representing largely coal traffic across the country, heating peoples homes and fueling our industry.

This quartet of N gauge examples are all from the Graham Farish stable, and are lovely models that capture the prototype well. Note two different body styles… some of the MCOs were repaired and re bodied without top flap doors. Less obvious are the different brake arrangements. Out of the box three were pristine, and even the weathered example lacked realism. 

The usual wash (98/33) applied to the chassis and I thought I’d try it on the body as a first step. Disaster! I’d not thinned it enough and it was a bit thicker than usual. Oh well, I persevered and finished the side and used a brush to carefully remove it rather than the rag I’d normally have used to remove a thinner wash, leaving it just a trace in the edges and crevices. No, this brush removed thicker wash was much heavier and the results looks very pleasing, so much so that I carried on across the batch.

The trick is to keep the streaks as vertical as you can, to maintain a plausible result. The rest is observation, years spent absorbing the prototype in photos and reality, letting those memories inform the strokes and flourishes with the brush.

 

Posed here on Paxton Road with the 03 they share a family likeness yes no pair are the same. Another wonderful accident and one I’ll save up for future, we only learn from having a go, so I’d encourage you to try your own hand at your models and breathe some life into them.

I offer wagon weathering as well as a myriad of other commission modelling. Get in touch for a personal fixed price proposal based upon your exact requirement. I’ve also pondered writing a book specifically on my ideas about weathering, or perhaps better, running some sort of course or modellers weekend on the subject. If you wanted to learn more from me what would you prefer? I’d love to hear your ideas… until next time though, more soon…

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