Manning Modelu crew…
Alan and the team at Modelu were kind enough to send me a pre-production sample of the crews they have developed from CAD for the Rapido Manning Wardle and asked me to check them for fitment…
I’ve known Alan for years and it was funny when we met to realise it was he who’d bought my Nu-cast 16xx Pannier I’d sold a few years before! He started Modelu in the same sort of period as I first got involved with Narrow Planet, now Light Railway Stores. A kind and gentle man, super enthusiastic about the hobby and especially what Modelu does - and I was proud to play a part in helping develop the North Americam figures a few years ago… so today, here we are again - and happy to do it.
I was sent two crews, early and late periods at a guess, though without packaging at this stage. I checked how they fitted in the cab, send feedback and promised to paint them up…
My usual approach, Games Workshop paints and washes as they dry quickly and let me move naturally through the process without needing to wait. Before final fitting I’ll probably dry brush them with the original colours to knock back a little of the shadow - as these are quite open cabs and that will make the most of the detail captured in these miniatures.
Alan has tweaked the figures based upon my feedback and they are now available. I can include them with any commission work - at present there are only a handful of models left at Rapido, but I can also rework your pre-purchased model with my etched cab conversion - of just for etched plates / crew and undertake weathering. You can contact me in the usual way, using the form here on the Commissions page or via email on Facebook. In the meantime, I was happy to help Modelu, and happy to to still be able to offer their great products as part of my commission work. Until next time more soon…
NOTE: I received these figures for free as part of the development process, as I did with the North American range a few years ago. Beyond that I have a trade account with Modelu, otherwise there is no financial or incentivised connection. I use them because I like them.
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Hi James, it's interesting that you use games workshop acrylics for painting figures, it's the way I've always painted any model since I was a teenager (most teenagers in the 90's must have tried painting a squad of space marines at some stage!) with mixed results to be honest. Spray primer, brush paint the base colours, ink wash then dry brush. Sometimes the results look good, but I've struggled to paint or weather rolling stock like this. I'm looking forward to your weathering book so that I can start getting better results. I'm guilty of sticking to what I know and probably being a bit impatient too. The loco crew really add something to those Manning Wardle tanks, there's nowhere to hide on that open footplate. Regarding helping Modelu with their US figure range, it occurred to me that the figure in the red checked jacket that visited Coalbridgestreet looks familiar, I'm prepared to be wrong though. Take care.
ReplyDeleteYes, I had two US clothing scans of myself done - one leaning forwards on a handrail and one leaning back, arms folded…
DeleteAs for the paints, I’d never put acrylics near any other type of model. Repainting locomotives and wagons is always in enamel, as is weathering. Acrylics and I don’t get on in the airbrush.