Weathering a Coal Lorry
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(In Topic #3677)
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The subject for this small project is a 'Base Toys' Commer Flatbed. It has no markings, other than number plates:
As a load I bought a pack of Model Scenes coal sacks. They needed trimming and a bit of flash cutting off:
The first task will be to wash the lorry in soapy water to help with paint adhesion, and then give the whole vehicle a wash in black acrylic.
Bob(K)
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Phill
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Brian(G)
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OK, it looks a bit of a mess, but the shine has gone from the red paint work and the detail of the truck is showing through.
Next it will be necessary to apply road dirt to the underside.
Bob(K)
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This is followed up by a healthy spray of muck. I am using 'Dirty Down' Mid Brown. It dries very quickly and can be washed off if it all goes wrong:
Whilst at it the coal sacks received a dose of brown, to take away the plastic look and to give a base for some shading:
The next stage will be a 'dusting down' with a dry brush. This will bring out the detail of the tyres and blend in the original black wash - I hope!
Bob(K)
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If it is a model bus, van or box truck I also weather the roof since I doubt that area is washed that often much less polished. I weather the chassis with a track or underframe colour.
Hope this helps.
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For this model I have used light sand. It can be seen that this brings the detail out on the tyres and raised areas quite nicely:
Now the vehicle is starting to look a little more realistic. The final colour is a spray of flat black to represent the coal dust, again using Dirty Down spray:
Bob(K)
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When I obtain another vehicle be it a commercial / lorry/ van or even a smart saloon I spray it in a matt or semi matt finish, somehow high gloss even on new cars or railway coaches just looks wrong in OO scale. Then I spray the tyres in a greyish matt finish, the only black tyres are on showroom models or when I've tarted up one of my own cars/ motor bike and I spray the tyres with one of those aerosol foams and the black doesn't last long.
If it is a model bus, van or box truck I also weather the roof since I doubt that area is washed that often much less polished. I weather the chassis with a track or underframe colour.
Hope this helps.
Hi Tetley
Glad to find another vehicle weatherer. I agree with your comments about the gloss effect, also the colours are often too deep and stark on models for this scale. Using a Matt/satin coat is a good solution, although I try to avoid it as, if applied too thickly, it can cover detail as it runs into indentations. I also agree about the tyres which are never pure black and painting them dark grey, followed by weathering is a good option. I find leaving them black and dusting them with powders works quite well too.
Bob(K)
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Delivering coal to White Farm near Middleton.
Delivering coal to White Farm near Middleton
The truck pulled up outside middleton Station, no doubt dropping off a sack or two.
Parked up by the Goods Shed at Upton, while a Jinty shunts coal empties in the background.
Another fun little project, which took about two hours overall. The longest times being waiting for the washes to dry. Going to try a couple of buses next…
Bob(K)
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Max
Port Elderley
Port Elderley
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Tick, VG, Bob. What about a rope from the bottom of the front gate around the sacks to keep them safe?
Good suggestion and one I considered, however, my recollections and certianly looking at photos on line suggest that 100cwt coal sacks were stacked loose and relied upon their weight to keep them in place. I am happy to be corrected though?
Bob(K)
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Max
Port Elderley
Port Elderley
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[user=269]MaxSouthOz[/user] wrote:Tick, VG, Bob. What about a rope from the bottom of the front gate around the sacks to keep them safe?
Good suggestion and one I considered, however, my recollections and certianly looking at photos on line suggest that 100cwt coal sacks were stacked loose and relied upon their weight to keep them in place. I am happy to be corrected though?
Bob(K)
Very good job on the lorry mate. As for the rope, my Uncle Ron was a coal man and many a times i took a ride on the truck. He never roped it down, as you say the weight kept it down, also back then you hardly went far before your next of load, this was due to every one having coal fires back then.
Phill
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Wayne
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I must confess to being a little concerned about the sacks though. Having lived in a coalfield area all my life, I've seen hundreds of coal lorries trundling about, a few still do, but never with sacks the size of those you have used. They are usually 1cwt sacks and would probably scale out well at half the size of those you've used.
Maybe worth thinking about???
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I can testify that this is rarely done.
When I was a kid, I was saved from injury when a full sack came off a lorry on a bend and wrapped itself around a lamp post - the coal shooting either side of me.
Not a 'grate' experience.
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A few comments if you dont mind. First up I always superglue vehicles wheels in place and especially on the Base toys stuff ensure that the wheel is in the right place in relation to the bodyside. Your last picture of the lorry facing away shows how our of line the front wheel is.
Once dry I then rub the vehicle on some sandpaper to give a slight squareness to the bottom of the tyres. This helps to give a sense that the vehicle is heavy.
HTH
Jim
Jim Smith-Wright
Rule 1 - Model what you really see and not what you think you know!
www.p4newstreet.com
Rule 1 - Model what you really see and not what you think you know!
www.p4newstreet.com
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I know it's in the background.but here's one I did earlier. It was a furniture van which I modified the chassis and load area, added rear view mirrors, licence and operators disc but. I feel more appropriately, turned the steered axle from straight.
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