Weathering is not something that I find comes easily to me, especially where it needs to be subtle. However, what the OTCM lads have taught me is that unsubtle weathering is easier and a lot more fun! So I have been unsubtle and making a few POs filthy; I wanted to leave the impression that they have seen few decades of hard work and I am really pleased with the results.

All of these have origins in Bachman RTR minerals but with replacement chassis from Colin Welsh’s range (available via the Scalefour Stores – members only I think, so why not sign up!) and some replacement axleboxes from Rumney Models.

I started with the fibreglass brush to thin down the lettering to give it the feel that it is close to wasted away. Then I sought to represent plank replacements by painting out a few of these with a grey and then added a little texture with dry brushing with track colour (although ultimately the weathering was so heavy this subtly was not worth the effort). The same was undertaken to the insides of the wagon.

The weathering was completed by a mix of enamel paints; based on black and leather. I started with a lighter colour mix of 2:1 leather/black but then darkened this as I felt that a coal mineral would be a much darker mucky colour so reversed the proportions.

I did these over multiple coats under a very bright light, as otherwise you don’t really know whether you have put much paint on when it is deliberately so thin. The streaking is achieved by using a relatively large flat and stiff brush dipped in thinners. Don’t apply this straight into the model, rub it on the back of your hand to remove the bulk of the thinners and get it down to “slightly moist” before applying it to the model. Make sure it is drawn down vertically, to mimic the movements of water running down the wagon sides.

The final stage was then to use weathering powders, rust on the metalwork (mostly on the Partington grey wagon) and black soot. Very small amounts are put on the brush and then speckled on the model with the lightest of pressure because if you blob it straight on it tends to be rather heavy in the points of contact, so it gets a bit blotchy as a result. However, if this is the effect that is required – for example on the top of the buffers for me – then blob away! The powder is then spread across the model with the brush, the more pressure tends to deepen the colour but throughout the powders matt and draw together the underlying colours.

The coal effect in the interior was completed in a similar manner, but with a lot more powder is used and laid on the base a small amount coal dust secured on a matt varnish to leave the impression of a not quite well swept floor from the previous load.