Weathering Bachmann 16t Mineral Wagons

[mick]

Spurred on by seeing the results of Roy's weathering attempts I have decided that I too would have a go at weathering my Bachmann mineral wagons.

As you know, coal trains are my favourite type of train loads whether they be 5/7 plank wooden private owner wagons from pre-Nationalisation or the more modern HHA/HTA hoppers forming heavy block trains. However, there's nothing worse than seeing shiny new wagons behind your loco's but the prospect of weathering brand new wagons which perhaps cost you up to £20 each isn't something for the faint-hearted. But I've put it off long enough now and so following some of the advice in Roy's thread about weathered wagons, here's my own attempt at making Bachmann's 16t minerals look a little work stained and with the wagons available at the reasonable cost of £6-7 per wagon it's surely worth a try.

As purchased the Bachmann 16 tonners are splendid little wagons that certainly capture the style of these long-lived wagons. Built by BR in their thousands there were still lots of them in daily use when I began my railway career in 1980 and indeed, it was a 16t mineral wagon that broke it's coupling and left me stranded in my brake van just outside Crofton one sunny Sunday whilst returning a ballast train to Healey Mills.

Using enamel paints thinned slightly with white spirit I began by applying a light coat of track colour to the underframe using a soft bristled brush. I do have an airbrush available but decided that I would try my hand at using a brush to begin with. I did my best not to get too much paint onto the sides of the wagon but any overspill wouldn't really matter too much. This being my first ever attempt at weathering anything, I'm not too sure of the required consistency of the paint but at least the dilution prevents too much paint obliterating everything.

Once the underframe was evenly covered, trying not to go overboard with it as more can always be added later, I turned my attention to the wagon sides. Again, a diluted mix of track colour was painted onto the sides of the wagon in an attempt to get paint into all the nooks and crannies and into all corners of the wagon where dirt would naturally accumulate. From the photograph it may appear that I've overdone it with the white spirit but the photo does make the paint mixture appear more transparent than it actually is.

Once the applied paint had been left just a short time I began using a scrunched up piece of kitchen roll to dab away at the accumulated paint, gently working it towards the corners and recesses of the entire wagon. Far from being a chore, it's actually very therapeutic. All the while I kept remininding myself of the old adage that "less is more", forcing myself to keep on removing surplus paint in an attempt to get the effect that I desired. For areas such as the end door where there the mouldings leave less room to work with the kitchen roll I used cotton buds.

The result was the photo below where my first attempt at a weathered wagon stands alongside an out-of-the-box Bachmann.

I've not tackled the inside yet but I do have plans to add a real coal load similar to how Roy has added his. Obviously in a long rake of wagons you need a variety of weathered effects and this one is perhaps more weathered than it needs to be so some can be lighter and others can be more heavily weathered. I can perhaps also introduce a variety of colours as this one has been done with just a single 'track dirt' colour. Overall I think the effect is certainly an improvement on the shiny wagon it once was and I'm sure that by the time I have worked my way through the whole rake I should have gained a bit more experience. Bring 'em on!

Finally, I have been considering adding 'instanter' couplings to the mineral wagon rake and removing the standard tension locks. I won't be doing any shunting and from what I have read elsewhere the 3-link instanter will be fine on my minimum 3ft radius curves so it's something I will be thinking about and longing to do.

[mick]

Before calling it a day and getting everything packed away I decided to try the same weathering techniques as used above on a fitted bauxite mineral wagon and here it is standing alongside a previously weathered unfitted vehicle. Unfortunately the direct camera flash exaggerates the colours slightly and the supposed rusty areas look a little too bright, especially around the axleboxes and springs of the fitted wagon. In addition, the fact that the paint is still wet causes reflections from the flash itself.

I've seen modellers go to great lengths to weather their vehicles with some fantastic results but these are good enough for my requirements. The addition of a coal load is going to make a real difference.

I'll take a closer look at them tomorrow in natural light before deciding how to go about weathering the remainder.

I'll finish off with a photograph of a short rake of 3 unfitted wagons all weathered using the same techniques mentioned earlier. I think it's important to have a selection of wagons weathered to various degrees and so the middle one of the trio has been weathered only very lightly. I think the one of the right shows the importance of spending some time on the underframe as it looks so much better than the other two. Now have I got time to add some coal.......?

[mick]

Going slightly off the original topic but using the same weathering technique, here's my first attempt at weathering one of Hornby's MGR wagons. I'm not entirely happy with this one but it's not too far off the mark. Incandescent bulbs aren't the best form of lighting to use when attempting this kind of work and the photograph shows that I've missed a lot of areas that should have been painted. Hopefully I can retrieve the model tomorrow when I've got a better view of it.

And so to my test attempt at adding a coal load to one of my 16 tonners. I've used a plastikard base which rests on a carboard former to place it at the correct height. In an effort to make the load removable rather than being permanently fixed in the wagon, I've placed some plastic film in the wagon before adding the plastikard base. I'm not sure whether I need to go to those lengths but I'm also not sure that I'm ready for a permanent coal load that might be difficult to remove should it ever be necessary. On top of the plastikard I spread a layer of PVA glue onto which I placed the coal load itself. More PVA glue mixed with a little water and a drop of washing up liquid was then spread on top of the load and put to one side to dry. I'm hoping that it does dry.....and that it dries clear....but my optimisim is a little low as the photo shows it already after 4 hours. If it does dry, whatever the colour, I'm also hoping I can get the thing out in one piece. Tomorrow will reveal all.

[IanR]

Well done Mick, you took the plunge with weathering at last! Results look pretty good, especially as it's your first attempt.

I use Parkside coal loads in my wagons to which i've stuck on real coal with UHU type general purpose adhesive. Maybe not as cheap as plasticard but not bad at £1.90 for three and they're ready shaped so you don't have to 'heap' your coal.

[mick]

 

IanR said:

...I use Parkside coal loads in my wagons to which i've stuck on real coal with UHU type general purpose adhesive. Maybe not as cheap as plasticard but not bad at £1.90 for three and they're ready shaped so you don't have to 'heap' your coal.

I've got some Parkside coal loads on order Ian (ten packs) but until they arrive I thought I'd give it a try with some plasticard. It's worked okay and I'm quite pleased with it but it is perhaps worth the 65p or so to have a ready-made moulding. At least the PVA has dried after being left overnight and thankfully it has dried clear but I'm not sure it's high quality coal - looks to be a right mix in there.

I've been working on another seven wagons this morning and trying different methods along with a mixture of a few basic colours. I quite like the effect of using 3 colours, rust, underframe dirt and sleeper grime, taking a little bit of each onto the brush without mixing them together. Lay the paint on the wagon in smooth strokes and then dab off with the paper towel so that the different colours blend together. Not easy to describe but I think the results look better than yesterday's efforts although a photograph really doesn't do them any justice at all.

The first wagons I did this morning looked fine at first but when comparing them to the ones I did yesterday I got the impression that I'd left too much paint on so I went back over them with a brush dipped in white spirit and then dabbed some more off until I was happy with them. I find that the best effect is when large areas of the basic wagon colour can be seen through the grime but looking at the photographs it looks like there isn't enough grime on them.

The photos above show on the left, the wagon I did yesterday with the added coal load, and on the right is a wagon I did this morning and which I think is the best of the bunch so far. You wouldn't think so judging by the photo as it is actually a much richer colour than how it appears above.

I started yesterday by weathering the complete wagon 'as is' but today I have dismantled them all into their component parts. The wheels have been removed along with the couplings and the body & underframes separated. I've also removed the metal weight so that the added coal load doesn't make them too heavy - I still want to be able to haul rakes of 40 or so!

[mick]

Okay, just 4 more photos and then I'll leave you all alone for a while.

The first photo is of the wagon I am most pleased with. Weathered with a mixture of colours that appear richer than they did in the photo taken outdoors.

The second photo is of the only wagon I have so far added a coal load to - again, the indoor photo looks better than the one I tried to take outdoors.

The next photo is of a batch of 6 x 16t mineral wagon bodies that have been dismantled for weathering - all very similar but with subtle variations. I haven't yet plucked up the courage to leave any of them in an heavy weathered state - the ones I did just didn't look right and were redone.

And the last photo, an overall view of all the wagons I have done so far.

[Dave]

The weathered wagons you've prepared look really good, Mike! Well done! I take it you're glad you took the plunge and started weathering?

What are the colours you mention and where did you get them from? Track Colour, Underframe Dirt and Sleeper Grime? Are these LifeColor colours?

Coal load looks really good too I might have to use your clingfilm technique - great idea.

[mick]

 

Dave said:

The weathered wagons you've prepared look really good, Mike! Well done! I take it you're glad you took the plunge and started weathering?

What are the colours you mention and where did you get them from? Track Colour, Underframe Dirt and Sleeper Grime? Are these LifeColor colours?

Coal load looks really good too I might have to use your clingfilm technique - great idea.

I use 'Railmatch' enamels, available from model shops, although I tend to order almost everything online. I would imagine Humbrol would be similar and see no reason why it would have to be exactly 'Underframe Dirt', 'Sleeper Grime' etc.. A suitable combination of browns, blacks, and rust colours should perform equally well - it's all made too easy for us these days isn't it?

I saw the cling film tip somewhere and it works quite well. Managed to extract the modelled coal load from the wagon and peel the cling film away from the load once it had dried. Some cleaning up of the edges of the coal load might be required where the glue has dried into a clear film but nothing too drastic and it takes only a few seconds.

Yes, I'm glad I've made the start and it's given me the incentive to continue which is the main thing. I've even started looking into the history of the 16 tonners and the variations amongst the different lots. I must say that the grey unfitted vehicles are easier to weather than the bauxite ones - or at least the effects achieved seem more realistic with the grey beneath.

[mick]

Hmmmh... While I feel I've been able to create a reasonable 'weathered' effect on my wagons, I'm not so sure that they are entirely representative of the weathering that would have been found on a prototype 16t mineral wagon. Because I liked the effect, I have started adding more rust colour stains which in my opinion look excellent and exactly what I want to see on the tops of my Bachmann Autoballasters, but are they really applicable to the 16t minerals? Photographic evidence would seem to suggest they are not. But, am I looking for 100% accuracy or am I simply wanting to create something that in my mind feels right and more to the point, is within my capabilities?

It seems that the 16t mineral wagons were either in a state of severe corrosion with deep coloured rust embodying the whole vehicle or much cleaner but with lots of flaking paint. Didn't they ever just get dirty and generally rusty like freight vehicles today?

Here's some images of what I've been trying today but as before, the rusty stains are exaggerated by the camera flash and aren't quite as prominent as they appear here.

The first one is heavily streaked with rust stains, particularly on the ends and to the left of the door. There's some touching up required to some of the edges of the panels which I hadn't noticed at the time but it gives an idea of the effect I've been trying to achieve. None of the underframes have yet been weathered.

The next wagon is only slightly rust stained but as with every other wagon, I have tried to keep the dappled effect of the darker weathering colours and to leave a heavier deposit around the edges of each panel.

Slightly more rust staining with the next wagon and a heavier overall weathered condition without it being uniform, and trying to remember tokeep each wagon slightly different from the next

Finally a pair of wagons touching buffers...

The effects I'm getting make me want to continue but I'm conscious of the fact that other people don't weather their mineral wagons like this and that photographs suggest they weren't really seen in this kind of condition. There were many thousands of these wagons across the railway network so surely, somewhere, there would be some that looked similar to the ones here? Once the underframes have been weathered and a decent load of coal has been added they are going to look really nice but are they typical of a BR 16t Mineral Wagon?

[mick]

Not entirely happy with what I've done so far regarding the weathering, I've been trying different methods this evening using a variety of materials to try to achieve that chipped or flaking paint finish. I'm relatively happy with the initial application of brown and rust colour streaked downwards which I think looks better with the rust streaking effect not too overdone. This background colour can depict a light or heavy weathered wagon depending on how much is removed after application to the wagon sides but then it needs to look like the base colour is chipped. I've seen photos of mineral wagons with what appears to be a relatively recent paint finish but with lots of chipped areas or areas where the paint has begun flaking off so it isn't something that affects only older wagons.

The wagon in the following photos is my test wagon and it's been painted and cleaned about a dozen times this evening to varying degrees but it shows what I'm trying to achieve.

The left hand panel is what I want to be able to replicate each time. The brown and rust have blended nicely around the edges and I've removed paint from the centre of the panel by dabbing away lightly with a paper towel. I've then gone back to the brown paint and with a small piece of sponge dabbed some onto the panel. It's beginning to look like the paint has chipped away but I think the foam is a bit too fine and there are too many small chips making the effect look too 'busy'. The right hand panel has been dabbed with the sponge several times and is overdone. I'll have to see if I can find another sponge.

[IanR]

Some good effects there Mick, I'm impressed with the latest efforts. I read somewhere that wedge shaped make-up sponges are good for weathering, that's if you can bring yourself to pop into Superdrug and buy some!

I think that you're right about creating something that looks right to yourself. There's a group of American modellers who go out and photograph wagons and then recreate them in every detail in model form.

[mick]

 

IanR said:

Some good effects there Mick, I'm impressed with the latest efforts. I read somewhere that wedge shaped make-up sponges are good for weathering, that's if you can bring yourself to pop into Superdrug and buy some!

I think that you're right about creating something that looks right to yourself. There's a group of American modellers who go out and photograph wagons and then recreate them in every detail in model form.

Buy some make-up rubbers...? I might just have to try them out in the shop first!

Here's a link to a forum thread dealing with the weathering of 16t mineral wagons.

As you'll see from the photos, the guy has made an absolutely excellent job of portraying the rust and chipped paintwork of the prototypes but is this generally how the majority of 16 tonners actually looked? I'm used to seeing freight vehicles covered in dirt and grime rather than just being rusty in fact some of the HAA type wagons I encountered were plastered in dried on coal slurry and had great chunks of rusted bodywork that crumbled in your hands but I get the impression that the smaller mineral wagons were relatively clean but rusty.

To what degree have you weathered yours Ian? Can you post some pics of individual wagons?

[mick]

I've just spent another hour or two trying out various ways of making the wagons look like they have 'chipped or flaking paint' and I've certainly managed to get the rusted metal look. The following photo of the wagon I started last night might not quite get the effect across but believe me, this one really does look like it is a rusting metal wagon. I've added a similar effect to the insides of the wagon and okay, there are still one or two unpainted areas that I have missed and which require touching up but I am really pleased with this one so far.

I'm not quite so happy with the opposite side as the photograph exaggerates the rust spots which appear too distinctive though I didn't notice them that way on the original wagon.

I'm now going to try to weather the chassis so that it looks like it belongs with the wagon and then I have to decide whether this wagon will be loaded or empty.

[mick]

I've made a start on the chassis but it's not easy seeing exactly what you've done, or the effect it's having, until you take some photos. This is also a good way of identifying any areas that you have missed or that require touching up. There are still one or two small areas on the body that haven't been painted but it's really difficult to tell unless you look at a photo as here.

And because I couldn't wait to see what it might look like when it's actually finished, here's a little teaser of the same wagon but with wheels replaced and my fake coal load placed inside.

I can see now how serious modellers can spend days, even weeks or more, working on a single wagon. This one has taken me the best part of two days, albeit on and off, and I bet I'll still be going back to it for some time to come.

But just to show that I haven't been spending all my time on the one wagon, and that I'm trying to get several different weathered effects, here's half-a-dozen grouped together with loads placed inside them. Most of them still need the insides weathering along with the wheels and chassis and there's another 20 or more to a similar state of completion.

[cleanerg6e]

Very nice Mick, I don't have the luxury of living in the UK so I took a look on the web and at videos. It seem some wagons were fairly clean with only a little coal dust on them whilst others were very rusty. Unfortunately cameramen at the time only seemed to focus on locos, wagons were not in their sphere of interest so it's hard to find videos of wagons in all states of wear and tear. There is a site in the net that shows wagons in various states of decay but you have no idea how long those wagons have been just sitting out in the open. It may have been years.

[mick]

 

cleanerg6e said:

Very nice Mick, I don't have the luxury of living in the UK so I took a look on the web and at videos. It seem some wagons were fairly clean with only a little coal dust on them whilst others were very rusty. Unfortunately cameramen at the time only seemed to focus on locos, wagons were not in their sphere of interest so it's hard to find videos of wagons in all states of wear and tear....

That's probably a mistake I make Roy because I'm weathering them as I believe they would have looked rather than going by an actual photograph of how they did actually look. I've seen rusty old wagons parked up in sidings before looking very much like the one I have done above but I wasn't around to know whether these wagons actually ran in that sort of condition. Photos of prototype mineral wagons in train formation just look too clean for wagons that would have spent a lot of time being shunted around a colliery yard and let's face it, by all accounts these wagons were generally falling apart most of the time - weren't they commonly referred to as 'rust buckets'? I think you need a variety of effects from relatively clean, through dirty to down and out rusty. What I like most about the one I have weathered above in rusty condition is that it does now actually look (and feel) like a metal based wagon - the plastic appearance has gone completely. You can actually feel the stippled effect as if it were blistering paintwork.

[mick]

I think this ones just about finished now. I've replaced the chassis, popped the wheels back in and weathered the tension lock couplings. I've also touched up any areas I had previously missed. Here's a selection of photos of the wagon 'displayed' on a length of track.

I can't say it's my first attempt at weathering because I've been working on several different wagons at the same time but considering I didn't pick up a paint brush until 3rd March it's certainly gone better than I could have imagined. Looking at it now, the only thing I wish I had done which I have clearly overlooked, is to clean the wagon number panel on the left bottom corner panel so that it is legible as I'm sure it would have been necessary to do for wagon reporting purposes. I don't want to risk making a mess of it now so it's something I will be aware of in future.

[Dave]

Very impressed Mick. Your weathering skills are very good indeed!

And thanks for the info on the paints. I think I shall have to get some in stock for when I get this far ...

[mick]

I've just added coal loads to another 6 wagons so that's 11 in total that are now just about complete. There are another 15-20 that have had the body weathered but I still have the chassis' and wheels to weather before they can be reassembled. I've been waiting for some Parkside plastic coal loads but I'm not sure what's happened to them and so I've gone ahead with some 'home made' loads for now to get things moving. I had hoped to make the loads removable but then I thought, what for? I want loaded coal trains so go for it otherwise nothing's ever going to get completed.

These are the 11 wagons that have had coal loads fitted, one wagon still requiring its chassis painting before its wheelsets are replaced. After running them all last year in 'as new' condition and unloaded, I'm looking forward to seeing what a difference the weathering and added coal has made.

[IanR]

 

Quote

To what degree have you weathered yours Ian? Can you post some pics of individual wagons?

I didn't spend too much time weathering my mineral wagons, I sort of just "mucked them up". I was keen to have them working!

I used airbrush, paintbrush and powders. They are all Parkside kits but are virtually identical to the Bachman version. Here's a few pics as requested.....