Andrew Thompson to bring different techniques to the weathering room this October.

The weathering room will be somewhat different this Autumn at the Missenden Abbey Railway Modellers weekend, Andrew Thompson will be showing his approach to weathering without the use of an airbrush. Andrew is adept at weathering using acrylic paints and oils, applied with brushes. He will show how he achieves stunning effects with these materials.

Traditionally weathering at Missenden Abbey weekends have been based around the use of airbrushes and the application of weathering powders. This change of tutors, due to the recent loss of Mick Bonwick, will give the opportunity for regular attendees to see the different effects that can be achieved using these methods. This different empathises will also suit those modellers that want to get to grips with weathering but do not want to invest in air brushes, compressor and spray booth in order to enter the word of creating more realistic looking models.

Below is a video showing Andrew at work using acrylic paints to fade a box car to mimic a vehicle that has been in the sun for some considerable time. He also adds rust effects to the car.

As well as acrylics Andrew also uses oil based paints to great effect, working from photographs of the real thing he sets out to achieve finishes that exactly mimic the effects of rain, wind and sun on items of rolling stock. In the video below Andrew tackles a British Rail blue express parcels van.

We haven’t abandoned air brush weathering, we will also have Chris Hopper on hand for those that wish to work with airbrushes. Future weathering rooms are likely to contain a mix of both airbrush and non-airbrush weathering, with the role of tutor being shared between Andrew and Chris.

Weathering will not be the only room that looks different this Autumn, we also bring a brand new course that will be run by the highly skilled Karl Crowther. Karl will be dealing with the different ways you can improve ready to run or kit built rolling stock. Even todays, very high standard RTR stock can be improved upon or modified to create some new variant of a model. Some of the topics Karl will be covering will include

  • Improve Wagon under frames by using etched components
  • Completely replacing under frames
  • Correcting dimensional errors
  • Replacing moulded components with etched, cast or turned components
  • Re-gauging rolling stock
  • The right choice of couplings