E. W. Badman Pipe Factors - Part 7: The Engine Shed - A 'Can-do' Approach

Well, fresh from our foray into weathering, airbrushing and all that nonsense, we return with a will to the next exciting (no, really!) installment of the Badman Pipe Factors private siding. At this stage, I have a dock-side, with some rails, and some wall sections to make a start on the factory building. I have a pipe wagon, and a little loco to push and pull it about. I even have a massive ants nest underneath it all, somewhere, and last weekend was 'FAF' - Flying Ant Fest. Of necessity, building work was halted whilst these beasts were dashing here, there and everywhere - trying to run, fly, mate, and in more than a few cases all three simultaneously. Several casualties must have ensued from that, I am certain, not to say a few 'bar-room tales'. Incidentally, I find it interesting that the 'black ant' and the 'meadow ant' (or 'yellow ant' as they are sometimes known in these parts) are not the best of friends, and yet the winged of both species are black - so why do not the meadow ants attack their own airborne forces? How do they know the difference, I wonder? Be honest, you don't really care, do you? It may however appeal to the darker recesses of your psyche to know that the preparatory training for flying ants is plainly devoid of anything even outlining the dangers of walking along railway tracks, even at a scale of 1:22.5 of the real thing. The body count last evening was testimony enough for me. Work may have stopped: the trains did not...

See how easy it is for me to get side-tracked? What I wanted to share with you was my latest development: an engine shed for the Badman loco, which you will doubtless recall was described in parts 4 and 5 of this saga. I say, 'shed': perhaps more accurately described as an 'engine lean-to', relying as it does on the permanence of the factory walls for 2 of its 4 sides. I am not averse to buying building kits where my own ineptness would see me fail miserably to build my own from scratch - however in this case, I sort of fancied my chances. Especially as I intended to build the entire thing from 'recyclables'. A tin can (hence the title above, do you want to hazard a guess as to how long it took me to think that one up?), some coffee stirrers and some 'rocket sticks' - generously if unwittingly donated by the local residents as fall-out (literally!) from the many long and rather tedious firework parties that seem to stretch the entire month of November these days. Here's the basic structure:

Here's a 'mockup' shot outside, with the basic shed doors leaning against it - more for mutual support than anything else:

Finally, after some wood preserver and a little distressing with a sharp pin, the doors look like they are on their last legs. By the way, observant persons might perhaps notice the doors sporting the ultimate in sadness - working G-scale door hinges anyone?

Total cost of materials: £0.00.

I'll probably try and weather the doors a little further, but as for the shed itself I hope the several thousand gallons of rainwater we're due for in the coming months will do that for me; if the ants don't cart the whole thing off first.

Experiments with an Air Brush

A small departure from the trials and tribulations of the Badman Pipe Factors 15-inch gauge line, if I may. About time too, say some of the voices in my head - although, interestingly, by no means all of them. No, this particular blog entry is by way of a confession: Please forgive me, for I have very recently "crossed a line" in G-Scale modelling terms - I have dared to attempt to weather an item of LGB motive power. To the uninitiated, such an undertaking is the equivalent of wearing ski boots in bed - not actually illegal, but why would anyone in their right mind...? You get the idea.

So, whilst the collective brows of my fellow LGB owners furrow themselves to a standstill I will offer my own hopelessly ill-informed view on why this is so? Well you see, dear reader, I believe it's all down to... the 'M' word... money. Even before the shortages caused by the Lehmann company's evident insolvency, their products, certainly in the UK, were a tad... dare I say it... expensive? Well-made though they are, and for all the proud boasts that you could drop a loco from 4 feet and it would merely bounce a couple of times before continuing on its uninterrupted way, you still wouldn't fancy conducting any serious trials! The one saving grace has always been that even second-hand items hold their price - provided they are in 'good condition' or better - and therein lies the problem. Most LGB owners are reluctant to attempt to weather, or paint, or otherwise modify their stuff for fear of adversely affecting the resale value!

Now this is what pees me off about news reports of stock market 'dips' - crashes, adjustments or whatever... "£x-hundred-million was wiped off the value of shares today as the Footsie Top 100 lost 200 points....". They neglect to point out that it's only a loss to those who actually sold, and even then in most cases it's only a loss compared to what they would have got had they sold the shares the day before! If you held on to it, the value of it to someone else is totally irrelevant! OK, perhaps something of an oversimplification of what I'm sure is a very complicated subject. But you see what I mean. In essence: value, like beauty, is very much in the eye of the beholder.

I admit I have until very recently been on the cautious side, being fearful of diminishing this 'notional' value. But no longer! I have decided that I have absolutely no intention of ever trying to recoup anything I have already spent on this hobby of mine, and instead I am going to have a go at making my rolling stock look a bit more like it's been asked to earn a living, thereby enhancing my own personal enjoyment of it. If others wish to keep theirs in the original box, keeping meticulous care of it, then that is fine by me. I only hope that if and when they eventually do sell it (for whatever reason), the price they get reflects the care lavished on it during their tenure.

Having said that, I'm not about to go splashing paint about with reckless abandon. I would like to think that although I am still not an expert in this subject by even the most generous stretch of the imagination, I have learned quite a bit about weathering techniques by practicing on other, less expensive items of stock - my goods wagons. It is largely the experiences gained in this way, as well as the encouragement of some like-minded individuals, that have brought me to this stage.

So, enough blether: what have I actually done? Well, firstly some introductions; presenting our plucky volunteer, a Wismar Hannover-type railbus, almost universally known as a 'Pignose' because... oh, you figure it out:


(ignore the 2 ne'er-do-wells posing in front, they are apparently 'actors' - so they claim)

Now in weathing this particular item, I had in my mind's eye a certain 'dusty' look - no bad rust in evidence, but plainly in need of a wash-down. What I also wanted to to try and obtain a graduated density of dust - densest at the rail level, tailing off to very little at the window level. This called for an air-brush approach. I used diluted acrylic paint, courtesy of Games Workshop - "Snakebite Leather" - that's their name for the colour, by the way. Additionally, a wash of black acrylic around the engine cowling to signify diesel/oil residue, and a little white enamel applied to the grab handles and ladder. Then another going-over with with the Snakebite Leather via the air brush. Here's the end result:



I find air brushing very theraputic, for some strange reason. The trick is not to try and apply too many layers at once, otherwise the thin paint tends to form droplets, like rain on a window. I have found an entry-level compressor to be beneficial as it provides a consistent source of air for the brush. It is possible to spend large bundles of cash on such items; I however spent approximately £70 on a basic 'diaphragm' type - which I am told can cause 'pulsing' of the paint spray, but to be honest for weathering purposes I have not seen any detrimental effects at all.