Timber buffer stop

A little project I've been working on, a timber buffer stop. The construction of the timber parts are fairly easy. I used basswood of the correct dimensions according to the plan and glued it together.  The painting of the buffer stop did begin before the glue was applied as I did used a wood stain and brass brush to bring out the grain. I constructed the two sides first as you can see in then photo, then over painted with a weathered white colour. normally I attack the timber again with the brush once the paint has dried, and to finish a sand with fine wet n dry to thin down the paint. A quick wipe over with water on a sponge removes all the loose stuff, and lets you decide whether you need to sand some more.

 I tried using a slightly different technique when constructing the 'metal' strapping and bolt detail. A visit to the local war gaming store had me emerge with some new paint products. In simple terms the paint has some fine powder in it so that when it dries it creates a slightly rough texture. I used it as I thought that it would imitate the effect that rust has on unprotected metal. In the above photo you can see the lower strip of bolt detail that is a light brown colour, and the top row that is much darker. The darker one has a coat of the rust look paint applied. Once that has dried various rust coloured paints can be applied. 

The detail is then glued onto the metal stripping. The stripping is just heavy gauge paper that is undercoated, then painted with the rust surface paint, then a top coat of rust paint. Rusty water runs on the timber were just another lighter rust colour. So then you put all that together and get this...

The project on the 'Geoffrey Scale of Modelling time' has it as a couple of hours, well maybe four all up. I still need to glue on the metal buffers and build the scenery around it, but I think you get the idea.

Enjoy your week,
Oorroo!
Geoff.