Rick's Ramp Project 10 - Completing the Ramp

Let's finish the ramp this afternoon!  No construction needed, just appearance this time.

My big box of pigments from Dr. Ben's LLC is my standard material for weathering.  This is a great investment and has more colors than I can use.

We'll start by rusting the bolt heads.  They've been around for a good 20 years in the water and sun, so the rust will be very dark.  We'll use #1111 Dark Rust.

Using a small #1 synthetic brush, I paint the dry (don't wet it) powder on to the NBW's.  Take your time and don't get too much on the deck.  Some is ok.

 I tend to concentrate so much that I forget to breath.  My kids think it is funny when I come up for air.

 Just a little dab of dry powder on each bolt.  If you wet it the powder becomes a paint and can obscure the detail.  Mostly we are adding texture as much as color.

 I also go all around the ramp and deck and paint a small drip of rust down the sides where the rain has carried the rust.

The trucks bring a lot of dirt and spill a lot of material, so let's mess up the deck!  Dr. Ben's #1125 Saddle is a light brown, which is perfect for some earth color.

In several areas where dirt would be knocked off a vehicle I scrub in a little dirt.

Once all the colors are on the model, I like to blend them all together with a light black wash.  This wash is made with alcohol and india ink (not shoe dye!) in a very small amount.  I put it in a micro mist sprayer.

After squirting down the entire model with black wash you can see the nail holes come out and all the colors flow together.

To help seal in the powders I give the model a good coat of Testor's Dullcote.  I did this in my paint booth, and then brought the model back to the desk.  The fumes are rough!

See that white-ish looking spot?  It is too white.  This is an area where I used the weathering tool.  Let's dull it down a bit.

We'll used Dr. Ben's #1128 Mahogany pigment as it is a nice, rich brown, like farm dirt.

We'll also use some #1101 Black Soot as well to shadow some areas.

Once the few odd corrections are made, we'll give the model another good coat of Dullcoat to protect it.

After it dries we make a thorough inspection.  Don't see much else to fix!

Let's flip it over to see if anything on the bottom needs work.

Yup.  I have one piling that is a bit out of alignment, and is stained very lightly which calls attention to the part.  I'll coat it with a dark coat of dye and make it invisible.

Another quick check...and I think we are done!

Finished Model Photo #1

Finished Model Photo #2

Finished Model Photo #3

Finished Model Photo #4

Thanks so much for following along!  I'll pack this up and send it to Rick in Florida.  Hopefully he'll send me a picture of the model mounted on his layout one day!



Wizdom:



1.  Make something for a friend.  Its a lot of fun and often requires you to work on something you wouldn't normally work on.
2.  Dry pigments are great for weathering!
3.  Don't over-weather the model.  Know when to stop.