Traction Engine Finished

Being slighty embarrassed by my lack of progress lately I have speeded up my work and the traction engine from Hansen haulage contractors is now finished. I took it out in the garden for a quick photo session that nearly ended in disaster. We are currently plagued by heavy winds in Denmark and as I have not glued wheels and axles, the traction engine suddenly took off, propelled by the wind. Luckily I managed to catch it just before it rolled of the photo plank!

Hansen's old traction engine parked in the road side.The driver must have gone for a brief pause in the woods.

Most of the basic colours was applied when I mentioned the traction engine in the last post and I basically only needed to apply weathering and the small details I had fabricated. I had applied subtle tonal differences in the base colours from the start to reflect the different types of impact smoke box and cab area are exposed to. I added some chalk deposits around valves with the air brush. I followed up with small streaks of thinned white oil paint. Picking up the air brush again, I dusted the lower parts of the traction engine with light earth coloured road dust, adding a little gloss black with brush on the threads ot the brake gear to simulate grease.

Weathering in progress. I have air brushed rods, motion and the area under them with gloss varnish to simulate the shine of an oil soiled environment.

 Apart from the small tool box, I made a coal shovel from brass and a cut down tooth pick and added a piece of cloth from copper foil postioned on the forward/reverse control handle. The cab floor was supplied with a small pile of ash and dirt in front of the fire box door, weathered with pastel chalk powder. Worn metal surfaces were touched with a soft pencil, minor scratches around the cab area was made the same way.

While the driver is off the engine the cab can be studied. The gauges are printed paper discs flooded with gloss varnish. Wheels, handles and seat chipped with chrome and air brushed with gloss varnish to represent wear. The chopped up remains of someone's old shed is positioned for starting the fire.

A view from above. How someone came to fit a seat from a Ransomes engine on a Garratt is a mystery. Perhaps a driver's favorite seat having followed him from an earlier engine?

The driver is back in the cab. He seems to be making his mind up if he really wants to put the engine in forward and drive off. As my only 16 mm scale figure it has to perform every task needing a human shape.