With little time for modelling lately I have accomplished very little at the worktable. The only finished item for a long time is the little 1/87 scale Soviet PD-1 draisine from Ukrainian K-models that I have painted and weathered. Calling it finished is actually not quite true as it lacks galzing in the window openings.
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| The finished PD-1 draisine seen from the front. |
The painting began with the question of what colour to paint the draisine. The answer wasn't easily found as there has been so many interesting liveries for this type of draisine. I finally decided on a quite conservative green colour with a horizontal orange stripe with details picked out in red. I have another draisine that I'll probably give a heavily weathered, worn and faded paintjob.
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| Painting is in progress. Lots of faults to correct and parts still needing correct colours. |
With the paint scheme decided I airbrushed a layer of Vallejo 'Deep Green' 70.770 on the upper body taking no notice of eventual overspray. The draisine is a tiny model compared to what I usually work on, so it took a little adjusting of eyesight and aiming before I got a few good thin layers of green on the model. Once dry I painted the orange stripe free hand and touched up the uneven edges with green. The roof was brush painted grey. The roof line may not be quite straight, but I have been comforted by PD-1 prototype images also showing some hamfisted painters' work. Frames and under body were painted in 'Black' 70.950 and 'Dark Grey' 70.994 while fuel tank and cow catcher were picked out in 'Ferrari Red' 71.085.
For numbering I used decals from two old decal sheets from plastic kits of Soviet military vehicle. The numbers were cut and added to the cab's doors and a decal with the text 'люди' (people) fitted on the rear doors to warn approaching vehicles that the draisine could possibly be filled with people rather than clay, peat or minerals. The type of sign was standard on Soviet lorries or vehicles in industry used for passenger transport, although I have never seen it on a rail vehicle.
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| The large tree illustrates the small size of the narrow gauge draisine. |
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| The yellow sign on the rear doors and the orange stripes adds a bit of variety to the green body. The Ukrainian bicycle parking in the foreground adds a hint as to where in the Soviet Union-area the draisine is working. |
Light weathering was applied on top of an overall coverage of satin varnish. Standard wash of heavily diluted black oil paint was followed by added wash of rust and some selcted spot repairs of paint with different tones of green. A draisine with heavier weathering is planned so this was kept rather clean.
The images were taken with my 1/19 scale backdrop as background. The draisine has been a fun project during a time where my time for modelling has been limited. I'm looking forward to begin some projects for the 1/19 scale layout's further development.
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| A slice of birch is a fitting base for a small Soviet draisine with blue and yellow bicycles left in the grass. |
