Nick Dunhill and David Illingworth

The completed model unpainted

Part 1. Construction.

Nick Dunhill (builder) writes

Opening the box reveals a set of excellent looking laser cut mdf parts and some concise yet clear instructions. Reference was made to the Intentio website where further information and building tips were present. Some parts were missing but Intentio owner Phil Pearce provided prompt replacements, and offered some useful building tips.

I had a little test build and found I had to sand a tiny amount of material off the back of the tongues on the wall sections to stop them spreading the thin-walled grooves on the end sections and pillars. After I had done this the kit was an absolute joy to build. Sub-millimetre precision was the word here, everything slotted together exactly as it should with no adjustments required. I have built many locomotives but this was my first building. Obviously I have no frame of reference, but it was an excellent kit and I enjoyed the experience immensely.

The model was assembled using PVA wood glue (sparingly, as recommended by Phil) with any excess removed immediately. The roof effect was cut from a sheet of wet and dry emery paper. The process took about two hours and I was left with an excellent looking building, my first! I had a look on the internet and found some photographs of the prototype items and the model does capture their appearance very well.

Part 2. Painting and weathering.

The colours and tools used for painting

David Illingworth (painter) writes

Having received this delightful model from Nick for painting my first job was to search the internet for colour photographs of the prototype and similar platelayers’ huts to ascertain the concrete colour. Being an LNER prototype, and of a similar era to the SR style concrete platelayers huts, the concrete tended towards a sandy beige and not the grey colour of modern concrete.

The paints I chose to use are the Vallejo acrylic Model Color and Model Wash ranges introduced to me several years ago my members of my local wargaming club. The colours used were; 70882 Middlestone, 70884 Stone Grey, 70992 Uniform Green, 70967 Olive Green, 70941 Burnt Umber, 70987 Medium Grey, 70953 Flat Yellow, 70820 Off White and Matt Varnish along with Model Wash 76518 Black and 76514 Dark Brown. The beauty of this range is you can use the Vallejo thinners or water to thin the paints.

This exercise also provided the opportunity to develop some of the weathering techniques used by wargamers.

Initially the building was given a coat of matt varnish inside and out to seal the wood in order to reduce moisture absorption and once dry I painted the model with a mixture of Middlestone and Stone Grey. The mix was constantly changed in order to vary the concrete tone. The door and window frame were painted Uniform Green and, again, once dry followed by a water thinned wash of Dark Brown to subdue the colour and darken the joints between the concrete slabs.

The next step was to place the remaining colours; Olive Green, Burnt Umber, Medium Grey, Flat Yellow, Off White onto the mixing palette for use in various mixtures for the weathering. For this I used a dry brushing technique. It was during this stage I was constantly looking at photographs in order to reach the desired finish. Some areas had darker patches to simulate damp areas and a subtle hint of green to represent algae. Off White was used to simulate pointing repairs and where salts have leached between some of the panel joins. After drying I applied a diluted black wash over the building and roof, again to subdue the colours.

Once the weathering was completed I filled the gaps in the chimney to represent a single casting, repainted and weathered it. In addition, a bolt was added to the door and I also chipped away some parts of the concrete to represent wear and tear and installed an exposed reinforcing rod. Once completed the model was fixed to a base and scenery added.

In conclusion the painting and weathering took me about three hours. I am pleased with the overall result and this little project proved to be very satisfying.

Intentio Models produce a range of laser cut 7mm scale buildings and accessories. They can be contacted online via their website: http://intentio.co.uk