Create an RHTT ‘66’
With a RTR set of RHTT wagons on the horizon, George Dent recreates some suitably grimy motive power.
George reveals some dirty tricks as he adds a new finish to a hard-working Class 66.
Acolleague on our sister title RAIL sent me an image recently of a filthy Class 66, with a message along the lines of ‘I bet you wouldn’t weather a locomotive this heavily’. He was right, of course, as something so out of the ordinary would likely cause heads to turn for all the wrong reasons. However, anyone who has seen Network Rail’s Railhead Treatment Trains (RHTT) in action will testify to just how dirty the motive power becomes over a relatively short space of time. Frequently rostered to the same duty for days – or weeks – on end, often it’s difficult to discern the identity of the locomotive beneath the overall coat of brown dust. Furthermore, with Hatton’s recent announcement of an impending set of RHTT vehicles for ‘OO’, I was provided with the perfect reason to partake in some extreme weathering. NOT SO SIMPLE I originally thought that recreating the prototype would involve simply spraying a lot of ‘dirty’ brown paint over a Bachmann ‘66’. But having studied the real thing more closely, it appeared that a little more finesse would be required. Despite the universal coating of brown grime, the EWS livery could still be discerned, with elements of slightly darker shading here and there, especially around the exhaust outlet. Some of the most striking features were the trails left by the windscreen wipers and the staining caused by the washer jets. These were recreated with the aid of masking film, while the appearance of hand-cleaned side windows was achieved with masking fluid. A small palette of Tamiya acrylic paints was employed, applied over several light layers via an airbrush. Firstly, an initial dusty brown shade coated the entire bodyshell and chassis. Then a darker mix was created, and this was aimed into the various recesses on the bodywork and around the exhaust silencer. A fine swab, dipped in Tamiya acrylic thinners, produced the washer jet staining on the front ends, while a mix of black and clear gloss added the greasy fuel stains on the tanks. Finally, the original brown shade was reprised for another light misting coat, which blended everything together. This leaves me with one ‘66’ ready for RHTT service, and another one needed for top-and-tail operation. With the Hatton’s RHTT models due later this year, I’ll have to get my skates on…