Commission: 16mm skips…

Following on from last weeks ‘Commission Monday’ today I share a trio of Slaters 16mm/ft WDLR skips. These models are built from injection moulded plastic with one piece skips bodies…The wheels are obviously the only weight in the model, and the construction does make getting a free running model slightly difficult. I quite often find the frames end up tight on the axles making them reluctant to rotate. Taking time with emery paper and wet and dry to slightly reduce and polish the end of each axle, and a tapered broach to ream out the brass bearings helps - but really, packing the side frames out by about 10thou would be even better. I’ll try to remember for ‘next time’…They reward a considered finish, this trio have a sort of rusty iron oxide paint finish, well worn and with traces of a load in each skip. These effects started in the earliest stages of painting, to help with the interior effect. Humbrol enamels applied by brush, washes in the usual manner and finished with set…