With here in the UK being battered by Storm Christoph I though it appropriate to post a wind related item - nothing to do with my diet but it is about the Dapol windmill! As mentioned in a previous post a Shelf Queen of some years standing which is now actually finished! I started with this.
The sails and wooden main structure were sprayed white and whilst the roof to the brick base building was sprayed grey. The bricks are not actually painted on this model. A trick I picked up from Phil Parker, he of British Railway Modelling and Garden Railways magazines fame showed this on his blog (well worth looking at Phils Workshop ), was to use coloured pencils! When I first heard what he was about to do I thought that it stood no chance of working but it does. The trick is to have several brown, orange and red coloured pencils and use them randomly to rub across the brick work of the model. Because the mortar lines of the bricks are recessed in the model , the pencils just colour the bricks leaving a great finish. If you doubt it try it!
A bit of weathering took place with some black dilute paint and earthy type weathering powers toning that pristine white finish back to a more life like battered one. The doors and windows were painted pale green and whilst the green was on the brush a bit was added to a few spots around the base to give that moss/algae look that old brick work gets when damp. The finished item I think looks good and to say that the moulds from which this kit are made are over 60 years old they still have great detail There is even a horse shoe on one of the doors!
As the two wires hint, I have motorised this kit and just to prove it works.....
If you have the volume you will probably hear a clunk on each revolution where one of the sails was hitting the base - soon sorted with a slight bend. You may also hear a cat in the background who wanted his dinner and had no understanding of the Spielberg moment going on!
If you are interested the kit is actually based upon a real windmill at Rolvenden in Kent - Picture here.
Right , I better go see if I have a garden fence left after this Windy Wednesday!
