Model Railway Forum

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice here. I have a reasonable number of Oxford 1:76 vehicles for layout deployment and I have a bit of an issue with them. They're too shiny!

The paintwork on model cars is, to my eyes at least, always a bit unrealistic, too perfect and so on, so I'd like to do something to address that. I've considered attacking them with T-cut, or maybe some find grade wet and dry, but before breaking out the abrasive, I thought it best to ask if anybody else has any experience in this area?

i'm not looking for full rust-and-mud reality, but something subtle to stop, for instance, a goods vehicle which is likely to have been used hard for many thousands of miles looking like it's just rolled out of the showroom

The simplest way is to spray them with a good quality Matt varnish - but mask the Windows first or they will go completely opaque.

Knowing how thin paint finishes are I would stay away from anything abrasive and I include T-cut in that category. Probably the safest way to tone down the “shininess” would be to spray a thin coat of a Matt lacquer on the paint work taking care to mask off any windows. This will also help preserve any signage on the vehicle body.

Richard

I used three Oxford Diecast black taxi's on my layout (taxi's are usually clean and shiny), and they actually came apart easily. There was a very small phillips screw and a rivet on the bottom of the car - the rivet head was easily drilled off, and the car came apart, chassis, interior, glazing and body. I just used a drop of superglue where the rivet head was when I put the car back together.

Turning the front wheels and flattening the tyres where they contact the ground also adds to the realism - a member on here gave me these tips and my vehicles look so much better.

Turning the front wheel can make a lot of difference.

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Bandit Mick wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 11:12 am Turning the front wheels and flattening the tyres where they contact the ground also adds to the realism - a member on here gave me these tips and my vehicles look so much better.

I recall the images of that vehicle. I believe he’d lifted one of the engine covers as well. Looked brilliant. R-

Walkingthedog wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 11:34 am Turning the front wheel can make a lot of difference.

Lovely scene there WTD. R-

Add a driver if you can gain entry.

Thanks Roger.