I, probably like most modern-era modelers, have some Norscott equipment (excavator & backhoe), and as can be readily seen these models, while nice, have bright shiny silver pin joints which look (and are) totally toy-like. OK, so I go search for images, and get lots of them, but I can’t really seem to get a good feel as to what Cat equipment joints should be - are they yellow base, with rust weathering? Reddish or unpainted steel? Black unfinished steel? Maybe even shiny, but caked with black/brown grease? What are your (in the viewing audience) preferred touch-up techniques? Also cool would be tips on the coloring and modeling of hydraulic piping & hoses.
This was my biggest dissappointment with that lame ‘construction equipment’ detailing article in the May MR (focus of another threda) - the joints were still shiny silver in the magazine pictures, even after the washes were applied. I realize that MR is not the 1/87scale vehicle club’s magazine, but still…
The first thing I did with my Norscot and other similar models was to paint all of the chrome pins and connectors Modelflex CN Yellow, which I had on hand and seemed to match the colors. The last few that I did had the chrome parts primed first with Floquil Foundation because I was using it for something else at the time. This allowed the yellow to cover better, in one coat; previously it had taken two coats. I left the hydraulic pistons chrome, as they are supposed to be.
I don’t remember any of those having hydraulic hoses on them, but Testors makes a flat rubber color that works good for hoses and tires. The cylinders should be silver with a bit of grease color on them. (grimy black??)
That sounds like what I was thinking of, except did you hand paint the Modelflex (and the Floquil Foundation, BTW)? Also, did you grunge it up (the images I saw seemed to either be rust or grease (my home computer’s monitor’s colors a bit out of whack)). For some reason I haven’t see a prototype in many moons…
Also, Loathar, I want to add some piping and hoses (within reason - these aren’t contest-level models here), and just wanted to get an idea of other have done so before me, and how. The funny thing about Testor’s Rubber is that I find it looks nothing like rubber, but makes a great brown color for model figures’ hair, clothing, and in the lighting I use, matches at least a decent part of the ‘black skin’ color spectrum). Hoses, at least to me, seem to match more Floquil Weathered Black (with maybe even more grey), but I’ve been wrong before…