Following the success of my rusty decaying loco, I thought I would give the rust treatment to the exhaust system fitted to the diesel loco No.5.
When I built the loco I tried to give the silencer an authentic rusty look using acrylic paint of the appropriate shade, but it was not very convincing.

The hatch, to which the silencer is fixed, is detachable from the loco body, making application of the chemical treatment much easier. While I was at it, I straightened the two exhaust pipes by applying some gentle heat to the right angle bends, they had bent outwards a little.

I am quite pleased with the result.

Back in July I transformed the old loco shed at Culdaff into a burnt out ruin, the story being that it was burnt down, with a loco inside, during the civil war. All I needed to complete the cameo was the wreckage of a loco to sit inside the ruined shed.

I have long harboured a desire to have an old loco quietly rotting away in a quiet corner of the railway, and now I have one; a mock up for a proposed model of one of the Tralee and Dingle Kerr Stuart 2-6-0 tanks (the second number 4) had been sitting in my attic since the early 1990s. Over the years I have robbed various parts from it for other projects. The boiler is a card tube, the rest of the bodywork is made from plasticard, and the chassis is from a modified Bachmann 4-6-0 Big Hauler battery loco (non working). This seemed a perfect candidate for a rotting loco.

The loco has been outside for about 3 months but I found its representation of decrepitude was lacking something - Rust!

I purchased some Deluxe Materials scenic rust and applied it all over the loco, having carefully read the instructions. The product consists of some fine iron particles which are mixed with a liquid adhesive to make a sticky iron paste. This is applied with a brush and once dry, the treated area is painted with a blue activator. After about 8 hours the rust is fully developed.