Project Showcase | The Sleepy Specter

"MYY SLEEEEP!" Lurking in the darkest areas of the Scrapyard, a Specter lies in the shadows, ready to scare anyone who dares wakes him from his Slumber. This is a character created by my good friend Mike @TheBuriedTruck for a story called Demons. It was an intriguing character and I really wanted to see if I could create my own take on this engine as a working scrap locomotive in HO/OO scale, as I have really enjoyed making scrap customs the past year. This was a great challenge, and probably THE most intense operating scrap model I've worked on.

1) Some Background

Mike was inspired by a ghost seen in a shot in one of the newer seasons of Thomas called "Halloween," where it passes the camera under some yard lights and disappearing into the fog, and if you look carefully, you see it's moving right next to Tidmouth Sheds where the engines sleep at night. Quite an alluring shot! It appears to be an old Gordon shell with Murdoch's 2-10-0 wheelbase to make it move, and one of the sludge tenders from S3 in tow.

Although the on-screen prop is a freelance design, there is a basis that looks very similar to it on the LNER that is a P1 class, which is a good version of the A4 but a 2-8-0. A very elegant design for a mixed traffic engine. As there isn't a model of this prototype ready to run, I considered trying another LNER engine, an O2 class 2-8-0 made by Heljan in OO gauge. With a basis I was happy with, it was time to find a suitable model!

2) Acquiring the Model

Looking on eBay I found one that was used and had some very light weathering on it. On one side the valve gear was cut off for some reason. I didn't mind as I felt it would add character to the model; and from the description it looked like a good runner. So I bought it, and after waiting a few weeks for it to travel to the US, I finally got to have a good look at it.

Upon examination it looked very good and ran well on tests. I carefully cleaned the driving gears in the chassis and added some motion lubrication that's conductive, which is a big help for smooth running locomotives. I took off the NEM chopper coupler on the back of the tender and snipped off or bent some of the handrails for an uneven look. I even found I could take the smokebox door off of the locomotive so that would be perfect to accommodate the Specter's faces!

• XL Excellee Lubricants - Kit
  

3) 3D Printed Faces

For the faces my friend Jake @Jje09 developed a full render of what the Specter's faces would look like in Blender, and he and Xavier @LightAndCoal were kind enough to send me the STL files of the designs they made together to try out on the model. This engine has a face that looks very aged and dirty to the point where you can see the jawline of the skull around the mouth, with heavy wrinkles and big, deeply set eyes.

Tom @TomTeeLegend printed out the designs in high quality resin. After giving them a wash in isopropyl alcohol to scrub off any printing residue with a toothbrush, I paint the faces like I always do with other Thomas customs using RustOleum Aged Gray to color the face, my Faber-Castell ink pen to draw his distinctive eyebrows, and used Blue Tak to put in some 8mm Airsoft paint pellets for the eyeballs, which have vinyl pupils! I highly recommend my bestie George @bowledout95 if you want to commission some. Now to make it more ghostly!

NOTE: Please spray outside or in a well ventilated area, with a mask, and make sure that there is a consistent temperature in the room of choice, not too hot or not too cold, as it will affect the spray application. Having good lighting also helps with drying. As the trim tape for the lining was glossy, I spray the  model a very light first coat to help painting, apply the paint I want for the body shell, then once dry I add he glossy lining before a final coat. Weathering will come later!

• RustOleum "Chalked" - Aged Gray
• Americana Craft Acrylics - Gray Sky
• Americana Craft Acrylics - Cobblestone
• Americana Craft Acrylics - Titanium White
• Airsoft Pellets - 8mm
• Faber Castell - Ink Pen XS
• Faber Castell - Eraser
• Techical Pencil
• Blue Tak

Recently I've been trying Dave's Weathering Powders I use for rolling stock to dirty up faces for an industrial look for engines, OR an aged, decrepit look like in Jake's test render for some ghost engines. I applied soot and dark gray powders with a soft brush all around the edges and cracks of the face, blending them in the gray color of the face, and added a little red around the eyes for some bloodshot eyes and dried blood around the sockets!

• Dave's Decals - weathering powders

4) Painting and Weathering

I pulled all the stops on this custom an brought out all the earth-toned and rust colored craft acrylics I have to begin the weathering process! I still love using the craft acrylics I find from craft stores such as Hobby Lobby or Michael's. Studying some reference photos, I wanted to try out a new technique and use a small piece of a sponge I cut up to use with my pliers to dab the paint on the boiler, cab, motion and driving wheels for a chipping rusty effect. I also took out some of the cab glass windows and bent the handrails up even more for worn details. I liked where I was going with it but wasn't happy with the appearance of the first pass.

So after trying to spray some RustOleum Camo and Rusty primers, it gave a much more of a rust-colored base to blend in some acrylics to paint on and try the sponge-dabbing method again. The first layer provided a rough texture in patches that looked quite believable with some dry-brushing and further dabbing. This improved the orange look of a typical scrap engine I was going for, but much, much more realistic and as the layers dried I began another new process, chalked graffiti!

• RustOleum - Camo Earth Brown
• RustOleum - Rusty Metal Primer

5) Chalk Graffiti

In Mike's story, the scrap engine is covered with all kinds of chalked markings. In real life, chalked notices informed workers and visitors which engines were bought for preservation or to be cut down. Jake took some liberties and added some warning messages from workmen who might have seen the Specter, with some ominous words all over the body. I first tried drawing them out with my 0.5 technical lead pencil where I wanted to paint them, and then went over the lettering with a long, fine brush with thinned white acrylic for a smoother application. This was a fun challenge as it makes for an effective drawn style.

6) Practice Photography and Ligting Effects

After some more dry-brushing and final touches, it was time to see how the engine looked under the Smelters lights! I use my Apature MC LED lights that are also RGB for all sorts of colors I can control with my iPhone to create a range of colors I choose, in this case the hot, hellish red of the Smelter's Shed on the locomotive, right on my office desk. It was breathtaking to see how good the model looks with the graffiti and the rusted detail all over, and the vengeful face with its aggressive expression.

• Apature - MC LED RGB Lights

After some more dry-brushing and final touches, it was time to see how the engine looked under the Smelters lights! I use my Apature MC LED RGB lights I can control with my iPhone to create a range of colors I choose, in this case the hot, hellish red of the Smelter's Shed on the locomotive, right on my office desk. It was breathtaking to see how good the model looks with the graffiti and the rusted detail all over, and the vengeful face with its aggressive expression.

It's not often I surprise myself like this, but this has got to be the most intense scrap engine custom I’ve ever done, and the fact that he runs too, I’m really quite proud of him! Scary engines are so much fun to do, and I have also learned a lot by utilizing new techniques to create something very different from what I used to. I hope you all have enjoyed it and are inspired to try making your own ghost engines for the Spoopy season! I'll be sure to try out more stuff like this in the future.

Let me know what else you would like to see in the comments and any questions you may have. As always, happy modeling!

- Stephen