I decided to work on the crane again last night, I wasn't completely happy with the crane as it wasn't quite real enough :-\ I done further searches on the net and found some reference picture to aid my weathering. I mixed up some Winton Oils and gave the crane a wash of Paynes Grey, I picked out the areas where the dirt would gather and wiped any excess off with a cotton bud when dry. The last thing to add was paint chips, random paint shipping was applied all over but further extensive chipping was applied the hook end as this was an area that suffers the most. I'm very happy with how the crane looks now, just need to finish it off with a couple of metal parts, brass pieces for the cables to attached onto, then the cables to fit, last of all some metal looking sticky back plastic for the larger pneumatic piston....and then that section apart from transfers will be complete!
I also applied some light weathering to the engine stacks, light fading to represent smoke around the vents, again a few chips to bring to life, again I'm happy with that now so no further weathering will be applied there. I've now moved onto the main superstructure, weathering here will be quite subtle, scratches will be applied here and there, mostly around the door and door frame and that's about it. Next on the list will be some light shading with the airbrush on the deck area coupled with a few paint chips, the hardest part of weathering is knowing when to stop :-\ If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations then don't be frightened to voice them!