I have recently purchased several freight cars that have roller bearing trucks. As I looked at them, it dawned on me that the simple pop the axles out, hit the trucks with spray paint and paint the axles with a micro brush probably won't work. Would appreciate hearing how you weather roller bearing trucks.
Other than a little dirt and dust, I can't imagine there'd be much "weathering" for roller bearing trucks.Off-hand, I'm not sure if I have any roller bearing trucks on my layout, as I'm modelling the late '30s. On real trains, roller bearings date from 1923.
I do weather the wheelsets for pretty-well all of my rolling stock, usually with a mixture of Floquil black and some Floquil green, applied to the outside face of the wheels, to represent oily deposits, using a brush, and follow-up with some airbrushed dirt/dust that would be kicked-up by a moving train.I also brush-paint the backs and axles of the wheelsets with a variety of mixed "rust" coloured paints. (Roller bearing wheelsets would get the "rust", too, but only on the axles and backs of the wheels).
I doubt that much of the weathering on the trucks and wheelsets will be noticeable...(If you click on the photos, they'll enlarge, but I doubt that they'll look any dirtier).
The majority of my rolling stock uses plastic wheelsets, which usually do get painted, but bare-metal wheelsets should be painted front and back, to keep them from looking toy-like.
Wayne
The extra effort and time expended in weathering trucks and wheel-sets really pays off when viewing and taking photos close-up.
I like following and expanding upon 'The Weathering Shop' artist Jeremy McPeters method of weathering trucks and wheel-sets. A combination of dark grey automobile primer, tube oil paint, powders, pastels and pencils. An airbrush is handy for painting the wheel-sets and applying Dullcote, but not a necessity.
Happy weathering, regards, Peter
I guess I should clarify, what I am looking at weathering is trucks that have working roller bearing hubs that actually rotate. After I looked at them, I was worried about keeping them functional.
Steve
The Tangent gondola came with rotating bearing caps. After carefully popping the wheel-sets from the trucks prior to painting I protected the axle to side frame contact surfaces with a light coat of plastic compatible grease. Was also judicious about applying weathering powders near those surfaces. After painting, weathering and clear coating I wiped off the grease with a micro brush. As a plus the car came with extra bearing caps.
Regards, Peter
Thank you!