WEATHERING STRUCTURES

[Anonymous]

I;M SPRAYING MY COALING STRUCTURES WEATHERED BLACK. WHAT COLOR SHOULD I USE TO WEATHER THESE STRUCTURES AND HOW SHOULD I DO THIS. DRY BRUSH,AIRBRUSH,PASTEL CHALKS.

[Anonymous]

Any of the processes you mention will work. I'd say use whichever one you are most comfortable with. If your structures are made of 'wood' I suggest you undercoat first and then use a scratch bru***o reveal the bare wood. If steel I would paint in, with a fine brush, rust streaks. You can use weathering powders to simulate sheet rust, coal dust and ordinary dust and splashes of mud. Don't forget a pool or two of water, leaks from the engine or tender. One side of the structure would logically have more smoke soot accumulation than the others. Finally you will need to seal coat the structure once you have a look you like. Dull-coat works well for that function. Remember don't over do it. You can always add weathering but its hard to subtract.

If you haven't painted the structure yet you might want to consider starting with a semi-gloss black and adding the weathering rather than starting with a uniform spray of already weathered black.

Randy

[Anonymous]

THANKS RANDY I HAVE NOT SPRAYED THE STRUCTURES YET . I WILL TRY THE SEMI-GLOSS FIRST. THE BUILDINGS ARE STEEL. THANKS

[Jetrock]

yow! do you have to shout to be heard over the roaring hiss of your steam engines, JCB3?

For steel buildings, rust is always nice. For buildings in the southwest, a layer of dust adds realism (light-colored powdered charcoal is good for this) and the roof will be lightened due to exposure to the sun (though this will happen to some extent anywhere, just more so in the southwest.) Since it's a coaling tower, there will of course be coal dust everywhere--black charcoal powder and some spills of scale coal bits on the ground. Though I'm not sure how well that will turn up on a black building...

[snowey]

if you spray your structures with a flat coat (Testors "Dullcoat", Floquil "Figure-Flat") BEFORE you apply chalk dust, you won't have to spray them AFTER. I learned this from someone on the ATLAS forum, who said that he learned it at a Model Railroading clinic.
If you do spray them after, though, the chalk dust will dissapear, so you'll have to add ssome more, then sppray, add more, spray, etc. I've had to do it 4 or 5 times.

[Anonymous]

JCB:

Knowing that the buildings are steel makes a difference, if you mean actual steel? I read about a trick recently which may help you. Get some 'etchant' from Radio Shack and use it to rough up the surface of the model, perhaps leaving some parts in until they are eaten through in one place or another. Just remember to flu***hem throughly to neutralize the etchant. A toothbrush may be needed in the corners and along the joins. This roughing up will lend some texture to the surface which will show through the color coat. You might also apply a base coat of rust first in spots and then use a scratch bru***o expose it under the black. Also I'd suggest you spray a coat of whatever color is close to the soil color of your line. I get best results spraying at an acute angle in a downward direction near the base of the structure. Finally, remember that one side of the structure is the 'weather side' where the sun is brighter and thus the color more faded except under the eaves where the sun is shaded. Also you might want to 'patch paint' a place or two where its most needed perhaps to represent a new piece of patched structure.

Good luck

Randy

[Anonymous]

does any one have suggestions for weathering alumiunum siding? Just finished new river mining from walthers and want to weather the siding, possibly rust. i did dry brush a fwe cars and could do this. if i do a dry brush, should i still dullcote the building? any suggetions would be appreciated. thanks in advance

[willy6]

JTG4
i found by using WOODLAND SCENICS burnt umber paint after you water it down is the best rust to use on any building.

[Jetrock]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jtg4

does any one have suggestions for weathering alumiunum siding? Just finished new river mining from walthers and want to weather the siding, possibly rust. i did dry brush a fwe cars and could do this. if i do a dry brush, should i still dullcote the building? any suggetions would be appreciated. thanks in advance

I'm afraid it isn't much help if you have already built the building, but one hint I picked up from an old MR to weather aluminum siding (the kind made from actual aluminum) is to brush it with olive oil and hold it over a gas flame with a pair of tongs. The oil will burn off (be careful!) and leave a reddish-brownish-blackish residue on the siding. This residue is permanent and will not flake off like paint will.

Since you've already built the building, though, you might try applying a coat of Dullcote FIRST to make the siding less smooth, which will help paint and/or chalk adhere to it.

[Anonymous]

Just a note - if your "aluminum" siding is really supposed to represent aluminum, then it will not rust. Rust is fine for other kinds of metal that are iron-based (like corregated steel), but remember that lead flashing does not rust, copper eaves, downspouts, and roofing turn green, and so on for other metal. Aluminum will weather from shiny to a flat grey-ish colour.

Andrew

[Anonymous]

to all that applied, thanks for your tips and suggestions. it really helped.