Honestly, if you simply start off by taking a fine tipped artist brush and nearly dry brushing a little brownish gray into the seams, crevasses, and rivets; trucks included, that improves the store-boughten look a lot, IMO.
I use gray with a little tan. Put in a little orange hue in places to represent newer rust or red clay residue. A very very dark burgandy/brown can represent older rust.
And frankly, other than a good artists brush, the second most important tool is an index finger. It wipes a way the excess on the surfaces and pushes the color into the creases.
And for more truck weathering, I use a small chisel shaped brush and thin the paint dramatically. Hold the car or loco on its side and wash it with the orange/tan/gray mixture and the paint will find the creases.
Trying to wash the main body with the dirt look is where things can get out of hand.
- Douglas
Doughless Ringo, great job on the weathering. I too use simple acrylic paints, and I have similar results to what you show above. ( I guess I'm calling my weathering great too...LOL). I have not used powders alot (they're a little messy and harder for me to control.) PS, love that patched ex SP boxcar. It's an Athearn "primed for grime" edition that I also bought and received a few weeks ago. The factory patching gets us off to a good start on weathering since the factory paint is applied very thin with no layer build up.
Ringo, great job on the weathering. I too use simple acrylic paints, and I have similar results to what you show above. ( I guess I'm calling my weathering great too...LOL). I have not used powders alot (they're a little messy and harder for me to control.)
PS, love that patched ex SP boxcar. It's an Athearn "primed for grime" edition that I also bought and received a few weeks ago. The factory patching gets us off to a good start on weathering since the factory paint is applied very thin with no layer build up.
Thanks for the kind words! I'm not perfect and have a few cars in the "re-do" pile that I went too heavy on or brush marks are visable. Once I get or build a new car, the first thing that happens is wheels are painted iron oxide and trucks are sprayed with rustolem camo brown. I feel this gives the look of a nice rusty and dirty look. After that I let them sit for a few days and i decide how to weather them. I'm also a huge fan of Primed for Grime. It really adds variety to the hobby and I hope other manufactures catch on to it! You should post some of yours, I'd like to see them!
@RioGrande, Its a 1972 Chevy C-10 from the movie dazed and confused by Malibu Models. Heres a link to one on Ebay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Reel-Rides-Dazed-and-Confused-72-Chevy-C-10-Pick-Up-1-87-HO-Scale-Case-NIB/383671651401?hash=item59549ccc49:g:w4UAAOSw7z9fMVZt
Carful, they make different scales of the same model, I almost bought one that was 1;55 scale on accident. The HO ones will be in the small box
As a teen I grew up spending my summers in the El Paso Southern Pacific Yard and one thing I do remember was the wash racks always busy. Back in the early fifties the SP kept their locomotives cleanI don’t remember seeing a “weathered” look on any SP locomotives in the fifties. The Golden State and Sunset Limited were always spotless. As a result I don’t weather. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Have you thought about weathering takes away from the resale price if you ever decide to sell the engine? I love weathering but I am hesitant to do it to my expensive engines for fear that it will hurt its value. Not everyone has the same taste for the way you or me weathers a loco.
the old train man Have you thought about weathering takes away from the resale price if you ever decide to sell the engine? I love weathering but I am hesitant to do it to my expensive engines for fear that it will hurt its value. Not everyone has the same taste for the way you or me weathers a loco.
Just sold 2 weathered engines on FB for a good price. If you find the right buyer, weathering adds value. Personsally I would spend more on a locomotive already weathered, IF its a nice job
Everything I own gets weathered to the degree shown in the 35mm slide of the prototype. Each of my locomotives is renumbered and weathered to replicate a specific prototype on the day I encountered it. This ranges from just a couple of weeks out of the builder's paint barn to the day after a turbo failure covered in black oil.
Freight cars are treated the same as the locomotives except, the work of the "aerosol artists" will never appear on anything I spend my money on. Some eschew scenes of law enforcement encounters. I will never glorify the criminal trespass and vandalism of private property this represents.
And yes, I weather my passenger cars, including my "Rapido jewelry". I remember the underfloor equipment and trucks taking on a rusty tinge, similar to that of the track. This was also evident around the steps and on the ends where the brushes of the car washers did not reach. One more note. Pure black paint hides all of the detail manufacturers go to the expense of building into their offerings. Why bother, or pay for it?
As far as "re-sale" value, I buy these things for ME to enjoy, and no one else. If someone else wants to buy them and the price is not what they want to pay-tough, that is not what I bought them for in the first place!
Ringo58 the old train man Have you thought about weathering takes away from the resale price if you ever decide to sell the engine? I love weathering but I am hesitant to do it to my expensive engines for fear that it will hurt its value. Not everyone has the same taste for the way you or me weathers a loco. Just sold 2 weathered engines on FB for a good price. If you find the right buyer, weathering adds value. Personsally I would spend more on a locomotive already weathered, IF its a nice job
What is the name of that FB site?
My take on it is that I buy locos because I like them not for resale value.So I do what I want!
I don't weather my locos and cars at all. I like everything shiny and new looking, even though that's not exactly protoypical. But, that's just my preference.
NHTX As far as "re-sale" value, I buy these things for ME to enjoy, and no one else. If someone else wants to buy them and the price is not what they want to pay-tough, that is not what I bought them for in the first place!
Exactly the way I feel. I don't buy these things as an investment and am extremely unlikely to ever sell any of it. Once I am dead and gone, it can all go in the dumpster as I won't be around to care about resale.
I have not weathered any locos yet but when I do the Hudsons and FP7s pulling the Canadian will not be weathered but the rest will get some.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I weather pretty-well all of my locos and rolling stock, but in most cases not to any great degree. I want most things to look used, but not abused.
If I'm painting items for a friend, I usually know their weathering preferences, but always ask if there might be exceptions.I painted this brass locomotive for, at the time, a fairly new friend, who wanted it well-weathered...
After I knew him a little better, I invited him over to run some of his locomotives, as he had no layout (I later helped him to build a layout, and he's done a nice job of adding to it as years have gone by...about 40 of them).When he saw my locomotives, he commented on how much he liked the appearance, so, as he continued to collect brass locomotives, I painted them, at his request, much like I paint my own. Some time later, when he had a new loco that needed painting, I asked if he'd like that weathered one re-done.
He liked the idea, and liked the results, too...
..and he dubbed it "that recently out-of-the-shop look". I'm not sure how many locos I've done for him, but I'd guess a few dozen, including diesels.
Another friend asked if I could paint her undecorated BLI Mikado as a loco not too far from its impending date with the scrapper. This is the initial paint and lettering job, along with the Elesco feedwater heater system that I added at her request. It's done as a more-or-less newly-painted locomotive (just in case she had a change of mind on the weathered version)...
While she liked the loco as it was, she was still interested in a weathered appearance, so I offered this version...
...which was an improvement, but not enough...This process continued on for a few more samples, with increased weathering...
...until I finally got it right...
I find this type of painting, for friends, rather than for money, is more satisfying in the long run, regardless if they want a touch-up, a re-paint, or a completely re-worked locomotive, with all-new paint and lettering...and maybe some weathering, too.For my own locos I prefer a well-maintained (but not pristine) look, while rolling stock, freight and passenger, gets weathering which suits my own tastes.
Wayne
Some items look better then others. Some were air brushed, some with powders some with oils. Some lightly weathered, some heavily weathered. Some I do not like, some I do like. The fuel tanks have ''wet'' fuel marks on their sides. I try to find a photo of a subject and then I start.
Anyway I am modeling a Bankrupt Railroad.
This Loco #7754 has a broom stuck in the front grab rungs. Gotta keep the walkways clear of dirt and maybe sush a racoon out of the cab. Here you can see the ''wet'' fuel marks slopped out at the fuel tank fill cap.
The last ore car had the everything and the panels powdered but not the ribs. (I have a photo of a real ore car looking like this)
The second ore car had everything, panels and ribs powered.
The third ore car is somewhat clean yet (only air brushed with Grimy black).
Yikes! I hope that the OP's original pic has the loco farther away from the edge. Otherwise, weathering is much harder with that pretty train in multiple tiny pieces!
I've not weathered my loco but do the freight cars. The shiny plastic look of cars is not eye-catching to me. For those afraid of weathering, you can get some cheap cars to practice after watching some vids. Agreed tha once you get past the initial fear factor, weathering is not too challenging.
Here are a couple of photos of some kitbashed, painted, and weathered Stewart F units. I firmly believe to achieve maximum realism, weathering is the one thing that I would do on almost everything to a degree. It tends to blend things together.
Chuck - Modeling in HO scale and anything narrow gauge
It amazes me that people don't weather their stuff. I would never tell someone how to enjoy this hobby, a whatever floats you boat kind of thing, but I am still floored.
An "expensive model collector"
Don't worry that 2by 4 is heavy and I don't run it fast so she will not fall off of the edge!
I weather everything at least lightly. Actually most of my weathering is kept pretty light.
The answers in this thread really speak to how the hobby has changed.
If you asked this question 30 years ago, you might have gotten a few who said they simply don't like the look of weathered models, or the "fear of messing it up" answer.
But I don't think anyone in HO would have said they were concerned about reducing resale value.
I don't think hardly anyone in the HO part of this hobby 30 years ago even considered the idea of thinking they could get their money back out of these toys.
I plan to go to my grave owning this stuff. What happens after that will not matter to me. They are my toys, I bought them to play with, and play I will.
Sheldon
I find that weathered models can look different between photos and viewing in person.
There was an individual who did some boxcar weathering articles for another magazine. I thought "wow" when I saw the magazine photo. That turned to "yuck" when I had the opportunity to see the model in person.
Thank you guys for sharing some awesome weathered models. I have a PRR L1 mikado that I'd like to weather substantially at some point. I'll likely use a combination of paints and weathering powders.
Alvie
I weather as many as I can, as often as I can,
I tend to weather on the heavier side - no accounting for taste
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
Very nice work on those steamers, Guy.
maxman I find that weathered models can look different between photos and viewing in person. There was an individual who did some boxcar weathering articles for another magazine. I thought "wow" when I saw the magazine photo. That turned to "yuck" when I had the opportunity to see the model in person.
I agree, however I tend to see it the other way around. Often pictures of models are close up, and the weathering does not look great. However when looking at the model in person at the distance when observing on a layout, the effect looks much more convincing.
doctorwayne Very nice work on those steamers, Guy Wayne
Very nice work on those steamers, Guy
Wayne,
Thanks for the kind words. BTW: your work is always very inspiring.
I started with diesels, and I still haven't really wethered my steamers. I believe a little weathering goes a long way.
Here is a before-and-after shot on a GP9:
And some light weathering on an Alco's pilot:
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
philo426 Athearn Blue Box SD-9...
Athearn Blue Box SD-9...