Weathing Plastic

[Anonymous]

Hey gang,

I just received my Built-Up Freight Depot from Walthers. It's the yellow & ochre color scheme. I usually buy kits, but thought I'd try the built-up since it was on sale at the time for the same price as the kit. Anyway, It's shiny and new...very much not like any building you'd see in the real world. How do I go about weathering the shiny new plastic without damaging it? What sort of materials would you use?

Thanks for your help,
trevor [:)]

[orsonroy]

Well, I paint everything that goes on my layout, which usually does the trick...

But if you want to keep the colors the building is in, I'd first remove any window glazing, then spray the entire building with dullcoat. Add a little soot to the top of the chimney, and them give the entire structure a thin wash of india ink. Once dry, reattach the glazing.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by orsonroy
[and them give the entire structure a thin wash of india ink. Once dry, reattach the glazing.

That should probably read "a thin wash of India ink highly diluted in rubbing alcohol" Undiluted India Ink is waaaay too black!

Bob Boudreau.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys...as always, quick and thorough[:)]

trevor

[twhite]

I have pretty good luck weathering plastic by first overspraying it with Dullcote, then using self-adhesive chalk for weathering (Gray, rust, soot, etc). The Dullcote gives the finish a 'grab' that makes the chalk 'stick' to the finish quite well. But as Ray says, take out the glazing first, unless you want your station to look abandoned, LOL!
Tom [:D][:D]

[mondotrains]

Hi Trevor,
I agree with the guys suggesting spraying the building with Dullcote. However, I have a suggestion if you can't easily get the windows out. In those situations, I use Tacky Glue, an inexpensive thick white glue available at most craft stores like Michaels and Joanne Fabrics, as a masking devise. I simply squeeze some onto a piece of cardboard and use a toothpick to cover my windows, being careful to only put it on the "glass" and not on the window frames, etc. Once the Tacky Glue dries, you can spray the structure. Once the Dullcote is dry, simply pry off the Tacky Glue with a pointed pair of tweesers. It comes right off and because it is only thick white glue, it does not attack plastic.

I've used this procedure on other windows like those on passenger cars that are difficult to remove and also on engine windows. Sometimes it's a lot easier to mask off the windows this way than to try to remove the windows and reinstall them.

Hope this helps.
Mondo