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Up John, I agree with Ray about building the more detailed kits. For basic freight car weathering I recommend the following: Before detailing and weathering, my cars get Kaydees and the trucks and wheels are replaced or tuned up so that the car is not one of those "problem" cars that looks great but won't run. The issue of grab irons/ ladders and stirups comes next. Most shake the box kits have molded on grabs/ladders and oversize stirups on them. You will have to decide what your standards are in this area. I now don't build anything without separately applied grabs and scale sized stirrups. Back in the day I built lots of stuff with molded grabs and big stirrups. Some of these cars are still on the railroad...Shaving off ladders and grabs and drilling and applying new ones is so much work that it is easier to build one of the more detailed kits (I've replaced grabs and ladders on several Athearn/Mdc cars, takes a long time). Weathering: Note: make sure you are using the same light that you have on the railroad for painting a weathering purposes. A classic mistake is to use a very strong light at the work bench and then find out that your colors are too dark when viewed on the weaker light of the layout. Two Weathering principles: 1. Less is more. You can always add more weathering later. 2. Keep messing with it until it looks right. If you have to ask "Does this look OK?" Then it probably needs more work. Weathering steps include: 1. Decide whether the car will be lightly weathered or look like it is ready for the junk yard. If you don't do this then you might fall prey to the "falling apart railroad syndrome" where every car is real beat up (I love that look, but have to keep myself in check). I think this is because there is a tendency to keep going in the weathering process once it has begun. 2. Remove and paint the trucks and wheels All paints are flat finish for our purposes here. Grimey black with a little rust works well. Make sure that you get the axles and insides of the end wheels so that when you see the car from its end view, you don't ruin the illusion. 3. Paint the underside of the car that is visible. I use black and rust color for this as well. 4. Weather the roof. I like several methods for this. One can use chalk (I recommend Bragdon's Powders, They stick well and have some good colors.) or paint in the same color as the original color only a little lighter/ or darker. Generally darker colors weather lighter and lighter colors darken. . The idea is to dull it down and give some texture. One cool trick is to paint the roof and then apply a thick coat of powder to it after the paint is dry. 5. Weather the car sides. Paint or chalk work well here. If using paint use the "wet on wet" technique. Apply thin washes with lots of water/thinner and blend colors while wet on the car. 6. Dullcoat or not to dullcoat?? I generally don't use dullcoat because I find that it darkens some colors and it will make chalk disappear. In instances where the shine is still there, I will use it sparingly.... I would also watch out for india Ink washes. They must be applied smoothly or they will bead up and run in funny ways and there is a real possibility of getting the model too dark. Use them as a light wa***o highlight detail.... There is more, but I have probably gone on too long already. I personally love to weather cars. When you get some good ones and sit back and watch the train roll by, weathered rolling stock adds a huge amount of realism and overall "coolness" factor to your layout.
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