To Weather

[JeremyB]

Hi Guys

Who out there enjoys weathering? For me I spent this whole weekend weathering freight cars. I enjoy wetahering from engines to buildings. Who else finds making things look weather beaten enjoying.

jeremy

[Anonymous]

I do, its a part of the hobby where your artistic eye takes over.

[Anonymous]

I like weathering because it is a good evening project, after coming home from work. On a Tuesday night, I can't get started with any larger projects, because "24" comes on channel 19 at 9:00 PM... and of course there are all sorts of other things one must do besides model railroad projects.

[Hawks05]

haven't tried yet. i plan on doing some next weekend if i get the chance. all i'll do is just use paint and streak down the sides of cars.

i plan on further down the road definatley doing this to all of my cars and some of my cheaper or worse looking locomotives. i'm not going to touch any of them right now.

[AggroJones]

Like I said before, I am the "Weather Master". It is the most enjoyable aspect of scale modelling to me. If done right, it brings a whole new dimention to your models.

[MAbruce]

Here is one of my first weathering attempts on a boxcar (in N-scale):



I've been experimenting, but am still looking for that "sure fire" method. For the above, I used simple diluted watercolor paints. I've tried chalks, acrylic paints diluted in Isopropyl Alcohol, and combinations of these.

One method I tried is Isopropyl Alcohol over a surface treated with Testor’s Dull Coat. It’s supposed to give a faded look. However, I have found that the results are inconsistent. Here is the best I managed with this method:



What methods have others found success with?

[AggroJones]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MAbruce

What methods have others found success with?

The way I weather most boxcars and reefers goes like this.....

First I give a wash of either watercolor, chalk, water, and alcohol or Ink/ chalk/ water/ alcohol.

As the wash is drying, I use a fine point bru***o add more wa***o the rivits and add streaks from the roof. ( If it doesn't come out looking correct, I come in with a moist brush and work the surface until satisfactory)

When it looks good, I dullcote it twice to seal it on. Then I use a sable bru***o work pastels into the model, with it concentrated mostly on the bottom edge. I dullcote it again. Then I add an earth tone pastel powder to the bottom seal. Really, really work that into that area. And I dullcote it yet again.

Finally at the end, I use a sable bru***hat has pastel residue ( kinda like drybrushing with a powder. Dunk the bristles in chalk and shake off as much powder as you can) to rub tiny bits of dirt-tone pastel into the bottom 3rd of the car. It is so small amount , it won't come off when you touch it. This heightens that area so it looks like real dust kicked up. [^]

You must wait until the each dullcote layer is cured. This process is long and stretched out, but it works excellent. [:D]

The car's trucks are cleaned with alcohol to remove all grease. Then they are drybrushed with floquil earth, dirt, or grimey black.

[fiatfan]

MAbruce -

How do you get the water colors to stick to the plastic? I have experimented a litte but the water just seems to bead up and leave little blotches of color. Do I need to use alchol or do I need to use the dullcote? Any guidance or suggestions you can provide will be greatly appreciated!

Tom

[AggroJones]

n c

QUOTE: Originally posted by fiatfan

MAbruce -

How do you get the water colors to stick to the plastic? I have experimented a litte but the water just seems to bead up and leave little blotches of color. Do I need to use alchol or do I need to use the dullcote? Any guidance or suggestions you can provide will be greatly appreciated!

Tom

Use rubbing alcohol in the watercolor. It reduces the surface tension.

[fiatfan]

Super! Thanks for thew help, AggroJones.

[der5997]

To "The Weathermaster" or anyone else out there who may know. I applied patel colours as powders to my box cars, and then Testors Dull Coat. When the DC had dried, there was little sing of thte pastel colours. What happened? Does this happen for you? What to do? BTW, the same thing happened with just plain dust and ashes. These are fine particles I'm dealing with. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

i have found that those gel-pens work nicely for adding graphitti (especialy when the paint or plastic is matt) if your railroad runs through a city or other heavily industrialized area.

[AggroJones]

QUOTE: Originally posted by der5997

To "The Weathermaster" or anyone else out there who may know. I applied patel colours as powders to my box cars, and then Testors Dull Coat. When the DC had dried, there was little sing of thte pastel colours. What happened? Does this happen for you? What to do? BTW, the same thing happened with just plain dust and ashes. These are fine particles I'm dealing with. Thanks.

If pastel chalk dissapears after you dullcote, you must re-chalk the area again. And dullcote that again. You keep doing this until you build up enough to be seen when your done.

Cause one layer of chalk sealed with dullcote has very little effect on a model surface. [:(]

[AggroJones]

A word of caution:

Be careful using an alcohol wash over old rolling stock, as it can remove lettering and decals. I learned this the hard way. A few years ago, I used a alcohol and ink mix in the first layer of weathing on an old, old Athearn flatcar. Almost all the lettering came off of one side before I realized there was a problem!

Use more water in the formula when alcohol is used to wash an old car. (made in the '70s and '80s)

[mikebonellisr]

Krylon makes a workable spray matte fixitave that artist use on pastels and chalk drawings. Spray the first coat on VERY LIGHTLY to "set' the chalk. Do'nt hold the can too close.

[eng22]

My methods

1. Dullcote
2. Grime wash (India ink Alcohol) - Use the 99% rubbing alcohol mixture, it dries faster and does not give the car the white mold look. I first tried the 70% solution and it looked bad. In either case, if you do end up with the white mold look, another coat of DC will solve the problem.
3. An assortment of earthtone pastels and a brush
4. Dullcoat
5. More Pastels, more dullcoat

Someday when I have five hours to figure out how to post a picture on this sight I will do so. [:(!]

[Anonymous]

I will weather my frieght cars but not much as I like the look of clean cars and locos [:O]

[Roadtrp]

Oklahoma...

Amen, brother. All of my trains go through the Train Wash at least once a week!!

[:P]

[snowey]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AggroJones

QUOTE: Originally posted by der5997

To "The Weathermaster" or anyone else out there who may know. I applied patel colours as powders to my box cars, and then Testors Dull Coat. When the DC had dried, there was little sing of thte pastel colours. What happened? Does this happen for you? What to do? BTW, the same thing happened with just plain dust and ashes. These are fine particles I'm dealing with. Thanks.

If pastel chalk dissapears after you dullcote, you must re-chalk the area again. And dullcote that again. You keep doing this until you build up enough to be seen when your done.

Cause one layer of chalk sealed with dullcote has very little effect on a model surface. [:(]

I learned recently, from a guy on the Atlas forumWWW.ATLASRR.COM that if you spray Testors Dullcoat, Floquill "Figure-Flat" or whatever on the car or structure before you apply chalk dust or pastels, it won't dissapear and you don't have to spray it again to "seal" the weathering.

[Anonymous]

A light spray of dullcote will put a 'tooth' surface for the chalks to cling to, thus a seal coat won't blow the chalk away. Also I have had good results with colored pencils where I want a less diffuse effect. White works especially well where I want water scale buildup.

Randy

[ClinchValleySD40]

I can't imagine not having everything (buildings, autos, people) weathered. It adds character to the whole layout.

[AggroJones]

QUOTE: Originally posted by clinchvalley

I can't imagine not having everything (buildings, autos, people) weathered. It adds character to the whole layout.

My thoughts exactly. The layout wouldn't come to life without weathering. [^]

[snowey]

[#ditto][#ditto][tup][tup][tup][yeah]

[Roadtrp]

I know I am a rookie, and still in a stage where running my trains seems a lot more fun that working on weathering them.

But I do wonder if everything ALWAYS needs to be extensively weathered. I certainly agree with a good spray of Dullcote to take the shine off of plastic buildings, and some painting to give them a little more realism than the "three realistic colors" they were manufactured in.

However... I'm modeling a suburban setting, and I just don't see many "weathered" buildings in the 'burbs. If we ever do see one, we try to get the guy to move out of the neighborhood. [;)] Even the commercial and industrial buildings seem to be relatively free of weathering.

I also seem to remember that during the 70's and 80's, the period I am modeling, most Amtrak cars seemed pretty recently refurbished even if they weren't new. Even back during the 60's, when I rode some of the "classic" passenger trains, they always seemed to be freshly painted. They were the flagships of the railroad, and you wouldn't see a badly weathered passenger train then any more than you would see a badly weathered Boeing 757 aircraft today.

(I realize that freight trains are a whole different story, and will be much more likely to weather them once I get them -- right now all I have is a passenger train.)

There seems to be a feeling in MR that everything has to look dingy. I don't know if I buy that -- no matter WHAT era you are modeling. It seems many folks want to build a 30's or 40's setting with everything looking as it would look today. I gotta tell you though, back during the 30's a building built during the 20's probably still looked pretty darned nice. I truly wonder if the "everything looks dingy" method is really that realistic, or if it is just a conceit that has become convention within the MR fraternity.

Oh well, that is probably enough running on from a guy without a whole lot of experience. But my questions ARE very real, and I would be pleased to have others address them.

[:)]

[snowey]

BRADGEON ENTERPRISES makes a self-adhesive weathering powder,that doesn't require spraying.

[Roadtrp]

Edited because my post, intended to be kind of tongue-in-cheek, seemed more sarcastic and snotty when I re-read it.

-Sorry

[MAbruce]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Roadtrp

Thanks snowey, but you didn't answer a darned thing.

Doesn't ANYONE have a comment to make on my questions?

(I would hate to think that no one answers because they all know I am right...)

[;)]

Questions? I read through your last post and it did contain some valid points, but I'm not sure what you were asking. [%-)]

Does everything have to be weathered? No, it's really up to you. It's your railroad and you can model it how you want to. Don't let anyone here tell you how to do it (but I personally will always take in advice because there's always something to learn).

Is there "a conceit that has become convention within the MR fraternity"? Maybe. There are all sorts of MR circles and schools of thought. But I would not let that influence you.

I agree that there are some areas (like suburbia) that isn't about making things look as old and dingy as possible in order to make it look realistic (except maybe for that one neighbor that never paints his house or mows his yard [swg]).

How things are weathered is really up to the artist. If you want to create a world were everything is washed once a week, then fine. Nothing wrong with that. It’s all about having fun.

[IRONROOSTER]

I personally am not a big fan of weathering (although the dust tends to build up after awhile, but I don't think that counts[:o)]). Some folks even go so far as to model litter on the layout. While I want the models to be accurate and finished appropriately I am not trying to have a photograph layout, more of a painting where things are as I remember or imagine them to be. I will admit that I have seen some beautiful weathering, just not my cup of tea.
Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

My primary weathering uses a base coat of Dull-Cote followed by dilute washes of solvent based paints, dilute acrylics, dilute india ink. I only use pastels (chalk) on cars that will seldom leave the layout because I do not use a setting agent. To touch un-set pastel is to remove it or, worse, leave fingerprints. I do not really like pastels because I have never had much luck with them. True, the multiple layer approach does work with pastels, but it is hard for me to get the results I seek. The great thing with this hobby is that we all get to do it our way, and then broaden our abilities as we do it over.

Tom

[der5997]

Roadtrp: I think that perhaps you are taking weathering to mean "heavy weathering = grungy and beaten up looking all the time"
It's more, I think, a matter of a light dusting over everything. I remember reading somewhere, (Probably a Klambach book on weathering) about a layout where the basic earth tone used for the mud of the scenery had been sprayed lightly over everything, all the scenery, trees, buildings, etc. As you can imagine, it had to be a very light spray. However, judging by the pictures, the effect was amazing. The whole layout was tied together, and looked authentic. Nothing in the scenes was dirty however.
As to rolling stock, even if it never rained in your Empire, dust would be sucked up behind your trains. That leaves its mark, and if it does happen to rain, the runoff will show.
Weathering isn't on th etop of my list, as I'm still building benchwork, and laying track. I will be doing some eventually. I hope I won't be overdoing any.