Making weathering permanent

[Anonymous]

i use artists' charcoal to weather my HO rolling stock and buildings. i also use actual rust to weather locomotives. but when i tried spraying the peices with an aresol can of flat matte spray, the spray formed droplets and pulled all of the charcoal together and ruined the effect. i don't want to have to buy an air brush system, so what is a good way of getting powders to stick?

[Anonymous]

I would suggest using powders made specifically for weathering like those made by Bragdon Enterprises. I have not gotten to weathering my stuff yet but I read about this product in Model Railroader. In one case it mentions that a little goes a long way and compressed air in a can was used to blow off excess before fixing it with a matte finish with good results. My wife who is a crafter has also used a cheap hair spray to fix chalks. She said to use one like Aqua-Net which she says dries quickly and does not mess up the chalks. You may want to experiment with this method before going any further with your good stuff. Good luck in any case. Bob

[Anonymous]

The first trick to get chalks and etc to stick is to apply them to a flat(non-glossy) surface. You didn't say what you used a a fixative other than a flat matte spray but it sounds like it may have been water based since it formed droplets. The next reason it may have formed droplets is that the nozzle on the can was partially clogged or was just too coarse. I normally use an air bru***o fix weathering but I have found two products in cans that work quite well. The first is Modelmaster Dullcote, available at hobby shops and the other is Krylon Crystal Clear, available at art supply stores. Remember that a number of very light coats, allowing drying time between coats works much better than on or two heavy coats. Hope this helped...Vic

[Anonymous]

Vic-I never thought of using either Dullcote or Crystal Clear.I haven't done modeling in quite sometime and I am having to re-learn a lot of what I forgot. The reason I mentioned cheap hair spray is that as a crafter my wife has had good results using it to overspray chalks. However I'm not sure what would happen if cheap hair spray was sprayed on a plastic model,if it would attack the plastic.
According to Bragon Enterprises their powders are self adhesive. I have not tried them as yet but I think that because they are self adhesive it is less likely that a clear overspray would disturb them.Andd yes a few light coats is always better that one heavy one. Bob

[ReadingBob]

I've used Dullcote in the spray can for quite a while for this. I use an airbrush for a lot of other things but for this the Dullcote works just fine in my opinion. The only thing (and I don't consider this a problem) is that it will 'lighten' up the effect considerably. This isn't the worst thing in the world though. Most of us are probably a little too heavy handed with the chalks anyway (at least I am). Besides that, you can always go back and add more later. Now taking it off, if it's overdone, after it's been sealed with Dullcote, well, that's a different story......

By the way, if you use a Black Ink/Rubbing Alcohol mix for weathering DON'T put it on over the Dullcote (even after the Dullcote has dryed). It has an interesting chemical reaction. In one or two situations you may want to do this to get the effect that it produces (kind of a white powdery look) but try it on some scap material first to be sure.

Another Bob!

[Anonymous]

I use Testor's Model Master Dull Coat spray. It holds all the weathering nice and neat, and does not come off when handling the cars or structures.

Recently I used Dull Coat for the reason it was intended, which is always a handy thing. I repainted a UP GP9 to be a ROUTE ROCK GP9, and light blue glossy paint was all I could find for the body. One application of the Dull Coat over the blue, and it was totally flat! I love this stuff!

-Wolv33

[Anonymous]

You can achieve some great effects using black alcohol over Dullcoated weathering. For example, I'm constructing a "backwoods" water tank car. I wanted the whole tank to have a rusty appearance but the area around the filler pipe and the pump to have the appearance of lime scale and other hard water deposits. First I sprayed the chalk weathering with Dullcoat, let it dry, and then dribbled a small amount of black alcohol in the desired areas. It ran down the filler tube, into the tank rivets, and on around the pump. When it dried, it had the crusty appearance of hard water deposits accumulated over many years. It looks really great!

You can also use this method to depict mortar in "old" brick structures.

[Anonymous]

In addition to the other suggestions posted here, you can use fixative sprays that are made specifically for artist's chalks and charcoals. They are available in most craft/art supply stores and don't cost much more than some of the other products mentioned here.