Did I overdo the weathering on the Bluebox Burlington hopper?
Do you want this car to look old and worn or failry new. If new, maybe you went too far, if old, then I think you didn't go far enough.
IMO, the white weathering looks like the red paint has faded, you now need to find a way to fade the BURLINGTON lettering to match. Like you did over the CB&Q letters.
Then I would add some muddy brown color to the trucks, lower bays, and lower strrups. Just dabs since the color will show well against the white and the red.
It takes practice, so you don't want to love this car in case it turns out badly.
- Douglas
philo426 Did I overdo the weathering on the Bluebox Burlington hopper?
No not overdone, although as with any weathering the key question is, in the era you model how long ago was this car new? I'd evaluate your weathering as looking like the car was 6 to10 years past being new.
Indeed given that it hauled coal, the interior should be less pristine, much darker not just from coal dust but because the sulfur chemicals in coal are not kind to paint (or metal).
Some similar CBQ red hoppers (3 bay if memory serves) ended up on the Chicago & North Western in ballast service and the red paint would by then fade to a dingy pink, the white lettering would "bleed" down the car side, and of course plenty of dings and dents that tend to beome growing rust spots.
Dave Nelson
Thanks for the replies!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
How did the OP weather this car? If it was done with an airbrush, it's probably the way it's going to be. But, if it's done with powders and has not yet been sealed with Dul-Cote or the like, then it will look a lot less weathered after sealing.
I like the way it looks, if it's hauling limestone or concrete or something light. Coal, not so much.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I gave it washes of dilute black and dilute white Tamiya acrylic paint.
Sometimes difficult to say when enough's enough, but taking frequent breaks to evaluate results when applying the fade and weathering is helpful, so too using prototype and model photos as a guide. Puzzling how oftentimes an otherwise faded and grimy car can have fairly clean heralds and lettering.
Regards, Peter
Seems to an art ,not a science!
philo426Did I overdo the weathering on the Bluebox Burlington hopper?
Hi philo426,
I don't think the weathering is overdone at all. I love the way you have created the streaks of washed off paint under the letters.
If I were to do anything, I think I would add more rust higher up in the interior.
I don't understand what the bright white paint spots and lines on the left side of the hopper are meant to represent. Perhaps you could clarify.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Weathering is quite subjective. I used to over-due weathering and now follow my wife's advice: less is more. I think she was referring to trains.
It is a great start. Def add some rust spots/streaks starting from the top and going down since rain rolls downward.
hon30critterI don't understand what the bright white paint spots and lines on the left side of the hopper are meant to represent. Perhaps you could clarify.
Me too, it looks like you spilled white paint there. My technique is to airbrush a dilute wash of gray to make the paint look faded. I would add more rust by either brushing oil paint or acrylic.
I question what the inside of any hopper should look like, especially if they are carrying coal. Should they not look black and rusty?
When I rode the Rocky Mountaineer, I was able to look down on a few silver (aluminum?) colored hoppers and they were silver inside. No black, no rust.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Yes had an issue with a difficult to open paint jar with unfortunate results ..for some reason I like it !
I have a simple trick for making my paint jars easy to open. As soon as I open a bottle, I clean the rim and the inside of the cap with a paper towel. If I get any paint on the rim while I am using the bottle, I clean that off immediately too. Since I started doing this, I can open any bottles that have been cleaned with bare hands.
Unfortunately, I didn't do this right from the beginning with a lot of my older paints so I still have to get out the channel lock pliers from time to time. When I need to use the channel lock pliers, I put the bottle in my rubber jawed vise. If you don't have rubber jaws on your vise you can wrap the bottle in several layers of masking tape to cushion the glass.
Yes good tips ,thanks!
This Bev-Bel 50' Double Door boxcar represents a nearly new car with a light coating of dust I airbrushed on.
BigDaddyI question what the inside of any hopper should look like, especially if they are carrying coal. Should they not look black and rusty?
To be fair, there has been rain and as we all know bare steel and water is a recipe for rust.
Thanks Bear, and I liked your weathering.
C&O 721 by Bear, on Flickr …. whereas this car just needs a good clean.
Yup, my home-town TH&B had some well-weathered covered hoppers...
...so I had no worries about trying some weathering on model of a TH&B covered hopper...
...and later used the same process on some GERN Industries covered hoppers...
...and I do enjoy weathering most of my freight cars, from just a bit to almost too much...
Wayne
@philo426, your BB hopper car looks good. Lots of great pictures and ideas above.
Ore cars with a caboose bringing up the rear. All weathered with powders and unsealed.
A Railroad can be a dirty place.
I need to work on fading the PRR on car #13061.
Find cheap/free/broken rolling stock at train shows, yard sales or basement sales.
With railroad rolling stock, weather/elements and commodities are your enemy.