I want to try some weathering on some of my box cars the problem is knowing it the roofs are silver or painted. Since most pictures are from the ends or sides it is hard to tell on a particular car. Any way of knowing would like to try stay as close to protoypical as possable.
What year, what road, what time frame???????????????
In my opinion the purpose of weathering is to improve the realism of a item that you have.
If you bought a boxcar already painted and lettered for a prototype, then assume it is right for the date painted on it's side, and go ahead and weather it.
If you later discover it was incorrect, then worry about it.
Dave
Various railroads and time frames I modle the 80's to aroud 2005 so I have cars that could be made in the 60's running in my time era Most of my stuff is older Blue box and round house kits so I doubt is is correctly painted roofs
Considering how visible the roofs of freight cars are on most model railroads, there is surpsingly little information on their actual appearance.
Page 13 of Kalmbach's Model Railroaders Guide to Freight Cars by Jeff Wilson does have some general information.
https://books.google.com/books?id=_8qQS0ZNCTIC&pg=PA13&dq=box+car+roof+colors&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAGoVChMIkt_Eo7uByQIVwzsmCh34tgXi#v=onepage&q=box%20car%20roof%20colors&f=false
Some books on the car builders and some on specific railroads do give specific information, but most do not.
My impression is tht cars built through the 1960's at least had painted roofs. By the 1980's most built would not have painted roofs. Un-painted roofs would often have some overspray from the painting of the sides and ends of the car.
Car roofs would often be rusty and/or dirty in either case. However the amount of dirt and rust could vary from extremly light to so heavy that is difficult to tell if they have ever been painted.
While the roofs are not visible in most protoytype photos, searches of the various photo sites will find some. From some random viewing I would say that light weathing would be the norm.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
There's no simple answer. You just have to dig for the information. Yes, the era matters. Around the 1940's and 1950's a lot of roads bought cars with galvanized roofs, but painted them. The paint quickly started to wear off in patches because --- SURPRISE! --- galvanized metal doesn't take paint well. NKP comes to mind, although not all NKP car orders of the era fitted this description. Your weathering might include this look if it's applied to one of the cars that was built and painted this way.
The best way I can suggest is to develop a large reference library and join the historical societies that are likely to have info on the cars that interest you. One excellent source of information is the Railway Prototype Cyclopedia series, published by RP CYC Publishing Company, P.O. Box 451, Chesterfield, MO, 63006-0451.
Photos of weathered cars, preferably in color, can be invaluable.
Tom
Csrs up through maybe the early 70s mostly had painted roofs. Many built after that started with unpainted roofs, often with overspray of the body color around the edges. Repaints vary a lot, with roofs sometimes getting paint and others not. Either way, the paint's bond with the galvanizing tends to fail eventually. The roof will only look "silver" initially, changing color over time to reflect rust and other weathering.
This car is supposed to have varying degrees of paint failure. Paint tends to stay on the ribs, while weathering more heavily on the panels. I used washes and dry-brushing of acrylic craft paint to build up rust, then rubbed carbody color chalks onto the rust to look like the thinning remnants of paint.
This car has more intact paint combined with rust. Some areas where paint has more recently failed are silvery because the galvanized finish hasn't succumbed to rust yet.
This roof has blotches of paint remaining, but lots of galvanizing showing through, plus a film of rust. I applied some light gray to the areas where paint was supposed to have come off, and again used acrylic washes and dry-brushing, plus some chalks, to blend it all together.
Rob Spangler
wp8thsub Csrs up through maybe the early 70s mostly had painted roofs. Many built after that started with unpainted roofs, often with overspray of the body color around the edges. Repaints vary a lot, with roofs sometimes getting paint and others not. Either way, the paint's bond with the galvanizing tends to fail eventually. The roof will only look "silver" initially, changing color over time to reflect rust and other weathering. This car is supposed to have varying degrees of paint failure. Paint tends to stay on the ribs, while weathering more heavily on the panels. I used washes and dry-brushing of acrylic craft paint to build up rust, then rubbed carbody color chalks onto the rust to look like the thinning remnants of paint. This car has more intact paint combined with rust. Some areas where paint has more recently failed are silvery because the galvanized finish hasn't succumbed to rust yet. This roof has blotches of paint remaining, but lots of galvanizing showing through, plus a film of rust. I applied some light gray to the areas where paint was supposed to have come off, and again used acrylic washes and dry-brushing, plus some chalks, to blend it all together.
Great looking weathering!
Go out into the real world and observe the effects of weather, sunlight, soot from locomotives. There's also the dirt and grime that the car wheels throw up on the ends, the wheels and trucks themselves get pretty messy, too. And, take LOTS of pictures, so you can refer back to them. Rust and water streaks add to the mix, as well as, rough handling of loads (dented and bent sides of open rolling stock).
A few years ago, there was another thread about weathering and someone posted a picture that, literally had me laughing for hours. I can't remember his name, but...
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Weathering roofs is a great idea. I touched mine up since the height of the layout enables adults to look at, or down, on the cars.
I oftene just paint the roofs gray and put some weathering powders. Again, nothing overboard since I want people to focus on the sides of cars.
Schmitt: PM sent about the book.
Saw a question similar to this about two different manufacturers painting the same road box cars roofs differently. It was stated that the roofs were often galvanized metal which does not hold paint well and since it flexes easily, the paint had often peeled off, leaving a primarily silver colored roof.
Have fun,
Richard
Medina1128Great looking weathering!
Thanks, Marlon!
That was great - the Railbox weathered with crayons. I wondered if the guy was serious or just seeing what reaction he'd get.