Custom painting

[Anonymous]

I have noticed almost all the close up photos of custom painted models in train mags have a mottled, almost-lumpy, appearance--as opposed to smooth factory finish. Is this because:
A. My eyes are playing games with me
B. Solvent vs acrylic paint--or not the right amount of thinner
C. Aerosol spray can vs. air brush
D. Low vs high quality air brush--or spray not fine enough
E. Model too close to or too far from sprayer
F. Sprayer moved too slowly past model
G. Too many coats of paint--or not enough time between coats
H. Hobbyist propellant spray vs factory electro-static attraction
I.. All of the above

[Anonymous]

actually the primary reason is that alot of models "Wheather" their models to simulate exposure to wheather and the elements. This is do to the fact that bright shiny, spit polish factory perfect is rarely seen on railraods. I agree that locomotives today just don't seem to get as dirty as in the past. Mainly due to better maintence and lower emissions. But watch a lot of vintage footage like the Pentrax UP Big Boy Collection for example. You will notice that while engines that have been freshly serviced are fairly clean. Once they are underway and on the road soot, and oil and dirt, and geneal grime quickly give them a quite mottled and and dirty appearence. It is this look that alot of people try to replicate on their models.

I however think people tend to get to carried away and overdo wheathering alot. I like to do light amounts of wheathering to make the details "pop" but having serious caked on greace,grime, and crud. I tend to shy away from unless I am modeling a car that is typically in very dirty service such as cement, tannery (Hauling hides from slaughter house to tannery), coal, or in MOW service where maintence priorities are low and wear and tear is high. Then if its residing in a scrap yard awaiting its ultimate demise, I take pleasure in making it look like a good sneese will knock it down.

James