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Some of the people in the thread posted today, about 1/3 of them haven't been here in 5 or 6 years. Also in old threads, as you can see, links may not work.
Anyone named Anonymous has been deleted from the forum, that's why the have 300,000 posts.
Actually I'm not sure what you have to do to graduate to Anonymous class. When I first joined, some guy had just been kicked off this forum and his posts were deleted. He went to another forum and did not receive a warm welcome there.
As to the OP's question, if he hasn't figured it out in 9 years, I doubt I will sway his opinion. I've weathered all my diesels and not one steam engine. I'm afraid it won't look right. I guess I should take my own advice and practice on one that is in the parts bin.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Welcome to the group, HO H. You've dug up a topic posted in 2010!
Weathering, and the degree of it is a highly personal choice. Some things will never look good without it, like track. Most things look better with at least some. But a bad weathering job on a nice model is counterproductive.
It's a matter of taste, and even risk management, until a modeler has down a technique that can be handled safely.
John Pryke had some articles in Model Railroader that I think are some of the best examples of excellent weathering. Airbrush skills needed, but achievable. Dan
galaxy Short answer is that you don't have to weather your RR equipment. I am funny about weathering. I will weather buildings to make them look more realistic. But I do NOT weather my locos or RRcars. I prefer to think my RR keeps 'em clean and shiney. I, too, have a hard time even weathering a $50 loco or a $4.99 RR car, let alone a $250.00 loco.I am affraid I will "muck it up" and if I do on a building I can always strip it and start over, but loco,,,it's hard to get that factory-like new look back again. Now maybe if I could do a great weather job like Robby P. ,,,,
Short answer is that you don't have to weather your RR equipment.
I am funny about weathering.
I will weather buildings to make them look more realistic.
But I do NOT weather my locos or RRcars. I prefer to think my RR keeps 'em clean and shiney.
I, too, have a hard time even weathering a $50 loco or a $4.99 RR car, let alone a $250.00 loco.I am affraid I will "muck it up" and if I do on a building I can always strip it and start over, but loco,,,it's hard to get that factory-like new look back again.
Now maybe if I could do a great weather job like Robby P. ,,,,
I don't have a layout yet, but here are my thoughts on weathering:
And leep in mind the number one rule of model railroading: It's your railroad. Who cares what you do? Don't spend your time trying to please strangers. Unless you're founding a model railroad club not many people will be looking at your layout and judging it to your face.
Modeler of the Lehigh Valley Railroad in Bethlehem PA, 1971 and railfan of Norfolk Southern's Lehigh and Reading Lines of the modern day.
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"When railroading time comes you can railroad...but not before."
- Robert A. Heinlein
I weather everything even people animals and autos. But, everyone has the right to do what they want and this is what makes it such a great hobby. As you advance and become more skilled, the reasons you use for not weathering will probable disappear unless in fact you want or need to be a seller or collector. Then it (As the latest Philosophy Friday Thread points out) will become your own particular preference or philosophy as to how you will go about weathering. Weathering is the easiest way to make your model look real life even if it is just to take the sheen off a plastic car, locomotive, structure or figure. I suggest you take a close look at how even the most detailed locomotive can look toy like when it is taken out of the box and this is certainly not meant to criticize the Lionel crowed or HI Railers who I greatly admire. The first PFE reefer on the left is an Athearn metal kit that I weathered as a beginner some 55 years ago. The one on the right is a very basic Accurail kit with cast on detail that took me less than 15 minutes to weather with removable chalk and IMO helps to disguise it's lack of realistic detail.
Peter Smith, Memphis
I can't think of any rules in model railroading that you have to obey. It may be a good idea to obey some of them, but weathering locomotives isn't one of them.
I prefer my locos to be weathered, but not weather-beaten.
A friend for whom I paint locomotives originally liked his to be weathered more heavily:
However, after I did this almost freshly-shopped loco for him, he decided that he liked the lighter weathering better:
Eventually, I re-painted and re-weathered several earlier locos for him, including the one shown earlier:
Another friend, modelling the very end of the steam era, wanted her loco weathered fairly heavily. I first sent her a picture of the newly detailed and painted loco (I like to paint the loco in colours that represent an almost-new look, including gloss and semi-gloss finishes where appropriate.):
...and another after some initial weathering (it's easier to add more than it is to remove too much):
...and the final version:
While I no longer run diesels, I liked to weather them, too:
Wayne
I guess this is the reason I continue to look in on the forum.I occasionally find a like-minded person who clearly has excellent taste ,graet vision...oh and agrees with me!!!
I don't weather my locos,I have weathered one or two freight cars (but they seem to be stored ) but I have some seriously beat buildings .Go figure
I can think of few things I enjoy more than watching my shiny ,clean lash-up of Overniter cars rolling around my layout.
I weather my Rio Grande steam fleet just enough with Bragdon powders so that they look both used and fairly well taken care of--the Yuba River sub is known as a 'good housekeeper'. The effect I try for is the normal wear and tear on the road between shoppings.
With that said, I have acquired some used SP brass steamers--SP has trackage rights on the YubaRiver Sub-- that have been weathered to the point where they look like 'rolling junkyards' (SP modelers seem to have an absolute Fetish for this, LOL!). However, I'm not about to go through the major pain of stripping and repainting them--getting lazy in my Old Age, I suppose.
But to answer your question--is it really necessary? I think that's up to the individual hobbyist. I enjoy 'weathering' my locos, but oddly enough, I don't weather my rolling stock. The several times I tried, I ended up with freight cars that looked as if they'd been buried in the Sahara Desert since the time of the Egyptian Pharaoh's. Not one of my talents, I suppose.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
I don't weather. I don't do litter either. My memories of the 50's don't include the dirt, so why include it on my layout? I see my layout as a painting not a photograph.
That said, I have seen some very nice effects.. It's just not for me.
Enjoy
Paul
Unlike the majority of you SCARETY CATS I choose to weather all of my rollingstock including engines. I strive for realism and you DO NOT achieve that with a good looking layout and shiny plastic models. I say people SHOULD either weather them if they are decent at it or pay to have them done by a professional. The professional weathered models sell for more money than they are worth so it is not a bad deal to weather the models. plus there is a couple of guys on youtube that make HOW TO videos with Weathering taht make it so easy to learn and be good at it.
I SAY WEATHER IT!!!
mike_brubaker I'm new to the hobby and I see all these books and articles about weathering your locomotives to make them look more realistic. Am I wrong that I have a hard time "mucking" up a $250+ model? I really don't want to have to weather my locomotives, but many people, especially Tony Koester's books, make it sound like that's a criminal offense. Are there any of you that have not weathered your locos? Thanks, Mike Brubaker
I'm new to the hobby and I see all these books and articles about weathering your locomotives to make them look more realistic. Am I wrong that I have a hard time "mucking" up a $250+ model? I really don't want to have to weather my locomotives, but many people, especially Tony Koester's books, make it sound like that's a criminal offense. Are there any of you that have not weathered your locos?
Thanks,
Mike Brubaker
Well, Mike, they are not trying to imply that not wethering a locomotive is a "criminal offence", but rather, that almost all locomotives would do good with some wethering.
Are you wrong about having a hard time starting the wethering process? No, not at all. I normally get really cheep locomotives, and I have to force myself to think about wethering them.
Wetheirng is optional, some people like it, some people don't. It's just personal prefrence. What I do is run the locomotives un-wethered for a few years, and then hit them with a black wash (at least on the grilles) and mabe some dry-brushed rust and dirt. Then, after that, I give the locomotive a heavy wethering, and never take a brush to it again (with few exceptions)
But, the best way to sum it all up is:
It's your layout. Do what you want. JUST HAVE FUN!
Mr. Mikado (Robby), thanks very much...I sincerely appreciate your fondness for my layout and photos.
-Crandell
Of course you don't have to - as most here have said.
Myself? I'm modeling a railroad, not a collection of rolling stock. As railroads operate in the weather, i feel mine need to be weathered. I used to build military models, where I "learned" some things to do and not do, and on relatively inexpensive plastic kits. Though sometimes I look at a pristine boxcar and think - that looks too cool to get dirty. But I get over it, and when I place it in a train it looks GREAT.
That said, I haven't weathered my only steam locomotive yet. However, i am going to, eventually. Really, I swear...
Sean
HO Scale CSX Modeler
I am planning to weather my freight cars, after practicing on some junkers that I still have floating around from my first train set. Having said that, I probably won't be weathering my locomotives beyond a spray with dullcote, just to take the sheen off.
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
Mike, it's yes and no. If you really want to make everything look blended even new locos should have some dullcoat.
However, no one will arrest you for not weathering your locos. If you really like the paint or don't want to mess it up that's fine.
If you want to but are afraid of messing anything up, practice on some freight cars instead...they're much cheaper and also easier to repaint if you want to.
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
If you'll forgive a play on words, weathering isn't hard to do, but it's easy to overdo.
If you're new to the hobby, I wouldn't worry about weathering at this point. I weather all my cars and engines, but I didn't start doing it until I had been in the hobby many years. Nothing wrong with leaving your equipment in "like new" condition until you feel like you want to try weathering.
BTW if/when you do start weathering, you can always start with something like powdered charcoal and chalks rather than paint or stain washes. That way, if you don't like the result, you can wash it off and start over.
Here's a few pictures. You can have some clean engines, and then some used looking ones!!
[View:http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/utility/:550:0]
"Rust, whats not to love?"
If you want a realistic layout: Then look at your protoype cues. I was in Crwfordsvill last week, and the engines and even a few of the cars from CSX ranged from "Looks like it's been washed" to "Just came out of the box". I couldn't believe the shine on some of them, so you don't have to. Me? I doubt I'll be weathering many engines. The ones I use are either shortline, Lease engines that'll look nicve going to the customer, or parked in a museum. trucks maybe. We'll see about freightcars as I get to them, but judgng by my current experience, Odds aren't great. And it's even less likely they will see an airbrush, like never. Chalks though...
-Morgan
Crandell, you sure do take terrific photos of a beautiful layout. Just like your Seneca Gorge bridge shot from another post. Thanks!
Robby
Dear Mike: I weather all my buildings, cars and locomotives, eventually, unless I desire to make a piece of equipment appear new. More that one person has commented that my layout is Grungy, not in a negative way ,but as a compliment on the realism. One thing I have found out, though, is that my structures sold on Ebay, go quicker if they are not weathered!
The Ferroequinologist layoutconcepts@yahoo.com eBay store: Backshop Train & China Store Facebook: Model Trains, Train Sets, Buildings & Layout Concepts
You don't have to, someone else may want to weather tham for you .
I weather my cars, but I'm trying to get a bit more experience before tackling more engines. Let's just say my last loco got botched.
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
This is a "To each his own" bromide, I guess. Me? well, I don't really regard my (model) railroad purchases--even if they were two hundred and fifty smacker models--as an investment so I'm not averse to weathering my equipment. I would much rather have my locomotives convey the impression that they are working, and hence, earning revenue, rather than my whole fleet giving the appearance that they just emerged from the erection shop in London, Ontario, Canada or Erie, Pennsylvania . . . . . . . . . . or maybe just having come out of the paint shop as part of an overhaul.
For me locomotives . . . . . . . . . . and rolling stock also for that matter . . . . . . . . . . look more appropriate when at least lightly weathered. They should become part of the illusion of the layout's scenery. Unfortunately weathering is sometimes applied with too heavy a hand! . . . . . . . . . . GUILTY!!!!! On more than one occassion I have had to go through a stripping and repainting process because I came out with a weathered locomotive that looked more like a T-34 that had just spent a week mucking through a Russian winter offensive.
A vignette if I may:
About thirty years ago a group of us railfans were on an excursion up on the Santa Fe mainline. We caught a freight departing westbound from Winslow with a freshly painted GE on the headend. I was informed by an individual heavily into modeling the Santa Fe, and therefore in the know about such things, that this unit was fresh off the erection floor at Erie and was on its first trip westward.
Roll the calendar forward six or seven months. I'm shooting an eastbound from atop the old Route 66 bridge out at Rimmy Jims . . . . . . . . . . it is now known as Winona, Rimmy Jim's being a somewhat vulgar expression which is why this location is no longer known as that. There was a GE unit on the point of this train, dirty and muddy, badly in need of a trip through a washrack somewhere; and it even appeared that the unit's paintjob was beginning to show a few signs of fading. It wasn't until some time later that I discovered that I had photographed the same unit as I had done the previous summer.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
If you wish to model and show something one ought to expect in a modelled context, then I would say at least some judicious weathering would be more convincing. But no one has to do anything only one way in this hobby.
Let's be realistic...how many of us would tackle the job of painting their own backdrop? Not many a t'all. They decline because they understand themselves and what they want to do about their own enjoyment of their purchases and construction(s). So, if one is not very handy with an artist's brush, with powders, or with an airbrush, one is probably wise to accept that his/her items are not going to look very used or weathered over the long haul.
I used to feel squeamish about mucking up a pricey engine. I got over it, and was determined to make it a goal to weather engines decently...as I define decently. Some of my photos make me think I have done a passable job on some of my projects, while my early efforts were....uh....interesting....yeah, interesting.
My first two serious attempts, where I stuck to it and got ideas about fixes as I went along, were, in order, these two, each costing me over $350:
Yes, you have too! Just kidding.. I am a light weather, I use 59 cent Jo-Anns acrylic paint and lightly dry brush my dirty mix of colors, bit more on my rolling stock and less on the engines. I believe the paint is water based as it does wash right off if I find I might have over done it. My Dash-7 has bit more since it is an "older" engine while my Dash-9 is just dull coted to get ride of the plastic shine since it is a newer engine. I have one of the new Atlas Genset on order (should be here tomorrow) and I dont plan on doing anything to it since the those are very new to the rail world all the photos I have seen they look shiny new.
I didn't want to have to weather my loco's so I modeled Canadian Pacific. Their engines always looked as pristine as the day they rolled out of the shop.
It's your Railroad. How Pristine you keep your fleet is up to you.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Mike,
First you sould understand that is a very diverse hobby with lots of different "views' on how to go about doing it.
Don't let the Tony K's of the world dictate to you how to buid a model railroad or what to do or not do.
Now a few thoughts on weathering, and on the hobby in general.
IF your goal is to build a realistic, possibly photo-genic layout with realistic scenery, etc, like many you see in MR and RMC, than you most likely want to get into some level of weathering. How much is another question intirely.
For some weathering is a model art form within itself, especailly for many modelers of the current era since there is little or no pride of ownership on todays railroads and stuff is allowed to get in very poor cosmetic condition.
While railroading has always been a dirty business, in many eras past railroads did much more to keep things clean and looking as good as was practical.
Many of us who model these other eras are less likely to weather to extreme degrees, at least not on every piece of equipment. On most lines, the early 50's was a relatively clean and shinny period, diesels were new, freight cars new or freshly rebuilt with profits from the war, passenger cars too were new or rebuilt/repainted in one last ditch effort to save passenger business.
Back to modeling style and interest for a moment - Many people, some who have responded to your question so far, are more the "collector/runner" type rather than the "scene builder/modeler" type. And that's fine, everyone should take from this hobby what they enjoy. These folks we tell you not to weather or modify because it will hurt resale value - and they are right! So the question goes to you - do you ever think you would sell your stuff and does "collecting" interest you?
I (and other scene builder/modeler types) generally don't buy and then resell - I basicly have every model train I ever bought since I was 12, in 1969, when I started buying model trains with my own money. So I repaint them, weather them, kitbash them, modifiy them, with no regard for its effect on their value - and, yes, over the years when learning I have distroyed a few.
And nothing short of complete personal economic collapse would prompt me to sell anything other than a stray piece here or there that was once thought to be needed for the layout but now does not fit in.
I don't see my model railroad purchases as any kind of investment - they are my toys, entertainment like a going to a movie or out to dinner - try getting any return on those investments. The kids (all grown now) will have to have a big Ebay sale to collect their inheritance.
Back to weathering - should you decide to weather, definately start small and work into it, and generally, "less is more". If you are in HO, consider this, at 3 actually feet away, you are 261 scale feet away. How do trains look at that distance? That is the effect I strive for and would recommend.
Noted and well published modeler Howard Zane, who sells custom weathered cars, goes into some detail about this on his web site http://www.zanestructures.com/aboutrs.htm
You may want to explore the various aspects of the hobby for a while before you comment a lot of resources in one direction. Do you own an airbrush? Have you built any kits? Are you interesting in building structures and rolling stock? These may all be questions you would want to answer yes to before getting too deep into weathering.
Light weatherng and simply "dull coating" models makes them more realistic looking in a scene without necessarily making them look old, run down, or beat up. This isa choice I make for a large number of my models.
Welcome to the worlds greatest (and likely mosts diverse) hobby,
Sheldon
Like most folks said, the short answer is NO. Do what makes you happy. I personally like filthy steam so nothing runs on my layout that hasn't seen gouache weathering and an airbrush.
Chris
Me.........It has to be weathered!! Every bit of my rolling stock is either a mild weathered job, or a rust bucket. Just having a engine on my layout shiny....Just won't work.
I agree it's your layout, and maybe down the road you can do as someone said, and just dust it up a bit.
Here's some engines I've done.
This was a N-scale
anything i weather is done with pastels , chalks. If i am not happy with it it is real ez to undo. Any weathering i do on engines is very very light. my railroad , unlike the old SP , takes pride in having clean engines.
Well, I'm glad you all are on my side! HA HA HA! Good, I think I'll leave them alone, too much investment to "weather" it up.
Mike
My biggest problem with weathering is not whether to do it (sorry about the pun), but whether I'll do it right. There are so many techniques out there, and every modeler who actively weathers his rolling stock swears by his (or her) method. What if I try a particular technique I saw in the magazine and it doesn't work, or I screw it up? What if I weather it too heavily? What if I follow all the techniques exactly, and it still doesn't look right?
I know the answer to my concerns is to try several techniques on less important models, and as I master some or all of those techniques, I can judiciously apply them to my more important models. Still, getting over the hump of caution and indecision is tough at times. I keep telling myself I'll throw myself a weathering party - fire up the airbrush and weather a large batch of models at once - but there's always something else I want to do first.
It'll happen one day, but I'm in no rush.