Basic Weathering, a Pictoral Guide

[grandeman]

There seems to be a lot of interest here in weathering freight cars and locos. Weathering adds to a model's realism. There are several methods to achieve a weathered look such as airbrushing, washes, etc. The method described here works well for me but keep in mind, there's a right way, a wrong way, and there's grande man's way. [:D] This is a quick and dirty (no pun intended [:D]) method to turn out a quantity of rolling stock in a hurry. It probably takes about 10 minutes per car plus drying time for the dull cote. Maybe some of ya'll will find it useful.

The "victim" and basic materials. The chalk came from a LHS and Testors Dull Cote is widely available. I prefer an angled brush because it can reach into small spaces yet still cover larger areas. I use the same brush for all chalk colors.


The first step is to add soot. Go ahead and coat darker colored cars like this oxide color fairly heavy. For lighter color cars add a little less "soot".


With a paper towel dampened with "wet water" (water with a few drops of dish detergent added for spraying scenery before cementing it) add streaks to the soot. On a car body such as this hopper, I like to leave soot around the verticle structure.


The next step is to apply a coat of Testors dull cote over the entire model. This seals the soot and "grabs" chalk added later. Don't get dull cote in the truck journals. Tape them if necessary.


While the dull cote dries, apply a cote of Floquil Rail Brown to the wheels. Be careful not to get paint in the journals or on the treads.


Add "dirt" with appropriately colored chalk.


Complete the final details like adding dirt and rust colored chalk to the trucks, couplers, etc.


Viola! The "dirty" hopper at home in the dusty, soot filled environment of the Split Rock Mine.

[steveblackledge]

That look's a great job, it's good of you to share these things with everyone

[AggroJones]

Nice tutorial. You can never have to much info about weathering. [tup]

[Anonymous]

Bump!!
Nice job!!!

[Anonymous]

There is one thing that I would like to add. If you purchase the pastel chalks from an art store, like I did, I have found that if you wait for a couple of days or a week before you apply your Dullcoat, or in my case Krylon, the chalk seems to "fix" itself better and not "disappear"

[electrolove]

grande man:

I just wake up and turned on the computer. Wow, this was a nice surprise. It's mini tutorials like this that makes this forum so good, I want to see more things like this. The tutorial looks absolutely professional. Nice pictures and explanations. The only thing that I can complain about is that the pictures could be a little bigger. But that's only my opinion. GREAT WORK GRANDE! [:D]

[AntonioFP45]

I like that hopper!

A+!

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove

grande man:

I just wake up and turned on the computer. Wow, this was a nice surprise. It's mini tutorials like this that makes this forum so good, I want to see more things like this. The tutorial looks absolutely professional. Nice pictures and explanations. The only thing that I can complain about is that the pictures could be a little bigger. But that's only my opinion. GREAT WORK GRANDE! [:D]

Glad you enjoyed the thread. [8D]

As for the pics, you do know a double click will enlarge them, right? As for larger pics (high res), my dial up is a severe handicap during the upload.

[ereimer]

very nice , thanks !

[Ibflattop]

Thats a cool job ya have got there. I like the idea of the wedge brush on the trucks, I weather mine the same way ya got but I done use dullcoat. I have been weathering this way for about 8 years and havent really had any problems at all would the chalks coming off. Kevin

[howmus]

grande man, Thanks!!! I love your work! I just bookmarked this thread as I should be starting some wheathering of rolling stock soon and this will be very helpful.

[grandeman]

Thanks guys for all the positive comments.

The above technique is cheap and quick, two positive attributes! We have more weathering to do, ya'll know I'll post pics. [:D]I hope you guys have fun weathering! Here's a lighter colored car done with the same system to show the effect.

[tcf511]

Wow, thanks very much. I'm new to the hobby and weathering is one of the things that I most want to learn. This was helpful. One question please, in the photo of applying the soot there is both a paint bottle and a chalk container. Do you use some combination of both?

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tcf511
One question please, in the photo of applying the soot there is both a paint bottle and a chalk container. Do you use some combination of both?

No, just the chalk. The Rail Brown was only used for the wheels. The Floquil bottle was holding the car in position for the camera which was on timer mode. Sorry for the confusion.

[electrolove]

Yea! I know that they can be clicked on to make them bigger. The idea I had was just to be able to see it more in detail. But it's not a major problem with the size you already have. Good work!

Do you have any more tutorials planned, like scenery for example? Just a suggestion. I want to learn as much as possible so I'm ready when it's time to do scenery on my own layout.

QUOTE: Originally posted by grande man

QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove

grande man:

I just wake up and turned on the computer. Wow, this was a nice surprise. It's mini tutorials like this that makes this forum so good, I want to see more things like this. The tutorial looks absolutely professional. Nice pictures and explanations. The only thing that I can complain about is that the pictures could be a little bigger. But that's only my opinion. GREAT WORK GRANDE! [:D]

Glad you enjoyed the thread. [8D]

As for the pics, you do know a double click will enlarge them, right? As for larger pics (high res), my dial up is a severe handicap during the upload.

[Anonymous]

Tremendous work!

[egmurphy]

Grande man - Nice work, thanks. Do you not use a final coat of DullCoat to seal or hold the last layer of chalk you put on?


Electrolove: you might want to check out a recent tutorial on scenery written by Joe Fugate. Here's the link:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=1&TOPIC_ID=32122


Regards

Ed

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by egmurphy

Grande man - Nice work, thanks. Do you not use a final coat of DullCoat to seal or hold the last layer of chalk you put on?

Hi Ed. I don't add a final dull cote layer because it tends to "hide" the lighter earth colors. The dull cote does a good job of keeping the chalk in place because it's embedded in the dulled finish. Chalk will sometimes come off the trucks from handling and is easily touched up. It does better on painted surfaces. Smooth plastic (like many diesel fuel tanks) needs to be roughened lightly with a piece of scothbrite before starting a weathering job.

[electrolove]

egmurphy:

Yes I know about that clinic, but thanks anyway. Joe is really good. Looking forward to try out his methods.

QUOTE: Originally posted by egmurphy

Grande man - Nice work, thanks. Do you not use a final coat of DullCoat to seal or hold the last layer of chalk you put on?


Electrolove: you might want to check out a recent tutorial on scenery written by Joe Fugate. Here's the link:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=1&TOPIC_ID=32122


Regards

Ed

[grandeman]

Hey guys, thought I'd include another pic on this subject. This is one of my fav cars even though it's probably a little "late" for our railroad. I gave it a light weathering job. The pic doesn't show the thin "dust" layer very well but here goes...

[Anonymous]

Excellent tutorial. You are a master!!!

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by toddhewitt516

Excellent tutorial. You are a master!!!

I'm glad you enjoyed it. That makes the time required to take and host the pics worthwhile. I'm no master though, just another train nut like everyone else here. .[8D] Give weathering a try. It's fun, easy and really adds to the realism of your trains

Here's a pic showing the effect of the technique on darker colored cars. These hoppers were weathered last week. The dust/dirt really shows up on the darker background!

[grandeman]

Hey guys, sorry for the thread resurrection. I had to revamp the pics on this one (the old host "lost" the old ones) to reply to this latest weathering thread, http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=53289.

Since I'm here though, here's a few more Chalk/Dull Cote weathering jobs. [;)]

[Anonymous]

Awesome! You make that look so easy. Thanks for the info.

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bruce stephens

Awesome! You make that look so easy. Thanks for the info.

Bruce, it is easy! Give it a try on an inexpensive freight car sometime. I bet you'll be surprised with the result after a little practice.

[Anonymous]

Very nice tutorial. I will definitely put this to use sometime.

[Anonymous]

WOW!!! Those look Great... but just to get it right you don't have to dull coat your second brushing of chalk? or powders, and these powders you use do you have a link to them I would like to have some.....
thanks for the tutorial... Great Work!

[novicerr]

Thanks Grande Man. I havent become brave enough to weather any cars yet. Having trouble adding age to something fairly new, that wife and I paid money for, if you know what I mean

[grandeman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Dock_661

or powders, and these powders you use do you have a link to them I would like to have some.....

You might be interested in the Derwent Brown Pastels kit from Hobby Lobby. At $4.99, it seems like a good buy, and after using the pastels, I prefer them to my old chalk assortment.

Here's the basic kit. Colors included are Umber, Sepia, Burnt Umber, Brown Ochre, Terracotta and Chocolate.



A hobby knife is great to scrape the material off the sticks into a usable powder.



Here's a shot of the first pastels "victim". :D It was done with the usual Dull Cote in addition to the pastels and is somewhat of a "quicky" job..

[AggroJones]

BUMP.