Basic Weathering, a Pictoral Guide

[secondhandmodeler]

Wow!!  This looks great.  But what is "LHS" and where did you get it?

"LHS" is Local Hobby Shop.

[Wingnut15]

Wow!!  This looks great.  But what is "LHS" and where did you get it?

[Robby P.]

I used the chalk powder's from Wal-Mart and they got thrown in the trash.  I didn't like how they worked at all.  Even when I dullcoted they disappeared.  Now the powder's in the other picture's worked pretty good.  I use Bragdon, which work real good for me, and other's use AIM powder's.  Also, so people don't like using the spray can cause you can't control the spray.  Like Aggro said, some oil's work real well.  You can see a BIG difference with using oil's. Once you start trying weathering you will find thing's that will make a huge difference (tooth pick's, sponge's, etc).  Not trying to be mean, but I don't want people to just get some powder's and try weathering.  I did and wasn't happy.  You might wanna spend some money and get some decent powder's, oil's, air gun.  Just my 2 cent's.  

[MrKLUKE]

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[troynm]

Great mini-article. One thing I didn't understand was the first step using "soot". Was that with a black or dark paint or chalk?

[fsm1000]

Someone gave me a link to this and I just had to say wow, great job. Thanks for the incentive :)

[AggroJones]

Actual chalks work great in certain washes. Also mushed into oil paint. But thats pretty much it. 

[ProtoWeathering]

A bump for mike.

[ProtoWeathering]

Those little chalk squares are OK for structures, but you need a little more something if you're going to handle those cars at all.

Weathering powders have an adhesive mixed it to them that makes them close to perminent. I use AIM Powders, but there are others such as Bragdon and I think Bar Mills sells a set too. Don't waste your money on chalks that will disappear after you've sealed them. All the powders are listed in Walthers web-site. Just Search for weathering powders. 

Anyone who wants to learn weathering needs to get over to

http://www.modeltrainsweathered.com/gallery.htm Then click on the flashng Yellow sign. You will have to register, but it keeps the spammers out.

Sorry, but chalks just don't cut it when you need to go heavy. 

Imagine how much chalk you would have to use for these four. AIM Weathering Powders, Dull*Cote, and Microsol was used for about 95% of these cars.

Hi Mike! 

[Anonymous]

I just bought the same pack at Hobby Lobby last week.  Very nice tutorial.  I've been looking for something like this.  What do you recommend for adding rust?

 

Jeremy

[GUB]

Nice work. Do you use the same method on buildings?

GUB

[MilwaukeeRoad]

Great Job! I'm going to try this on one of my MILW boxcars sometime.

[AggroJones]

BUMP.

[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..

[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

[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!

[Anonymous]

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

[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]

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

[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. [;)]

[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!

[Anonymous]

Excellent tutorial. You are a master!!!

[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...

[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]

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.

[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

[Anonymous]

Tremendous work!

[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.

[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.