Admin: If this is in the wrong category please feel free to move it. I could not find a group specific to detailing, etc. On Saturday I went to a local train show and found 8 open hoppers that are prototypical for the layout I am designing. I have begun the process of re-roading them but I took one that was headed for the paint shop and tried my hand at weathering/dirtying. How did I do? Before: After:
Very nicely done. The areas between ribs and the far left panel really show the ravages of age and look very realistic.
I think it's great, as foul and dirty as I've seen. If it were any worse, it would be in a scrap yard awaiting the torch...LOL
Wow, thanks for the kudos folks. As I said this was my first ever attempt at weathering/dirtying up rolling stock or any model for that matter. I am glad everyone likes it. Someone asked for technique, I will try to reply later with a write up of what I did and maybe a video if time permits.
COverton, seriously I have never weathered any models before and only got back into MRR about 2 months ago when I began designing a project layout for a friend in HO and then also decided to design a layout for myself. My last modeling was with a couple of aircraft carriers when I was ALOT younger and they are gone now.
I have mixed emotions. It's an Atlas A1G car (which I have collected and have all of them) so I'm sad to see it messed up but you did a great job messing it up. Doug
Sorry to make you sad Doug but I am happy you like the work I did. I am re-roading the cars for the Tennessee Central and have been lucky enough to find 8 so far and not paid more than 7 bucks for any single car. My goal is to get enough for a decent coal consist for my layout.
logandsawman asked about my weathering technique to here it is in a nutshell. I will try to post either a video or picture sometime later. The weathering powder is actually ground up soft (not oil) pastels from Walmart craft supply aisle. I make sure the surface is clean and free of dust. I mix 2:1 water/elmers glue in a small bowl and mix. Using a small brush, it is N-Scale after all, I dab areas I want to color. Using brown, black, tan/white, yellow ochre I apply with dabs of color where I thin I want it. If I get too much color I dip the brush into water and dab in a paper towel to dry it a bit and rub over the surface to dull down the area I want have less or more spread out color. When it looks right to my eye I am done. The one in this thread was done on the original factory brown but the next will be on one of my repainted flat black cars. The flat black ones were painted right over the factory finish and not stripped ahead of time. Not bad for using 4 dollar pastels and a little time. Note: Think less is more when doing this, too much can look like crap I would think. Also if you layer your colors a bit they give a nice relief to the weathering.
I probably should have named this thread 'The re-roading of rolling stock as that is how it all came about. This is my OCD at work, coming from an IT background with photography and 3D graphics experience I love to make this look nice and correct when it comes to design. Yes that is a scan of the actual hopper car that I am using to size the graphics.
Hope you have good luck with it logandsawman. I am working on decal design for the repaints and will hopefully have a process soon for making acceptable white decals for dark background without having to send out for custom printing.
Fantastic. How did you get that realistic rust that is popping out in the seams. I have never weathered and about to try it. Would love to know what you used. Washes, chalks, paints? Absolutely remarkable job. Thanks for sharing.
The popping effect is just layering and luck. I used ground up soft pastels (not oil based one) from Walmart, cost about 4 bucks for a pack of 12 I think it was, dotted with watered down white glue and added layers until I was happy with the look.
