Yes, Nick, do give it a try. I was in same boat as you until my model railroading friends kept prodding me to weather.... so glad they did. Warning... you'll like the improvement in appearance so much... that now you will feel compelled to do the entire fleet. By the way, this will also be opportunity to dry-brush the trucks and underframe with Grimy Black / Dirt / etc... as well ! (this hobby is great, it never ends.....)
John the good thing is all my rolling stocks done....lol I guess it's time to make sp look like SP. :tb-biggrin:
After reading this thread i think i'm going to give this a try. it's hard for me to do some of the small detail work because my right hand shakes but i think i can do this. I have weathered some of my freight cars and they came out pretty good. I always thought i could not do a locomotive without ruining it but the stuff posted here gives me the push to do it. Dave
Glad to see your return Mike. Cool choice for a pool power unit. I really need to do another loco project, but I really need to focus on the layout. Gotta get new track and rip up the old code 80. Decided to do the Chillicothe Sub, just gotta figure out which towns to do.
Mike - thanks for the great tutorial. I keep looking at that SF loco I got from you, and wondering how to make others look as good (without ruining them). I feel more confident with these instructions.
Thanks for all the feedback guys! I hope it was semi comprehensive, since I did write it up in the wee hours of the morning. I really did this thread for those of you who are afraid to weather your locos. Chalks are super easy and it's not permanent. Even doing just a light dusting makes a world of difference, and the more you do, the better you get at it. And you can even go back over something you did months ago and add more chalks to fix it or change it, it's that easy! And like John said, you'll want to do your whole fleet after the first one! -Mike
Hey Mike, Thanks for the tute mate, as you'd know I'd be into anything to do with weathering One question for you: Did you hit the loco with a flat finish (not Dullcote) before the chalks? I've never had much luck getting chalks to "stick" to a factory finish. You've done a great job killing the shine from your before pix Thanks once again. PS Did the ballast arrive? Steve
I've been "chalking up" models since I was 13. I used to seal with spray can dullcote, but switched to airbrushing it about 10 years ago. With a dual action brush and the lacquer thinned about 50/50, you can control the dissolution of the chalk. The base color of what you're weathering and the contrast between the base color and the chalk play a big part also. A lighter base will retain a lot more chalk color than a darker base.
I enjoyed your tutorial very helpful. I have been using Nu Pastel which is an oil based chalk. I have also tried these combinations http://www.ovar.ca/Articles/weathering_with_chalks.htm with very good results. Here is a site that folks can get the chalks http://www.dickblick.com/products/prismacolor-nupastel-color-sticks/
Steve, na, I just went straight on with the chalks. I have tried a "before" coat and yes, it does help the chalks grab better, but for this thread I wanted to keep things as simple as possible so other people will give weathering a try. ps, thanks for the ballast! -Mike
Jeff excellent job on use of the chalks; and couldn't ask for more from a tutorial. I agree with this is just one of the splendid benefits of the Trainboard; the sharing of quality information. Thanks much Glen:thumbs_up:
Nice job. Where do you get the chalks? I am almost out. I also found using a small pointed brush allows you to make lines with the chalk.
wow, this is great, going to try it the next time that the wife goe to the gym...any tips for colors for an old SP U-Boat on it's last days?
Wow, this one was dug up! Bremner, for my SP stuff I use lots of light grey and white chalk, with some black and brown mixed in here and there. I haven't done any of them that are really beat, for that you might need to jump into paints to get that completely trashed look. Mike
Mike those Locos came out Very nice. ANd to correct my earlier post of credit for an excellent Tutorial. Glen
