I've been asked on a few occasions to describe how I weather my freight cars, and since I started another batch of freight car kits tonight, here's how I did it. First up the paints - flat earth and black acrylic paints, easily mixed and watered down slightly. the brush is a used '#1', good enough for weathering and painting trucks etc. I painted the trucks in situ with a mix of black/flat earth. For some reason, I find it easier to start at the bottom and work up. Next I slapped some paint on the underframes. Jon
Once the base coat is dry, I get down to some dry brushing. I use flat earth, brown sand and pale sand mostly and mix them together to make other muddy or sandy shades. The brushes are definately past their prime, but ideal for this kind of work. I drybrushed on the darker colours first before going over the raised parts with lighter shades. First up the underframes Then the trucks Finally the trucks were mated back with the boxcars Jon
Lastly for tonight some shots of the freight cars with the underframes andtrucks near-finished. When all is done, I will add some pastel powders to dull everything down Tomorrow night, I'll make a start on the box and roof Jon
I will ass-ume that ASS=ADD. You know this tutorial is interesting because it also applies to us N scalers.
Jon probably just went to bed. It's 1:40 am over in UK. So, he will probably adjust the "add" word tomorrow. It does apply to N scale. I am looking forward to tomorrow's post. I am trying to kit bash an HO scale car right now for a club Christmas gift. It would be nice to weather it, too.
Keep it going Jon, great start to a tutorial! I've been experimenting with weathering trucks using methods described at modeltrainsweathered.com. Great stuff. To add some texture to trucks and wheel faces, take some acrylic flat, mix in some weathering powders, and you get that grimy, rusty appearance with the surface texture. I would think it's only appropriate for HO or larger, though... Again, looking forward to the continuation of your tutorial.
Now to weather the bodywork. Using the black and flat earth acrylics again, I mixed up a dirty wash using copious amounts of water, so the wash becomes the consistency of ink. Black and brown either side of the wash This wash is then liberally coated over the bodies of the cars in an up-and-down motion for the panelled sides, and a side-to-side motion for corrugated ends and doors - careful, the paint's still wet. The SAL boxcar was shiny to start with and 2-or-more coats are needed for better coverage. Jon
When the paint wash has dried - only about 10 minutes - I proceedto take much of the dark wash off again! Here are the tools I used tonight - the thumb is included intentionally, as you can see from the 'weathering' on it. I used the various implements to remove the wash from the raised areas, side planking and panels. The fibreglass pen and thumb are particularly good for this. I also used the cotton bud, moistened between the lips. Jon
Lastly with the wash, I mix a slightly darker shade - more black - and run it down all the seams and metal bracing. Tomorrow I'll start dry-brushing. Jon
That's the washes out of the way. Now for some drybrushing. I use older, stiffer brushes for this task, a range of colours mixed from flat earth, dark sand, pale sand and white, although I NEVER use white on its own. Here's the palette I start by dipping the brush in a couple of colours then mixing them to make a third. Before touching the brush to themodel, I make sure I have removed most of the colour onto a piece of kitchen towel by rubbing the brush vigorously. Stage #1 The first colour I apply is a mix of earth/dark sand to simulate road dust at the bottom of the sides, thrown up the ends by movement of the train, and on the edges of the roof. When the brush is almost completely dry, I add some drybrushing to the door and outside bracing Jon
The second drybrushing stage is to add a brown sand/pale sand mix to the lower side edges to highlight the lower edge and any rivet detail that hasn't already been totally obscured!! I used shades of brown and sand to represent the road dust. However depending on where the R/Road is that you model, plus the time of year, you may wish to use reds or greys/grays instead of browns. The next process - weathering powders - will be the last one for these cars. See you then. Jon
I've dug out the chalks and powders to finish off the weathering on the freight cars. Here's the box of tricks. I use proprietary artist's pastel chalk sticks in various colours, either by rubbing an old paintbrush against them, crushing them with the mortar and pestle, or by rubbing them onto medium sandpaper. Whichever way it's done, be warned - it does get messy. I also use the more expensive Railroad weathering powders, although there's not that much difference, but it's easier than mixing the colours yourself. I store them in old 35mm film pots. Now to work................ Jon
I find the easiest wayto get weathering powders to stay on a model is to add some water to the powder, apply it with a brush, and when it's dry, rub off the excess with another (dry) stiff brush. I concentrated on applying the powder to the roofs and trucks - less chance of it being touched when lifted. I applied black powder to both the roof and trucks, and finished off with brown/rust powder over the trucks. I didn't go overboard and tried to keep the finish subtle. That finishes off the weathering on these freight cars and they're now ready to enter revenue service on the layout, Once I get it put back up. Jon
No sooner said than done, the newly-weathered freight cars show up on the layout - 'meet the boys in the band' Jon
Last but not least, a couple of group shots Whilst I don't profess to being an expert on the subject, I hope this 'how to' encourages a few fellow modellers to have a go at weathering some freight cars. It makes all the difference. Jon
Jon I really appreciated and enjoyed that tutorial, easy step by step instructions, and fantastic results. To answer yes I am going to try this. Thansk
