Weathering Freight Cars - Techniques and Examples

corporaldan Oct 3, 2008

  1. SOO MILW CNW

    SOO MILW CNW TrainBoard Supporter

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    Great work everyone!!!! I have tried a couple of times in the past to weather. Here are some pics.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    well they ya have mine,, One thing about weathering,,once you start doing your fleet,, you can not stop,,, so for people that have large fleets,like my self,, it is like opening pandora's box,lol.

    Adios Wyatt
     
  2. Biased turkey

    Biased turkey TrainBoard Member

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    Nicely done Andrew, I particularly like the faded paint on the door.
    I'm asking the ( usual ) question: could you please give us some more details about your techniques and the material used. Are you using any pastel chalks ?

    Jacques
     
  3. GaryHinshaw

    GaryHinshaw TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for the feedback Jacques - I'm always looking for new tips. I agree that the trucks on the BN box are pretty dark but, like most of my weathering jobs, that one was loosely based on a prototype photo:

    http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=9609

    which also has pretty dark trucks. If anything, I would have liked to have made the trucks a bit greasier looking (and the faded green paint a bit more yellow...). Here is a shot of the other side, in somewhat brighter light, that shows the trucks a little better:

    [​IMG]

    On the topic of trucks, here's another shot that illustrates one of my favorite truck treatments on a Thrall stack:

    [​IMG]

    The best thing about the method is that it's ultra-simple: paint the trucks & couplers Rail Tie Brown or Roof Brown (the latter is a little darker), then work in a good heavy coat of Bragdon powders (mostly weathered brown plus some rust and/or soot to suit) and blow off any excess. Seal with a flat coat if desired.

    Cheers,
    Gary
     
  4. Biased turkey

    Biased turkey TrainBoard Member

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    Hello Gary,
    You are right, I checked the BN prototype picture and the bottom of the box looks quite clean.
    When I compare it to the pictures I take on my daily railfanning trip ( I'm retired and the Canadian National track is 100 yards down the road ) that BN boxcar looks cleaner that most of the CN rolling stock I see daily.

    I have read that Bragdon Powder technique , but I thought it wouldn't work with N scale. You proved me wrong and make me feel like ordering some.

    Roof Brown is a very useful weapon in the arsenal of the model railroad weatherer, I use it , diluted 1/8 , to airbrush the trucks and couplers.

    Jacques
     
  5. GaryHinshaw

    GaryHinshaw TrainBoard Member

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    Jacques:

    As you may have gathered, I'm a big fan of Bragdon powders. They are ground very fine and are blended with a pressure-sensitive adhesive, so they outperform normal chalks by a significant margin, in my book. You won't regret the purchase.

    Cheers,
    Gary
     
  6. Flash Blackman

    Flash Blackman TrainBoard Member

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    I'm going to try both roof brown and rail brown, too. For trucks and couplers, I have been using a rattle can from the big stores that is the dark brown of the "camouflage" colors. It is one of three to four colors labeled "ultra-flat".
     
  7. jsoflo

    jsoflo TrainBoard Member

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    Heres one of my older ones:

    [​IMG]

    This is one of the older ones where I tried an alcohol spray fade, I prefer the airbrush I used since!
    my best,
    Jan
     
  8. Biased turkey

    Biased turkey TrainBoard Member

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    Nice work, I particularly like the engine because it's not overdone. My fleet is small, so is my pandora's box :tb-smile:

    Jacques
     
  9. GaryHinshaw

    GaryHinshaw TrainBoard Member

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    Wyatt - I like the look on that loco too. Nice yard setting you have there also - I'm a sucker for rolling stock.

    Jan - I like the look you're going for there. I agree about alcohol though - I have found it very hard to control the fade process with it. I also recognize that graffiti ;), which brings me to another Pandora's Box: are there any other sources for graffiti decals besides Microscale? I tried the Blair Line set, and while the artwork is nice, the printing is done at fairly low resolution, so it's kind of iffy in photos. Are any of the enterprising decal printers on this Board able and willing to print custom graffiti from prototype photos (for money)? If so, what kind of input would be preferred/required?

    For those of you that abhor graffiti: my apologies.

    Best,
    Gary
     
  10. Chaya

    Chaya TrainBoard Supporter

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    I have noticed that here in New Mexico, rust is a different color that in the Northwest where I come from. I've found that Roof Brown is a good match for New Mexico rust. (For some of the rust down here, I even add a little black). That said, of course cars and engines are going to show up that have seen damper climes--and will require a different color of rust.

    I have seen photos of some southeastern cars with rust that looks almost orange to my eyes...

    Cristi
     
  11. Biased turkey

    Biased turkey TrainBoard Member

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    Could someone ( Jan ? ) please explain what is exactly the "alcohol spray fade" technique ?

    Jacques
     
  12. jsoflo

    jsoflo TrainBoard Member

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    Hey Jacques,
    the alcohol spray is simply this: if you put rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle (you can vary the mix with water if you wish to cut down on the power of the alcohol) than simply spray the object you want to weather, heavy or light spray and it will fade the paint on whatever it is you were spraying. As indicated this is a hard thing to control, but it will certainly cause a paint fade.
    my best,
    Jan
     
  13. Biased turkey

    Biased turkey TrainBoard Member

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    Thank you Jan for taking some of your valuable time to reply.
    The technique might look simple but I don't get it ( sorry, I might miss some obvious point here ).
    Do you spray with the diluted alcohol when the acrylic paint is still wet , or will the paint fade even after , for example, a couple of months after it dried ?
    I ask the question because once I weathered ( rust ) some car with acrylic paint, let it dry a few weeks then I tried to wash the paint using some oil paint thinner , but after that treatment, the acrylic paint was still intact, no fading at all.

    Jacques
     
  14. Powersteamguy1790

    Powersteamguy1790 Permanently dispatched

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    Jacques:

    Here is a link that will explain the faded boxcar technique with alcohol.


    http://www.mrhobby.com/fading.html

    Have fun.
     
  15. jsoflo

    jsoflo TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for the alcohol weathering link powersteam Bob! Hope that answers it for you Jacques, it does work!

    Here is a hopper I did with an airbrush, oil pastels and dullcote,

    [​IMG]

    my best,
    Jan
     
  16. Biased turkey

    Biased turkey TrainBoard Member

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    Thank you Bob and Jan for clearing my confusion.
    I obviously missed the important point ( mentioned in the weblink http://www.mrhobby.com/fading.html ) that before spraying some alcohol, one has to apply a spray of Dullcote.
    To Cristi ( Chaya ) : I too observed that rust color can vary from one geographic area to another.
    The following is genuine Canadian Montreal rust :

    [​IMG]

    Jacques
     
  17. darkelf

    darkelf TrainBoard Member

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    HarryII,

    What is that boxcar that you are weathering - it looks very interesting.. Thanks!

    Aloha,
    --Greg
     
  18. levi

    levi TrainBoard Member

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    Hey there, I tried my hand at weathering the other day. I used chalks. Please be strict if You comment on them I know they are far from good! I'm also interested in how should I model smaller graffities, called 'tag'-s here in Hungary.
    [​IMG]
     
  19. Tony Burzio

    Tony Burzio TrainBoard Supporter

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    Your cars looks like the real ones I see at Fullerton station (Orange County near Los Angeles). There aren't all that many with graffiti, don't know why. Perhaps these cars aren't stored in places where painting is possible?
     
  20. levi

    levi TrainBoard Member

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    Thank You for your help, Tony! Well maybe these cars are stored at kinda closed places, like docks and terminals, while for example I can imagine boxcars standing on a single siding for weeks far from the eyes... Or maybe there aren't enough space on these cars to use... I don't have more ideas now...
     

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