I look forward to seeing the pictures, Paul, before I weather my grain cars DEFINITELY fix with varnish!
ok guys here are a couple of pics of my heavier weathered grain cars. Sorry the pics are not very sharp I was kinda in a rush when I took the pics. any comments would be much appreciated
They look rather dirty to me, Paul, I think they need a wash! (Only kidding) It is a shame when making a car dirty makes it more prototypical! I would like to see a string of them, in varying degrees of weathering, but so far, so good
I'll say. They look great! Any though I like the top picture the best the results are great and great looking... Thats how most of the grain cars in my area look!! Anyway good work! Also, I noticed the Atlas tower nice work as well.. Thats probably one of my favorite kit built structures by any company!!!!! Nice work on him as well...
Thanks for the comments guys, here are a couple more pics that I have just taken. These show a string of cars together You can notice the car in the middle has not been weathered [ 09 September 2001: Message edited by: Colonel ]</p>
Paul, Nice layout!! Keep up the good work. And also the train is lookin good Even though i'd keep some very lightly to almost none weathering just to represent new cars .. still looks great!
I have found that the trick is to only put ONE good coat of testors #1260 spray can dull coat on. It is enough to seal in any decal or weathering job. It seems that the more coats of dull coat you use the less dulling effect you get. I use an old hair dryer (blow dryer) to immediately dry the dull coat. Also don't be afraid to heat the can of spray up with the dryer. The warmer you can get the liquid in the can, the finer the spray will be and the duller the effect will be. I usually take about a minute to heat the spray can up. (Don't heat it 'til it is too hot to hold). Just don't use a heat gun. It seems that the faster the dull coat dries the duller the effect. For re-touching or re-coating, direct the dullcoat's spray stream into the hot draft of the hair dryer. It heightens the dullness even more as the dull coat is almost dry as it touches the model. These are variations of techniques I learned working for a Dr. Vinyl franchisee.
Herman, Very good technique! I do the exact same! And boy I tell you its alot easier to do and makes a better cleaner job then with a room temp can of dullcote! And is able to be handled alot faster! I done my finish dullcote work like that since I began to paint trains 10 or 11 years ago.. Not only do I heat the can of dullcote but also the body to whatever I may be painting. Also I heat the paint itself whatever color I painting I heat the can and make sure it sinks into the liquid inside to make the can warm to the touch... It dries faster but also does retard runs and sags in paint if you would happen to get to close. Also I blow dry the paint after its sprayed and on the body just as I do dullcote I make sure it dries. And the faster it dries the duller the effect and finish.. And if you would happen to get that unwanted "artificial shine" from the first dullcote "coat" heat it again after an hour or 2 to let it settle in the paint and decals and then reheat everything and slightly do it again very very lightly ontop of the first coat. It will dull it up and get rid of that "artificial shine". I'm pleased with how the blow drying and heating works and kept it as a "QC" in my shop... And so far so good with everyone i've done work for they were happy with the work which in turn makes me happy......
I guess we forgot to mention that your model has to be in a fixture or holder. Unless you have three arms of course. (One for the model, one for the blow dryer and one for the spray can).
Herman, Yeah I guess.... Anyway I use latex gloves to do the holding and all. I heat up the paint with the blow dryer till its warm to the touch. Then heat the body, the can will hold heat long enough to paint while its still warm. And if I paint more then one body at a time I'll reheat the paint and heat the body. I do all that in steps and all. But my holder actually holds my blow dryer!! not the paint or the body that i'm painting. Then I hang the body to let it "extra precaution" for that extra caution to make sure its dry.... And move right along if I have more to paint... Have fun guys thats what its all about... [ 09 September 2001: Message edited by: 7600EM_1 ]</p>
Just a comment about using dullcote. I have been weathering grain cars, along with others for more years than I wish to count. I do use a lot of chalk. I don't like dullcote out of the can, and since I spray Floquil with an air brush, I use their flat finish which gives the same results as the dullcote. There is an added benefit as I renumber a lot of cars with decals and use the flat finish to seal the decals as well as fix the chalk, take the shine off, etc. Just wanted to give you an alternative. Bob Miller
I agree, Bob. I feel you can get a finer mist spray from an airbrush than from a can, which does not atomise the paint (varnish) so well.
Alan. That's why we heat the cans. So they will atomize better. It really does work. I just like the cans because I really hate changing bottles all the time on the airbrush. Spray...clean...changebottle...spray...clean... change bottle...
Colonel: Great weathering on the cars. Have you done any more lately? Anyone else have some to share? Thanks.
Flash, Thanks for the resurrection how time flies. Here is a shot of some of my 2 bay hoppers which I have weathered
