weathering project

Paint the trucks brown, I don't know why MT made them grey.

 

Gotta start with a light fade...then on to grimey black washes

 

Looks like a fun project. I look forward to see your progress

 

I love it when a model railroad company numbers their cars so you can find prototype photos. Makes life easier!

 

I'm still learning and developing techniques for weathering these mini-beasts as I like to call them and
there are a number of approaches, techniques I would use for this specific car.
Here's a very quick and very rudimentary summary on how I would attack this car.

Fade: Use a diluted acrylic white or maybe a light gray wash and apply with an airbrush or hand brush using cheap craft paints like Ceramcoat that you can get at Walmart etc..
I use cheap acrylic craft paints for a variety of weathering effects. They come in a larger variety of colors.

Apply Testors Dullcote to seal the fade.

Grime: Light washes on the roof and side panels with water mixable oil paint for the grime. I apply and remove most of it for a subtle effect. Keep the tops of the ribs cleaner.
Add more layers on the underframe and bays to copy the build up of grime and road dust. Always go lighter to darker. Easier to add than subtract.

For the oil's colors, I prefer Windsor and Newton Artisian Raw Umber for the darker grime and Burnt Umber for rustier effects.
After the oils have set for an hour or so, I like to brush the underframe and bins with some chalks, powders etc. right into the oils. Usually dark grey and browns. The oil helps the powders adhere.
I'll also highlight just the lower sills and ends of the side ribs with some chalks also.

Let it dry for a few days then dullcote again to protect the grime.

Trucks: I like to paint them with weathered black, dullcote and then a wash of cheap acrylic brown paint. Then some powders for dusty effects.

A good resource to check out if you are really interested in getting into weathering cars is http://tws-rustbucket.com. Wealth of info there from some real talented folks.

As an example, here's an IMR Frito Lay Hopper in gray, I have been working on using the techniques listed above. Per the prototype I removed some of the lettering prior to the fade with 6000 grit sandpaper. I still need to do more with some powders on the roof edges, the upper edges of the bottom sills and the bins but you get the idea. Hope this helps.

Also I hate the spelling autocorrect here...total pain in the rear!

 

Thanks Boxcar! One correction on my post would be my comment on the trucks which described what I do on black trucks.
Since these should be gray, I would dullcote or paint gray and apply a darker wash and powder chalks. I've seen then very gray with darker patterns around
the bearings.

 

Craig, that is awesome!

 

Yep, the fade is the most important part of any weathering job.

 

Thanks John!

Thomas, can you share your techniques for fading?

 

I couldn't agree more!
Without fading, the weathering looks over done and too stark.

These are done with a spray fade that Gary Hinshaw came up with. Basically you spray on a several very light coats of an acrylic White, Off White. Sometimes it can be mixed with yellow or orange. These were sprayed with a extremely light yellow mix.





There are other ways as well.
I have switched to oils for a fade.

 

Craig, that is excellent work there. My way of doing the fading is to set my airbrush to such a light spray that you can't even see anything coming out. My choice of color for this is Badger Mo Pac Eagle Gray. For me white is too light but the gray puts just enough color to give it that sun faded look. I've seen many good weathering jobs until you notice that the lettering is still shiny new on the car or loco which really detracts from the overall effect.

 

Craig, that is excellent work there. My way of doing the fading is to set my airbrush to such a light spray that you can't even see anything coming out. My choice of color for this is Badger Mo Pac Eagle Gray. For me white is too light but the gray puts just enough color to give it that sun faded look. I've seen many good weathering jobs until you notice that the lettering is still shiny new on the car or loco which really detracts from the overall effect. I did this one just to have a nice soft faded look and not have any rust or graffiti .

 

Thanks for sharing Thomas, I like your examples.
I'm onboard with what your techniques and I do pretty much the same when I use an airbrush for the fade.
I've also airbrushed very diluted cheap craft paint in various colors with good results. The color terra-cotta works really well for fading red cars.

Craig

 

Thanks for sharing Thomas, I like your examples.
I'm onboard with what your techniques and I do pretty much the same when I use an airbrush for the fade.
I've also airbrushed very diluted cheap craft paint in various colors with good results. The color terra-cotta works really well for fading red cars.

Craig

Hi Allen, nice fades brother. Is that Rock an Atlas car? It looks really good.

Craig

 

That WP box car is my fav for obvious reasons!