First Weathering Attempt

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NWCanuck

NWCanuck

Tip&Ring
This is my first attempt at weathering with an airbrush. I have put it off for a long time because I was reluctant to spray a $25 model and mess it up. I practiced on some old cheap Tyco stuff and have been messing around with Micro Scale water slide decals. Please let me know what you think.

Both of the pictures are of stock Walthers Cushion Coil Cars. Nothing super here, just an over spray of Polly Scale Dirt in a 60/40 mix with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol.

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looks too clean, jk those cars are always trashed when i see them you could spend some time with a brush and do some rust spots on the covers.

but for first try the look damn good
 


Thanks Rico. This really is my first attempt at airbrushing my good rolling stock. The only other thing that I have airbrushed was the Walthers New River Mining Co kit. I have practiced only on paper and some old Tyco cars from my brother in laws set from when he was a kid.

I am finding it hard to get some of the wheel set and truck colours right and could use some help with this one. I sprayed this Virginian Athearn 6 pack coal hopper set with an over spray of Polly Scale Engine Black and then with a layer of Dirt. As for the wheel sets I took them out of the trucks. I then drilled a 3/8 inch hole in a Home Depot paint stir stick and proceeded to paint them all with Polly Scale Dirt. I also sprayed the trucks with straight dirt. The same process was done with the coil cars. The problem is that I don't think the wheel sets and truck look right on the hoppers. Maybe I am using the wrong colours here or maybe it is the fact that these cars are so black that makes them stick out. It just doesn't look right to me, yet the Coil cars look alright minus the fact that they all look the same as far as the level of weathering they have received.

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I think it looks alright here in the daylight (shadows help)

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Not bad on the layout (shadows help)

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Nothing has changed here but the angle and light and now it looks wrong to me?
 
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Irongrave said:
you could spend some time with a brush and do some rust spots on the covers.
Click to expand...

Thanks Irongrave, I do have some Bragdon powders but I have not tried them on my cars yet, my only concern is how they setup when you rub them on and my fear is that I wont be able to get them off if I mess up.
 
NWCanuck said:
This is my first attempt at weathering with an airbrush. I have put it off for a long time because I was reluctant to spray a $25 model and mess it up. I practiced on some old cheap Tyco stuff and have been messing around with Micro Scale water slide decals. Please let me know what you think.

Both of the pictures are of stock Walthers Cushion Coil Cars. Nothing super here, just an over spray of Polly Scale Dirt in a 60/40 mix with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol.

View attachment 15231

View attachment 15232
Click to expand...

how did u do the wheels?
 
Great Job!

WOW:eek:

That's great!! Excellent.

I realy like the trucks/wheels. Just the right amount on the lower side of the cars.

Well done!
icon14.gif
icon14.gif
 
Dallas Modern HO Scale said:
how did u do the wheels?
Click to expand...

For the wheel sets all I did was separate the wheels from the trucks and then I sprayed the trucks with straight 60/40 Polly Scale Dirt and 70% Isopropyl Alcohol. I used the same mixture for the wheels. The only difference is that I made a ghetto jig out of a home depot stir stick with the proper sized hole drilled in it. There should be enough friction in the hole to hold the wheel while you spray.

View attachment 15236
Seperated wheel sets and paint stick

View attachment 15237
Paint stir stick with wheel press fitted for painting

I think the colour is right on the coil cars but I am not sure if it looks right in certain light on the hoppers. I think the coil cars look right because I used the same colour on the lower portion of the car in a heavier coat vs. a lighter coat on the hoppers. I kind of think the trucks stand out on the hoppers?
 


The cars look good Brad. Great idea about holes in a paint stick to mask the wheel treads! I've always wiped the treads with a thinner soaked rag as soon as the paint was applied. Needless to say I won't be using that method any more. Thanks!
 
NH Mike said:
The cars look good Brad. Great idea about holes in a paint stick to mask the wheel treads! I've always wiped the treads with a thinner soaked rag as soon as the paint was applied. Needless to say I won't be using that method any more. Thanks!
Click to expand...
American Model Builders, Minuteman Scale Models, and Modelers Choice all make wheel masks.
 
Brad, first, I like the overall faded look. In my experience, that really the most common type of weathering you see on real trains. I few spots of rust at places like hinges or rivets look fine and that can be done with full strength rust paint and a really fine brush. You just sort of dab it on and the fine brush should deposit enough paint to make it look like a little spot of rust. I use powders if I need a more rusty look but that's the exception in freight cars, not the norm.

The wheels look fine except you need to mix more rust in your wheel paint. Every wheel comes delivered unpainted by FRA regs and they tend to get rusty very quickly. No matter how much weathering is on the trucks, the wheels are still predominantely rusty.
try adding more rust and see if that doesn't get you closer to what you want.
 
One more thing to keep in mind is the years you're modeling and the built date on the cars. Maybe they're only a month or two old... but I do like the grubby look.
I once had someone comment that my coal cars were too shiny, even tho the built date was the year I model!
 
I'll just venuture an opinion here on weathering. I do weather my cars & locos to varying degrees, and I think it's important for capturing that prototype appearance on the railroad, BUT:

Mother nature has no specifications for dirt & crud application! There are no rules! If you are happy with it, then it is acceptable. I usually dullcote or flat finish first, then do soot on the roofs (steam/transition era) dirty gray or/railbrown or earth on the running gear, and whatever looks good or I'm in the mood for on the car sides. Look at ballast colors on the railroad(s) you model as that color would have been kicked up onto the car chassis and trucks. Some cars get nothing more than flat finish and a little dust. If you want to carry it to contest level, work from a photo of a prototype. At the club, if I show a freshly weathered car to six members, I get six opinions from "too clean" to "too dirty" and all manner of ways that it could be done better. Your models looked good to me for the average dirty freight cars. Also, leave a few clean. I always see a repaint or two in a train. They should not all be weathered to the same degree. I use Bragdon's powders, waterbased colors, oil paints, and chalk. The best projects I have seen use some combinations of all of these mediums. This is the most subjective part of our hobby. I once attanded a clinic for freight car weathering, and the guy who did it had a photo of just about any kind of dirty car you can imagine. His point was, there is no wrong or unprototypical way to do this. Looking at his models I was not about to argue. He was good!
 
NWCanuck said:
For the wheel sets all I did was separate the wheels from the trucks and then I sprayed the trucks with straight 60/40 Polly Scale Dirt and 70% Isopropyl Alcohol. I used the same mixture for the wheels. The only difference is that I made a ghetto jig out of a home depot stir stick with the proper sized hole drilled in it. There should be enough friction in the hole to hold the wheel while you spray.

View attachment 15236
Seperated wheel sets and paint stick

View attachment 15237
Paint stir stick with wheel press fitted for painting

I think the colour is right on the coil cars but I am not sure if it looks right in certain light on the hoppers. I think the coil cars look right because I used the same colour on the lower portion of the car in a heavier coat vs. a lighter coat on the hoppers. I kind of think the trucks stand out on the hoppers?
Click to expand...

but how did u spray the outside withought getting any on the "tread" which still looks nice n shiny
 
Dallas Modern HO Scale said:
but how did u spray the outside withought getting any on the "tread" which still looks nice n shiny
Click to expand...

If you look at the two photos of the paint stick in the other post, I am only spraying on one side at a time. I just took the second picture to show the back side of the stick and how the wheel fit in. You have to spray the face of the wheel and then take it out of the stick and flip it over. So for 24 wheels I had to flip and spray 48 times. ;) I use latex gloves from Costco to save on the cleanup and for handling the wheels during painting.

Thanks for all the input guys.
 
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Changed my mind. I just made it. Still needs a little cleaning up but it will do 8 wheelsets for 2 cars at a time. Plenty of room to double the amount but 2 cars is plenty. Also it takes a couple of minutes to line them all up but well worth it.
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Very nice hamltnblue, makes for a quick and easy paint job. I just used a sharp knife to clean up any trace wood fibers in the drilled holes to prevent any blockage of paint spray but I am sure you already have that squared away too.;)

Like Josh said you can buy the masks made by, quote: "American Model Builders, Minuteman Scale Models, and Modelers Choice". But for a free paint stick and a drill press or free hand drill the cost of this rig far out performs the plastic versions at zero cost to you or me.:cool:
 
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