Fun with an eraser


phatpony

Member
With all of the talent on this forum, I have been inspired to give weathering a shot. I have been extremely impressed with some of the weathering I have seen on here, and figure what the heck...if I want artwork as nice as that on my layout (still need to build it), then I better get to practicing.

So my hapless victim is an Athearn Railbox I bought for $2.00 at a local show. I wanted to start with something light, and try some of the techniques RCH did on his Rock car. But first, gotta knock some of the newness off of the lettering. I used an eraser from an erasable pen, and went to work. Here is the result (only got to one side so far). Hows it look to ya?

Glenn
 
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Good start Glenn, you have that car earning it's keep in no time.
 
Oh those poor RailBoxes, they're such gluttons for abuse!:p :D

Looking good Glenn, fading the letters puts you 90% of the way there IMHO!
 
Phase 2

OK, here is the next step. I coated lightly with Dullcote, allowed to dry and then used a wash of India ink and water. Here are the results.
 
Insiration! I might have to pick up a railbox now too, and play with an erasor. Oh, I missed shoting a SWEET looking graffitii job on a Tbox last night (to dark for my phone camera, good camera not with me), it looked like one of those Anime caracters, it was sweet!
 
Be careful Glenn or you'll be making Mello Mike jealous :G
Looks great to me, nice work. Thanks for posting your method, my cars are much too shiny.
Cheers
Willis
 
AGGRO said:
Pen eraser? I may have to try that one....

Actually Aggro, I used a regular ol' pencil eraser on the second side with even better results. It takes some elbow grease, but does the job.

I have finished the painting the model. Rust and all. It may just be a little too much though. But my wife likes it alot. I guess she didn't figure I had any artistic ability, shows her. I'll post some completed pics tomorrow, I want a buddy to see it first.

Glenn
 
Willis

A shot of Dullcote or Pollyscale flat finish from an airbrush (I prefer Pollyscale to Dullcote) can kill that shine, and then when you are ready to apply chalks, it will help get a bite. Only issue is if you want to add any decals you will need to put a semi-gloss coat at least.

Glenn, she's looking good.
 
CBCNSfan said:
Be careful Glenn or you'll be making Mello Mike jealous :G

Willis, thanks for the compliment, but I have a long way to go to reach Mellow Mike quality. This is just my first model (as far as weathering goes), so I have a learning curve to overcome. But Mike's wormanship, as well as Aggro and RCH and a few others, keeps me inspired to have the best looking models on the layout.

Glenn
 
Wow, nice work David. Mine is really overdone compared to that. Like I said, just a little too heavy on the India ink. Lesson learned.

Now, about that glue trick, where can I find the info on that process?

Oh yeah, funny thing is, I have railbox pics, but I got into a "zone" and neglected to refer to them until AFTER I was done, DOH!:)

Glenn
 
You must be refering to the Testor's Clear Parts Cement method.

What I do is squeeze some out on a scrap of styrene, if you use cardboard, I have found the fibers from the cardboard will somehow get in the glue. I use a toothpick or one of those micro brushes, but first have your chalks ready, get the earthtone pastels, and scrap some off into a little container, I found that crystal-lite drink mix has the perfect containers, and have your preferred colors ready, when you place the clear parts cement, I will just poke the toothepick around or use the brush and coat an area, the next part you need to do rather quickly as the glue will dry fast, but take a very soft brush and dip it in the chalk, then hold it over the car and tap, let the chalk fall as it may, let it sit for about 5-10 minutes for the glue to dry well, then turn the car over and tap the excess back in your container. The next steps are optional depending on what you want to do next. I usually will use my finger and smooth out the roughness of the chalk/glue and then use some oil based paints, like burnt umber or sienna a and dip a new brush in it, then dip it in some mineral spirits or paint thinner, and paint the chalk. This really brings out the texture of the chalk effect.

I don't remeber who turned me onto that trick, but it is a very neat way to get that pitted look. I never have had good luck with india-ink washes, but I am doing N scale so some of the stuff you HO guys can use are harder in N.

You did a great job for your first time, remember, a little is better, you can always add, but it's harder to take away. The MILW car took me about 4-5 hours to do. Keep at it. I have about 300 cars in my fleet that need to be brought into the real world ;)
 
Thanks! Does that clear parts cement come in a tube like the regular cement?

I see what everybody means by less is more when it comes to weathering. The next one will be better. I have a brand new Athearn BN box car that is screaming for some work. :D

Glenn
 
Here's a picture, I got mine at a Hobbylobby in town.

testors.gif
 



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