Must have supplies/tips for a weathering beginner

[fiend540]

I have a half dozen old freight cars I want to practice weathering techniques on before I attempt some newer cars. I plan on hitting up one of the local hobby shops to get some supplies and I am wondering what you guys recommend I start out with. Since an air brush is out of the question for now I am thinking:

Paints: Which colors/brands to use? I seem to hear about polly scale alot and I think the hobby store carries it but I also know they carry testors and tamiya paint.

Brushes: What sizes/styles should I start with?

Chalks: Brands/styles/colors?

Anything else you guys recommend? This will be my first try at weathering so any tips or links to helpful sites/guides would be very helpful.

 

[UP2CSX]

Without an air brish, I'd recommend staying away from paints entirely. Except for a few instances where dry brushing looks good, weathering a freight car with paint and brushes just never looks too good. Weathering truck and the underframe with a fine sable brush usually looks OK but that's about it. Testors, in general, is very poor for weathering unless you use the military camouflage flat - the regular Testors model paint is too glossy except to use for oil spills. . My first choice would be Polly S and second would be Tamyia, just because Polly S has a better selection of railroad colors.

Chalks and Dullcote is what I started with and still use primarily. There are dedicated weathering powders you can buy but I've found that artist's pastel chalks you can get at a craft store like Michaels work about as well and have a wider range of colors. Spray your car with Dullcoat first to give the chalks some tooth. You can use the chalk directly on the car surface, scrapped off into a cardboard plate and applied with your finger, or use a wide, soft brush, usually called an artist's dusting brush. You'll have to experiment with different colors and techniques to get the results you want. Spray with Dullcoat and notice how much it mutes the chalks you've just put on. You'll have to practice this aspect of weathering as well since you'll have to overweather a bit to have it look right after you hit it with Dullcote.

As far as web sites, you won't find one better than http://www.modeltrainsweathered.com/. Have a look around but I wouldn't post my first work there. The regulars are real pros and can be pretty cutting in their reviews of your work.

 

[fiend540]

Thanks for the reply! While i understand how non-airbrushed paint could look bad wouldn't diluted washes of colors like grimey black be beneficial in helping show off 3d elements of the model like grated walkways/fans and the like? Thanks for the link to that forum, I came across it earlier when searching through older weather threads on here but it seems it is invite only. I shot a email to the moderators so hopefully I hear back from them soon.

 

[CP9302]

How in depth do you plan to weather you stuff? If you are looking to just make things dirty, Chalks and Dullcote would be the best start. If your long term goal is more realistic weathering, like you see on ModelTrainsWeathered, I would skip the chalk and get some weathering powders. I find they are much easier to work with and don't disappear as much when sealed with dullcote.

Another very useful weathering method is washes. I make washes using artist acrylic paints in the tubes, usually water mixable oils, but any paint can be thinned to make a wash when you are starting out. Use a wide, soft brush to cover the area in paint and then use downward strokes with a cloth or cosmetic sponge to remove the wash, this will highlight the nooks and crannies on the model and tint the surface slightly. I've used this technique with light coloured washes to fade paint and also with darker colours to get dirt and grime buildup in seams and around doors.

If you plan to aim for realistic prototype based weathering, I'd definitely join ModelTrainsWeathered. There are more tips on there then I could list... If you post there, remember, things are viewed with an honest, critical eye, but the comments are meant to help you improve, not to be mean or spiteful.

 

[fiend540]

I want my stuff to look realistic, maybe not to the extent the people on ModelTrainsWeathered.com take it too as I don't know if I am that capable. When i was younger and started in the hobby it was all about quantity of cars/track/buildings and now as I am getting back into the hobby and have changed priorities I am leaning towards making things "realistic". I am only going to have room for a smallish switching railroad for the next few years so I want to do things such as lighting and weathering to help up the details in the scene. I want to be able to go railfaining, find a car i like and then somewhat accurately recreate it myself. One car I have already decided that I want to replicate is this railbox car I shot in Syracuse last weekend, btw where can I find good graffiti decals?

 

[UP2CSX]

Fred gave you a good idea for paint washes, which I should have thought of. India ink thinned at 95% isopropyl alcohol to 5% india ink is also good for general washes to help make a car look more grimy and bring out smaller details.

The best line of grafitti decals I've seen is from Blair Line at http://www.blairline.com/graffiti/. They are reproductions of actual graffiti, including ones of the best known taggers, and look good. I don't like graffiti but it's part of the modern railroad scene and Blair Line has done a good job of reproducing the look.

 

[CP9302]

When you are out railfanning and taking photos of cars you would like to model, take some shots looking straight on at the graffiti, you can use those to produce your own decals using some photo editing software, decal paper (comes in white and clear) and a printer. I've done this with good results.

You can also use gel pens and fine tipped markers to reproduce graffiti. A fine tipped paint brush and your favourite paints also work well.

Microscale also sells some decal sets of grafitti.

Railbox boxcars always seem to make great weathering subjects!