New weathering discovery maybe a first


NYC_George

NYC_George

Well-Known Member
Maybe it was a good thing our golf match was called off today. So with nothing to do I decided to try my hand at a patch. That didn't work out to well because I didn't have the masking tape secure enough and it bled through forcing me to patch more then I wanted. We'll see how that works out? What I did find though is a new method using chalks. A few weeks ago I painted 4 cars with a 70/30 - thinner/white paint mix to dull up the cars. Then I used the same 70/30 rust mix but after the 3rd car the gun got clogged and I had to quit. I decided to add some rust colored chalk to the 4th car which is much easier to apply and dullcoat it later. When I added the patch I didn't want to wait for it to dry so I put it under a construction high intensity light. When I brought the car over to my work bench I wanted to change some of the chalk rust color weathering but found It was baked on. It wasn't coming off. I guess the heat it baked into the white paint. I guess it's like that powered paint they spray on in factories. That's the new method I'll be using from now on. If I make a mistake with the weathering I can change it before baking it in.
George

baked_on_rust.jpg
 
That's called texturing, and it is a very effective technique. I do it with wheels. Paint the treads, apply some chalk to the wet paint, let it dry. I also do it with trucks, and on some freight cars. It really makes the model pop. You can crank out a lot of basic weathered cars with an airbrush, and I do, but if I want to take my time and really make something stand out, I find it takes at least three different mediums. For me, the airbrush is a staple. Pan Pastels, colored pencils, or watercolor pencils (or both!) oil paints, and Doc Bragdon's weathering powders, Tamiya Panel line accents, there's a ton of stuff out there to experiment with! To minimize bleed through, get yourself some good masking tape. The Tamiya yellow stuff is excellent, or you can go to the auto paint store and get the green stuff. It's not cheap but it seals nicely, is flexible, and is low tack so you won't lift paint (another discussion). Also, paint from behind the masking line, don't spray at it. Weathering is like seasoning your food. Everyone has a different taste. The more into it you get you find you can spend hours on a single car.
 
PS: you don't have to bake it in. The drying paint will grab it just fine. Careful with those high intensity lights. Especially if you paint with solvent based stuff. I once found out the hard way it takes surprisingly little heat to deform plastic painted with Scalecoat!
 
That's called texturing, and it is a very effective technique. I do it with wheels. Paint the treads, apply some chalk to the wet paint, let it dry.
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Alan the paint on the car had been dry for days.
George
 
One other thing. I had a small decal on the car when I put it under the lamp. It destroyed the decal. So if your going to try this do on a car without any decals. George
 
Alan & George: I have rolling stock that the trucks were painted a Grimy Black and before it dried completely, Black Pan Pastels were applied and allowed to attach to the drying Grimy Black. A bit of rust color can be added to the wheels and truck springs. And, wheels have been done with the same treatment.

I have maybe 24 ore cars that were weathered but most didn't have their wheels painted and they stand out when in a train that has cars with their wheels painted and weathered. A future project.

Greg

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I rather add the weathering when the paint is dry then wet? It's just easer to handle the car and apply the chalk where it needs to be. We all have our methods I guess. I just stumbled on this.
George
 
I wanted to give this new method another try so I used an old Life Like gondola car for the test. The chalk didn't adhere as well but the plastic was much thicker. I may have to spray it with a matte finish. I'll have to handle the car for a while and see what happens? The heat did bow the plastic some what but for the good it looks authentic.
George

nyc_life_like.jpg
 
NYC_George said:
I rather add the weathering when the paint is dry then wet? It's just easer to handle the car and apply the chalk where it needs to be. We all have our methods I guess. I just stumbled on this.
George
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You can do it with wet paint, you can add the chalk after the paint is dry, and flat coat it, or you can do it your way. The end result is the same: a layering of different materials to give you a textured effect. You have found a different way to achieve it, but a dangerous one I think! ;) What interests me is the use of the lights to soften the car shell so you can beat up those gondola shells! I used to use a soldering iron and an old car weight. Now I can do the whole car at once!
 
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