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Hey, guys I tried something new to weather this NP box car. Dang, should have taken a "before" picture but it was a standard boxcard red NP 50 footer. What do you think, thumbs up or thumbs down? The whole process took about five minutes so I'd like to get opinions if it looks "good enough".
Jim, is it the lighting or just my eyes, but the lettering seems to have a pinkish tint to it???
Looks good to me. What's the Secret?
New model railroader here
Looks good to me. What's the Secret?
Yeah Jim, that looks good, how did you do it? Inquiring minds want to know
Jim, I give it a thumbs up. I'd call it lightly weathered, maybe hasn't been in service very long? I'd like to do the same thing with a few cars for the contrast. Please don't keep us in suspense, too long. DJ
Looks good to me but also agree that the lettering looks pink. How'd you do it?
OK, here's the deal. Josh and Nephthyr, the lettering does look pink but not as pink as the picture. DJ, you called it right, I was trying for a look of a car in service for a few years but not a rust bucket. The key tool is...highlighters!.
That's right, go to the local dollar store an pick up an eight pack of highlighters in different colors. Find the one that's closest to the overall color of the car and cover the car with that first. In this case, it was light red, which gives that pink cast to the lettering. The idea is to fade the whole car first. Then use a combination of browns, yellows, and oranges to streak the car. The yellow makes almost a perfect dusty haze on darker cars. Experiment with a few light strokes first since the colors are almost invisible until you apply more. It's kind of like coloring so just stay inside the lines.
Obviously, this technique will work better on some color cars than others but it's a fast, cheap way to tone down a new car. I didn't even use dullcote since the underliners dry dull. If they had a white underliner, it would be perfect for fading white lettering. Give it a shot and see if it works for you.
That's a great tip and technique, Jim. I have to give it a try, thanks. DJ
New model railroader here
Very interesting, thaks for sharing, I will have to try it sometime...
Thanks for sharing
Thanx Jim, I have a boxcar I've been wanting to grub up so I'll give it a try!
Impressive!!! I'll have to give that a try!
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