Weathering Rolling Stock, a Continous thread


Getting back into the swing of things, one of 18 started. Bottom part and trucks done.
IMG_6884.jpg
IMG_6885.jpg
 
Well that’s it for me for a few weeks. I’m leaving the IPadPro home and while I can use the phone to message typing on the forum it is slow. Reading and pressing LIKE I can do.

Tomorrow night at this time we will be in Abilene, Kansas. Tuesday we will explore the Eisenhower Presidential Muesum and Abilene. Wednesday night is in Fort Worth then visiting the stockyards on Thursday and exploring many possibilities. After that we head to Bush the younger’s Presidential Library in Dallas, check out the sites and decide before then heading to the son’s place in Austin. How long in Austin? It could be anywhere from 7 to 14 days, we are retired and there are no timetables to follow. Day tripping from Austin always finds us something interesting.

Thoughts for the way home are East via the Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta but really we may head home depending on weather via El Paso and come home via a western route. We do have to be home to vote!

Keep posting away

Be well be safe
 
Revisiting the grain train making some upgrades and reweathering some of them. The more you weather the better you get and as you look at cars you did a couple of years ago you kinda say to yourself I can do better. One thing is the tops of the cars. looking at a few videos the smooth top hatches are white and the hinges are aluminum looking. Some the trucks are being better rust weathering and overall a bit more grime. Once the hinges and latches are painted (by hand) some light dirt paint is applied to dull them down.
IMG_6886.jpg
IMG_6887.jpg


IMG_6888.jpg

More to come as progress continues.
 
CambriaArea51 said:
Revisiting the grain train making some upgrades and reweathering some of them. The more you weather the better you get and as you look at cars you did a couple of years ago you kinda say to yourself I can do better. One thing is the tops of the cars. looking at a few videos the smooth top hatches are white and the hinges are aluminum looking. Some the trucks are being better rust weathering and overall a bit more grime. Once the hinges and latches are painted (by hand) some light dirt paint is applied to dull them down.View attachment 201722View attachment 201723

View attachment 201724
More to come as progress continues.
Click to expand...
Looks great Tom. What colors are you using on the latches and hinges?
 
Getting these B&O single sheathed wood box cars perilously close to the finish line.

Last night I did letter streaking, some random fade/grime streaking, hand grab/ladder grime, and mud splatter.

Letter streaking was with Master’s Touch artist oil Titanium White, applied at the bottom edge of selected lettering/logos with a tiny brush, then drawn down with a flat dry brush. All areas done were a bit too vivid for my taste, and were dry-brushed over with a thickish wash of Mission Models Brown and Mission Models Anthracite, mixed 1:1, and thinned with Vallejo airbrush thinner. (The Anthracite is incredibly thick stuff, and needs thinning to get even to a hand brushing consistency.)

Hand grab/ladder grime was done with the same heavy wash.

Photos:

IMG_4430.jpeg

IMG_4431.jpeg


End view:
IMG_4435.jpeg


Roof griming was done with pastel chalks, then the cars were sealed with airbrushed Dullcote:

IMG_4449.jpeg


The final step was the mud splatter. I usually use Vallejo “Dirt” straight up, but I wanted a darker, more brown/red tone, so I made a mix of eight drops Vellejo Dirt, two drops Mission Models Standard Rust, and four drops of Mission Models Brown:

IMG_4446.jpeg

IMG_4447.jpeg


I think the splatter is on on the first photos as well, but the above two pictures show it a bit better.

The colors used in this installment:

IMG_4450.jpeg


This is pretty much the way these are going to look when finished. All that remains is sealing of the mud splatter, and weathering trucks and wheels.

In retrospect, there are two things I would do differently (and will, because I have more boxcar red subjects in hand):

1. A darker, reddish-brown mud splatter
2. A wash that more closely matches my home-brew B&O box car red for subduing the letter streaking. (but keep the existing mix for grime on grab irons/ladders)
 
Last edited:
CambriaArea51 said:
My try at grain spillage. The CSX tan makes it tough to see compared to red or gray.View attachment 201909
Click to expand...
I need to experiment more seriously than I have with grain spillage. Not found anything that keeps resembling grain after it dries.

When in Abilene last week one of the trains was spilling kernels of corn but that was on the ground and more of a scenery item
 
We have been home about 6 hours of which an hour was a nap!

I went into the train room and only I issue was I had unplugged my refrigerator under the layout. The small freezer department melted and seeped out and into a bin of still new in the box 3 packs of Athearn Genesis covered hoppers. 4 packs are wet and are drying with just a fan blowing on them. I’m sure the cars are fine

I left a few items to work on before we left. 6 of 12 STX Operator version tank cars. The 6 shown here are for a client. The other 6 (not shown) are for me or maybe Facebook sales before Xmas 2024
IMG_8225.jpeg

I need to add the safety striping, blue dots on the wheel bearings, replace the couplers and then weather the cars. These cars were sent direct from Scaletrains sometime in September. These will be faded and tagged per some prototype photos. Here r 2 examples
IMG_8223.jpeg
IMG_8222.jpeg

DPRX 259696 is a match to one of the cars from STX and will be closely tagged and graffiti. Of the 12 operator version cars received this is the only matching number I have a photo of. I have plenty of photos from an online search of the cars built in the number series, so ideas for tag placement is ok

I also received before we left 2 tank cars, 2 gondolas
IMG_7971.jpeg


all from Atlas for a Chicago area client, along with 2 coil covers from Hubert’s. As Terry drove today, I was searching online for prototype photos. Not real successful but the idea is no graffiti or tags, heavy fades on the tank cars and my choice on the gondolas. I do have to notify the client that 2 of the couplers are busted. Pictures of the covers and cars tomorrow


Good to be back home
 
Last edited:
C&OMtnMan said:
Getting these B&O single sheathed wood box cars perilously close to the finish line.

Last night I did letter streaking, some random fade/grime streaking, hand grab/ladder grime, and mud splatter.

Letter streaking was with Master’s Touch artist oil Titanium White, applied at the bottom edge of selected lettering/logos with a tiny brush, then drawn down with a flat dry brush. All areas done were a bit too vivid for my taste, and were dry-brushed over with a thickish wash of Mission Models Brown and Mission Models Anthracite, mixed 1:1, and thinned with Vallejo airbrush thinner. (The Anthracite is incredibly thick stuff, and needs thinning to get even to a hand brushing consistency.)

Hand grab/ladder grime was done with the same heavy wash.

Photos:

View attachment 202088
View attachment 202089

End view:
View attachment 202091

Roof griming was done with pastel chalks, then the cars were sealed with airbrushed Dullcote:

View attachment 202092

The final step was the mud splatter. I usually use Vallejo “Dirt” straight up, but I wanted a darker, more brown/red tone, so I made a mix of eight drops Vellejo Dirt, two drops Mission Models Standard Rust, and four drops of Mission Models Brown:

View attachment 202093
View attachment 202094

I think the splatter is on on the first photos as well, but the above two pictures show it a bit better.

The colors used in this installment:

View attachment 202095

This is pretty much the way these are going to look when finished. All that remains is sealing of the mud splatter, and weathering trucks and wheels.

In retrospect, there are two things I would do differently (and will, because I have more boxcar red subjects in hand):

1. A darker, reddish-brown mud splatter
2. A wash that more closely matches my home-brew B&O box car red for subduing the letter streaking. (but keep the existing mix for grime on grab irons/ladders)
Click to expand...
I think it looks great. I do understand the things you would do differently but I really like the reddish-brown splatter you have shown. I think darker might get lost in the boxcar reddish cars.

I have issues with brake wheels! But my issue is with the more modern cars. I never know when the brake wheel should show a darker rust or not. With the brake wheel you are showing in the photo because this is an older car I would rust it. It of course depends on how old the car is from the build date. So, I tend to error on the side of a heavier rust

Well done and thanks for sharing, especially the paint bottles!
 
Last edited:
TLOC said:
I need to experiment more seriously than I have with grain spillage. Not found anything that keeps resembling grain after it dries.

When in Abilene last week one of the trains was spilling kernels of corn but that was on the ground and more of a scenery item
Click to expand...
I took a tip from Dansrailroad2011 and used ground ginger. I think I need to dry it out some it was a little clumpy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top