C&OMtnMan
Active Member
I really like both cars. Nicely weathered but not overboard.
I can’t handle Testors dull cote after using it for literally decades! During Covid the smell just really got to me. I loved using Pan Pastels but disliked the Dull cote diminishing the coverage. When I use Pan Pastels I now use the VMS- matte clear varnish which IMOO is less aggressive to the Pan Pastels
That third car, I’d like to duplicate that. Wow
Yeah, there’s a balance that Dullcote strikes for me in certain situations:
When I do the white lettering deterioration runs, it’s difficult for me to not overdo it, and to me that’s among the uglier mistakes I make. And I am a poor hand still yet at determining whether I’ve overdone it or not, with the car in progress. So, I’ll generally Dullcote a car that I do lettering runs/streaks, as it’s a measure of “insurance” against overdoing.
Those last two batches of hoppers I did and reported in previous posts had no letter fades, and I wanted all my chalk work to show through, so Vallejo Matte Varnish was the choice.
Those wood box cars I “remediated” (also in a previous post) - the original seal was Dullcote, to keep the letter streaks understated. Then, when I gave the cars a good fade a few months later, the topcoat was the Vallejo Matte Varnish, because all I had added was a fade layer over the old work.
For me, as far as smells go, I have the liberty of taking spray painting outdoors, weather & daylight permitting (both becoming rarer at this time of year), because I live in a rural area.
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