ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
L to R Model Power 36' Covered Hopper Ontario Northland, Unkown Covered Hopper SHPX (Enjay Plastics) Unkown Covered Hopper TLDX (Pillsbury) Model Power 40' Boxcar GTW
The SHPX Covered Hopper, bought this sometime in the 95-99 period, who built this?
the 36' ONT Covered Hopper I used Primarily Dust and grime style powders
The first car I weathered, a GTW Model Power 40' Boxcar.
TLDX Hopper bought in 95-99, not sure who made this though I have seen Exactrail make an N Scale version.
Also guys, I am wondering how do I prevent the powders from smeering when touched? Any ideas?
The bottom one has good light. Looks like you have some light weathering going there. I tend to go a bit heavier myself but I use the trains here as my example. There used to be a couple of guys who gave me grief about weathering 'too heavy' until one of them was down here for some reason or other and saw a couple of trains going through town. The locos were quite dirty and many of the cars had obscene amounts of dirt and rust. I haven't gotten a hard time from those guys since. If light weathering is what you want then you a very good start. However I like to see cars that are heavily effected by the elements and look like they're worked hard. I present one of my locos and a couple of cars as examples:
These were done almost entirely with weathering powders and a light over-spray with Valspar Clear Flat.
I used to get that a lot. Now I get back four or five feet, zoom in on the object looking down on it from an angle and it usually comes out fairly well.
They look really nice. A great 1st attempt. There are lots of folks here to get advice from on the photos if you like, and the weathering. I find lighter color cars, pose more of a challenge, darker colored cars seem to me to be more forgiving. Keep up the good work and strong efforts.
The weathering is way too heavy and uniform, no streaking. Try using some alcohol or paint thinner in a soft brush and make vertical strokes to make rain streaks.
Mother nature does not have written specifications for the proper application of dirt and rust, so there really isn't a wrong way to do this. Do think about where dirt and rust would accululate in the real world. Also try dipping a paint brush in some alcohol and into your weathering powders, then brushing them on the car. Follow the same pattern as rain would on the real car. If you get too much on, follow with straight alcohol and wash it off until it looks right to you.
Another thing to remember is (and we all do this) don't weather every car to the same degree. Mix lightly weathered cars, medium and filthy ones together. Even the occaisional clean one appears in the real world. Most important is to have fun with it!
Weathering with powders is my way of taking a shiny toylike car and making it look like a real train car ,something you would see passing your area on tracks . i use artist chalks and sand paper. rub the chalk on sand paper untill powder is enough to be picked up by a paint brush. for colors of cars ,white use any dark .brown black or grey.how dark or light the car determines the color of your powder. experiment, if you dont like it wash it off. after you brush on the powder ,take a pic of the car,look at it on your computer,somtimes a camera with high pixels can help you with any flaws on the car. i also use a silver gel pen. draw a square on the car near the rivets . it looks like a replacement was made on th car to cover a hole or dent .i have also taken dirt from the backyard [put in coffee can to dry out, then put through a strainer] with my finger rubbed it on cars ,roads and even buildings. has a great effect
all I use are weathering powders and i can give a few tips. use alcohol and streak from the top down. mix powders w/ hairspray and do the trucks and wheels that way. will give a much better look.
I have done some weathering and I would focus on the bottom of your rolling stock as most of the dirt and dust collects there. Also think "rust" and where you think water would run rust deposits. Looks great thou
My guess on both the Enjay and Pillsbury car would be Athearn.The easiest way to tell is look at the coupler boxes if the cars are Athearn there will be metal clips that lock over ears on either side of the box.
