My first weathering: A GP38-2 UP

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Frans4045

New Member
Hi Everyone!

I am new here and this is my first post.
My name is Frans and I emigrated to the US (Oregon) in 2000 from Holland.
Deeply impressed I am with the humongous diesel locomotives here!
Every day when I drive to work I pass a fair sized Union Pacific owned railroad yard and finally it got to me. I HAD to have a few of those locos on scale!

Well, last weekend I scored on a train swap meet and now I have 4 big diesels.
But I like them to look used, so I weathered my first ever locomotive over the weekend after practicing on a few box cars first.

It was tough! I sure could use some suggestions and ideas about how to apply a wash and what works best. Like..brand of paint or ink, acrylic or enamel...etc etc...
I mean the wash that is meant to darken the nooks and crannies and therefore make the locomotive look more detailed.

Would you please take a look at my work and criticize it? Give me hints and tips to improve?
Thanks in advance!

So if my photo upload succeeds you should see a weathered and new box car to compare, followed by a few pics of a UP GP38-2, before and after pics

Frans
 
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It's not bad, though it looks like there's some white spots in the weathering on the GP38-2.
 


Frans,

Looks very nice - where in Oregon do you live?

I'm guessing you went to the swap meet down in Eugene last weekend.
 
Fans, welcome to the board, I am pretty new here also and new to the hobby.

Your weathering looks pretty darn good. I hope to be able to do that well someday...:D
 
Welcome aboard Frans. The Dash 2 looks good with the weathering job. There is no right or wrong way when it comes to the amount of weathering. Units that are fairly new or recently been outshopped after an overhaul would not be as dirty and grimey as ones that have been in service a long time so it is all in what you want it to look like. I've even gone so far as to repaint a couple of panels on the hood side of a GP7 to simulate new replacement pieces on an otherwise well weathered engine.
 
Thank you so much for looking and replying to my post! Also for you kind words!

wheeler1963: Thank you!

Jerome: I use Humbrol (enamel) and Tamya (acryl). That's what is easily available here in town.
Also good quality pastel chalks and dull coat.
I had trouble with the wash. It dried in streaks and I had to wipe with a cloth like a madman thinking that I ruined it all. By sheer luck(!) it all of a sudden looked ok.
That is not how you want to work, obviously...I did not feel "in control".
Also I had a VERY hard time for the pastel chalk to stick! It just fell off! In the end it certainly did not do what I had hoped. I feel the surface was too smooth and hard, as opposed to the rougher, matt surface of a German 1:18 scale Tiger tank I did once.

Jbaakko: Yes, I had some problems with dry brushing as well and I could not correct all of it. Hence some white spots here and there. Used acrylic Tamya for that.

JeffShultz: I live in Eugene and yes, that was the swap meet I was talking about. You live around here?

Screwjack: Thanks for your kind words! YES YOU CAN! lol! But it does take figuring out the paints, thinners and stuff and a lot of practice...I just know I can achieve higher levels, someone needs to show me hands on how to!

NH Mike: I think you are absolutely right! No wrong or right. I see them every day, some brand new looking, coupled to the swarthiest, dirtiest diesel you ever saw. I've seen the yellow UP paint flaking in a way that I would not even want to do on scale, thinking no one would "buy it" as realism!

Thanks again guys! And if you know how to weather or know of good books or links on the web, please let me know!

Frans
 
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Yep' for a first attempt on a locomotive pretty good,matter of fact you passed lesson number one with flying colors......You didn't get carried away and over do it.! ;)
 


Thanks Station master! By the way: Your Signature cracks me up!!!
GN.2-6-8-0 and CSX road slug:

Thanks for that compliment! I know exactly what you mean...You know what is sort of funny?
Like I mentioned before, every day when I drive to work I pass a UP rail yard. I look very hard at the locos to see what I can mimic in weathering.
Some of them look sooooo bad, that I catch myself thinking: "Wow...that is a piss poor job...totally overdone and unrealistic!" ...

Here is an example of what I mean, since a picture says more than a thousand words.
SD60M.jpg
 
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Welcome aboard, Frans. Really nice job for your first try. You should have seen some of my first weathering jobs. :eek: They're in a landfill somewhere. That UP 2497 is a good example of how complex weathering really is. I like to practice using prototype photos like that and see how close I can come to the correct look.
 
stationmaster said:
Looks like a repaint that is peeling, eh?

Bob
Click to expand...
Kinda sort of. The paint on those SD60M's and other various UP units peel from being washed, with harsh chemicals, try washing your car with simple green. The yellow showing is the yellow primer that was used...
 
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