Weathering Engines a Continuous thread.

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Tom, here's the top pic of the engine. At the time CSX were just coming out with these rebuilds so the top is lightly weathered. I don't know if they are done doing the SD40-3's but they are doing a lot of AC4400.View attachment 172161

Thanks Tom. I was practicing on a SF diesel ( similar blue) to get the fade close to what I am hoping for. But, done till Sunday. The paint booth has been cleaned and sold. The new one was supposed to have arrived and installed tonight but now it’s Sunday morning.

 

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In progress

here is the prototype inspiration photo

Photo site and photographer credit is on the picture frame

The model

The initial clear coat is Army Paint air Matt clear

thoughts please

 

[CambriaArea51]

Looks good Tom

 

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Thanks Tom. I just got a text from the owner, he got lots of pictures and he loves it. A relief for me. Clear coat tonight and I’ll look at it tomorrow

 

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Other side

 

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Working on another. This is a Scaletrains Rivet Counter NS # 8831 a GE C40-9

Washed with a light application of 70% Isopropyl Alcohol

Masked off the lights and windows

sprayed the fuel tank, trucks and plows with a Tamiya mix of xf78 wooden deck tan, Xf52 flat brown, xf80 Royal light gray and x1 Black. 60% paint thinned with 40% Isopropyl Alcohol

It is currently drying

 

[C&OMtnMan]

Working on another. This is a Scaletrains Rivet Counter NS # 8831 a GE C40-9

Washed with a light application of 70% Isopropyl Alcohol

Masked off the lights and windows

sprayed the fuel tank, trucks and plows with a Tamiya mix of xf78 wooden deck tan, Xf52 flat brown, xf80 Royal light gray and x1 Black. 60% paint thinned with 40% Isopropyl Alcohol

TomO,

Several weeks ago, you provided the detailed formula for your 20% white, 80% isopropyl, two drops of Tamiya X-21 fade coat.

Would you apply that over Testors Dullcote? Airbrush it on? Or do you use an acrylic for base flat coat?

 

[TLOC]

TomO,

Several weeks ago, you provided the detailed formula for your 20% white, 80% isopropyl, two drops of Tamiya X-21 fade coat.

Would you apply that over Testors Dullcote? Airbrush it on? Or do you use an acrylic for base flat coat?

I always after cleaning a model use a matte finish clear coat on it. Then I weather.

I liked the Testors DullCote in the spray can. A few years ago it became harder to find. I started looking for alternatives because for some reason after years of use I couldn’t handle the smell.

I have used the VMS brand clear coats (they call varnish). It’s very nice and cleans up well. I use it mainly when I plan to use Pan Pastels as part of the weathering process. It doesn’t seem to be as aggressive against the Pan Pastels

I recently have come to enjoy the Army Painters brand of Air matte clear. No smell at all

I have some AK Interactive I just purchased and will be experimenting with this week.

I don’t mix brands. If I start with say Arrmy Paint for the 1st clear coating after the cleaning, the last clear coat to seal the weatheruing is the same

I airbrush all clear coats

 

[C&OMtnMan]

I always after cleaning a model use a matte finish clear coat on it. Then I weather.

I liked the Testors DullCote in the spray can. A few years ago it became harder to find. I started looking for alternatives because for some reason after years of use I couldn’t handle the smell.

I have used the VMS brand clear coats (they call varnish). It’s very nice and cleans up well. I use it mainly when I plan to use Pan Pastels as part of the weathering process. It doesn’t seem to be as aggressive against the Pan Pastels

I recently have come to enjoy the Army Painters brand of Air matte clear. No smell at all

I have some AK Interactive I just purchased and will be experimenting with this week.

I don’t mix brands. If I start with say Arrmy Paint for the 1st clear coating after the cleaning, the last clear coat to seal the weatheruing is the same

I airbrush all clear coats

Thanks for the reply. My question was more about overlapping paint types than mixing brands. You’re putting an alcohol-based mix over an acrylic, and I’m curious as to how that works out, how layers with different bases work & play well together…or not.

 

[TLOC]

Thanks for the reply. My question was more about overlapping paint types than mixing brands. You’re putting an alcohol-based mix over an acrylic, and I’m curious as to how that works out, how layers with different bases work & play well together…or not.

Ok sorry.

I have used VMS matte clear varnish or Army Painter matte clear “air” on every model I have weathered in 2023. I tested VMS on a few projects in 2022 and realized it’s not as aggressive against Pan Pastels. I have found the same in 2023 about the Army Painter. I don’t get a smell from either. I know Army Painter is water based, I will check the VMS bottle when I get back home this morning

I have weathered in 2023 well over 100 models and thankfully only 2 have reacted strangely to my efforts.

#1 is I clean with 70%, 91% or my preferred but now hard to get locally 99% Isopropyl Alcohol. Used to spray it on, now I hand wipe lightly

#2 is I spray the VMS or Army Paint clear coats. While I think it’s a step maybe not needed, everything I read says it provides a grip so the paints can latch onto. I do use a dehydrator to speed up the drying and hardening process. Every model I weather goes into the dehydrator after each clear coat for at least 90 minutes and more often overnight

#3 is my base fade which is always Tamiya Arcylic colors thinned with Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA). SO FAR, this spray has not been affected by either clear coat product I have used

#4 after drying and the fade is right to my eyes I start the weathering process. Here I use various Vallejo colors. Air, Model Color and Panzer Aces are the Arcylic series of paints. These are applied by brush and mixed as washes thinned by tap water. I do a process called wet on wet. I apply additional layers of washes while the previous layer is still wet. If it has dried, I will apply water to the surface and then the washes. Because the thinner is water the Vallejo paints don’t affect/interact with the Tamiya paint

#5 I will clear coat again! Same product that I started with, I have not tried to mix them…

Other than 2 cars this year I have been fortunate that nothing strange has happened while clear coating. I don’t thin the clear coats but I do shake them lightly by hand, not with my Vortex mixer. I have had a few but not many incidents of cloudiness after clear coating but another coat of the clear takes care of that

I have experimented with Tamiya Arcylic over the Vallejo paints and IMO that doesn’t work. Because of the IPA I use as thinner it softens the Vallejo colors.

I do use Tamiya over Tamiya and have not noticed any softening of either layer when I have. I rarely use Tamiya over Tamiya on models but for my structures commissions I do.

I hope I have answered your question.

 

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VMS varnish is water based

 

[C&OMtnMan]

#3 is my base fade which is always Tamiya Arcylic colors thinned with Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA). SO FAR, this spray has not been affected by either clear coat product I have used

For #3, you’re saying the fade coat is unaffected by the clear coat used underneath. I would have thought the concern would be the alcohol would attack the acrylic matte coat underneath.

Do you use 99% isopropyl for that, or a lower percentage?

 

[TLOC]

For #3, you’re saying the fade coat is unaffected by the clear coat used underneath. I would have though the concern would be the alcohol would attack the acrylic matte coat underneath.

Do you use 99% isopropyl for that, or a lower percentage?

I understand and I can tell you it hasn’t.

I prefer to use 99% Isopropyl Alcohol but locally the last few months and during the initial Covid surge in Spring and Summer of 2020 it is hard to find. Now it’s also like 4x’s more expensive. I no longer think it really matters what % of IPA I use to thin. Where I really notice the difference is stripping models and structures. The 99% is much more effective than the 70%.

I think the reason I don‘t have an issue with the alcohol attacking is that it evaporates so quickly and really doesn’t have time to attack before it’s gone. If I strip something it’s in a sealed container and is saturating the object. That’s not happening with thinned paint.

I can tell you I also have the Tamiya paint thinner. While I rarely use it, that stuff is a solvent base and it destroys the water based clear coats.

Thanks for an interesting discussion that is making me re-think my process

Tom

 

[C&OMtnMan]

For #3, you’re saying the fade coat is unaffected by the clear coat used underneath. I would have though the concern would be the alcohol would attack the acrylic matte coat underneath.

Do you use 99% isopropyl for that, or a lower percentage?

Sorry for all my typos. I’ve been repairing my riding mower, and my fingertips are sore, and low on both dexterity and sensitivity.

 

[C&OMtnMan]

Thanks for an interesting discussion that is making me re-think my process

Tom

Well, if the discussion is helping you, that makes me glad. I’m still developing processes.

I have some Vallejo matte varnish, tried it last night - quite by accident: I was making a fade coat to put over Dullcote, and didn’t notice I used the matte varnish instead of white, until after I sprayed seven cars! Five of them came out fine. The other two I stripped down, decided to forego the Dullcote, and used the matte varnish (with less thinner).

I think the Vallejo matte varnish acquitted itself very well.

Taking some pictures, will potentially post some in the rolling stock thread.

I now have my airbrush; I went with Gaahleri trigger type gravity feed.

Regarding Dullcote (thinned from bottle Dullcote): I’ve been using laquer thinner, but it seems like very little actually was getting onto the cars. Would mineral spirits work to thin Dullcote, and be slower to evaporate, allowing more to get to and build on target?

 

[TLOC]

Well, if the discussion is helping you, that makes me glad. I’m still developing processes.

I have some Vallejo matte varnish, tried it last night - quite by accident: I was making a fade coat to put over Dullcote, and didn’t notice I used the matte varnish instead of white, until after I sprayed seven cars! Five of them came out fine. The other two I stripped down, decided to forego the Dullcote, and used the matte varnish (with less thinner).

I think the Vallejo matte varnish acquitted itself very well.

Taking some pictures, will potentially post some in the rolling stock thread.

I now have my airbrush; I went with Gaahleri trigger type gravity feed.

Regarding Dullcote (thinned from bottle Dullcote): I’ve been using laquer thinner, but it seems like very little actually was getting onto the cars. Would mineral spirits work to thin Dullcote, and be slower to evaporate, allowing more to get to and build on target?

what did

Sorry for all my typos. I’ve been repairing my riding mower, and my fingertips are sore, and low on both dexterity and sensitivity.

you use to thin the Vallejo Matte varnish?

I have only used Testors dullcote in the spray can. So, can’t help you on thinning it.

I guess after reading people’s text messages typos I really don’t notice them that much. I blame technology and especially spell check

 

[C&OMtnMan]

what did you use to thin the Vallejo Matte varnish?

I have only used Testors dullcote in the spray can. So, can’t help you on thinning it.

I guess after reading people’s text messages typos I really don’t notice them that much. I blame technology and especially spell check

I used Vallejo airbrush thinner.

With my first accidental foray into using it, I thought I was mixing a fade coat using white, so I had it thinned about 6:1. When I realized my mistake, and went to use it as a flat clear, I just added more of the varnish to get it down to about 2:1.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

View attachment 172516

thoughts please

My thoughts are that a couple of sidewinders will be able to upright it?

On the other hand - that is a magnificent work - outstanding!

 

[Smudge617]

In progress

here is the prototype inspiration photo
View attachment 172513
Photo site and photographer credit is on the picture frame

The model
View attachment 172514
The initial clear coat is Army Paint air Matt clear
View attachment 172515View attachment 172516
thoughts please

Oh I like this, great work as usual Tom.

 

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My thoughts are that a couple of sidewinders will be able to upright it?

On the other hand - that is a magnificent work - outstanding!

Oh I like this, great work as usual Tom.

Thanks guys I enjoyed working on the pictured pdiesel CSX 4040.

While the client approved 4040 before he paid and I shipped it out once he got it home he didn’t like it! I guarantee my weathering and offer within the 1st 10days to return it at your cost and I will make it right and return it back on my dime. Only once before did that happen. It was with a cabin car (caboose). The cabin car wasn’t grimy enough in person! He has become one of my best regulars

Locomotive client didn’t like the colors in person. Once I got it back to the bench a friend of mine was looking at it and asked what didn’t he like. Colors! Friend says he has the same locomotive still in the box run once on the program track. So I texted my friend’s phone number to the client and they made a deal. Client ended up getting a faded diesel and nothing else but a spritz of dust on the trucks.

I am finishing up another CSX #4040 tomorrow for another client. 3 diesels of the same brand and number is kind of neat and I have done duplicate numbers many times for rolling stock but not diesels

This morning my USPS carrier was busy. 2 packages received filled with 8 non powered (dummy) locomotives and a couple pieces of rolling stock. The dummies are to be heavily weathered and they are going to be used as battery holders for Power On Board (POB) units.