My latest (90 PSI+!) weatherings & projects! (-: By RJPModelEngineering

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

I love weathering and trying different techniques. Weathering cars, buildings, trucks but especially loco's and rolling stock in N to G gauge and sometimes much bigger still.

I thought I'd share some of the pictures I found interesting of recent weathering attempts/projects (-:

Rob

 

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/bobsbitsandbobs

Edited November 12, 2017 by How about a Dictator Loco Class?

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

Recent weatherings 1;

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

Recent weathering pics 2;

Edited October 17, 2016 by How about a Dictator Loco Class?

[sb67]

Great photos! Especially like the 08. Love to know what techniques you use.

Steve

[James Makin]

Great stuff Rob, particularly loving that tatty 'Western'!

[Tangoman69]

Fabulous application to the gronk, would love to know how you achieved it

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

Fabulous application to the gronk, would love to know how you achieved it

 

Ha what's a gronk lol?  

Do you mean the Western?

If so I happen to have pictures from start to finish of how to do it.

Thanks! 

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

Great photos! Especially like the 08. Love to know what techniques you use.

Steve

Oh thank you!!

Well I love airbrushing, (I say that an airbrush can give texture. I almost never resort to weathering powders. The pics are too lower quality to show the textures. I deliberately spit the airbrush, and over spray then blow it around while drying it, I paint two coats of differing colours put put the second on too thick and blast bits back off to get flakes of paint, revealing rust. Rust is best done with many slightly different contrasting colours and shades rather than just orange. If you take pictures of good rust nice and close up in the flesh you can see what to make it from. I'll show what I mean with better pics in future) then stippling(again with slightly differing contrasting shades), coloured pencils, fibre brushing using various abrasivenessness levels, sand paper, sanding blocks, gloss, matt and satin varnish on almost every model even if it doesn't show much to get contrasting textures and make the finish more robust, using acrylic/enamel varnish with both airbrush and aerosol, painting then stripping it back then re weathering can often work well. Sometimes powerful chemicals that can rot plastic in seconds.

That's a vague summery of most methods I use.

Only the Western loco is what I'd class as a deluxe weathering. The others are what I'd call extra detailed.

Super Deluxe is when every detail imaginable is taken care of no matter how small lol And then there's standard, at the opposite extreme which is just supposed to look a decent amount better than a factory weather.

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

Great stuff Rob, particularly loving that tatty 'Western'!

Thanks James!!

Just noticed your advert; Loftus Road -  Come see us @ Warley November 2016, DEMU Showcase 2017 & More!

Gutted I'm not off to Warley now this year. Your work is wonderful. I'd love to have had a good long look at it in the flesh. Like your modern fuel station. It's amazing!

Would have been great to have met you too.

 

And I've just seen your row of shops!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.rmweb.co....ing-mrc/page-13

You are the best!

Edited October 14, 2016 by How about a Dictator Loco Class?

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

Some more of this week's weatherings;

The vent vans and class 40 roof show an example of textures achieved by airbrush and not needing powders.

Duplicate pics are different lighting or where weathering has been toned down.

 

I'm doing another O gauge Big Boy next. It's very tiering on the arms when you have to hold these bigger locos in the air for ages. With just one hand and twisting it around at wonky angles. Ie spraying under body details etc.

I've put pics to give an idea of size. It weighs more than 1,091 N gauge tanker wagons put together! (Which surprisingly are no real challenge to hold in the air!!!? Quite similar in weight to a hydrogen atom I'd imagine)

Edited October 21, 2016 by How about a Dictator Loco Class?

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

I've been having a go at doing smokebox ash effects by using real ground up coal ash.

Sometimes grinding talc and coal into the mixture to change the shades a little.

But stupidly I did it from memory. And then weathered over most of the ash when I got scared it needed toning down.

I'll copy actual pictures next time.

Edited October 18, 2016 by How about a Dictator Loco Class?

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

Rust effects;

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

Also, two questions for everybody;

Who do you all think are among the best weatherers on RM web that you recommend checking out?

(I'd love to see what David Shepherd could have done to an actual model, probably in a larger scale)

 

Secondly which weathering companies do you like most and why?

No need to put any of them down though!

(I don't mind criticism of my work though. As long as it's given with specific reasons it's good!! Lawrie Loveless of LHL models over the years has given me great detailed constructive criticism which I appreciate)

Edited October 27, 2016 by How about a Dictator Loco Class?

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

I'm quite fond of Scott's weathering at 'the weathering works'

He puts a good amount of time and detail into even little waggons. If you have all the time in the world and are doing it privately just for yourself time means less and lots more time can be available to mess around. But when he is doing it commercially as his living, his time consuming, detailed weatherings give value for money (-:

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

A 120 wagon (240 container) weathering batch.

So 480 buffers for greasing. 720 roof whatsits to highlight (-:

So, much easier on my joints than the 28,000ish vertical streaks on my last COVHOP batch.

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

Cattle wagon detailing.

I'll put a basic tutorial on YouTube and give a link later on how to do this little fun job easily and quickly.

A bit of real manure wouldn't go a miss to add that extra realistic dimension of smell to the models!

Maybe even some mooing and chewing sound effects from multi functional DCC units and speakers!

 

On these Flying Scotsman models I've done a gloss finish and a light weathering. The two effects seem to go hand in hand! Especially for how she would currently look.

Edited November 8, 2016 by How about a Dictator Loco Class?

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

Every HHA Freightliner heavy haul wagon I've ever seen has in your face weld lines down the sides.

For some reason Bachmann do it without these?

I've had a go and I think it looks more realistic. But it takes ages to do.

 

And I've had a stab at a some Wickham Trolley Car's. The roofs don't seem to rust in pictures I've seen but do have patches of bare metal sometimes. I'd like to see someone re motor one so it doesn't need the huge ballast load in the back. Tarpaulin curtains covering the sides would be a good mod too. Also some have visible exhausts. So one could be scratch made.

Most OO people wont fit in the cab. The drivers head is actually often higher than the windscreen on the actual trolley cars.

A dcc chip could fit in the roof without showing.

Edited November 11, 2016 by How about a Dictator Loco Class?

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

The APT-E is my favourite train ever!

 

Finished weathering another just now.

My previous lighter one was probably a bit more prototypical and better still though.

Although the prototype did get this dirty sometimes.

What a great model!

Interior detail is emense!

I've varnish sealed it quite well as pale colours really show scratches.

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

My only problem with the Wickham Trolley is, they're so damn HUGE!!!!

So I got me a smaller, easier to manage one today. Very cheap £££ compared to Bachmann's failed OO engineering challenge! And available in O, OO and N.

I'll post pics when it's painted up, has driver/interior in etc and the motor fitted.

The N gauge Wickham Trolley is so tiny! Hehe

The big Wickham Trolley should have it on a lead by it's side and take it for walks.

Edited February 16, 2017 by How about a Dictator Loco Class?

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

There's one trade secret that I realised should be shouted out!

As it's related to people's health and safety.

Here in these pictures are our respirators of choice at TMC.

These filters protect against many different things. Ie inorganic, particulate, fumes etc. (Can't be bothered going into it properly atm) Many filters only protect you from one or maybe two harmful nasties.

After a lot of research we saw the Scott Profile 2 mask and changeable screw on filters to be our favourite by far.

A basic tip is, if you can smell your paint or modelling related fumes in the slightest bit, your mask isn't good enough. And you are probably being harmed to some degree.

One danger is we can get accustomed to a smell and slightly desensitised to it over a short time. So please look after yourselves.

I've tried many filters and masks and this is by far my favourite. We've used these for many years. And for some serious hours! On an intense 14 hour day it can eventually feel a tad uncomfortable sometimes to wear. For a few hours or an on and off day it's perfect.

If you struggle to find these for yourselves, let us know and we may look into supplying them in future?!?

 

 

A gutsy ott spray booth is another life saver for your longs etc.

I get my industrial spray booths custom built from scratch, with extra powerful service free motors, that also won't ignite gasses and we have speed controllers made for them. Then you can have a quiet mild breeze for a light N gauge weathering and a concord's afterburner like noiser blast for a heavy G gauge and upwards weathering.

A model in a gauge twice as wide requires between 4 and 8 times more paint. Big models hence can be a real enemy of your health if you don't take the proper precautions. It's worth finding the appropriate m/s per m2 of air required for your room's m3 size. Many spray booth companies I've delt with don't even know these official requirements sadly.

 

Spray booth and compressor noise are another nasty to watch out for. (Or listen out for if your hearing still exists)

A good rule is, if your ears whistle due to the noise. Then a degree of damage has happened potentially each time. If your hearing is already lessened sadly, please don't think it's too late to bother with all that health and safety/personal protective equipment rubbish! You can help by not adding to the problem.

My first compressors were an ear splitting 94db. My more recent ones are 40 to 60db.

A 40db is quite impressive. If you buy an oil cooled one, check it's duty cycle!!! And it's advisable to get a medical spec one. Unless you like oil splattered all over your model as soon as it's got up to temperature.

I wear ear defenders sometimes.

 

As a silly side point; My mum ascertains the bio resonance of the substances I use at work etc (not illegal substances/mind warping drugs) and monitors how much I have in my system when I get home. Then she cancels it out overnight. Heaven knows what she's doing lol!!! I feel rightfully dubious as to how many things this expensive complex so called wonder machine can treat. So I thought I'd try it on something I could see. On bad fresh midge bites namely. As the machine said each individually targeted bite was treated, the bad itching stopped. Taking 2 minutes each to treat on average. One hour later the swelling had subsided on each treated bite. The next morning the red marks had gone too, so the problem had vanished totally. Whereas the untreated bites persisted for nearly a week. My dubious friend on another evening got midge bites from playing football next to the same wooded area where the midges tucked into me (something we'd experienced often) and he was amazed by the results too. Recovery stages taking the exact same timing.

So there's potential my mum isn't totally mad like me lol!!!

 

If anyone has better input than me on these "railway matters", ie the best respirators etc, then please add to this post.

Thank you! (-:

 

Rob

Edited March 2, 2017 by How about a Dictator Loco Class?

[Hilux5972]

That APT-E looks fantastic. Very test-worn.

[njee20]

I like the HHAs too.

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

I was just thinking, what is the longest any of you have spent weathering a single engine or piece of rolling stock?!?!?

I'd love to hear a fair few answers if possible!

It must be great to have not time or detail limits!

 

Thanks!

 

 

(The longest I usually spend on weathering a loco isn't much over 1.5 hours.

But I'm constrained timewise as I only weather for work)

[big T]

I was just thinking, what is the longest any of you have spent weathering a single engine or piece of rolling stock?!?!?

I'd love to hear a fair few answers if possible!

It must be great to have not time or detail limits!

 

Thanks!

 

 

(The longest I usually spend on weathering a loco isn't much over 1.5 hours.

But I'm constrained timewise as I only weather for work)

 

I did a 37 for a mate, and including bufferbeam pipework, detailing bits etc this took me a week, maybe 2 odd hours a night

[How about a Dictator Loco Class?]

I did a 37 for a mate, and including bufferbeam pipework, detailing bits etc this took me a week, maybe 2 odd hours a night

Wow, that's a fair bit of attention to detail time! I bet the old grimy Growler looked good!

With time on your side you can do effects like; paint on steps worn through to shiny metal, fully painted interiors etc

Loads of little fussy accurate details, copied from photos etc.

Thanks for the reply Big T!

 

If anyone else wants to add details of their longest weathering job, please don't hold back. (-: