RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted February 27, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 27, 2011 Hi all weathering nuts! Having perused this forum and noticed that aerosol and airbrush weathering are both mentioned and airbrushing seems the most popular, I decided to show a couple of projects which illustrate that good results can be had from both mediums. The first is a Hornby 08 3256 , the underframe was brush painted with Railmatch weathered black then the whole was dusted with Railmatch sleeper grime aerosol from about 7 or 8 inches away. The roof was sooted up with Carr's powders while the spray was still tacky. When all was dry I used Tamiya weathermaster colours to add rust, oil, gunmetal etc the highlights. I also used some artists watercolour yellow ochre (normal watercolour from a tin box set) to run yellow rust streaks along the bonnet door edges and hinges. The second project was completed a couple of years after the 08 and after I had acquired a double action arbrush and compressor. The loco is an old Bachmann Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T. This was fully upgraded and detailed with all the missing pipework added. The missing motion brackets were sourced from 247 developments and fitted. Also guard irons were fabricated from scrap brass fret. This was my first outing with the airbrush and credit must be given to Tim Shackleton's video for insoiration. I used a mix of matt black & leather (Humbrol) a la Shackleton. This mix was constantly 'messed with' as the job unfolded. I used a couple of colour photos from magazines as a reference. The first stage was to dust the whole model with the mix then concentrating on spraying a light coat from track level. The mix was then darkened and a layer of 'soot' was laid down from above. The wheels and motion were then darkened with this mix (I use a rolling road with no problems from gumming). More leather added to the mix brings a rusty tone and the cylinder fronts were highlighted with this. Also the firebox and front running plate were dusted with this rusty shade. After cleaning the airbrush thoroughly a spot of white was added and blown around the safety valves and motion slide area to represent emulsified oil (see Mr Shackleton's video). I'll leave you to judge the difference in finish betwwen the two (be kind!) however the important difference for me was the time taken. The 08 took hours to achieve wheras the 2MT took lass time to do than writing this post! I will use the airbrush for all my spray weathering from now on but this should give inspiration to anyone who hasn't yet got an airbrush, because with a little care good results can be obtained with aerosol paints. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 I like both results you've got there, but they are different. You've done well to weather your 08 with a spray can. It looks filthy & there is nothing wrong with that...but would you want all your models to be weathered so heavily? Could you achieve a more subtle or localised dusting of dirt with a can as you have with your airbrush on your 2MT? I doubt it on both counts. I am put off using my airbrush by the thought of cleaning it afterwards, even though I know it only takes about 10 minutes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted February 27, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 27, 2011 I like both results you've got there, but they are different. You've done well to weather your 08 with a spray can. It looks filthy & there is nothing wrong with that...but would you want all your models to be weathered so heavily? Could you achieve a more subtle or localised dusting of dirt with a can as you have with your airbrush on your 2MT? I doubt it on both counts. I am put off using my airbrush by the thought of cleaning it afterwards, even though I know it only takes about 10 minutes. Hi Pete, thanks for the comments. The 08 was weathered with reference to 2 photos in Steve Jordan's 08 livery book and memories of a particularly filthy 08 working at my local station, it was probably not far away from a coat of BR blue. Of course you are correct subtlety is not easy with an aerosol however I was pleased with the result and it inspired me to move onto the airbrush. These 2 locos are examples of heavy weathering and I don't go mad on all my models! I do enjoy the fun of creating these effects though, there are only the rules of nature to be observed, soot, muck & rain come down & spray come up & along etc simples! The beauty of the airbrush is the subtlety the only extra I added to the 2MT was the smokebox door rust burn, using Carr's powder if I recall correctly. As for your final note I was exactly the same and hung off getting an airbrush for that very reason. Believe me it's not as bad as it seems and the rewards in sense of achievement are well worth it. To set up a weathering session I have to erect my spray booth, set up the airbrush and all the sundries needed before any paint hits a model and of course the cleaning afterwards, however when I seriously looked at the amount of preparation I used to do before and cleaning after with any other modelling activity there really isn't a great deal of difference, swings & roundabouts you might say. My only other concern about airbrushing was keeping the brush clean this turned out be a piece of cake regular blowing through with white spirit during the session and a simple thorough blast with cellulose thinner prior to putting it away. Tim Shackleton covers this in his video (I have no connection with Mr Shackleton apart from being happily inspired!B) ) Enjoy the process and the cleaning will not bother you, the final cleaning to put your brush away is really only a 5 min job. Hope you have a go, the rewards are great. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy D Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I am put off using my airbrush by the thought of cleaning it afterwards, even though I know it only takes about 10 minutes. Hi, you could use acrylic paint as it is much easyier than enamel and takes half the time to clean the airbrush, also no nasty smells etc. î… Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustermark Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Hi, you could use acrylic paint as it is much easyier than enamel and takes half the time to clean the airbrush, also no nasty smells etc. î… Regards I can second Andy D's comment. I have been using acrylics and the clean up is quick and easy (and trouble free provided I don't leave paint in the bathroom sink!). I have chosen acrylics because you just use water and don't need the thinners etc. However, my paint work isn't anywhere near as good mirreles31. Probably down to my skill level (and a lot more practice), but maybe enamels give better results. Since I model in N, I feel that I can't see the difference from normal viewing distance and I've been very pleased with what I have managed so far using acrylics. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted February 28, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 28, 2011 I can second Andy D's comment. I have been using acrylics and the clean up is quick and easy (and trouble free provided I don't leave paint in the bathroom sink!). I have chosen acrylics because you just use water and don't need the thinners etc. However, my paint work isn't anywhere near as good mirreles31. Probably down to my skill level (and a lot more practice), but maybe enamels give better results. Since I model in N, I feel that I can't see the difference from normal viewing distance and I've been very pleased with what I have managed so far using acrylics. I havn't tried acrylics thro' an airbrush so can't comment on finish/cleaning etc, my use of enamels is more to do with sticking with what I know best. However I am not averse to trying anything once so might have a go. Using artists acrylics applied by brush in small subtle amounts to represent light yellowish rust or ground in muck in cracks of doors etc is something I have done, as mentioned in first post the 08 has ochre watercolour lightly brushed into the door joints as seen in the photo of 08 no.3684 pge.23 of Steve Jordan's book Liveries of the BR Standard Diesel Electric Shunters in Colour (1952-1996),(SDJ Publications). My advice would always be to go with what you are used to or feel best with I've grown up with enamels since my first Airfix Spitfire!! so I'll stick with it. As for N gauge I'd be lucky to see what I was doing!! only joking, the thing is it's all about personal perception and if something looks ok to you then who should argue? While I'm here I have a pic of what can be done without an aerosol or airbrush:- This is a factory weathered Bachmann 9F 92044, after much detailing, buffer beams, cab doors. fallplate & a host of other stuff, I added to the original weathering using only Tamiya Weathering Master palettes. I was impressed at how easily this medium can be subtlely applied by building up the depth of colour gradually. The main job was toning down Bachmanns attempt at cleaned off numbers & crest, then on to the wheels & motion which needed blackening as the light dust colour didn't look right. Then I added subtle streaking. I didn't add liming as some didn't suffer as bad as others, it depended on the area of operation. And so not a spray in sight. see what you think. Regards Phil (Mirreles31). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustermark Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 That is an awesome job. I can smell the grime from here! Excellent work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 1, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 1, 2011 That is an awesome job. I can smell the grime from here! Excellent work. Hi thanks for that, positive results always make for happy modelling have you got any projects to show? An interesting thing about the 9F was that the process I chose took on a life of its own, I didn't know how it would turn out and the results speak for themselves . And yes it reeks of oil,grease,soot & steam!!!! Incidently the Tamiya black I used gives an oily sheen especially on the wheels & motion, ironically I think it was the soot colour not the oil stain one which worked best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustermark Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 This is my only weathering project completed so far, done with Badger airbrush and acrylic paint. I am in the process of building my baseboard (which has taken 12 months so far). I am getting desperate to lay track and run stuff so weathering is waiting for a while. These are N-gauge JJA autoballasters built from the N-Gauge Society kits. I looked at photos of these and they all seem to get rusty, so I went with rust and grey dirt on the rusty one. It looks OK from a distance. The cleaner one just has a bit of rust so far. I haven't got brave enough to do a loco yet but I have a class 50 I am going to try doing first when I get round to it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 1, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 1, 2011 Hi Mustermark, I'm not a fan of the immediate modern scene (well I don't know much about it) but these (are they hoppers?) look good, the rust is effective was it brushed on? When you pluck up the courage to airbrush try just a wafting of track dirt along the lower areas on top of this rusting effect and you will be even happier with an already good model. I don't suppose I should be surprised about the amount of detail you've got on these 'N' gauge kits but I'm not used to this scale. Would love to see the Cl.50 (more my era) when you get round to it. As for the layout, I remember being at that stage, doesn't last long I've now got a nearly fully detailed and functioning 6ft plank!!! there is a bit beyond the bridge about 18'' cobbled on!! I have a photo somewhere of a another loco I did with aerosols (just to keep to the subject of the thread for a mo! I'll see if I can find it). cheers phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 2, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 2, 2011 Just found photo I mentioned yesterday, I used an aerosol (sleeper grime) to lay down a general layer of grime from an angle suggesting track spray then from above applied a misting of Railmatch roof dirt (aerosol). The rest of the more subtle oil stains rust etc was applied using the Tamiya palettes. The Gunmetal shade was used to highlight parts of the bogies giving contrast to rust highlights. This is a Heljan 'Clayton' with a number change, another pre airbrush project and even though I've moved on to other methods I'm still happy with the result. This second pic is something I did yesterday-a Cambrian Kits Shark ballast plough (had the kit for about 20 years and just built it!). I've posted this to show another way of adding subtlety without an airbrush. The whole van was sprayed Railmatch weathered black (aerosol), then transfers & details added. Working from a couple of photos found on Paul Bartlett's site I used pencil crayons to highlight stains and marks on the planking (keep the pencils sharpened). A very easy way to add that little extra. This does look better at normal viewing distances (cameras can be cruel! ) ignore the wonky handrails I have some very overweight engineers staff working here!! thats my story and I'm sticking to it. . I havn't finished yet as it will receive a light dusting of muck & rust to the underframes & ploughs from my airbrush truly multi-media model finishing! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gary White Posted March 2, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hi all Just wondering if any body has any success with mixing paint with varnish toget a weathering effect Yours Gary Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 2, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hi all Just wondering if any body has any success with mixing paint with varnish toget a weathering effect Yours Gary Hi Gary, I've not tried this (yet!) but there is mention on RMweb somewhere (think it's one of the recent 08 weathering threads) of mixing white into varnish as a way of fading liveries. I have thought about adding a little black to gloss or satin varnish to replicate wet oil stains and the like but not tried yet. In principle it should work as a tint, for instance some varnishes especially old stock tends to have a yellowing effect. I recently spray varnished an old Hornby BR green Cl.25 with an old (I'm talking 5yrs plus, new stuff is normally clear as a bell) aerosol of satin varnish and it changed the whole look of the green shade it became a brighter (and more attractive) bronze green like you see in colour photos of LNER pacifics freshly outshopped in BR green! Why not experiment on an old model. Cheers Phil. P.S. just a thought coupling rods on cleanish locos appear to look a yellowish golden colour, adding some yellowish rust colour to varnish and applying over clean (silvery) rods might replicate this I'll have to give it a go if I can find a clean enough loco in my stud!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 3, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 3, 2011 Hi all, to carry on the aerosol vs airbrush thread I dug ou some pics from about 5 or 6 years ago when I first used aerosols for weathering. Both thase vans show a shortcoming of using aerosols, the spray pattern is far heavier than an airbrush giving a spattering effect. I have to mention this is also a symptom of using an old can and probably not far from empty!! This can also happen if the can is not shaken up enough. Oh and blocked nozzles don't help, soak them in white spirit for a few minutes after use and put some thin wire in the nozzle while stored. I still like these vans though, they remind me of where I started and what got me into airbrushing eventually. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustermark Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I agree that aerosols spatter when they're getting empty. I find the same with my airbrush when the air can is getting low. Maybe when I get into doing more weathering I will invest in a compressor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 3, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 3, 2011 I agree that aerosols spatter when they're getting empty. I find the same with my airbrush when the air can is getting low. Maybe when I get into doing more weathering I will invest in a compressor. Hi Mustermark, Google Expo they've got a good deal on a compressor and double action airbrush set not quoting a price as I got mine last year and it may have gone up a little. It's a decent airbrush which I use all the time now. I have a single action brush with air can but never used it cos I spotted the above!B) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustermark Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 120 bucks isn't bad just for the compressor! I will be ordering one! Many thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 3, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 3, 2011 120 bucks isn't bad just for the compressor! I will be ordering one! Many thanks Yeh it's really good mine woz a bit cheaper but there's bin about 8 mnths and a VAT rise since, the airbrush is worth about 35 quid or more! I'm getting good results from mine the 2MT being the first I did. Just repairing some paintwork on a Cl.40 I detailed and resprayed over 20 yrs ago. I've got a soft spot for it. It's a Lima job and I added a ton of detail even changed it to a headcode disc version (they only did the H/C box version when first released). I've given it a new chassis (Hornby Railroad) anyway some old paint fell off so I cleaned it up with a glassfibre pen then masked and sprayed the area with Railmatch Loco Green. This the same shade I used originally supposedly! Doh! it's at least 2 shades brighter. I've just matt varnished the area in question and it has brought it nearer to required look. Luckily the patch has been localised to between the large bodyside grille and the access door half way along the side so masking lines are minimised. It' still a shade out but some canny weathering when I've finished detailing the chassis should disguise it. It's a namer too so the name (which fits central to the patch will draw the eye away as well. All good fun, I might post a couple of photos of it tmw. By the way I;ve ordered several things from Expo online and they are pretty quick at delivery . Enjoy it when you get it. Phil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 4, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 4, 2011 I've just took photos of the Cl.40 paint repair mentioned yesterday. The colour difference is pretty noticable but all is not lost! The camera has accentuated the contrast however as mentioned last night the matt varnish has changed the shade, I'm going add a light spray of satin varnish and see what happens. The green I used is exactly the same paint shade I used originally believe it or not! I've sussed out why this has happened tho' I finished the model with an all over spray varnish all those years ago and there has been a yellowing effect over time. I'm doing this bit with aerosols by the way, its how the original work was done and I'm experimenting for this thread. Heres a pic of the other side to show what it should look like & also that a good finish can be achieved with aerosols. Will update as I progress. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 5, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 5, 2011 Had a busy day yesterday, first up I satin varnished the patch on my Cl.40, this is how the whole paint job would have looked when first done! I also found a photo of the original job from 1988!!!! Different lighting & camera but a ditinctly different shade of green also the roof grey. Now pondering the next strategy for this repair. In the meantime while I had my spray booth out I did a bit of airbrush weathering. Compare these with my previous pics of aerosol spraying. First is the 'Shark' ballast plough (Cambrian kit) I crayoned on earlier, just a wafting of black/leather to the underframes & roof grey from above, allowing overspray onto body sides in both cases. This is a Hornby 'Shark' (very good model) treated in the same way with the airbrush. By now I'd got the bug so grabbed a Cl.25 recently purchased and given a more detailed buffer beam, using various pipes and cables from various sources, I also added the cylinder which is located behind the bufferbeam. Bachmann supply one but it's far too small so I beefed it up by wrapping cable insulation stripped from some flex. I will be adding subtle colouring to these using the Tamiya palettes, i.e. oil, highlighted rust & gunmetal. Anyway a coffee awaits . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zunnan Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Hi all Just wondering if any body has any success with mixing paint with varnish toget a weathering effect Yours Gary I've recently had a stab at doing exactly this; mixing a couple of drops of paint in with Railmatch Matt varnish. I used Humbrol gloss 7 which is a buff/sand colour rather than white after reading through some of the incredible work of Pelle Soeborg. Sun bleaching isn't directly white so you use a pale off-white colour instead. Having done it now myself and comparing the shades to the real thing I definately think a non white is the way to go. My base is a Lima class 47 being painted as a long term inmate of the scrap lines for a friend and based loosely on this sorry sight. Uneven vertical passes with the varnish directly over the fresh transfers to seal them (two birds with one stone ) build up the streaking in the finish. Certain areas get several coats and if 'just' enough paint is added to the varnish its absolutely impossible to go too far, in fact I had to really cake it on with the airbrush so will probably use a touch more paint for the final blow over. Rust streaking added but the strong light used picked it out a little unfairly, but a final blow over with the 'cloudy varnish' should tone that lot down no problem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 8, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hi Zunnan, the rust streaking gives your fading effects the contrast needed and is looking good. Don't worry about the camera's eye it can be very critical but sometimes very flattering to our models, your best view is with the Mk.1 eyeball! Having looked at your prototype photo, a final all over wafting of the varnish tint will probably do the trick. I'm musing over whether to use a similar technique to tone down the green patch on my Cl.40! Cheers Phil. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 8, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hi all, just an update on my class 25 weathering, as mentioned previously I have added to the airbrush muck using various techniques. This view shows the overall treatment of one side, Not being completely happy with the ends, I first played around with the 'dirt' around the warning panels. Using a couple of prototype photos to get a general idea. I used white spirits to manipulate the the 'dirt' into this shape. This pattern occurs due to spray funnelling up between the loco and train while hauling. I noted that locos used on slower goods traffic tended to collect more muck on the ends. Looking at photos of locos more likely to work faster trains they seem to have cleaner ends, maybe due to being naturally cleaned by rain wash. Anyway technicalities aside I worked the 'dirt' until I felt happy with it . Next I started on the bogies & underframe. I used Tamiya palettes-red rust, soot & gunmetal for this, applying a little at a time to build up oil & rust staining. This view shows the other side and end. The body sides were the next job, I added some streaking using white spirit which I had been using to clean brushes used for light coloured paints. The effect was a light greyish staining, Then I added some oil staining and a touch of rust using the Tamiya stuff. I used a cocktail stick to scratch some very small marks into the lower body side (hardly there) and to clean the kickboards under the doors a little. I also added a little sooting to the roof around the exhaust port, (evident in 1st pic.) . Finished off with a dab of rust to the buffers and cleaned the sockets on the buffer beam a little. I'm pleased with this now and know when to stop!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustermark Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 More great weathering. I love the way the dirt is dry on the body and battery box, and oily-wet on the bogies. Nicely done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mirreles31 Posted March 8, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 8, 2011 More great weathering. I love the way the dirt is dry on the body and battery box, and oily-wet on the bogies. Nicely done. Hi, thanks, I'm very happy with how it turned out . I've just sorted the Cl.40 patchwork by revarnishing the whole of the body work (satin aerosol) here's 'Sylvania' straight out of the paint shop, with her name plate reinstated. Compare this with previous pics! The patch is now only a hint of a shade out and I'm confident that a moderate weathering job can balance things out. Moderate cos these were top link locos in my chosen era heading trains such as 'The Master Cutler' & 'The Sheffield Pullman', and therefore would kept fairly clean. Now there's a load of detailing work to do on the new (Railroad) chassis! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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