georgeT Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Hello, Having finished my loco in ex-works, looks very nice, problem is that when l run on my friends layout which is weathered, my pride and joy looks well out of place being that it is far to clean and does not fit the location very well, l am thinking of weathering, to make it more realistic, l was wondering what other members thought about it and will it depreciate in value, would welcome your opinions.Cheers georgeT Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted November 24, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 24, 2009 Weathering in my opinion is a rather subjective area to describe. My personal thoughts are that it does increase the realism, but only when the weathering is very good, of which there area some good examples on here from the likes of Pugsley etc. More basic weathering along the lines of the couple of passes of road dirt that RTR manufactures tend to add rarely looks much like the prototype, and in my opinion I prefer to see a clean loco than something with poor or over simplified weathering. Of course this leaves a bit of a problem, as in order to get good at it you have to spend time weathering locos (and accept that some may not be as good as you want them to be.) Practising on cheap old stock or old bodyshells is a good idea! In terms of value, again its very subjective. A good weathering job will significantly add value to the model, whereas a poor one will dramatically reduce value. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Weathering in my opinion is a rather subjective area to describe. Totally agree. I have often admired the weathering work of other modellers on here - and thereby believe that they have improved the appearance and therefore added value to the model. However, I personally do not really like the majority of weathering attempts that I see. That includes ALL of my own. The results just look too heavy handed - especially in photographs. That is my own opinion of course, and I can admire others attempts to get it right - but even those I would call experts seem to over do it. So as to value - most of the time I think it reduces the value. But it is subjective. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 ... problem is that when l run on my friends layout which is weathered, my pride and joy looks well out of place being that it is far to clean and does not fit the location very well, l am thinking of weathering, to make it more realistic ... Perhaps this aspect should be referred to reality. Locos and rolling stock operating when new or immediately after a works repaint can be startlingly clean and bright, when compared to their surroundings and the other vehicles around them. It is quite legitimate to have the occasional item on a layout presented in this way; you could argue that it would be equally unrealistic not to have something clean or newly painted appear once in a while in an otherwise 'weathered' environment, as to totally neglect weathering and have everything running shiny and new. If you accept that, then just a light dusting of track dirt and brake dust on the running gear, and a few splashes and smuts from the exhaust would be enough to show that the loco has actually run some distance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted November 24, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 24, 2009 The other thing I would say is to try to get along to a show with some kind of weathering demonstration. I found the demo at the members day incredibly useful (even if I havent quite got round to putting what I learned into practice.) Further to that I think there are come modelling courses that you can pay to go on for a bit of expert tuition, that said all the ones I've seen so far are geared towards steam weathering so the techniques might not be so applicable if your modelling 'modern image' as naturally a steam loco and a diesel appear to weather in very different ways! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigwelsh Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 There is some beautiful american weathered stock on eBay atm http://collectables.shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=weathered&_sacat=479&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_dmpt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&_odkw=&_osacat=479 How not to do it, model centre sprayed.. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/weathered-Bachmann-A1-PACIFIC-FOXHUNTER-limited-edition_W0QQitemZ300368581401QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Trains_Railway_Models?hash=item45ef5cd319 and an over optimistic one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mainline-37038-0-6-2-GWR-Class-66xx-TMC-Weathered-Boxd_W0QQitemZ120474286218QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Trains_Railway_Models?hash=item1c0cd3b88a I always find an inverse relationship between the words 'superb','stunning' etc and the actual quality seen on eBay. The problem is though that if you pick up the paintbrush/airbrush to weather and think "am i going to devalue this" imho you;ll never produce a good job. Start with something cheap like a wagon and if you think you've done a decent job then progress. Remember that even 'new' or ex works stock still have tonal variation that doesn't come on an out of box loco. Steam locos quickly gain a bit of dirt in hidden places as well as have a mix of glossy vs matt finish - just look at the way Tornado has already gone form being spotless soon after it first ran! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Another thing to remember is that you are not obliged to weather if you do not want to. Railway modelling is about compromise and selective representation. Different people tend to focus on different aspects of realism. Some focus on accurate scale representation and tend to gravitate towards finescales such as P4. Some really focus on the scenery. Other people are interested in accurate operations or trying to depict a particular location. Finally there are those who like finely detailed stock. Different layouts tend to emphasize these areas to different degrees although you will rarely find one totally neglected. The point being that many people are quite happy to build layouts with heavily compressed or even imaginary track plans in order to provide operational interest. There is really no difference between this and running unweathered stock. At the end of the day, if you like your stock to look ex-works then you should run it that way. Alternatively you could keep the loco as it is currently and come back to it at a later date to see if you fancy weathering it. IMHO doing a delicate job like weathering should not be done out of some sense of obligation as you are likely to be disappointed with the results. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigwelsh Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 The point being that many people are quite happy to build layouts with heavily compressed or even imaginary track plans in order to provide operational interest. There is really no difference between this and running unweathered stock. At the end of the day, if you like your stock to look ex-works then you should run it that way. Although I agree with your general sentiment I don't agree with this bit. Compressed track plans involving the reduction in the amount of sidings or length of platforms etc aren't immediately obvious unless its meant to be a prototype the viewer has an intimate knowledge of or can spot unprototypical practice. Plonking something out of a box straight on a layout sticks out like a sore thumb in comparison. Whether you choose to do that or not though is of course up to the owner (imts rules) and yes there is no obligation. Similarly ex-works does not equal ex-box! RTR needs a bit of work to look 'real' but it doesn't need to be dirty/unloved weathered.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Should one weather a loco to fit someone else's modelling outlook - No. Only if you want a weathered loco. Should one risk the financial value of the model by weathering it? - Perhaps, dependent on how one assigns value. I don't honestly consider resale at any stage of my modelling. Badly done, it spoils it, but done well it can lift a good looking model to a whole other level. Subtlety is often the key. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 My personal preference is for weathering (even of 'new' locos) as a brand new RTR loco DOES stick out like a sore thumb, but even a very simple 'wash' of black or dark brown over it all will tone it down and make it blend in. I sometimes use Carrs weatthering powders, but have recently started using Caran D'ache Water soluble pencils, which allow you to be fairly precise, and then with a damp paint brush can be worked in to any degree (for an initial black wash, I basically scribble over the body panel in black and a little in a dark brown, and then with a wet brush wash it all over till all the pencil marks disappear, but you get left with a very subtle film of colour, which can be hardly noticable - until you put it next to one straight out of the box). The other beauty of the Caran D'ache pencils is that if you don't like it, you can wash it off! The loco's below were done this way - of course, you should weather to taste (and to an extent, period) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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