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North Haston

Chris Gilbert
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trisonic

trisonic

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Posted

Unfreaking believable!

 

I saw a bunch of Pan Am boxcars on the old LeHigh line at Roselle Park, NJ yesterday. Looked very attractive, unfortunately and of course no camera on me...

 

Best, Pete.

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warbonnetuk

warbonnetuk

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Chrislooking good so far,like the name of cement company,if you fancy a change of name,how about"VIAGRA CEMENT,SETS ROCK HARD" i was going to use that on a failed layout.Ray

You'd have to paint the silos blue though.......

 

Dan

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shortliner

shortliner

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Posted (edited)

 

Chris

 

looking good so far,like the name of cement company,if you fancy a change of name,how about

"VIAGRA CEMENT,SETS ROCK HARD" i was going to use that on a failed layout.

 

Ray

I'd be a little bit bothered about the shape of the silos, though!

Edited by shortliner
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JWB

JWB

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Phil

It's polyfilla roughly spread around and left to set hard, then a big dollop of PVA glue is spread over it .Ash from a log burner was sprinkled over it and then tamped down with a 2" paint brush and left to dry.

We have a big bucket of fireplace ash (though the ash is from prestologs). Do you do anything to grind the ash before you lay it?

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Steve Williams

Steve Williams

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We have a big bucket of fireplace ash (though the ash is from prestologs). Do you do anything to grind the ash before you lay it?

It was a jar that I had given Chris. It had been sieved using a small, handheld, kitchen sieve. Rather a time-consuming job! I found there were two types that my cousin presented me - it was her fire the stuff came from; one sort was a warmer (no pun intended) light beige colour, whilst the other was more of a very light grey/beige. I suppose it depends very much on the wood used.

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Steve Williams

Steve Williams

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Pete,

It was me that did that loco. I am desperately trying to remember how I did it! The main colour palette I use is Precision Paints 'Dirty Black' and 'Frame Dirt', Humbrol 'Matt Black' (33), 'Leather' (62) and 'Metalcote Gunmetal' (27004). If I want to show chipped paint with bare metal, I sometimes use Humbrol 'Steel' (can't recall the number for that and I have run out. I also use an assortment of weathering powders. I think I gave the body an initial wash of 'Dirty Black', sometimes I will add a touch of the 'Leather'. This is then mostly washed off. The fuel tank is separated from the chassis where possible, makes working a bit easier. I usually give a keying wash of Dirty Black, sometimes with a bit of 'Frame Dirt'. When dry I will use the same colours but virtually with a dry-brush technique. I find this gives a nicer finish without any brush marks. Whilst still tacky, I will use weathering powders, usually on the ends and sometimes a bit on the main tank area. All depends really. When that is all dry, I usually use the 'Metalcote around the fuel filler to give a wet look. The bogies again usually have a quick wash of 'Dirty Black' and 'Frame Dirt'. This is built up in two or three washes. If I want it to look really care-worn, then I will sometimes add some weathering powders as well, again whilst paint is tacky to help with fixing. Because I then don't have to spray varnish that area, the powders maintain their matt look and don't disappear. Having said all that, increasingly of late, I am using 'Dirty Black' with a bit of 'Leather' rather than 'frame Dirt'

 

The main body then has very diluted paint flowed into all the grilles using a '0' size brush. I used to use Matt Black for this, but tend to use the 'Dirty Black' with just a touch of 'Matt Black' and sometimes a hint of 'Leather'. They usually get a dusting of weathering powders towards the end of the whole process as well. Rust area on the body-sides tend to be diluted 'leather' darkened with either a touch of 'Matt Black' or the 'Dirty Black'unless I want the rust to be very fresh. This can be flooded into the vertical grooves of the bodywork or applied in patches as required. The roof treatment varies. Sometimes I will dry-brush 'Dirty Black'with a touch of 'Leather'. This sometimes has weathering powders added whilst tacky. For the very dark oily areas I will use either 'Matt Black or sometimes with a touch of the 'Metalcote' added for a bit of a sheen. Whilst tacky, I add black weathering powder where I want sooty exhaust. When the roof area is completely dry I usually dry-brush with the 'Metalcote'. This tends to give a bit of an oily sheen to the bodywork (I keep it away from the matt sooty area), it also makes detail stand out. When dry it is possible to polish the 'Metalcote' with a finger if required. This final dry-brush has VERY little paint on it and sometimes you think it's not doing anything, but it is! On the model in question, I used weathering powders for the cab roof, again, whilst dry-brushed paint was tacky. The paint coat was a mixture of 'Dirty Black' and 'Leather' I think. Walkways also tend to be a 'Dirty Black' wash and then some powders added. I don't worry if they are not sealed as they don't get handled.

 

Broadly speaking, those tend to be the main techniques I use. I actually find the entire process quite stressful and not in the least relaxing! Mind you, I always found painting to be a battle between me and the canvas and not at all the restful hobby it is supposed to be.

 

Now to get on my hobby-horse, what really irritates me is the fact that handrails now, more often than not, come ready fixed and they can't always be removed. If they can be removed, they are so delicate that the likelihood of removing them and replacing them without damage is highly unlikely unless you are an expert in micro-surgery. Detail now is so fragile that even using a very soft brush to dry-brush or apply weathering powders will result in things like lift rings or bonnet filler caps disappearing without trace. All this is after you have managed to remove the body from the chassis without damaging the handrails. God knows why Atlas still persist in still having body clips that need to be released from the chassis, when a couple of screws would do the job much more effectively. As for plastic handrails!!!!!!!!! If MTH can produce models with wire handrails on rigid plastic stanchions, I don't know why the other manufacturers can't. I have been advocating this to Athearn and Atlas until they probably think I am an obsessive nutter. The response I got from one of them was that they considered the plastic to be more durable and look more realistic! Not when the model comes out of the box with the handrails looking like someone has sat on them they don't.

 

My flickr account has got some more examples of stuff I have weathered here:

 

If you have any questions, do please ask. Hopefully, I will remember what I did, but it does all tend to be a bit ad hoc! :-)

 

Steve

Edited by Steve Williams
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trisonic

trisonic

Posted
Posted

Thanks for sharing, Steve. I find that it's "subtlely" that is the most frustrating part of weathering to get right. You can get 90% there but that final 10% is the killer......

 

I agree on handrails too. My wife bought on an extremely beautiful model of a SDM60 (BNSF) from Athearn/Genesis and I managed to destroy 50% of the handrails just getting the thing out of the box. Of course, spare handrails to fit it were "out of stock"..... It's still just sitting on a shelf in my studio as I type.

 

Best, Pete.

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Steve Williams

Steve Williams

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Appreciate the compliments fellas. I fully agree about the difficulty of subtle weathering, especially when not using an air-brush (which I don't). Sometimes the fact that Testor's Dullcote weakens the effects of weathering powders can be a bonus. As for Chris' observations, I can concur that subtlety isn't my strong suit as a rule. I am currently trying to get a Guilford Hi-nose GP40 ready for tomorrow and I took it out of the airing cupboard this morning to find that in a couple of places it looks like some fluid has washed away the weathering powders. Most odd as there was nothing in the cupboard that could have done it. I have had to try and redo it using a combination of more powders interspersed with the creative use of a full repertoire of obscenities!

Edited by Steve Williams
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Alcanman

Alcanman

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Posted (edited)

Steve, your description of your weathering technique is one of the best I've ever read and your pics prove the technique works well.

 

I've always had problems weathering US diesels as the handrails and other delicate details make washes difficult without damaging the loco, but I'll be following your technique from now.

 

Superb stuff!

 

Mal

 

ps. Chris, the layout looks great and proves once again that less is more!

Edited by Alcanman
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Steve Williams

Steve Williams

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Posted

Steve, your description of your weathering technique is one of the best I've ever read and your pics prove the technique works well.

 

I've always had problems weathering US diesels as the handrails and other delicate details make washes difficult without damaging the loco, but I'll be following your technique from now.

 

Superb stuff!

 

Mal

 

ps. Chris, the layout looks great and proves once again that less is more!

Thanks. Glad it's of use. Yes, those handrals really have a very high 'b*****ation quotient'

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