Weathering - a simple "beginners" guide

All,

A part of rediscovering railway modelling that I've enjoyed is painting carriages so the interiors look more realistic and authentic, rather than the crappy hornby cream or white plastic. I've even started painting people and sticking them in there too.

Now, I want to do the outside, so I was looking for a beginners guide to weathering, but I can't find anything that does not require expensive spray guns and things.

Can anyone please advise ?

Ian

Reply to
Ian Cornish
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Welcome to one of the more interesting aspects of the hobby! It's not difficult. The following remarks are based on my experience. They also work for weathering buildings, BTW, and buildings are generally more thoroughly weathered than rolling stock. You may want to start with buildings, since the beginner tends to over do it, and that doesn't look out of place on an old industrial building.

Disassemble the body, and wash the carriage (body and roof only) in dish washing detergent. Let air dry. This is especially important to do to self-coloured plastic buildings, as mold-release agent remains on the plastic surfaces, and this interferes with paint adhesion.

*** Very important: Find or take pictures. Very important: Find or take pictures. Very important: Find or take pictures.***

Got that? :-)

Use thinned acrylic water-based craft paints. Use distilled water and/or a bit of isopropyl alcohol for thinning (read the labels.) The alcohol will make the paint flow better, and will also improve adhesion.

Colours needed: raw and burnt sienna, raw and burnt umber, black, grey, white. You also need a palette for mixing. I use plastic container tops.

First, using medium and fine brushes, lay on the streaks of dirt and rust that accumulate near and below doors, windows, roof-vents, etc. _Study the pictures._ Mix the colours fill strength first, then thin to a watery consistency. Thinner is better - it's easy to add another layer of paint if dissatisfied, not so easy to remove it. The streaks should be visible, but should not be opaque. To achieve this, use "dry-brushing": unload the brush on a piece of paper toweling so that a very small amount of paint is left on it, and move the brush lightly over the surface. This will leave barely visible streaks, so repeat as needed.

The most difficult bit is the spray of dirt and dust along the lower edges of the carriage, where the wheels have kicked up dirty water from the track. This is almost impossible to achieve without an airbrush, but a very thin wash of sand colour applied several times does work. When the first layer is dry, apply a second layer on the lower 2/3rds of the dirt spray, let dry, and apply a third layer along the bottom edge - this way you will get the increase in density that's characteristic of this kind of weathering. _Study the pictures._

These weathering details are what will give each car character, so follow the prototype. _Study the pictures. _ Got that? :-)

Make a very thin wash of black or dark grey, perhaps with a little raw umber or raw sienna added to warm it up. When the weathering detail layer is thoroughly dry, flow this wash over the whole carriage. Let dry, Repeat if needed -- the aim is to blend the weathering details together so that none of it jumps off the car and hits you in the eye.

Since the acrylic paint is matte, you won't need an overspray of clear matte, but you may want to do it anyway, since it protects the surface.

You could also use powdered chalks and pastels. Brush on with a soft brush, then overspray with a clear matte. Write-ups on using this technique mention that the overspray makes most of the colour disappear, so that the weathering details layer must be brighter than with paints. I've not used this technique, so can't tell you more about it.

Some cars should receive the all-over wash only, just enough to dull the colour a bit, not enough to kill the new-paint or fresh-washed glossiness.

HTH&HF

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

"Ian Cornish"

Use chalk, make up, paint washes, India ink wash in denatured alcohol, dry brushing, etc., etc. I don't own an airbrush and am happy with my weathering.

-- Cheers Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

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Reply to
Roger T.

It's a technique where only the lightest hint of paint is transferred from the brush to the object being painted and done so in a manner which highlights detail.

In essence dip your brush *very* lightly in to the paint. Then "dry" your brush (that is get rid of just about all the paint) by brushing it against waste material/kitchen towel etc. When there is no noticeable paint left on the brush it is ready for "drybrushing". Very gently rub the brush over the object being painted, use a bit of a flicking action so that only the very tip of brush is used. It takes a little bit of practice/experience to get just right but it's something that is picked up very quickly and once learnt not forgotten.

HTH

Reply to
Chris Wilson

Greetings from Norfolk

Can anybody tell me what dry brushing is? I have heard this term repeatedly, but no explanation.

-- Richard.

"I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which when looked at in the right way, did not become still more complicated" Poul Anderson

Reply to
Richard Wrigley

It isn't difficult. And what's more, it is fun!

And once you have done this, take it all off again! :-) I'm not joking. Carriages and engines are cleaned in service, so you could also make an attempt to simulate that cleaning. Take a cotton bud and soak the end in your thinners. Then use it like a cleaner would. You will take off a lot of the dirt, but not all - exactly like a cleaner. The dirt that is left will build up in nooks and crannies. You then reapply the weathering as before, but this time there will be a subtle accretion of muck in corners and door channels etc.

Weathering is quite a time consuming business, you won't get it over and done with in half an hour. The ideal method is "little and often". As Wolf says, it is very easy to overdo things, so go gently and err on the side of caution. Of course, if you *do* overdo it, then set the cleaners to work!

I do have an airbrush, but as people have pointed out, it is not necessary. When weathering I only use the airbrush about 40% of the time and that is usually only to add a coating of brake dust on the bogies and carriage ends.

Now here's an outrageous suggestion. When applying soot to a carriage roof, why not use *real* soot?

Set up burning candle and then gently snuff it out so that it smoulders. Let the smoke rise and hold the carriage upside down at an angle in the flow of smoke. Make sure that you hold the carriage fairly high up so that the smoke is quite diffuse and the carriage is far away from any heat generated by the candle. The result can be quite effective. If you are going to try this technique, then I suggest doing it on your cooker below the filter hood, otherwise the candle soot may stain your ceiling!

Have fun!

Reply to
Enzo Matrix

Best bit of advise you will receive.

Reply to
Piemanlager
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Very nice idea. Thanks.

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

Look out for "The Art of Weathering" by Martin Welch. Loads of "non-airbrush" ideas and tips.

Cheers, Mick

Reply to
Mick Bryan

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