Before I get to caboose #26, I wanted to share the fabulous weathering job on a hopper I got from Roger. This was done by Bobby Hunter.
And that leaves me with a problem - my weathering is mostly “coal dust” i.e. black. Bobby used more rust and earthtones, as this pic shows.
So I need to get to work
Caboose #26 looked good in bright red, but that won’t do - even though my wife claims I am crazy to be dirtying up the nice new model I just finished! But I like it)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/petert/_forumfiles/weathering-essay-8-08.jpg)
Anyway, I grabbed some paper out of the recycling and took the caboose into the downstairs bathroom with my acrylic paints, brushes, etc. I use the ‘wash’ technique, where dilute acrylic paint is washed onto the model and allowed to drip off, with some assistance. (Nothing else to do over Thanksgiving while you wait for the guest, right?)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/petert/_forumfiles/weathering-essay-8-03.jpg)
It looks horrible - especially where there is grease on the surface (I usually forget to wash the side before I start.) When it is stood upright, the paint will run down and pool at the lower edge (or drip off - hence the paper covering on the sink.) An almost dry brush will soak up the pool of paint and leave it unpainted, but as it is wet the paint will continue to run down and will cover the area you cleaned. If it is dripping a lot, a paper towel held to the bottom edge will also soak up a lot of the runoff. But when it dries, all is well:
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/petert/_forumfiles/weathering-essay-8-04.jpg)
I didn’t like the roof - it looked too clean, so I washed it down with a dark grey as well. It came out spotty with lighter areas, so I did it again with lighter wash of darker paint. Here I am starting the process.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/petert/_forumfiles/weathering-essay-8-02.jpg)
I didn’t like the end result of this wash either. Sigh.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/petert/_forumfiles/weathering-essay-8-06.jpg)
If at first you don’t succeed . . .
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/petert/_forumfiles/weathering-essay-8-07.jpg)
The roof ended up getting 3 tries. It can always be sanded with fine wet emery paper, and can be wet painted with water as the paint is drying to get rid of streaks. I have no idea why I kept getting light colored spots. But a coat of paint that was better than 50-50 paint-water (instead of the 30-70 that is more usual for the wash,) resulted in a roof that looks dirty and with some rain runoff but too nasty. (If all else failed, I would have started again with black primer spray.)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/petert/_forumfiles/weathering-roof-8.jpg)
At the same time I decided to give the sides a wash that was more earthtone, so a mix of dark grey and medium brown, diluted, was applied. Again, an almost dry brush took out the pools of paint. And the result looks like this:
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/petert/_forumfiles/weathering-essay-8-09.jpg)
I’m happy.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/petert/_forumfiles/weathered-shelf-8.jpg)
Nice Job Pete!! Great modeling, and much better weathered! Great Job!
Pete,
I do the same method, but use alcohol based wash, with shades of calligraphers ink. I like it better than acrylic, 'cause it dries faster.
But your method looks great, too!
I too am a Newbie with weathering. I haven’t pinned down the “rust” quite right yet. I have a full set of Bragdons powders, but still can’t get it right. 
Pete, great looking weathering job… I like it…
That looks great Pete. Used, but not abused.
Now, by right-clicking and selecting properties, I find that the last image I’ve got here right now is 8-09, showing lightly weathered sides and a brand new roof. Any later images it seems are not downloading today… I like the light weathering, it is what I do to most of my gear as well, and I use acrylic washes much as Pete does… I agree that Roger’s hopper is particularly well done.
Have you ever heard of a ‘weathering party’? You invite the gang over and each person gets one of your cars to weather. Each person will have a different approach and do it slightly differently. Result: you end up with a much wider variety of weathered cars than you would get if you did them all yourself.
Quote:Er, John , I have a problem with them all looking different.
Result: you end up with a much wider variety of weathered cars than you would get if you did them all yourself
Unlike a manline operation where a car may have been over the rockies or another across the desert, my East Broad Top was only 30 miles long,so all the cars went up th hill and down the hill (Broad Top Mountain, east side,) together. So they all got weathered the same!
Hey John , I think Pete is right about having a similar hue to most of his rolling stock but I like the idea of a weathering party ! I’ll bring the beer.
I get Pete’s point. I on the other hand run a common carrier with interchange and thru traffic. Most of the action takes place on the home line, but not necessarily with our own home road rolling stock, and that thru traffic makes for variation too. The cars I weather myself all look a lot like my own work as I have my own approach, and the uniformity isn’t a plus in this case. And my weathering is nowhere near as good as some other guys’ that I’ve seen… makes me slather and drool…
Mike you’ll be welcome, and so will your beer!
Not bad, not bad at all!
In my experience, light weathering tends to be trickier than heavy weathering. It’s hard to get “just the right amount”. Light weathering usually involves slightly faded paint, a thin coat of dust, maybe a little grime here and there.
An airbrush would be excellent for achieving such effects but I keep trying to do it with acrylic washes, to various degrees of success. Kind of strange, considering I use to airbrush for a living, but I like the simplicity and convenience of slathering on a wash.
The worst problem is trying to do it over a glossy “rattle can” paint. The watery acrylics want to just bead up and run off.
Spraying a LIGHT overcoat of Krylon UV-resistant matte helps – but try it on a test piece first because sometimes the Krylon reacts badly with other paints.
Ray Dunakin said:
Not bad, not bad at all!In my experience, light weathering tends to be trickier than heavy weathering. It’s hard to get “just the right amount”. Light weathering usually involves slightly faded paint, a thin coat of dust, maybe a little grime here and there.
An airbrush would be excellent for achieving such effects but I keep trying to do it with acrylic washes, to various degrees of success. Kind of strange, considering I use to airbrush for a living, but I like the simplicity and convenience of slathering on a wash.
The worst problem is trying to do it over a glossy “rattle can” paint. The watery acrylics want to just bead up and run off.
Spraying a LIGHT overcoat of Krylon UV-resistant matte helps – but try it on a test piece first because sometimes the Krylon reacts badly with other paints.
I’m a painter, and I love my brushes and acrylics, which pretty much sums up the whole debate for me. As far as washes to create the light weathering effects which I prefer on my own equipment, I find it very helpful, even essential, to use washes of the transparent and semi-transparent pigments on my pallette only.
And white, the most opaque pigment of all, I only use at the end, drybrush style, to create a base for rusty highlights done with burnt sienna and raw umber. I think it’s very important for us as artists to know our transparent, semi-transparent, and opaque pigments, and to be familiar with how they work, individually and in combination.
As for acrylic adhering to rattle can paint, I guess I pretty much avoid rattle cans anyway, except the primers, which can cover a multitude of sins - factory lettering, for example. They give a base which will accept acrylics.
Oils will adher to acrylics, BTW, but that’s the other way 'round from what you are discussing here. I’m sure that at some point long ago I must have tried acrylic washes over oils and laquers, because I know what you’re talking about and can visualize it, and it’s not an experiment I would bother repeating, especially since I find that my acrylics serve virtually every purpose for me.
If you are determined to apply an acrylic wash over rattle can paint, you might try diluting your thin washes with matte medium rather than water and see if that spreads and adhers any better, becaause as you know Matte medium is one awesome adhesive. You might also try reducing the surface tension of your washes with the usual dispersant - detergent, or thinner - alcohol. And as no doubt you’re aware, each wash must be thoroughly dry between coats, or the brush will just remove any pigment below it.
If you try these alternate formulae, I’d be intersted in your comments.
If I had a car finished with rattle can, If I couldn’t strip it, I think I’d just re-prime it and then brush paint with acrylic, then do the weathering, etc… And I wouldn’t expect the result to be a foreground model! 
Pete looks good. I also find doing a light spray with the tan krylon camo paint adds a nice touch. Little heaveier at the bottom and lighter as you go up. Run the can under hot water for a few mintutes so you get a finer spray.
Hi Ray,
Your ‘thin’ acrylics have not enough pigment to lay down, Assuming there is not a silicone in the rattle can mix, if you add a small amount of Windex to the acrylic mix it will break the surface tension, which is the cause of the beading up.
Approx 10% or so of Windex, not to much as it can foam with too much, though the foam is much less than detergent. When added the color migates quite fasrt to the edges of the mix, its OK, just give it a swirl with the brush.
Yours Peter.
Thanks for the tips!
