QUOTE (Scott Turner @ 22 Oct 2008, 00:55)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi. I am keen to do some weathering on some of my locos and wagons. I tried before with some powder stuff that my local model shop sold me, but you could rub it off with your hands!
I remember reading in one of the mags a few years ago about a type of spray you can get. Is that still around?
Are there any tips anyone can give me. I'll practice on an old wagon first.
***Weathering is a multi stage thing, and can't be done well with a simple spray. Airbrush weathering as is done by hornby and bachmann looks like a model thats been airbrush weathered - ie not very realistice - there is too much "sameness" about it.
For example weathering wheels and rods or brake gear is a mixture of matt and glossy stuff (dirt and oils) in different places. Rust is different on a cabside to a firebox (the high heat changes the rust colour as it does around exhausts or hot spots on diesels). ends of wagons are more likely to have dirt and grunge splashes thrown by the wheels where sides are likely to pick up track dirt and brake shoe dust. Isides will have much from loads + rust & shiny or polished metal parts where the load wears whereas outsides will have wear + rust plus less of the "load muck".
everyone has their own approach and all are valid, but here are a few comments:
Ebaykal did a few posts on weathering of one of his loco's a while ago with images of his loco and the prototype - his work was really excellent so its worth searching MRF for it and looking closely at what he did.
Then, before you start....
First find a prototype thats weathered as you want your wagon/loco etc to be. This is important as the type of weathering is different on different items, and on each item, the weathering will depend on the purpose of the part being weathered... You need to really look at the pictures carefully and do what you really see in the picture, not what you "think you see".
then think about this as a step by step routine...
first brush weathering with paint as per ebaykals comment. you can add depth and texture by using talcum powder (by dabbing it onto wet paint with a brush then ading a tiny bit more paint) to build up gunge levels here - important on anywhere where lots of oil and dusty muck abounds such as on a steam loco chassis etc....
Then perhaps cautious washes of diluted paint to tone things down a wee bit and blend
then powders. I don't like clear coats over powders at all as it gives a sameness to the texture of everything that destroys the reality... If powders are added after a very diluted clear airbrushing or hand brushing with very diluted clear matt varnish (in both cases more than 50% thinners) and you start to apply powders carefully after its started to "tack" with a very soft brush you will preserve some of the texture differences that are really important to a realistic finish
finally dry brushing of pipework and areas of the loco that are wiped or handled a lot (on the prototype, not the model) will highlight some things better. (dry brushing means taking a totally clean & dry (and perhaps slightly stiffer than usual) paintbrush, putting very, very little paint on the tip of the bristles then wiping most of it off on newspaper or lint free tissues.... then flicking the tip of the brush (with almost no pressure) back and forth across raised details to add the tinyest bit of colour to them to create highlights)
finally, a weathered loco shouldn't be handled too much.
Subtle high quality weathering depends on texture differences at least as much as colour, and just like the no-no of a clear coat over powders, handling wrongly will change the texture of the surfaces. ( So in fact back to the start of your first post... its not the powders needing fixing thats the problem - its the careless fingers that need training
).
Richard
