Cheap Weathering Techniques

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I was playin around with my n scale trains on my layout when I notice a precariously placed brown sharpy marker[:-^][:D], then thought to myself, they are great for so many things, (making touch ups on your trucks paint job, “painting” the model cars for you layout, ect), but is there more uses than meets the eye(?)…DEFINATELY!!!

  1. Rails- I cant take full credit for this one, I credit Life Like’s tips booklet that comes with every one of their train sets. Take the marker and highlight the interior and exterior of the rail profiles with it. (Now for my added touch) Dont be afraid to let the ink get on the “spikes” and “plates” of the track, after all, it aint just the rails that rust over time.

  2. Trucks- Take the same marker and (depending on how weathered you want them) either highlight specific areas on the trucks or completely color them.

  3. Rolling stock- There are many different methods among modellers for weathering their cars. Some dirt cheap; some extremely expensive. My new favorite is to take the brown sharpy and put a dot of ink on the area that you want “rusted”. Then immediately take your thumb or one of your fingers and rub the ink firmly in a circular motion and this creates a convincing patch if “rust”. NOTE* This method is best for LIGHT weathering of cars.

I did all three this morning on an impulse and am very satisfied with how it turned out, the track looks great; my 50’ reefer and UP caboose look more realistic, and the locomotive trucks look fanominal! Try it and see how well it works for you!

2

I see this as a great way to weather rail that has already been ballasted. I decided to forgo weathering the rails when I built my yard and my rails are way too shiny (See pics in Abandonment thread).

http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/1040018/ShowPost.aspx

I’m going to try spraying my rails on the section I am currently working on but I intend to try the brown Sharpie on the yard rails. Of course with a 25 foot 12 track yard, that is a lot of retro weathering to do.

Another great use for a Sharpie is to “paint” very fine details, such as wrought iron hinges. It would be almost impossible to do this neatly with a brush. I posted this in a thread last year and the responses indicated I wasn’t the only one who had adopted this method. Several modelers posted other uses for the Sharpie. (See Painting with a Sharpie thread).

http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/730009/ShowPost.aspx

3

I’ve got silver and gold Sharpies too for doing detail on autos and locos. Great for door handles, bumpers, name plates. I see Floquil is now selling paint pens in their popular RR weathering colors. Anybody try these yet?

4

CAN YOU POST PICS. OF THE SHARPIE RUST? o opps sry bout the caps lol :]

5

it didn’t work on the rails for me it looks kinda “colored” not weatherd lol any more tips?

6

I didn’t say cheap for no reason. It is (to a degree) in most cases effective on tracks, and is a vast improvement over the “shine” of the naked nickel-silver.

7

corrg. metal at top of coaling tower all weathered with sharpies

for this building, I painted it the darker grey, and then used the silver paint pen and sharpies to do everything else

8

good idea may try the sharpie for that. Another good thing to use is old brown and earth tone make up My mother buys new stuff every couple of months when it gets harder to use and I use that to weather costs me nothing.

9

I tried going to the store and buying cheap make up in the proper color but I couldn’t deal with the looks the women in the store were giving me.[:I]

10

LOL!!! well thats what girl friends are for… lol jk ask a girl that is your friend to go and get some. or een your mom lol good luck! :]

11

Y’know, I’ve never heard anyone mention or write about the weathering technique I accidentally noticed, years ago.

It began as a paranoia thing: I had just put together some new kit of some freight car or other, and stood back admiring the great paint job that Athearn or Roundhouse, or some other manufacturer, had put on the side of the box car. I really hated to see it even get DUSTY, much less all smudged and rusted and all that. So, having used WATER COLOUR PAINTS for some other art project, I dipped a brush in water, then swiped it lightly over one of the orange and brown “pools” of paint guck, and then onto my prized model…knowing I could wash it OFF quite easily, if it looked like crap.

Speaking of crap, it looked so good, I grabbed a black, Rio Grande stock car, which was still all shiney and new looking, and used lots of WHITE on the bottom, especially, where “effluviance” (to put it in polite terms) would no doubt build up, on such a car in real life. Fantastic effect. I got carried away on the next car, to the point where I could no longer tell which railroad it had been painted to represent, originally. A wet kleenex “un did” it all, allowing me to start again, a bit less robust in my slathering on of the “muck” that is what became of the little dabs of watercolours. That eight colour set ran a whopping 79 cents at a discount store, so it was hardly a tragedy, and made for some suprising colour combinations.

Later on, I went to an art store, finding huge HOCKEY PUCK sized versions of such paint…about a buck apiece, enough to weather about sixteen square miles of scale scenery, buildings, railroad and road vehicles…even PEOPLE, as it leaves a nice UNSHINEY surface.

So, I can’t be the only one who’s noticed this, right?