I need help in air brushing buildings,rolling stock and any other thing that needs weathering. I tried using Polyscale Dust color paint with my air brush using a fine nozzle but nothing seems to show up on the model. Am I thinning the paint too much? The Poly Scale paint was thinned with distilled water per directions. What Type paint is best for weathering and what color to use. CSX Fan forever.
Hmm, that’s a tough one. How high is up and how long is a piece of string? I can’t answer that for you. What I can do is suggest you dilute the paint with Windex or alcohol, not water. It will flow better and you will get more control over the application than using water. I do prefer the Poly S over other brands, but that is my personal choice based on what I am comfortable working with.
For the color? Look to nature, any light earth tone will do, as will differing shades of the base color of what you are weathering. Are you painting at your work station under different lighting than your railroad? That is to say that colors and textures will differ greatly between natural and artificial light sources. The difference between standard incandescent lighting and fluorescent is shocking, even more so between standard fluorescent and blue tinted “day lighters”. Try painting with the same lighting conditions that you are displaying your trains under.
In general it is best to build your weathering in very small, light layers and stop when you don’t think there is enough. Too much is really bad. I would rather err on the side of subtle than go overboard and ruin the model. This is a personal “feel” that you will have to develop on your own (probably by ruining a few models- ask me how I know).
The bottom line is that you are going to have to experiment to find out what works for you. That is part of the fun and challenge of model railroading! Good luck!
I had a problem with the Polly scale dust color not showing up on the model. It took some fine tuning, but I was able to get it to work. Don’t dilute it as much next time.
Try GRIMEY BLACK.
I try to go for the simplest solution first. Take no offense here. Are you sure you’re actually getting the paint out of the airbrush? I usually shoot at a scrap piece of paper or cardboard to check paint levels before shooting at the piece to be painted.
And what kind of air-brush is it?
I usually use a light gray or white tinted with grimy black (gray) to weather the sides of a building that comes in contact with the ground. It is usually the lower part of the building that I concentrate on since this part get dirt kicked up on it. The remainder of my structures usually get chalks since they are more forgiving. Same thing with rolling stock. Dark rail cars get light colored weathering (chalks or air brush paint) along the edge closest to the track while light colored cars get a darker weathering in the same areas.