In the most recent edition of MR Pelle Soeberg has an article on adding rust effects to freight cars. He explains what he uses but it doesn’t really explain HOW he does it. I have tried using powders, oil paints and acrylics in various rust colors but have never been able to come up with the spotty rust I see on so many car sides. I have tried streaking, dabbing, flicking, all with limited success. Does anyone out there have a really good tried and true method for adding rust effects? I do not have an airbrush so please leave that suggestion out.
John, try doing a search on the forum website (on the right side of this page), “weathering”, and you’ll probably not only find pictures, but description of techniques, as well.
That’s my observation as well. I like a lot of what Pelle does, but he seems to have difficulty explaining how to replicate it. For some of his effects Pelle uses clear flat varnish and adds chalk dust material on top of it. That doesn’t seem too controllable by itself, and he uses other methods for blending, including airbrushing. You may want to try other ideas if you don’t have an airbrush.
Try joining a forum specific to the topic, like the Rustbucket forum on The Weathering Shop site.
I understand that all to well…I jumped in with both feet and still haven’t gotten the hang of it…Thank goodness for $1.00 Tyco cars.
I use a flat 1/4" brush and lightly brush it on…
Another trick is using artist paints like burnt sienna…There was a super nice feature on weathering with artist paints in Cody’s office-that one should be made public.
I agree that the results Pele achieves look great, but he is annoying vague on exactly what he’s doing.
One thing is that while, as mentioned, he does use a flat varnish (Vallejo is the brand he mentions) and rust powder, he makes a mix (slurry?) of them together and applies that - then after that’s set does he add powder and draws that down the car side.
I do want to move on from the “dots of burnt sienna oil paint drawn down with a turpentine-soaked brush” method, which was popular for awhile (but I never really got the hang of making the results look that good) and instead learn a few good “greater-fool-proof” techniques.
I’m not sure what he’s using but you might try cosmetic sponges. Rip off a piece and dip it in artists oils, then dab it on a paper towel to get most of it off, sort of like dry-brushing. Then dab it on the car.
Don’t limit yourself to one technique. Start with a wash over the whole car. Then some dry-brushing and/or sponging. Then some powders.
I too do not have an airbrush. I’ve had a little bit of experience with weathering rolling stock and have found that the most effective way is to integrate two, maybe three methods. I’ve had some good effects using acrylic paint washes, also using weathering powders and probably my favorite is the use of water colors; you know, the cheap water colors that are used in painting by the numbers. Mixing colors can be done easily. Just dip your brush into one color on the easel, then into another. I usually go with a base color that is close to the color of the paint on the car first, then add rust if needed. I’ve been using prototype photos where possible to come close to what type of environmental effects these cars have gone through and to mimic the weathering colors.
There are two things to remember when using water-based washes: 1) mix a little detergent with your water to avoid beading of the wash on the surface, and 2) go easy; moderation, I believe was the term used above.
Not so sure I would be too quick to blame Pelle for the lack of description. I’ve spoken to a number of people who have had articles in MR in the past. In most every case, their original manuscript was cut back severely to fit the given confines made for the article. In every case, important points or steps were omitted that made for a less than ideal article.
No doubt that was the same case for Pelle’s article. What could have easily been a five page how-to, gets cropped back to a page and a half leaving a very basic article with no real meat left.
You can get a lot more detail of Pelle’s weathering techniques in his book “Done in a Day” pulished by our host Kalmbach. He goes into good detail of several weathering projects and explains the technique in a very well illustrated manner. I think it’s well worth the price.
And there you probably just distilled why Pele is vague in his articles. He wants you to buy his books to get the meat of the info; so basically he is holding back for the $$.
I wonder if Robbie P. would give us some helpful tips. His weathering esp. the rust on the cars that he showcases in Weekend Photo Fun is always top notch. You sometimes have to look twice, his photos could be confused with the real thing.
Hello I have not tried this stuff http://www.rustall.com/ but it looks nice and simple. And looks great in there photos.I tried to weather a box car just to try it. But I need to work on the layout first. I found the rustall looking for something else. Hope this helps Frank
Thanks for all the thoughts, suggestions and ideas. Has anyone ever tried using cotton balls or q-tips to add rust spots? I’m wondering if they might give me the dappled look I am seeking…hmmmmm
To those recommending using a variety of methods, remember that even Pelle uses several methods.
Besides the varnish/rust powder mix, for wide areas of rust he starts by dry-brushing Model Master Leather(! - I’ve use that color for other things, never thought of it as a rust base) on the model, and then “dry-brushing” dark rust and grey-black powders over that, brushing down.
I believe he recommended short bristled brushes for the dry-brushing to give more irregular streaking.