I am going to paint a PRR covered hopper in a weathered manner. These cars were gray when new but toward the end many had the paint with primer showing through. Now putting rust streaks or dings is easy but I am trying to reproduce faded paint where the primer bleeds through. So here is my thought. I will primer the car with the red primer or rail brown and let it dry and bake it. Then by applying a light coat of gray and wiping most of it off with a solvent covered rag or brush I can get the primer to show through. Any thoughts?
I’ve used cooking oil applied with a small brush to acheive this same look. Like you said,spray paint the car with primer, then add cooking oil {using a small paint brush} to the spots you wish primer to show through. Paint the car white…allow white paint to dry and wipe off the primered spots with a rag.
I’d use an old freight car to test this first.Should come out just fine,but test old car first.
Regards to yaz…
Patrick
Beaufort,SC
Dragon River Steel Corp {DRSC}
“BAKE”??
I tried that once and besides the wife getting very upset, tha car melted!!
BB
Sounds like it could work. Definatly test and practice so you know how much to apply. Also, not sure what you ment by “bake”, but plastic cant start to deform as low 160 degrees. Good luck and keep us posted.
Ditto to the cooking oil routine.
What class of car and what year are you modeling? Prior to 1954 PRR covered hoppers were the same reddish-brown (PRR Freight Car Color) as its open-top hoppers. If you’re modeling a car installed prior to then and depicting a gray repaint, I think it would look awesome to show some of the red underneath! If instead you’re just trying to depict worn, rusty paint, I would suggest this technique I’ve seen used on boxcar rivet lines by the PRR Pro modeling group:
Paint the car gray. Hand-paint the rivet lines (or in this case the edges of the ribs) with reddish-black. Then paint your top coat. The rivet lines will be so dark they’ll still show through slightly, but in a more subtle and realistic way than if you try to remove the paint with thinner.
It will be difficult to wipe the thinner off the car without the paint closest to the details (ribs, steps, etc) being “sheltered” and retaining the top coat, when in fact those are the areas most likely to be weathered the most.
Good luck, and send us pictures when you’re done!
I’m not trying to apply rust streaks. I am trying to reproduce the effect where the finish paint appears to be wearing through showing the primer.
Do you have a photograph you’re working from? The pattern of paint removal will tend to dictate the technique.