Philosophy Friday -- Whether to Weather...

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
21

I can only speak for myself in this regard, but I don’t weather my rolling stock because a) I’m not any good at it, b) it’s not an aspect of the hobby in which I have a lot of interest, and c) if I weathered one car, I’d need to weather most of them or else the few that were weathered would stand out like a sore thumb.

That having been said, a small amount of weathering does add a disproportionately large amount of realism to a piece of rolling stock. I’ve recently discovered the benefits of painting trucks. Of these two identical covered hoppers, one is lightly weathered with stock trucks, the other is unwhathered but the trucks & wheels got a quick application of grimy black paint

The image is a little overexposed to show the trucks better. Notice how the details on the painted trucks pop out. I might undertake the task of painting my entire fleet thus. It makes a remarkably big difference.

Jim

22

Do you think a layout (and/or trains, buildings, etc-- the individual components) should be weathered, un-weathered, or some of both?

My opinion is that weathering is related to the age of an object and the care it receives. Something that is looked after will always appear newer than something that is neglected, so a modeler is wise to consider whether each item on a layout would be cared for in the real world, or neglected to some degree - then weather accordingly. Even a 20 year-old fire truck is still shiny (because it receives a lot of care). My feeling is that railroads look after their equipment pretty well, so weathering should be light (graffiti not withstanding - it’s a whole other topic)

As mentioned earlier in the thread, people generally take pride in the way things look and they take care of their stuff. I’m pretty sure that it has been this way for a long time, so our layouts should give the inhabitants credit for looking after their world.

Of course anything that represents something new in a scene would be much less weathered than something that has been around for a few years - just because time has not taken it’s toll.

Do you think they should be weathered before going on the layout, after going on the layout, or just whenever the mood strikes?

I’m more of a “mood strikes” kind of modeler, unless it is my last best opportunity to get it right. When I build a Jordan Highway Miniatures vehicle I make it “showroom new” and then weather it later, after it’s had some time to find a home on my layout. Buildings generally get the treatment before being glued to their foundations, because it would be so difficult to add a little dust to them later. Just a couple of examples.

Does an un-weathered layout stand out to you at all? Would you notice it if everything was pristine and neat?

I actually kind of like the look - It seems like Z-scale layouts are

23

– Do you think a layout (and/or trains, buildings, etc-- the individual components) should be weathered, un-weathered, or some of both?

When I look at the real world, nothing stay shiny more than a year. The red window trims I painted last summer are already fading out a little bit… It’s the same for the layout. I like a mix of everything: almost new things, well-maintained but faded things and the ones in decay. In my area, everything around the railway are in bad shape just as if everything was going to bankrupcy. A friend of mine just came back from Tehachapi and Arizona recently. It was quite stunning to see all those neatly ballasted track to the point of looking fake! :wink:

This week, a string of freshly repainted CNLX grain hoppers was clashing with the habitual rusty and grimy ex-government cars. I think it could be a nice idea to have some repainted or new cars among the HO roster to give more variety.

– Do you think they should be weathered before going on the layout, after going on the layout, or just whenever the mood strikes?

When the mood strikes… Weathering is quite an art, so I do it when I feel inspired. But recently, I’ve been upgrading the fleet by weathering most of it.

– Does an un-weathered layout stand out to you at all? Would you notice it if everything was pristine and neat?

It always feels like a toy to me. Brightfully colored cars just look out of place, but that’s my own distorted perception of reality. I have a nostalgic nature, so I prefer when cars, buildings and scenery have a layer of dust to show their history. And sometimes, this layer of dust just doesn’t exist because the car is intended to be brand new. Overdoing weathering is the same as none to me. As someone pointed out, it have to be inspired by reality.

I also agree with the previous example about weathering small details like trucks. Often, a coat of flat finish with painted truck is enough to kill the toyish aspect.

Here’s my humb

24

This is a very important point that I make all the time about various aspects of our hobby. I model for the “big picture”, the two to three foot view (174’ to 240’ in HO).

It should be noted that there is a difference between the visual effects of distance and actual “weathering” that makes something look old, neglected, in disrepair, etc.

AND, there is a difference between neglect - rust, damage, seriously deteriorated paint, rotten wood, and the simple effects of day to day dirt. Things get dirty quickly, and we try to keep them clean. But durable goods like cars, buildings, railroad equipment, and the like to not deteriorate all that quickly.

ALL of these factors, as well as era and culture as Fred Wright discussed earlier in this thread, should be taken into account when deciding how much and what kind of “weathering” to do.

Personally, I;m not bothered by “clean” layouts as much as I am by those that are “over weathered”.

I go for light weathering myself, with just a few examples of “deterioration” and a fair

25

My reply could be one thousand words, or this:

Crandell

26

Weather it like it hasn’t been loved a day in its life!

27

Crandell,

I can almost hear the exhaust echoing from the hills!

[tup]

[bow][bow][bow]

28

Thanks, Ulrich. My Y6b earns its keep. [:)]

Crandell

29

And I notice it is dirty, but not deteriorated. Such an expensive and valuable investment would be kept in top operating condition by most railroads.

Sheldon

30

I think everything should be weathered but not all to the same level. Buildings should be weathered before going on the layout but cars and loco’s can be weathered when ever the mood strikes. An unweathered layout looks good but nothing is really pristine or neat all the time so it makes it unrealistic.

31

So, My Answers For Today Are:

– Do you think a layout (and/or trains, buildings, etc-- the individual components) should be weathered, un-weathered, or some of both?

  1. Everything on our layout should look like it “lives” outside, because that is the bit we see (discounting the occasional detailed interior). We all know that some things (autos, homes, passenger trains) are generally cleaned or repainted more often than others (alley walls, MoW equipment)

  2. Weather and dilapidation/disrepair are two different things. One should be everywhere, the other only where expected. Common sense will tell you which is which.

– Do you think they should be weathered before going on the layout, after going on the layout, or just whenever the mood strikes?

Doesn’t matter to me - I do run my un-weathered/shiny rolling stock until I get around to making them look real. I also run my too-weathered mistakes from my beginning days.

– Does an un-weathered layout stand out to you at all? Would you notice it if everything was pristine and neat?

Oh, yes. I love toys and I love models, but never the train shall meet - to turn a phrase.

Like I said above - common sense. We all live in the same world and we see how things look. Yes, you have to take old photos with a grain of salt, but a bit of research should turn over enough of a variety that you can come to a realistic conclusion. We’re all intelligent; if we weren’t we wouldn’t be model railroaders!

Finally, there are always the exceptions. I have a white convertible that shines in the summer, but right now could be mistaken for dark gray with all the road grime (except for the white spots around the door handles that I have wiped down - a fun thing to add to the numbers of a very dirty freight car). And it’s snowing again right now, so it

32

John (jwhitten) … You started a good conversation with good comments from all.

One comment to add pertains to placing unweathered locos and cars on the layout where most cars and locos have already been weathered.

It is possible for a locomotive or car to be either brand new or fresh from the paint shop and then be coupled with dirty locos and cars. There is a prototype for almost everything.

So I suggest that model railroaders go ahead and run the clean models with the weathered models. Why not? .

33

I see pretty clean locomotives up here a fair bit…GP9u’s at Woodstock, Tillsonburg Turn…

34

I model an urban area in the Late Transition Era, not a specific place but definitely Rust Belt. So, weathering is pretty much obligatory. It starts with my selection of colors. My wife teaches arts & crafts to kids (and adults, occationally) and we each have our own selections of acrylic paints. They are almost completely disjoint. Hers are all bright, “happy” colors - yellows, blues and reds, while mine are drab and somber grays - Hippo Gray, Rainy Day Gray, Gray Flannel and so on. Structures are “done” when I put them on the layout, but even a simple four-walls-and-a-roof DPM kit takes close to a month to go from it’s plastic bag to it’s spot on the street.

I was fortunate to pick up a number of those nice automobiles when Wal-Mart had them - $1.67 for 1:87 can’t be beat. But, they stood out too much, so I began experimenting with Dul-Coat, and found that having a few cars that did not look like they just left the car wash (hmmmm - interesting modeling opportunity - a car wash with dirties in, cleans out) added to the realism of the scene.

I have some rolling stock that’s over-weathered. Rookie mistake, I’d say. Now, I like the effect of powders sealed with Dul-Coat. The Dul-Coat makes the weathering less intense.

35

Everyone knows location plays a part in weathering colors (desert vs seaside, etc) but I think it also impacts the amount of weathering. During the steam era, particularly, locos and cars that spent a lot of time in tunnels full of smoke and coal dust would obviously be more weathered than those that spent more time on the prairies where the open skies whisked away much of that.