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Rice Harbor Series: Build a car float part 4 - painting and weathering
Nice explanation of the weathering effects. Looks good on the video - it would be interesting to see it in person.
Beautiful!! If that can be said about making something look old on purpose. Having been stationed aboard a US Navy floating crane for 2 years, there are two things I noticed that might (should(?)) have been done differently. NOT saying they were done incorrectly – define “correctly” when applied to weathering.
Much more rust would have formed around the hatches. A lip is formed around the opening covered by the hatch and when it rains/mists, water collects around the hatch. (The opening the hatch covers forms a weak spot in the deck and actually causes the deck to warp slightly at the hatch opening.)
The cleats themselves would show bare metal where the mooring lines and towing lines rubbed against (and removed) the paint. Overall, the cleat would develop a rusty color, but under the “hook” in the “C” shape where the line would rub the color of the bare metal would show. (Not all of the cleats would have this marking - just those used constantly, such as the one on the end away from the bumpers (used to moor the float to the dock/pier) and those along the side(s) used by the tugboat(s) when towing it.)
I like how the car float turned out. What really are some basic parts and straightforward techniques came together to make a good looking, convincing model.
Can I use the auto premier on my model railroad benchwork and wood seal it? I don’t want it to curl in the hot desert heat to replace it almost every year. Can this help me in the long run or do something else?
David I think that another detail could be added and that is bird droppings, since most of the sea going vessels I have seen, have a large amount of droppings with the color of white to yellow with a little black running down the sides.
David, nice job with the weathering. I would have added a little sand to the top surface since many carfloats were covered with a thin coat of asphalt with woodland scenic asphalt pain splashed on with it, not evenly just kind of gooped on to indicate wear… Run some verticle whitish highlights with more vertical rust to indicate salt water effects on the metal sides and ends and painting the cleats yellow and the underpads as well and then rubbed them off a little to indicate wear. Great series, looking forward to the water creation . I have a lot of water with more than 15 piers on my Jay Street and Lehigh Valley terminals of B’klyn and Jersey City.
that turned really nice
Hi David. Nice explanation and work on the car float. I was just wondering. I would think that the grey primer would be more noxious than the acrylic (I assume) paint you were using to paint and weather the float. Yet, it looked like you used the particle mask for the weathering paints and not for the primer. Is that how you did it, or did the video just not show that part of the process?
Daivd:
Great job looks super - wanted to do something like this and you’ve given me the info I needed… Thanks again!
Hello all,
As always, thank you for the comments.
When working with particulates, even with a vent hood like the one we use, it’s best to use a respirator or at minimum, a dust mask. While these work well to protect your lungs and breathing passages when spraying paints and sealers, they are also hard to use when shooting video and talking on-camera.
We often voice-over the segment without the mask on after we’ve done the spraying, and we will typically do the in-between segments without the “gear” for better video.
All that to say, when you don’t see me with a mask on while airbrushing or spraying primer, it is not the norm and should never be considered safe. Even Ben, our camera man, wears a mask while we film airbrushing segments, and you should too when painting at home.
To keep the fun in model railroading for many years to come, please be sure to protect yourself when working on your modeling projects!
David