I watched for about the 4th time last night the history of U.S. freight railroading on one of the Discovery channels (If you have never seen it you have missed something good). They showed wheel set replacement at the UP Bailey yard and I couldn’t help but notice that even the new wheel sets have an orange rusty hue to them before they get used and end up a grimey brown/black color.
The only HO manufacturer that sold cars that represented this look was ERTL and their wheelsets were I believe plastic. Most of us are content to leave the wheels the way they come in the box and I haven’t found an easy way to rust up my wheels without getting paint on the treads which ends up getting transferred onto the rails. It seems like the companies that supply replacement wheelsets could find a way to make them look more prototypical.
To paint wheels without getting paint on the treads, open a wheel-diameter hole in a piece of anything stiff and thicker than the tread width, grease the wheel bearing, insert the wheel in the hole and spritz lightly with an air brush, spray can or equivalent. By using several holes, you can paint several wheel sets at one time.
Turn the jig paint-side-down to unload. Do not re-use until the paint on the jig has dried.
Now that I’ve described it, I’m going to have to start doing it.[:I]
Can also use a circle template that drafters used to use before CAD. I’m retiring next week (going out on permanent disability) so when I take my drafting stuff home I’ll be getting use out of that old circle template again
A quick and easy way to rust wheels is to use powdered chalk. I do this while I weather the trucks – you don’t even need to remove the wheels! Just slide the brush loaded up with chalk behind the truck frame and spin the wheels. Since the wheel faces do not get handled, the chalk doesn’t come off. Wheelsets dusted 10 years ago are still rusty looking.
I’ve found that chalk works well for many weathering tasks and it will weather wheel sets. But, in my experience the chalk does come off the wheels. I found it gets in the journals causing little (perhaps somewhat prototypical) squeak-squeak-squeak noises when the cars I did this do roll by. Over time the squeaking faded away (indicating perhaps that the chalk dust came off).
Chalk dust is a mild abrasive. I quit using it for weathering wheels and track when I figured out that some part of it get sucked up into my locomotives mechansims. I figure theres not that much there, but it does act to accelerate gear wear and to cause the bearings to loosten up and perhaps begin to chatter. So not wanting these problems to appear later on I quit using the chalk.
Now I just stick the wheels in a truck frame and push it back and forth in front of my airbrush (loaded with a mixture of roof brown and grimy black Poly Scale) shooting form enough different angles to get coverage. It let the wheels sit for long enough for the paint to start setting up then I roll the wheels touching a brite boy to the top of the tread.
I also never use the plastic wheels that come in most kits. I substitute metal wheel sets (I prefer Kadee for their nicely shaped wheel backs and axles, and intermountain for their semi-scale wheelsets - but they don’t have correct axle or wheel back shape {:-<) ).
Plastic wheels tend to emit oils as they age which mixes with dust in the air and dirt and nickel silver oxide on the track to make a kind of blackish sludge. Not good for ops reliability. I’ve se
I enjoy brush painting all my replacement wheelsets. I’ll use a combination of Floequil’s roof brown, rail brown, weathered black and rust. I will usually do a couple dozen at a time. Just open the bottles and paint by spinning the wheelset between my fingers. Some get rail or roof brown, others a mix, and occasonally dip into the weathered black just to have some a bit darker.
Sometimes you get a little paint on the treads. This may happen from time to time, but I just spin the wheel and wipe it off. The key is to spin the wheel as you apply the paint.
Also, I find those plastic covers from the P2K 12 packs are great to keep on hand to place all those painted wheels. Keeps them all in one place and not rolling all over the workbench. When I install the wheelsets any paint residue left on the treads is cleaned off by a light rub with 600grit wet or dry.
I know that my airbrush would do a better job, but I like the hand painting of them, plus I can paint a couple dozen in a fairly short time and only have to clean the brush.
I always liked the brownish color of the older KD wheels and trucks, but I don’t think they make them in that color anymore. I want to try some tool black for a base color on mine.
All trucks and wheel sets first sprayed with Rust-Oleum primer (sp?) in the appropriate color for friction bearing trucks/wheels (black) or Roller bearing wheels (rust), then finished with liquid Dull*Cote and weathering powders. All .088 wheels, some Athearn Genesis, the rest InterMountain .088’s. All wheel treads and axle ends cleaned with a brass brush in a Dremel tool.
I use a brush to paint the wheels while they’re still in the trucks. It can be done while they’re still attached to the car, but it’s easier if they’re not. I paint both the faces and the backs of the wheels, and the axles, too, using whatever colour seems most suitable. When the car gets weathered, I roll it back and forth on a length of track in the spray booth, ensuring that all of the wheel faces get weathered equally. Unless the wheels are out-of-round or otherwise defective, I use the wheels that come with the car, plastic or metal.
