I am ignorant on the subject of weathering steam locos. I do not know where to paint what or what color to use where or how much rust or grime to put on. I hope this is not one of those topics that come up all of the time, and if it is i am sorry. I just need some info to get started. I can use an airbrush, drybrush, and use chalks so all i need now is what color goes where. Thanks for the help!
Model Railroader had a good aritcle on weathering a steam loco about a year ago. They also sell a book on steam locomotive projects that covers the subject really well.
Thanks Tim, I remember reading about that book in a magazine. Would any one happen to know which MRR the article was in?
Also, check back on Aggrojones’ posts–he had a post not too long ago where he described how he weathered his steam locomotives–it’s worth reading.
Tom [^]
do you mean "Realistic weathering for steam locomotives " by John Pryke in the august 2002 issue of MR ?
it’s amazing how much you can find using the ‘index of magazines’ link at the top of this page [:D]
unfortunatly that’s an issue i’m missing
may I sugest use white mixed 8 to 1 with distiled water make you locomotive look like its been on the job for years I works well with black to
the key is to use very light coats just like the real trains get weathered very slowly over time seen it in the last M R mag
B -
Hmmmmmm…
One huge mistake in weathering is people sometimes tend to over do it, moderation is the key, remember the engine is slightly dirty, it was not just recovered from the bottom of a lake after 25 years.
Weathering steam is an “interesting” project, and is subject to personal tastes above all else. The biggest problem I see in most steam weathering attempts is that most modelers don’t really know their subject matter well enough (or their prototype road’s practices) to do a realistic job. There are many things in this hobby that “look” right but actually aren’t, and extremely grimy steam is one of the biggest.
Did steam get dirty? Heck yes. Did steam get absolutely filthy? Of course. But that doens’t mean that a steamer looked lie it was about to fall apart, even at the end of their days. Nor did steam usually look like it just competed in a Baha offroad course, except for cirtain situations. Even steam that received NO cleanings whatsoever (Pennsy fans take note) weren’t universally grungy.
When we see steam today, it usually looks like this:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/atsf/atsf-s3751ajs.jpg
Notice that 3751 is all shiny and brand new looking, even for a running excursion engine. We see this glistening surface that you could eat off of, and say, “Gee, that’s nice, but I wonder what a hard working engine should look like?” We them let our minds wander back to the good old days and imagine an engine that looks something like this:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nkp/nkp-s704ahv.jpg
NKP 704 has obviously seen cleaner days, and this is a B&W photo! The only clean area is on the cab side, where some hostler has wiped down her number, probably with an oily rag (which, in color, would give the black paint a shiny and slightly blue tinge). Most modelers, when weathering, go to this extreme with their steam, caking the engine with enough grime, soot and road filthy so as to make us recoil in horror. But there’s a story behind this photo, just as there’s a photo behind the above spanking new ATSF engine: this photo was taken in central Illinois in early March of 1951, meaning that it hasn’t been washed since September of 1950. This is five or six month’s worth of accum
ORS: excellent response, most informative and nifty photos too ! I usually glean a lot of info from black & white photos, as a matter of fact as a kid hanging around steam I’m sure the whole bloody railway yards were only in black and white. Our local water supply was extemely high in alkalines, hence lots of white staining on steam locos.
Sometimes people weather as a copy of certain prototype loco 2 minutes from being scrapped. That would explain the “horrible” condition.
Great info. Ray, Thanks, that is just the info. i have been looking for.
There is one thing to note about models and how they look, consider that outdoors you have a broad general lighting of the sky with the piercing sun to make the shadows.
View the model and simply overhead flourescents, something is lost in the transition.
I have a Rivarrossi Cab Forward I repainted to club lettering, and I used a just off black grey custom mix.
You have no idea how much this brings out details alone.
Then I did a little weathering on it.
I think it made a pretty sharp looking engine.
I bought some new locos, they are jet black
I may run them a little while like that but they wont end up there, weathering time.
Early steamers were very colorful, but they got dirty, painting them black covered up all the grime that collected on them.
For passenger trains those engines were washed up more often, like the streamlined locos, but often they were colorized as well.
Hereis one of the one dirty Big Boy. Very rare to see a loco this dirty, as orsonroy pointed out:
A more general question.
What paint do you recommend for painting or repainting steam locos?
Main example I just purchased a second hand N scale MDC Roundhouse 2-6-0, in Chesapeake and Ohio colors with a sliver front.
I want to repaint as Federated Malay States Railways pre-WWII.
Those locos were all black, no silver front, with the front bumper (in case of UK built locos) and the cow catcher (yak catcher [:)] for locos bought from the US) in red. No logos, a red plate with the loco number and sometimes, not always the number on the tender.
Once I have repainted, the next step would be heavy weathering. FMSR used the relatively small 2-6-0 for construction projects and smaller branch lines–usually in the jungle
thanks
I’ve found that Polly Scale Steam Power Black matches the black used on Athearn, BLI, P2K and Bachmann engines perfectly, so it should be OK for MDC too.