I am assembling a little Atlas ho truss bridge which is made completely of black plastic. Any tips out there on how to make black plastic look like weathered metal?
wdcrvr
With it being black you have a little more room for forgiveness, IMO. What I did with my bridges was use some rusty red looking acrylic paint, dry bush it on until i found the look I was looking for. Another option is to use weathering pastels/chalk. When you are done, a shot of dullcoat and all is good
May I ask if you intend to adopt the “rusted” look, the “somewhat neglected” look, the “well kept” look…?
If you want to rust it up, make a heavy wash of Burnt Umber, tan, a wee bit of red, and a bit of yellow, and use a fine artist’s brush to swipe the flanges, both sides. Also some rust dripping down from the odd rivet. Let each application dry, then shine good light on it, take photos if that is to be a goal, and see how it looks. Add more layers of the wash, letting each dry, until you know you have it right.
If you just want a weathered look, a light white wash, applied in several layers, looks really good on a bridge or metal object painted black. I did this to my Rivarossi Allegheny, and I believe it turned out very well.
Crandell
I painted my brass truss bridge with enigne black from one of the weathering colors Scalecoat offers. It may be a mix like John Allen used, as a pure black is no good. Then I used a white chalk from my weathering chalk set to a get a less than uniform covering. Believe it or not, the chalk did not come out white. If you end of painting a detailed truss bridge with an air brush like I did (mine is 2-1/2 feet long) it takes quite a few passes to get everything. Just when you thought you have it all painted, you notice more exposed areas!
Maybe you can just try some white chalk or talcum poweder directly on the plastic to tone it down. If it doesn’t work, you can just wash it off.
All of the bridges under this train are from Atlas. I painted them black (a mixed colour consisting of black, grey primer, and perhaps some red or orange), then over-sprayed with red/orange/brown mix. In attempting to get that colour into a few tight spots, I got too much in other areas, so had to re-spray the black, then lightly re-weather again.
Another Atlas bridge done with a similar technique. The water here is very low at this time of year. [swg]
The same bridge at another time of year:
Another Atlas bridge, under the train, with a Central Valley truss. More-or-less the same weathering, although the pictures show more reddish tones which aren’t apparent when viewed in person:
Wayne
Your bridges look great and the rest of the scenes as well. I really love the shot with the low water stage. I am also looking for help in how to scratchbuild some concrete abutments for my bridges and would like to know how you did yours. Also interested in your technique to get that great looking dry river bed effect. That is really amazing.
thanks
wdcrvr
I agree, bridges are a specialty of Wayne’s, and the results speak for themselves. [:D]
This is a Micro Engineering combination through and deck girder bridge. It comes dark grey blackish, and I weathered it as I described.
This is the bridge on a Walthers 90’ turntable:
And here is a Chesapeake & Ohio H-8 crossing that bridge. I weathered the H-8 with a whitish wash. Notice that it doesn’t look dirty or rusty, in other words not neglected, but it does not look new.
Thanks for the kind words, guys. [:)]
Crandell, superb work, as always. [tup][tup]
That “low water” scene is merely one shot before the “water” was added, and the riverbed is simply a piece of unpainted sheathing plywood. [(-D]
There’s a how-to on casting bridge piers and abutments HERE but you’ll need to join in order to see the photos. The method uses easy-to-build sheet styrene moulds and patching plaster, although hydrocal or dental plaster should work equally well.
Wayne
!(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ERLF7TTPvmA/TOChdweH6fI/AAAAAAAAMCI/AxPl85BedLE/s640/Reconstruction Ph. 4 010.jpg)
I start by shooting the bridge with a coat of flat black to both kill the plastic sheen, and to give the surface some “tooth” to hold the weathering. I then use a simple wash of burnt umber craft acrylic, layering on thin coats and letting it settle into the rivet detail. For heavier weathering, I use several cycles, letting it dry completely before adding more.
Lee