Hello, does anyone have some tips-ideas on weathering a mostly white loco such as Soo line. I have had good success with most other colours but getting a faded or grimy look on white has been tough. Any thoughts on techniques or colour mixes would be appreciated.
A belated [#welcome] to the forum.
This is basically just to bump you back up the forum so someone who actually knows what they’re talking about may see and answer your query properly. While it depends on what look you’re trying to achieve, I presume you’ve tried a light wash of light grey?
Cheers, the Bear.[:)]
Andrew Debnam,
A [#welcome] To The Forums, from Me Too!
Take a look at the pic’. in this link for some idea’s, (hopefully it will work) on this heavily weathered engine. Looks like more rust’s and Brown’s, rather than Grey’s. I used to see a lot of Soo Line engine’s where I lived and most all I saw were pretty well maintained, so I would not go overboard on the weathering. I personally like a subtle approach.
http://theelementaleye.com/tag/soo-line/
Maybe Soo Line Fan will catch Your post and give You some idea’s.
Take Care! [:D]
Frank
Here’s a bit more inspiration for you …
Mark.
Locomotives are a lot like cars. White cars show black dirt, black cars show light colored dirt. Now for locomotives, railroads don’t frequently wash them, so there is a lot more dirt build up. A light coat of grimy black would be a good start. There is also soot around the exhaust, which makes the top look black, and it may wash down the sides. In addition, railroads don’t always take care of the paint so there may be rust spots. I would highly recommend going to rrpicturearchives.net and looking at photos of the prototype.
That’s a wonderful job of weathering, Mark! Could you describe how you achieved it?
Well, I never weather mine so no first hand knowledge. Just adding the correct plows, hatches, details and repowering for me.
Other than tips from someone like Mark, who has done a great job with the FM, I would suggest buying some junk white box cars, gondolas, etc and using them for practice.
Later, once you get better, AHM, Tyco, and Life Like all produced some factory painted Soo engines which typically sell for very little. Done right, you can end up with a great model, done wrong you end up with a disaster so take it slow.
Weathering for Beginners: Start with weathering chalks, not the kind that has adhesive mixed in; but, just plain chalk. To dull the white, use white, to dull the red, use red. To make things dirty, use dirty colors, to make things look rusty, use rusty colors. It really is that simple. Don’t like what you’ve done? Wash it off with warm soapy water. Like what you’ve done and want to keep, spray a coat of clear flat onto the surface. Be aware that spraying an overcoat of clear flat will likely reduce the effect. It might take several applications to get where you want.
This is only one way to weather. Get experience doing it this way and then try other methods as you become more confident.
To me, you can super detail the heck out of a locomotive, freight; or, passenger car; but, until it has some weathering, it just doesn’t look very real.
If you’re going to be doing any washes or dry brushing/sponging, then chalks should be the last step in the chain. If you do them first, they’ll interfere with the other steps.
Steve S
I can’t take credit for that one. It was was actually done by a good friend of mine. He uses nothing but artist’s oil paints thinned with mineral spirits. It’s all done by hand with brushes anywhere from straight from the tube right down to thin washes. No airbrushing or chalks.
Mark.
Thanks to all for the feedback-much appreciated
So, you simply get to negate what I have said without adding to; or, describing a simple method for a beginner to take some first steps in weathering with! Sorry, I disagree with you, chalks are subtle and have never gotten in my way, when I added other weathering effects later on!
It’s certainly O.K. to disagree with me! However, describe the way you would help someone start out, also!
thanks your help