While weathering is a generic term, I am wondering if people work differently with the fading that happens over the years as opposed to “weathering.”
Specific example.
My railway (for family history reasons) is in a small part of SE Asia.
The Federated Malay States Railway bought steam locomotives from both UK and US.
So I have a Rivarossi 4-6-2 that is close to the modified Baldwin 4-6-2 that was sold to Malaya.
The bumpers on the UK locos were originally painted a bright red (as they were at the time in the UK). In one picture I have the cow watcher on the 4-6-2 was also painted bright red, at least on arrival, but later faded to a very pale pink. (The FMSR also had older US-built 2-6-0s and they too had a “hot pink” cow catcher)…
So when I repaint the loco
Should I paint the original red and then weather heavily (and what would you recommend)
OR
Paint a pale pink and weather from there.
thanks
RR
You raise a good point. To paint an engine or car or structure as it would look when brand new, with the accurate shade of paint, and then add weathering, simulates the acculation of dirt and dust and grime. You can simulate the chalkiness that shiny surfaces get by way of dullcoat (although that chalky texture often accompanies the fading you write about.
In contrast to simulate the fading in the sun is something that ideally needs to be done at the onset (unless you actually want to leave your model outside in the sun and see what happens 
While a certain amount of fading can be simulated with chalks and dusting i think to really get the effect of a faded paint you need to start with that shade of faded paint.
Let me give a practical example. The Chicago & North Western had some covered hoppers that when new were a rich dark glossy green. As the paint aged and faded the cars became more and more blue in color. Presumably the yellow in the original paint mix was in some manner deteriorating faster than the original blue. There is no way you can really paint the car green and get to this strange shade of blue by way of weathering. You have to start with the blue. But obviously it cannot end up shiny even if if the first coat needs to be glossy to hold the decals.
Dave Nelson
Dave,
I really enjoyed your response to the posting. I recently bought an HO Intermountain Rock Island F7A engine and found that while the Rock Island railroad used red and black on new engines, the Intermountain engine looks more like orange and black. I was told by the seller that the folks at Intermountain have painted the engine to look like a faded engine they saw in a Rock Island history book, where the color is more orange. At first I was disappointed when I saw the engine but then I looked in one of my Rock Island books and sure enough, the older engines look black and orange, rather than black and red. It looks like the red fades and becomes more orange. Of course another explanation for the orange color could be the lighting in which the photos were shot, but I’m guessing that fading is the more accurate reason.
Happy Railroading,
Mondo
I highly do not recommend anyone try that experiement. It could be a very bad idea. I was photographing some models in the natural sunlight and left them out a bit to long. The plastic became soft and they distorted beyond usability. I can’t think of anything in nature that would make them look that way so that I could use for an excuse and put them into a junk yard.
Texas Zephyr:
I was joking. You correctly cut and pasted my comment but left out the “:)” by which I hoped to convey I was making a suggestion so absurdly funny that no one would take it seriously. I mean … even if it worked – after completing a model who wants to wait 4 to 20 years before running it while it weathers?
Dave