I’ve recently been weathering a few alcos with acrylic paints available for military modellers. I received several requests for a ‘how to’, so here is my method for dirtying down locos and freight cars.
First up is my basic toolkit for weathering locos.
A water pot
cotton buds
fibreglass pen
good brushes
not-so-good brushes
old brushes for drybrushing
I like to use acrylic paint, since it is easily thinned down with water, dries quickly and any mistakes can be removed easily by either rubbing off or making it wet again with a brush.
I generally paint the chassis and frames first, followed by paint washes over the hood and cab after all detail parts have been applied, before assembling the hood to the chassis and drybrushing.
Firstly the frame. I mix black, burnt umber and beige to get a nice ‘muddy sludge’ colour (and consistency) which is applied to the frame, trucks and wheels
When dry, this is covered in a black/brown wash to bring out the moulded details
Next I cover the cab and hood with a wash the consistency of ink, using the same muddy colour and a slightly thicker wash for the walkway, steps and pilots. This is left to dry
Once dry, I rub off most of this thin wash using the cotton buds, fibreglass pen and fingertips, to leave the dirty paint in the creases and around handrails etc
I pick out rusty spots with the fine brushes and highlight vents and other details with more washes before drybrushing the assembled loco.
Do you have a theory of what to weather and what not? Prototype weathering is the result of natural events that puts the dirt and rust in certain places for specific reasons. I have not been able to articulate what goes where, and thus my work tends to look random, and it is never random in real life.
Since we’re working in small scales and modelling indoors (usually) we have to cheat a bit when it comes to weathering a loco or freight car, to make it appear ‘right’.
As a general rule, I make recesses darker - door seams, joints between wooden boards and metal sheets, etc. That’s why I put the dark wash on a loco body first.
I never use black straight from the tin, though. It is too stark. Instead I mix in a bit of brown and beige to get a dark muddy colour. On a black loco, this makes the recesses lighter, but it highlights them nevertheless.
Once the recesses are painted, I clean up the main body colour, before adding a lighter colour to the raised areas - rivets, pipeworh, etc. - by drybrushing. Stay away from white paint straight from the pot. Like black, it is too harsh.
The overall effect is to add some depth to the loco shell (military modellers do this as well).
On trucks and fuel tanks, I paint everything muddy to simulate track dirt, before adding the dark washes and light drybrushing, as above.
It’s at least a “haven’t got round to getting an air brush yet” thing and, as it works well and there’s always new CNW locos to get it delays getting the airbrush.
Because I work weekends I’ve only got to the Macclesfield show this year. Was going to do Manchester last weekend but my van needs a service and I needed a sleep.
I finished off the locos with some brown and black pastel chalks on the walkways and trucks, but deliberately haven’t sealed it. It adheres to the brushed on weathering just fine.
I have to agree with you about acrylic paints, I’ve used them on everthing, they have a multitude of uses and hundreds of colours and the price is right, a mmost versatile tool in weathering.
As one who had asked you to share some of your “secrets”, I just wanted to add my thanks for your post. We “colonists” appreciate your time and efforts in making our modeling easier and more rewarding.
excellent modelling , and great tutorial . thanks for sharing
interesting , to me the photos of the locos by themselves looked like you’d gone a bit too far with the weathering , but then when you shot them on the layout they looked perfect . well done !
Good timing with this thread, although I’m sure it has been discussed before. Nice pictures everyone. I’ve finally got the magic mix for my airbrush and will be practicing on a used shell first.
