i recently had a pretty good idea… use fire to weather the edges of a gon.
ive seen a lot of gons that are pretty banged up along the edges and i think i capured this pretty well on this car.
obvously using fire is a bit dangerous so stay on a non-flamible surface, and try not to breathe any of the little bit of vapor that comes up…
it doesnt hurt you i think but it shure cant be good…
to do this hold a lighter so the flame is melting the side of the car a bit then press something metal into the softened plastic. i uses a peice of metal pipe, a peice of rail and a lug nut.
A light buld works good and also a soldering iron works real good. I tried flames a long time ago and the car I was using was yellow and it left black smoke all over the car. Your pics look good thou. [;)]
I don’t see anything wrong with that, except that I would prefer my cars to be a bit more subdued with the bending…yours are over-bent…[:)] for my tastes. Also, it may be just the photo, but I would Dull-Coat the tops so that they look old and beat up.
Otherwise, I think you have done very well, and should feel a great deal of satisfaction. [tup]
One of the hot air guns (mine is a combo used for shrinking that wire insulation stuff)) works well and is a bit less dangerous! Mine is a portable propane unit and throws a small cone of heat (doubles as a portable soldering iron too…). Just a thought…
One technique I’ve used for years is to take a piece of plastic sprue and light the end of it.Then quickly and carefully I’ll pass it under tunnel portals and burned out building walls and such.The resulting soot is pretty realistic,and it doesn’t wash off with Dullcote like some chalks or pastels.But,you gotta be real careful,and make sure there is ventilation.
Actually, that is some of the most realistic gondola damage I’ve seen - and as far as safety is concerned, well, you can burn yourself as easily with a soldering iron as you can with a lighter. In fact, it is easier to burn yourself with a soldering iron as often you can’t see that it is hot. The flame on a lighter is pretty much a dead give away that it is hot.
After all, military and aircraft modelers have been using candles (and other heat sources) to stretch spur to make antennas and the like for years.
True, but a soldering gun won’t set your work on fire and in most cases won’t cause a fire if it’s dropped, whereas I’ve seen many fires caused by flame sources being accidently dropped or lighters bursting and igniting. Believe me, it can happen and is more common than most people think. I’m a trained firefighter, I know. That’s why I use no open flame of any kind in my model work.
if you noticed the youtube link i put in my post, i used a candle lighter not a cigarret lighter so my hands arent right near the fire.
thanks for the good feedback. im really satisfied with how that car turned out, and i know that i want to do some damage to the rest of my gons. not as much as on this one, but still at least some damage.
I like what you’ve got going here. It looks pretty darned good. I have to agree with the flame issue though.
It just so happens that today I came across and old beat up gon and thought of this thread. I had my camera, so I took some reference shots. Take note of some of the damage, and repairs, to this old gon.
Notice the tears and hasty patches on the top left…
Notice the side rib damage close to the camera…
Lastly, notice that it’s slightly swaybacked…
This gon is in current use on CSX’s mainline just outside Indianapolis, Indiana.
I’ve been using a candle and a metal spoon for a long time. I haven’t beat up any railroad cars yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I think my techniques are pretty much the same, just different subjects.
A heat gun will concentrate the heat over larger areas. Selecting the temperature and control allows to bow larger panels w/o destroying the finer details. This is for bowing out panels between ribs etc. Heat and push w/ a spoon. The soldering iron works good to heat a metal screwdriver, spoon, etc to make dent and small bends like your lighter method. The advantage is so much better control. A open flame on plastic can cause it to ignite or overheat and ruin the integridy of the plastic.
I kinda did the same thing, just with and old steam loco I have. I bent the boiler, and cracked it. I then put 4 smoke gen. in it. Tiped it on a diaroma, put a few cars, weatered via the same process, and turned on the smoke, and presto, insta-derail scene, with “steam leaks”.
