WMRS Weathering Workshop, June 13, 2011.

This was the first in what is hoped to be a series of workshops and was given by Tim Neale on weathering of rolling stock. This is a summary of what he said.

Tim firstly recommends doing some research to see how different stock weathered. You should bear in mind the age of the vehicle at the time that your layout is set.

Tim’s technique is, having prepared your chosen item of stock by doing any distressing, body damage, fading of lettering and then washing it to remove those greasy fingerprints, to give washes of pale colours to tone the factory finish down. If the underframe or bogies are unpainted, give them a coat of neat colour, but avoid pure black. Payne’s Grey is Tim’s preferred colour. Tim uses artists’ acrylic paints available in tubes, as they can be thinned using water, although enamels, powders and even airbrushes are in his toolbox, too.

Next add washes of dirt from above. Sun and rain will influence the colours here, as well as load dirt. Colours that fade and also provide grime are required here. Red fades to pink, blue and black become greyer, so washes of off-white/grey/brown may be needed. You will also find this will bring out the details.

Dirt and rust will also accumulate on the underframe and here the colours to use are dark greys and browns, being muck kicked up by the wheels and brakes. Don’t forget to paint the wheels; dark oily colours for oil axle-boxed vehicles, rust colours for those with roller-bearings. Don’t forget the muck that gets kicked up by the wheels up the wagon ends and leads to a short stripe up the wagon ends.

Tim then uses dry-brushing to pick out places which get knocked or wear, such as handles, chain pockets, brake-levers and damaged areas. Scrofulous rust can be created effectively using paint and powders mixed together.

Any areas repainted or repaired can be touched in too, and these may have less weathering than the rest of the vehicle. Tim also recommends looking to see how rain washes the dirt off from the rainstrips, top edges of coal wagons and outer frames on wagon sides.

Further washes will then hold the lot together. If powders are used a blast of matt varnish to fix them will be required. The key is to know when to stop and quite often, the weathering need only be quite subtle, but even new vehicles quickly acquire some brake dust. Locomotives, even if cleaned will too, with soot from chimneys and exhausts and around vents, sand from sanding gear, black from coal and white water stains, spilled diesel and oil.

Tim illustrated his talk with some of his HO American and British N gauge stock. He stressed that different scales need different approaches.

After a well-earned cuppa, other members had a go on their own stock under Tim’s advice and Tim demonstrated using some old wagons.

He recommended that it is a good idea to pick up cheap second-hand wagons to experiment on, rather than your latest new acquisition! If kit-building, pre-plan your painting, to achieve a faded or damaged finish.

Some of Tim’s results can be seen in the accompanying photographs.

An Athearn gondola, in BN livery, loaded with steel coils, this vehicle was largely weathered with chalk powder, to show rust from the load, and the environment of visiting steel mills.

An Athearn 50’ railbox. This vehicle’s into service date is 1979, so it only received a very light weathering. Subtlety is the key.

A Proto 2000 PS-2 hopper, which has been a victim of the graffiti artists. Note the odd coloured hatches as they often get replaced, and the dirt washed down the sides and kicked up around the bottom.

Another Proto 2000 product, picked up second hand already assembled. The into service date for this automobile box car is in the 1940’s so it has been heavily weathered to produce a very faded paint scheme, using washes of whites, rubbing the lettering with a glass-fibre pencil to show it wearing away and many washes of browns and dark greys to show a very old unkempt vehicle. It was based on photographs of a similar vehicle. Don’t forget to put a touch of dry brushing on to the couplers.

And finally an old “blue-box” Athearn work box car, clearly showing how the dirt gets kicked up the ends of the cars by the wheels. Similar old models can be picked up very cheaply second-hand and make ideal subjects for practice or a full detailing make over. New Kadee No 5 couplers, Kadee metal wheel sets, some washes of dark grey to tone the silver paint down, detail dry brushing and into service they can go. Note the weathered ballast hopper in the background.