Rooming House - First attempt at weathering

dwight77

Member
Our club, Scale Rails of Southwest Florida (Ft. Myers, Fl) has added a module to our N Scale layout. Since operations are often a little more difficult with N Scale, we built a 2' x 4' module that has both a modified "Time Saver" and an "Inglenook" switching puzzle. They come together on a common track and enter our layout. It will allow us to have two members working on a switching puzzle at the same time from opposite sides of the module and at the same time, have members running trains on the rest of the layout. I hope to add some pictures of the switching module soon.
But we also wanted it to be more than just a switching puzzle and wanted to add scenry. I got the American Model Builders Laser Kit - Railroad Rooming House. This was the first time I had actually built an N Scale laser kit. I will say that I found the kit fun to build, and AMB did a respectable job with instructions and the quality of the kit seemed pretty good....especially in n scale.
This was also my first time weathering a building so I have attached some pictures and would be appreciative of any constructive criticism. The building has not been placed on the layout yet, so there is still time to correct any glaring errors.
dwight77
 

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MCL_RDG

Member
Really nice...

...looking building. The wife just looked over my shoulder and said so as I was admiring it.

Thanks,

Mark

P.S. I would add a little wear to the hand rails to make the stair case look used as well as the treads and walkways down the center. That's quite a climb and I'm sure those rails get a lot of use. There's usually a bit of soft spatter near the bottoms of doors from rain and people shaking off. A few light splotches of hand wear near the doors, between the shoulders and waist is always nice.

Don't forget that not all the roomies keep their places up to par with the landlords standards. A crooked window shade wouldn't hurt. Not to mention a chair or three just to sit out and watch the trains roll by before "floppin".
 

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
Looks great to me! I'm with Mark on maybe dirtying up the white hand railing a little. Nice building!
Ralph
 

dwight77

Member
Thanks for the comments. I know it doesn't show, but the handrails are really not at clean at they look...they are a bit dirty....guess it was the lighting. But I will dirty up the doors a bit. Thanks again.
dwight77
 

willy4

New Member
Any bit of weathering makes a model look better.
The pipes with the white running down the roof should have a little rust mixed in.
All in all, very good, NICE

Bill
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
If I may, I would tone down the white streaks on the roof under a little more weathering. Other than that, a very nice job. Are you sure this is your first? :thumb:
 

dwight77

Member
Hi All:
I appreciate the constructive criticism and have tried to put them to work. Below is the latest stage of my weathering.
 

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  • Rooming House - AMB Laser Kit 011.jpg
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TruckLover

Mack CH613 & 53' Trailer
I think that looks very good Dwight :thumb: :thumb:

I love the streaks on the roof from the vents, very nice tough :thumb: :thumb:

Keep up the good work :wave:
 

dwight77

Member
Hi john12212000:
Thanks for the compliment. The kit included roof material, a paper product with a sticky back. While the strips were long enough to go the full length of the roof, I cut them and overlapped them laterally and of course they overlapped top to bottom. I painted the roof with acrylic black paint. I first tried to make the stains running down from the metal chimneys with light strokes of white paint and then dust with chalks. That really was not very good, the stains were much too white and bright (see the first set of pictures).
I repainted the roof black. I got hold of a box of Doc O'Brien's weathering powders and went to work with those, using a short bristle brush and basically dry brushing. I used mostly "rusty brown", "dirty brown", "muddy red", and "grungy gray". They also have a "highlight white" that I used to make the chimney stains.
I have since used the weathering powders on another model (Second Go at Weathering - Box & Crate Factory) that I wrote about in this forum on 11/07. I really like the Doc O'Brien's powders. They are easy to use, stick well, as I do not intend to spray the models with dull coat...I do not think it will be necessary. If you don't like what you see, you can easily wipe it away with a damp cloth and start over.
Hope this helps.
dwight77
 

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
Looks great dwight!! Thanks for describing your weathering techniques. I'd love to see a pic of the structure on that module.

Ralph
 

dwight77

Member
Hi Ralph:
Check my post in the N Scale forum under " Inglenook / Time Saver Switching Combo" I have posted some pictures of how our switching module is coming together. It has both the rooming house and the box & crate factory on the module.
dwight77
 

TrainGuyRom

New Member
I like to use weathering chalks. The kind I use has a built in adhesive that lets it stick to wood, and plastic. Just take a fine paintbrush, dab a little chalk on the end, carfully aply it as you would paint(but without the runs) if you put too much on you can blow some off.
A word to wise: Do NOT weather on a table in a carpeted room. I weathered the carpet a couple years ago, and it never came out.
 

pjb

New Member
Nicely done! The structure mimics C&O structures
located at THURMAN, W.V. adjacent to where the
junction with mine run branch comes in. That is
1500 ft. East of the engine house.
If you saw the classic film MATEWAEN, then
you are familiar with this site. It has also been
covered exhaustively in MAINLINE and other
magazines, and there are many kits
made for many of the diverse community,
or railroad related structures.
Regardless of that matter, a good job with this structure.
Good-Luck, PJB:wave:
 

Kanawha

Member
Looks great.:thumb: I particularly like the rust stains coming off of the chimneys. I've never quite been able to make realistic looking rust stains.
 
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