Weathering Bridges.... Advice needed

Troy

New Member
I need some advice on how to weather a bridge.
I purchased the Vollmer Arch Bridge and sprayed the whole thing Polly Scale Grimey Black. I would like to know what I should be doing next. I have a book called "How To Build Realistic Model Railway Scenery" By Frary, but it only goes into details on weathering rock formations and stuff like that. It has no details on weathering structures.

I bought the Polly Scale Weathering pack which Im hoping will contain all the necessary colours to do the job. I had to order them from 1000 miles away. Ive only found one place in the whole of Australia so far that stocks Polly Scale paints....
If anyone from Aus is reading this and they know of some places that stock it, please let me know.

Anyway, the colours I have on hand without doing another mail order are as follows...
Reefer White, Earth, Roof Brown, Rust, Rail Tie Brown, Aged White, Mud, Dirt, Aged Concrete, New Gravel Gray.

Thanks for any help you guys can offer,

Troy.
 

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George D

Member
Here's a picture of a bridge I built and weathered using artist's chalks. Rub the chalk on sandpaper to make a powder and apply with a Q-Tip. Then, seal with Dull Cote.
 

Troy

New Member
Thanks George, looks great!

I can get the Chalk from my local hobby store but the Dull Cote
may be a problem... I don't know of anywhere that stocks it in
Australia. Is there anything that could be used as a substitute?

Also, speaking of substitutes, Im looking for a substitute for Polly Scale Roof Brown (I only have one little bottle to cover 90ft of track and its extremely hard to get hold of Polly Scale paints in my area). I took a sample down to a hardware store and had them make up a sample pot of Acrylic house paint.
Needless to say, the house paint is not the same as Polly Scale. It was an exact colour match but it won't stick to plastic when I airbrush it on. I thought Acrylic paint was all the same but it seems as though its not...

Any suggestions? Anyone?

Cheers,

Troy.
 

George D

Member
Troy,
Sorry, I don't have an answer for you on the Dull Coat. You might ask the guy at your local hobby store. Dull Coat is a clear dull finish "paint". By the way, in the interest of accuracy, my bridge is HO. The weathering technique is the same, it just takes less materials to do in in N scale :)
George
 

Jaws

New Member
Troy,

You may find it helpful to first wash down both the rails and ties with 409 or just plain old dish soap. to remove any oil residue from the manufacturing process. Then allow to dry thoroughly.

I use exterior flat vinyl paint, both on the rails and ties. However, I mix small amounts with grey added for the rails which I paint with a "damp" brush. Then I "dry brush" the ties. After the ties dry some (half an hour or so) I dry brush a light amount of the greyish color down the center of the ties to give the effect of oil and grease that you usually find on the prorotype.

Some of the paint is bound to adhere to the top and flange areas of the rails but is easily removed as soon as the paint sets up (an hour or so).

At least with Atlas flex track and Peco turnouts, the technique has served me well for several years.
 
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