First Weathering Attempt

K

kd6dxa

New Member
May 4, 2006
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Hi Everyone! Tonight I made my first attempt at weathering a couple of cheap freight cars to get my feet wet with weathering. I would appreciate some criticism/suggestions/praise/blame in my attempt to get better at this. Here's what I did for these: I started with a wash of Grimy Black, then I used powdered artist pastels to get the rust, grime, dust on the cars. Then I finished with some dullcoat and retouched up some of the details that I lost with the dullcoat. What would help to make these better? Thanks, everyone!
-Zachary

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Kd6dxa,

Not bad for a first attempt, however, here are a few constructive observations- On your ATSF boxcar I would recommmend that you be a little more aware of your chalk blending so that you achieve a bit more consistency. Your black chalk has vertical streaks on the left side, and horizontal scribbles on the right side {as viewed in the photo}. They should be a bit more subtle without noticeable "scribbles" in the end result. I find that by taking my finger I can seamlessly blend the chalks without the unrealistic choppy effect. Also, remember that most grime appears to take on a vertical effect due to the gravitational effect of the water/rain running of the roof and down the side of the car. It is hard to give a full critique of the cars with the quality of pictures shown, however, I noticed on the yellow Railbox car that the grime is in the middle of the panels. Normally you should strive to have the grime heaviest at the panel seams and a bit lighter in the middle of the panels. This is due to the grime catching on the panel seams and working it's way inward. Nice job on the trucks and wheels, these are often overlooked by others and I think they look pretty good. Once again, NICE first attempt, and I hope these points don't come across as criticism, just a few observations. Keep up the good work!

Stuart
 
Weathering stuff..

Hi there

Not looking too bad at all for a first go!

Although I've been away from model RR for the last 20years, that doesn't mean I don't know a bit about weathering - have a look at this -

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47751/message/1148199660/

I built this for a guy here at work. Having an airbrush helps, as you can 'pre-shade' before painting, and then use chalk pastels over top. With pre-painted rolling stock pastels are one of the easiest media to use, and a wash using thinned water-colours with a drop of detergent added will bring out the detail.

A couple of tips

- don't try to over-weather something, stop short of what you think looks good.
- Start off with just doing subtle weathering, getting the feel of the different mediums, and then increase the effect on subsequent projects, working your way up to full-blown weathering jobs.
- Study the subject, what was it used for, what conditions did it operate in, what materials was it made of etc

I know aircraft are a totally different kettle of fish to trains, but the principles are still the same.

Cheers from NZ

Mike
 
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