Weathering Book

 

mig Ammo (the paint and related supplies company) published a series of books related to the various techniques and skills needed to build and finish military models. Number 4 in the series (Encyclopedia of Aircraft modelling techniques) is "Weathering." Yes, I am aware that aircraft, armor, etc., aged and deteriorated in different ways than railroad equipment. However, the general techniques, materials, and tools presented in this book are excellent and would be a valuable reference to anyone seeking to learn about weathering or enhance their existing skills. In particular it covers techniques like chipping and using tools like watercolor pencils; my skills for both could stand improvement!  I cannot wait to try out some of the materials and techniques and will present the results on this blog. Military modelers always seem to be ahead of the curve on their skills, materials, and tools, although when the model is the only and end result, it makes the building and finishing paramount. If you can't hide the work among a sea of cars, structures, and scenery on a layout, close inspection is the only way to view it, revealing all flaws (and features too!)

I purchased my copy on ebay, although I noted that there are copies to be found there as well as from online hobby sellers that cater to the military modeling community. A good addition to the library

Roof Paint Failure

 

crop of "general view of part of Galewood Yard, Chicago, Ill.," [Milwaukee Road,] April, 1943, Jack Delano photo, FSA-OWI Collection, Library of Congress, Call number LC-USW36-619

Roof paint failure (peeling, flaking paint on galvanized roof sheets) is one of those parts of freight car weathering that has taken off in recent years. For my purposes (and those of this blog) I am referring to this phenomenon as it occurred to roofs on freight cars of the 'teens through the 50s, realizing that the effects of weather, etc. on more modern cars is a different subject in many ways. The first thing that I want to emphasize very strongly is that I have looked at lots and lots of period photos where roofs are visible and can report one important fact: paint failure was not universal and, in fact, was not terribly common. Granted, in a yard shot, you can discern the effect on one or two cars out of scores of cars, but it is not evident on every car or even anything approaching a majority. So, if the subject of weathering already causes you angst, I suggest you move along to other facets of weathering and lose no sleep. What am I looking to accomplish in this post is to share some examples of what the prototype effect looked like to aid your efforts, should you choose to model this effect. I recently tried one method that I covered in the final installment on my model of the New Haven 1937 AAR box car.

John Golden has done some incredible work in this area using the "salt" technique, and it is really the standard to which I am working, albeit while stumbling through. many techniques and growing pains along the path. You can read John's excellent blog via this link. He also shared his paint failure techniques here (link.) Charlie Duckworth has also produced some quite credible results. His work can be found on the Steam Era Freight Car list at groups.io or on facebook. Military modelers use various chipping and masking techniques (using hair spray and rubber cement among other things) to represent paint removal by scuffing and wear, although many of the same principles translate to roof paint failure. Good luck!

Utah Rails web site

This image shows some subtle effects on a Rio Grande 12-panel box car. To me, it is a good illustration of what I want to achieve on a few cars... the presence of paint failure, but not a completely degraded surface

Buffalo, New York, NYCSHS Collection, courtesy of Joe Collias

This re-roofed New York Central USRA-design box car demonstrates that some times a small amount of failure is all that is needed when weathering

cropped from Neg no. 45882, Spencer, North Carolina, Standard Oil of New Jersey, Ekstrom Library, University of Louisville

The roof on this SP single sheathed car from the B-50-13 & -14 family displays a nice mix of failure and weathering that would be a good prototype to emulate

cropped from Neg no. 50862, Newark, New Jersey, Standard Oil of New Jersey, Ekstrom Library, University of Louisville

While this image is a very tiny snippet (it was all that was included in the overall yard shot,) it does provide a good look at the shape of paint failure in the center of a roof panel

Missouri Pacific freight house, St. Louis, May, 1946, Joe Collias Collection

This is an extreme example, an it's on a more vintage 36-foot double sheathed Boston & Albany car. Note the variety as some panels show very little failure and others are 75-80% devoid of paint

Columbus, Georgia, crop of image no. CG-2590, Central of Georgia Railway Historical Society

I like this image as it's another that illustrates how eve na small amount of paint failure can be quite realistic

Los Angeles, Morris Abowitz

Color images are always a great tool for weathering. Again, note the randomness of the failure on some panels, but not others on these two roofs

crop if image from Kheel Center for Labor Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University

This image is the one I will use to guide my efforts when I build my Resin Car Works kit of this prototype. I will continue to share my efforts here so stay tuned (you can receive updates by following this blog by adding your email address using the box at the top of the page)

Some context for weathering of freight cars

 

Illinois Central R.R., freight cars at the South Water Street freight terminal, Chicago, Ill. The C & O and Nickel Plate Railroads lease part of this terminal from the I.C.R.R. April, 1943, Jack Delano, Call number LC-USW36-605, Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information, Library of Congress

The other day, I was looking for images that I had of Erie 1932 ARA-design box cars and this one came up as part of my search. I think most of us have seen this and many of the other incredible images like them. The Jack Delano color images from the World War II era effortlessly suck me into the nuances, textures, and details of the various parts of the photos. What I realized is that my weathering and finishing efforts, in spite of my attempts to diversify my techniques of late, are still not quite up to the look of the prototype. After looking at these photos, I conclude that I can do a better job of creating variances across the surfaces of my models, both in terms of color and texture. I will be working to expand my quiver of skills and will share some of my successes and failures here. 

[note that the cars displayed in this small montage are weathered quite a bit more heavily than you might see 5-10 years later, due to the continued shift from steam to diesel power and with that a decrease in the amount of dirty gunk belched from locomotives as well as more frequent maintenance and repainting of cars in the postwar era.]

Flat Car Deck Weathering

I was looking at a few of my flat car models recently and found some of the decks to be rather vanilla or monotonous looking, like the one shown above. I decided to try an experiment on a couple to see what I could do to improve things. I took the SP F-70-7 shown above as well as an I-GN 50-ton AAR flat car that I finished a few years back, based upon the stunning Pittsburgh Scale Models kit. 

Using artists' oils thinned with mineral spirits, I highlighted individual boards in various shades of greys, yellows and reddish-oranges (grey, umber, sienna, ochre, etc.) on both decks. Yes, they look starkly different at the point of these photos. The I-GN deck is illustrated above, while the SP is shown directly below. They are laser cut wood and styrene, respectively.

After applying the oils, I sealed those with a coat of Tamiya XF-86 clear flat, thinned and airbrushed. I then blended these various boards through application of PanPastel Raw Umber, Orange Shade, Yellow Ochre, and Yellow Ochre Shade followed by Bragdon's Grimy Grey. Everything was again sealed with the Tamiya clear flat coat.

I think the final results look suitably variable without too much differentiation. I also think that the photos do not convey the overall feel as well I would have liked.

Scratch Brushes

Scratch brushes: brass, at top, with "bristles" extended and fiberglass, at bottom, with "bristles" retracted

Almost two months ago, I was reading John Golden's blog, Railroad Prototype Modeler, and came across the post, "New York Central ARA Hoppers." Like most of John's posts, it was an entertaining and worthwhile read. However, the thing that caught my attention most was a reference a little over halfway through the post to a "fiberglass scraper tool" that John had recently purchased. I filed that information away and made a mental note to check the local art supply stores when I had occasion to visit them. I discovered that none of my local stores (or any art stores) stock them. 

They are designed to remove buildup of oxidation (and crud) from jewelry. Their proper name is a scratch brush. I ended up ordering one each of the fiberglass and brass variants from Amazon (I am actually an Amazon Prime member to get their data storage, but loathe giving money to the overlords Amazon, so I must have really wanted these tools...) 

In addition to fiberglass and brass, steel "bristles" are another option. Replacement bristles can be ordered as needed. These tools are about the size and shape of pens. By turning the top of the handle, one can extend or retract the bristles. The shorter the bristles, the more roughly they "score" the surface. After about two strokes across a styrene flat car deck, I realized these are amazing tools for weathering. I cannot recommend them highly enough. I will provide a separate post that highlights some of their capabilities. Until then, buy some of your own and use them liberally.

Pennsylvania Railroad FM Flat Car Modeling - Part 2

Left side of the finished model. Note the reweigh and repack stencils

Picking up from Part 1 of modeling the PRR FM flat car…

The previous installment showed the model after it had been primed. Prior to priming, I blasted the grab irons, towing loops, brake rods, brake staff and hand wheel, Carmer cut levers, truck sideframes, wheelsets, and any other metal or engineering plastic surfaces I am forgetting to list here. I washed the model with liquid dish soap and a soft toothbrush, followed by a thorough rinsing and air drying.

I airbrushed the model using Tru-Color Rust to represent PRR’s distinctive orange-red oxide freight car paint. All surfaces were sprayed this color, except for the deck. I airbrushed the deck with Tamiya’s XF-59 Desert Yellow, a good base “wood” color to serve as the foundation for my weathering efforts.

After decaling and adding a flat coat, several areas were masked prior to weathering (see text for description)

Tru-Color paints dry to a glossy finish conducive to decaling. I lettered the model using Speedwitch set D175 for PRR FM flat cars and DD1-A containers. Walters Solvaset was applied to help the decals conform to surface details. The decals were sealed with a coat of Future floor wax/polish followed by an application of Tamiya XF-86 clear flat.

Before weathering the model, I applied small pieces of masking tape to the places where I would add reweigh, repack, and brake test stencils. This served to keep those areas “clean” when the rest of the model was weathered.

Both sides of the car after the first "coat" of weathering with PanPastels Extra Dark Payne's Grey, which was sealed with clear flat coat, followed by the addition of load limit, light weight, and reweigh location and date stencils, as well as chalkmarks, followed by an another coat of clear flat

I began weathering the car with PanPastel Payne's Grey Extra Dark (840.1) powder, sealed with the Tamiya clear flat. I like that the Payne's Grey is blackish with a noticeable blue tint. I then removed the masking tape covering the reweigh location and date, load limit, and light weight (re)stencils. With a brush, I applied a small amount of Future over the clean reweigh paint patches, as well as in a few locations on the car side. I added the reweigh, date, load limit, and light weight updated stencils as well as a few chalkmarks in places where I had added Future. These were then sealed with Tamiya clear flat.

The right side of the car after the second "coat" of weathering (PanPastel Raw Umber), another coat of clear flat, and removal of the masking tape from the brake test and repack locations (these are the two "clean" rectangles)

I added a second round of weathering using PanPastel Raw Umber Shade (780.3) powder, which is basically brown. I sealed that with Tamiya clear flat. I removed the masking tape from the repack and brake test locations and with a brush, added Future to those clean paint patches, as well as to a few locations for chalkmarks. I applied the appropriate decals and once again, sealed everything with the Tamiya clear flat. I brushed on one more light application of PanPastel powder, followed by Tamiya clear flat. I created one more “splotch” of Future and one additional clean chalkmark decal. Everything was sealed with Tamiya clear flat.

On the trucks, I highlighted the springs and journal box lids with a brown colored pencil. On both the sideframes and wheelsets, I used Bragdon's black weathering powder. It is more dense in coverage than the PanPastel offerings. This is perfect since I want the trucks to appear more weathered than the car body.

The "unweathered" deck, painted Tamiya Desert Yellow over the primer coat

One note that I neglected to mention in the first post of this project: I notched and trimmed the edges of several boards to create a more random appearance. I weathered the deck in progressive steps. First, I ran a stiff wire brush across the boards, using strokes parallel to the boards. This “mixed” the Desert Yellow and gray undercoat. It also created a glossy finish. To eliminate that, a coat of Tamiya clear flat was applied, coordinated with one of the clear flat applications to the car body.

The deck after using a stiff wire brush

I switched to oil paints and applied streaks of varying intensities to boards to create a random appearance. I used White, Payne's Grey, and Raw Umber. Any areas that looked too stark were okay, as the boards would be blended further with powders. I used mineral spirits to thin the oils. Streaks were applied parallel to the deck boards. The oils were sealed with the trusty Tamiya clear flat.

Artists oils were used to create some streaks of varying strength/intensity

Finally, I applied powders to blend the oils somewhat, PanPastel Extra Dark Payne's Grey followed by Raw Umber. Another flat coat was applied to complete this step.

Right side of the finished model. Like the photo at the top of this post, note the reweigh and repack stencils, but also the brake test stencils.

At this point, I affixed the deck to the car body with Goo diluted 50/50 with MEK to tack it in place. I applied ACC in key places from the underside to secure the deck. 

The finished model with the deck visible, as well. 

I added the ratchet and pawl and hand brake to the deck (note that on the prototype [see photo] there was a U-shaped strap mounted to the end sill that served as a "pivot point" for the hand brake shaft; this U-shaped part was not modeled). These parts were “pre-weathered” before addition to the car. Lastly, I brushed on a very dilute wash of Tamiya flat black paint, applied with a brush, as a final weathering step.

I have found an interesting load for this rather light, but attractive model. More details to follow. Stay tuned for a build of the Sunshine Models B&O P11 version of this car, too.