Weathering
I am working on weathering some of my wooden boxcars. I model in the 1940's, so almost all of my cars are made of wood, (simulated wood actually), but some are made of strip wood, which makes weathering a little easier.
I have been following Gary Christensen's videos on Trainmasters TV, and although they weather metal sided cars, I have been experimenting with his techniques.
The thing that I have noticed is that wooden cars weather differently than metal cars. Metal cars rust and dent, where the boards on wooden cars weather individually. The paint on one board may peel, fade and stain differently than the board right next to it.
I first dull coated my boxcar, and when dry (I used a hair dryer) I applied three thin applications of washes to fade the paint. This was followed by a second layer of dull coat.
Next I used weathering powders, mostly in the brown family to simulate grime and dirt.
To simulate the weathering of individual boards I used Derwent Watercolour artists pencils. I soften the pencil lead by soaking the tip in Windex. I then try to draw a straight line on an individual board, starting from the bottom up. I then use a slightly different color on the next board. Mixing and matching as I go along. I will skip a few boards here and there.
I will attach a picture of a completed boxcar next to a freshly painted car. Yes, I still need to weather the wheels.
Is anyone else weathering wooden cars??
--Bill B.
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Looks Great!
I think your weathering job on the wood boxcar looks great! Very well done. I have a lot of wood cars to weather as well. Did you use acrylic or oil washes?
Now how about those shiny wheels?
Chris Ellis
http://adenarailroad.blogspot.com/
acrylic or oil washes?
@Chris Ellis
Hi Chris, in response to your questions about acrylic or oil, I used acrylic washes, the cheap $1.00 craft store paints. I tried to match the boxcar color as close as I could, but I also added a little brown and mixed in water until it was very thin. Kind of following what Gary Christensen did in his video.
Where I differ from Gary is weathering individual boards with the water color pencils.
Yes, I need to grime up those shiny wheels
--Bill B.
p.s. Very nice website Chris.
@Bill B.
Very nice weathering efforts on a wooden boxcar. It is interesting to me to see that you gave my methods consideration for this project along with colored pencils for each panel.
Nice work Bill.
Gary Christensen
www.theweatheringshop.com http://www.theweatheringshop.com/gary.html
Thanks Gary
@Gary Christensen
Thanks Gary, I enjoyed watching your videos, though I would give it a try.
But wooden sided cars weather differently than metal sided cars. How would you weather a wooden boxcar? Would you do anything different than I did?
Attached is a picture I took in Chama New Mexico of an old wooden boxcar. This is where I draw my inspiration. You can see that individual boards weather differently.
--Bill B.
@ Bill....
If it were a model that I was undertaking, I would do like you have a follow your prototype picture as close as possible. I would try to exaggerate each board by dropping some type of darker medium (black pigment wash of some sort) that would settle in between each vertical plank. This would ultimately add depth to the car and bring about a dimension that might render it closer to your prototype. Coloring each board individually (as you have done) also creates the desired illusion of a true wooden freight car.
I must surrender you props on the simple fact that weathering wood can be a tough bone to chew and you pulled it off with relative success. I have yet to traverse this path. I do have an old Red Caboose SP sugar beet gon that screams for attention. It has never really hovered near the top of my "to do" list. Perhaps someday?
Again...accolades on a job well done Bill.
Gary Christensen
www.theweatheringshop.com http://www.theweatheringshop.com/gary.html