Good video!

Weathering Pens

I messed around with them and the Floquil markers a little.  The big weakness is they tend to product translucent color, even with a couple of coats.  Use an opaque base color (like something from a cheap spray can) and the markers/pens can add some definition over it without being see-through to the shiny rail underneath.

with a brown Sharpie and the results were disappointing

haha, yeah I've got some old HO  freight cars somewhere around here that I tried sharpie weathering on back when sharpies were first invented.....DaveB

Ditto what Rob said. I

Pens

The reason I did not include a "reason I don't use this or that" is that it would have ate up more video time and who knows, ruffled the feathers of someone who swears by it. 

For me? If I were just painting rail and slapping it down with no consideration for weathering ballast afterwards, maybe I would use them, but since I am dumbing the ballast down too, it makes the rail and ties too dark for my tastes Rail and ties are not the same color and the color that is available in the pens, I just do not prefer

To sum it up, possibly, maybe - if I did not have to consider ballast to be weathered too, then I might use them. I have them, I have used them - but for other things, like .............wheelsets in a hurry. 

Questions

Dear Joey,

Questions:

1 - have had wildly varying experience with different brands of chalk, esp when used with isopropyl alcohol. Appears related to the ammount/type of non-pigment filler/binder in the chalk. "Rembrandt" pure pigment chalks have always worked well for me, Schminke and generic "childrens chalk" simply evaporated when hit with Isopropyl (not enough pigment material, waaaay too much filler/binder). Any specific reccomendations RE chalk?

2 - do you seal the black-chalk "dusting" before laying/ballasting the track? Any traces of wet-water ballasting process washing non-sealed black-chalk away during the ballasting process?

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Hi Prof

Hi Prof, 

1) The particular chalks I have been using (you see the box in the vid) are of that "no name" variety made for the box craft store, so I don't know much about them. They're cheap though and those kinds of things, as you know, are the best to experiment with. I have never run into any chalks that evaporate and I use chalks on almost everything I model. - either way, this is not that sidewalk stuff which you see in those bright or pastel colors, but they may work if you can find some decent colors.

If you look at the videos on both of my channels, you'll see my mini layout and such. All of my wood structures that appear to have paint are actually painted and dusted with chalks. This also works to some extent with plastic (pre-painted flat black) That's for another video, but I stain the wood versions with " ink" or paint the plastic versions and then dry paint with the actual chalk sticks in the color intended. Then I seal with light coat matte paint and then touch up. Same chalks from the craft store. 

2) I do not seal the track before ballasting as the ballast glue mixture (standard white glue/water/soap/alcohol) really does that for me. It will take some down into the ballast which is good and it may water it down a bit.

The big thing that really sets this off is what I mentioned above about dusting the ballast after all is said and done. This not only "weathers" the ballast, but also brings the tone down a bit further on the rails and ties. If on a home layout, I probably wouldn't do any more as it will settle and stay. On a display I am doing that will be shipped or a traveling layout, I would just mist it with a light coat of cheap hairspray, and the only reason I do that is in case a gust of wind comes up - while loading in the trailer or whatever.

Joey 

Nice video!!

Does the sealing (dullcoat or any other type flat spray) diminsh the effect/brightness of the chalks? I did a box car and wanted to sel it so I gave it a quick shot of flat clear. The effects of the chalk almost disappeared.

(dullcoat or any other type flat spray)

in the old days the trick was spraying chalk with a light coat of diosol instead of clear sealer. I don't know if Diosol is still made and if it is it might not be the same formula as it was. You could try spraying with lacquer thinner and see if that would work..DaveB

Especially on plastics

Especially on plastics without the flat paint as a primer, the chalks have nothing to bite. In some cases on wood structures after I "chalk-paint" it, I shoot a coat of a flat clear (matte finish or otherwise named) coat, but I still go back over it with some chalk to touch up here and there.