Soeeburg recommends not starting on a prize model, so that ruled out the Texas Type.  Instead, I grabbed this heavy plasticized boxcar that I use as a coupler transition car, and started with it.

Here it is with the wheels removed and some tape over the Sergent coupler.

Oh...shiny.

Next up was a light coating of gray (diluted) over the model.

Look at those spots! Ack! I need better mixing and better brush control. Other than that, it really did take the shine down a bit.

I wiped those off, than hit the model with powders. It looked too heavy, until I sprayed it with dull coat. The end result?

Not.....great. The shine is gone, and you can see some gradation of color from the bottom to the top, but it's not as perfect as I'd like.

Still, I'd rather the job was too light at this stage than too heavy. I'll take a look at continuing my efforts with this car in the future.

Surprising how much the simple addition of a light coat of grey brings out the texture and tones it all down. 

What did you use to dilute the gray ?  What make grey paint,  Craft or other ?   I ask because of what looks like puddling of the paint as if the surface tension was too strong.  Looks like strait water was used.  Do we add a drop of detergent to cut the surface tension or use some form of water weeting agent (like a rinsing agent from te dishwasher).

I've tried craftpaints on models but I think I have to prime the plastic first as the crasftpaint is  easy to remove with your finger nail. It does not adhere very well to bare plastic.  Probable not good on gloss paint either

Marc Fournier, Quebec    

Look at those spots! Ack! I need better mixing and better brush control. Other than that, it really did take the shine down a bit.

Did you wash the car first to remove any grease/fingerprints? A good trick is to use distilled water to cut your paint (water based that is).

I like the subtlety of the end result. Doesn't look like it was dragged through a mud puddle :)

I recently bought the same book on a similar recommendation.  I'm assuming you are using the same paints he outlines in the book?  I'm curios to see how you diluted things (he always refers to a "wash" in the pictures but doesn't really give an idea of mixing ratios there) based on the first result...or if the culprit was something else entirely. 

The book's instructions are universal enough and the end results are seem to come from simple, straightforward techniques so I'm hoping you end up with good results...hopefully it means I can replicate it myself.

~rb

Check out Al Mayo on Youtube... he shows the nitty-gritty on how to weather equipment.  Excellent skills, easy to follow and very cheap!

http://www.youtube.com/user/MonsterRailroad

Josh

Marc,

I have a Valajio gray airbrush paint, and while in the past  I've used only distilled water, well, I was out. Mea Culpa, it was tap water. I haven't added dish soap to the mix in the past, as I haven't found it necessary, but I'll have to consider that down the road.

Dustin,

no, I didn't wash the car first. Noted.

Rich,

I used the paints I had on hand (see above), not what he used. I much prefer to work with acrylics for a variety of reasons.

Josh,

I've watched a couple of those videos, but I find them less useful to me than they could be. I would prefer the camera was on the model while he worked on it; Al maybe a handsome fellow, but I need to see how the paint and material goes down. Just seeing the end result makes the  video delivery less than optimum for my purposes.

Thanks for everyone's feedback, I'll keep at it. Current notes to self are

1. make a jig to hold the body

2. completely disassemble car

3. wash parts

4. no tap water.

Scarpia -

For weathering models of wood sided cars, I prefer to use artists pastel pencils. They come in a gazillion shades as well as hardnesses (is that even a word?). What I mean is, that not all out there are acceptable to use (some are too hard, and some are too "sticky"). Personally speaking, I like ones made by Conte', but not only are all Conte' pencils usable (there are many types, or lines of artists pencils made by one mfg.), but there are also many other brands that are good too, I just don't recall the names right now (the pencils are at home, and I'm at work). Anyway, the pencils allow a very precise application to boards and other details like grabs or outside bracing. Shading is also greatly enhanced. I think that airbrush weathering is OK, if you know what you are doing (as in it takes practice, that's all), and you're not just spraying the car in a "Jackson Pollock" style. I used to weather that way almost exculsively, but I got sick and tired of clearning the airbrush! Spay cans are right out, (amature at best), but other than washes (acrylics, oils, etc), I still prefer chalks (real, or powders like Bragdon or AIM) and they are pretty much all I use. The guys over on another forum will tell you that chalks are passe', but they are so easy to use! The key is observation. With old cars, that is virtually impossible (because they are B&W photos) but I find that by just observing how like materials weather, you can get the right look. I'll try to post some examples of my "pencil weathering" in the next few days.

RAH

I like denatured alcohol better than water, but that is a personal preference.  I've tried 70% isopropel alcohol, but found that it tended to "shock" acrylic craft paints.  90% isopropel might work better, but since trying denatured, I haven't tested 90% at all.  I picked up a gallon of denatured alcohol from the Home Depot paint dept. and have enough to thin paint, as well as use to clean the air brush for a lifetime I think.

Ralph, that would be great if you could post up some pictures - and the brand and flavor or your pencils as well.

I've not had a problem thinning paints with distilled water before, but I'll consider the alcohol, thanks for the suggestion.

I think my paint dries more quickly with alcohol used as a solvent than with water.