UP 3149

Pin Wash?

Joe, awesome job!

What's a pin wash? Can you explain this and point out the effect in a photo?

Pin wash

Hi Bill - I had to ask Kevin about that when he suggested it, so I should have explained further here.  Here's Kevin's Sept. 10 reply to me:

"Basically a pin wash is a very focused wash (hence the name 'pin', meaning small) just around the body and door seams.  I use a very small brush and very diluted oil paint, and will introduce the paint into the seams.  The paint will run into the seams via capillary action."

You can see the effect in the long hood door edges and latches in the first and third pics above, as well as around the access doors and latches at the bottom of the nose in the second shot.

Nice job Joe

looks like you captured the effect very well.   

Thanks Loren!

Thanks very much Loren.  It was a lot of fun, and not nearly as hard as I initially made it in my head.

Great work

Joe,

Your weathering looks awesome. Very well done.

Great job

I have to say how impressed I am with the paint job you did on that model.  You really captured the peeling paint of the prototype.  Well done.

Excellent Job!

Hey Joe,

Very well done and realistic.  Good to see such great results on the first go around.

-Neil

Looking very nice indeed.

Looking very nice indeed.

Color transition

That really is superb. Any chance you could link the video post for the color transition technique that you mentioned in the first post?

Thanks Rick

Thank you Rick!  Kevin's video is below.

Success!

Joe - That's not an easy effect to pull off, but it looks like you did!  The colors look good as does the pattern.  I'm a huge fan of doing pin washes....it's one of those steps during weathering where the model really starts to look more like the prototype.  Especially on lighter-colored locomotive like you said.  That and the filter washes are some of my favorite techniques.  They really tie everything together and help the weathering to look believable.

Our little email exchange was refreshing.  The discussion we had about different ways to attempt this particular effect covered a lot of ground.  Lots of different ways to tackle a beast like this, but I think the way you settled on was the best.  

Great work Joe.  I think your efforts here are convincing and well done.

-Kevin

Great stuff

Nice work on the SD40-2, and thanks for Kevin's video, always good to have a bunch of techniques to weather with. 

Marc Simpson

I Like It

That's an effect that's seldom pulled off well, but it looks like you succeeded.

Thanks for the link

I watched the video and it was excellent. What I am particularly interested in, the peeling paint effect, wasn't covered in the video and I'm sure many of us would really appreciate some elaboration on how you achieved your very believable results.

Pin wash, and peel

Thank you all for your very kind words!

Kevin, have you ever done a pin wash on a black locomotive, perhaps with a lighter-colored grime?  I'm wondering if it would add anything to my IAIS units.

Thank you Rick.  I started by removing all the factory lettering from the IM model, then used Pan Pastel grays to tone down the Armour Yellow.  For the faded portion, I first lightly drew the outline of the major patterns on the model with a fine-tip lead pencil.  Mixed up the craft acrylics as mentioned earlier, and started applying them with a very fine artists brush.  It took 3-4 passes for good even coverage.  Once done, I cleaned up some of the edges with a toothpick (sharp and blunted points), applied the Future, followed by decals and MicroSol, then did the pin wash to highlight the door latches, edges, etc.  Once done, I Dullcoted, then did a final pass with Pan Pastels.

I think the hardest part of the whole process was getting the right consistency of the craft paints on the model.  I eventually found that it was easiest to dip the brush in water first, then pick up the paint in the tip.  Doing the paint first, then dipping in water, seemed to dilute the paint far too much, leaving watery pools on the model.

Another thumbs up!

I was actually watching a Youtube clip of a UPY GP15-1 in very similar condition, now I'm really tempted ! I'm a big fan of using oils,one thing I do when using the dry brush technique is to put the paint on a piece of card as a palette. This draws out the excess oil making it much easier to get the brush "dry". All I want now is a GP15.

Pin wash with lighter colors

Joe - I have not done a pin wash with lighter colors on a darker model.  Many of my models have dark colors (green and black with BNSF units) and I still do my normal pin wash of dark grime.  It doesn't always show up on the darker colors, but more often than not it does.  Why? On most of my projects the darkest color has been lightened slightly with fading and color transition fades to some extent.  It all depends on the prototype....even some of the newer units have collected enough dust and some fading to be noticeable.

Speaking of prototypes, I would be hesitant to use a lighter color on dark locomotive unless the prototype had it.  I'm one who really tries to follow the proto as closely as I can, because I know that if I follow it then my model is correct.  I worry that a lighter color pin wash will look slightly unrealistic in most circumstances, akin to the dry-brushing that some do to highlight details.  I don't use the drybrushing highlighting technique myself, because again the prototypes I work from don't exhibit that type of weathering.

If you can find some proto shots of lighter colored grime or dust getting in the seams/cracks on some IAIS locos I'd say go for it.  Otherwise I'd stick with the darker grime pin wash.  You'll be surprised how much difference it will make on those IAIS units you already have completed.  You may not notice a difference on the black, but you'll definitely notice a difference on the yellow and red.  I suggest you try it and see!

-Kevin

Pin wash

Good point about the pin wash being visible on the red and yellow Kevin.  To be clear, when I asked about doing it with a lighter grime shade, I was thinking of something just barely lighter than the black.  Totally agree with your point about letting the prototype be my guide regardless.

I have to admit, I chickened out before trying filter washes, as I just didn't feel comfortable enough with them to risk experimenting on this unit.  I thought that Pan Pastels as a final weathering step might serve a similar purpose, but didn't care for the way the light and medium grays I used tended to wash out the pin washes a bit.

Scenery

Joe, outstanding job on the SD40-2. Wish I could use one, but I'm "stuck" with SD40s - I'm a CGW-ICRR guy modeling 1956-66 in northeast Iowa.

Have you written about your scenery techniques? If so, please point me to locations where I can find your writings. Your scenery is superb, a fitting backdrop for that -2.

Brian Chapman / Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Scenery

Thanks very much for your encouragement Brian.  

I think that seems like a fun era, partly because I like SD40s. I wouldn't mind being "stuck" with 1966 or so myself!  I've thought at various times about backdating if I ever have to start over, and one option would be modeling the Q at about that time.

My scenery techniques have been kind of scattered all over my blog as I've learned and applied them, but I think you'll find a few things in the following entries:

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/the-iowa-interstates-west-end-12191069 (and subsequent pages)

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/iaiss-west-end-is-this-heaven-12197724

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/iaiss-west-end-action-at-walnut-creek-12198480

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/iaiss-west-end-cant-see-the-forest-for-the-12198556

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/iaiss-west-end-indian-creek-finally-done-12200112

Thanks Joe

For posting this thread for several reasons.  I want to model UP SD40 #3121 as that was my serial number as a police officer. Recently I found out at UtahRails.NET that 3121 was scrapped. So between your examples and some photos I can model that particular locomotive fairly easily.

Thanks

Bruce

Fanstastic

Great job Joe!  Looks great.

Thank you

Thank you both very much!

Bruce, I'm not sure what timeframe you had in mind for modeling the 3149, but given your user name and signature, this "ratty paint" version may not be for you.  There are a couple earlier photos of it from the early- to mid-1970s on RRpicturearchives that might be more appropriate for your use.