Weathered Wood

Weathering the wood seems like a perfect opportunity to use watercolor pencils as described in a previous MRH.  You can represent peeling and/or aged paint much more easily than with an airbrush or bristle brush.

Here is a good start...

Kevin has this great how to PDF on his website for weathering rolling stock, good place to start and it's free!

http://wnrr.net/WeatheringTips2.pdf

Jas...

Weathering wood

I use colored pencils to weather wood sided cars.  Light pencil marks are applied in colors close to the base color plus whites and lighter greys for fading, darker greys or browns for peeling paint.  A range of very subtle colors looks better than a heavy application of one color.

Having said that, it depends on your era.  If your era is about the time that paint scheme was being applied to those cars , then the paint would be brand new and the car would be minimally weathered.  If your era is 20 years after those cars were painted that way the car would be heavily weathered.  So if that paint scheme was being applied in the late 1950's and you model the late 1950's then that car would be really yellow.   If the car was painted in the 1950's and you model the 1980's then that car would be heavily weathered (if not scrapped).

Yellow

Its not a boxcar, but it is wood and it is yellow....

Thanks Jason for the link and

Thanks Jason for the link and to Kevin for sharing his talents and know-how.

What a great link! Thank you

What a great link! Thank you Kevin for a great instructional piece!!

Gary

Nice photo

Thanks for the photo, Dustin.  It's nice to see how that paint scheme weathered over time.  Now I know I need to fade the yellow overall as well.  Any idea when that photo was taken?

Caboose

I found that picture on the M-K-T Historical Society Website.  The picture was taken April 1965.....

Here we go..

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm starting a blog on weathering this car.

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/weathering-a-katy-boxcar-12189651

Weathering by era?

Isn't it true that cars weathered differently in the eras before and after the removal of lead from paint? Didn't cars covered with lead-based paint stand up much better over the years with less fading and much less rust-through than their more modern brothers? Of course, I'm not a real authority on the subject...

Charlie

Lead in Paint

I don't so much know about rail cars but I do know that lead in paint did increase its corrosion inhibiting qualities. Recall from years ago "red lead primer"? Lead acts as a sacrificial metal in paint. Moisture entering the paint film reacts with the lead instead of continuing through the coating to the base metal and causing corrosion.

Additionally, lead was added to paint to increase its hiding power. Leaded paints had vastly better hiding characteristics than non-leaded equivalents. This is especially evident in yellows and, to a slightly lesser extent, reds and browns. That is how leaded paint came to be used in house paints. Reds, yellows, and browns are commonly added to white to produce shades of white for interior and exterior walls. Even a very small amount of leaded red/yellow/brown added to white base will dramatically increase its hiding power. Hiding was the benefit, not corrosion inhibition, for house paints. The fact that the paint kept nail heads from rusting under the paint was a nice side benefit.

Re: Weathering by Era

Charlie;

You are absolutely right. In the leaded paint era the painted finish was able to stand up much better to the UV attack and the acidity of the rain. Keeping in mind that rain is quite acidic and once dried and wet again becomes more acidic with each fall on a painted surface.

In lead based paint the attack does not cause as much of a problem as it does with the modern paints. In addition the colours also maintained their hue longer.

Modern paints in micro cross section look very much like a sponge. With the UV and acid attacking the painted surface the sponge part begins to break down much more quickly as acid eats into the underlying structure. This rate of failure increases more rapidly with further wettings of rain. Eventually you get the leaching of colours that you often see on modern railcars, and locos (that whitish bloom) as the surface begins to fail and the underlying surface gets attacked you find that the paint begins to flake away.

Sorry if I rambled on a little there, but the science and art of weathering is one of the most enjoyable part of this hobby.

All the best.

weathering a yellow boxcar

I go to Google Images to find photos I can use as a resource when painting and weathering models.   I found a photo and a link to an article about weathering a yellow refrigerator.

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=9975&

Weathering a Box Car

DK'

One thing you have to consider here is exposure to the elements. UV rays of the sun have the same effect regardless of the paint type. The longer the paint sits exposed to the beating rays of the sun the more faded the paint will get.

The fact that the paint is on wood changes things a little. Paint on wood fades the same way but there is a lack of rust due to chips or cracks in the paint. What will happen is that along with the fading there will be a buildup of road grime.

If I was weathering that yellow car I would first apply a thin 50/50 mix of Testors Dulcoat and lacquer thinner with an airbrush. Then I would fade the paint by applying few coats of white/gray wash of acrylic paint, about 5% paint to 95% thinner applied with an airbrush. I choose this mixture because I don't want to over do the application. I use Tamiya paint because I can thin them with alcohol. After the first coat has had a chance to dry you have to decide if another coat is required. Remember it is easy to apply more but if you apply too much there is no going back. So after you have toned down the base colour so that it looks faded and your happy with the results it's time to add the grime. But before the grime add another coat of Dulcoat.

I use a mixture of Water Mixable Oils from Windsor Newton mixed with mineral spirits to make the grimy wash. I mix a Burnt Umber and White or Gray with mineral spirits to a nice soupy mix. I then apply it with a large brush and then use a make-up sponge to remove it. Apply the wash and dab the area with the sponge dabbing the sponge on a paper towel between dabs to remove excess. You may have to repeat this once maybe twice to get the Grimmy look you are happy with. You may even want to go over the car lettering to make it look even more faded. Let that dry about 24 hrs and then apply another coat of Dulcoat.

The next step I use a fine brush and AIM powders to add some fine detailed weathering in the crevasses to areas that would have added dirt and grime and the finish with a coat of Dulcoat.

I'm posting some cars I've done but unfortunately they are not wooden cars but a lot of the method is the same.

I hope this helps.

Ralph (CN6401)

Weathering a Box Car

If anyone is interested here's a link the the Railroad Line forum where I posted a bunch of my work that I had on display at the Ottawa Train Expo.

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=36717&whichpage=5

I gave a clinic at the OTExpo last year.

Ralph