I don't model the same era but I would sure like to know how to accomplish the faded paint look.  I know I'm dating mysellf but when Athearn came out with the 1200 series blue box Steam Era box cars the color that was used looked like a faded box car red rather than a newly painted car and they were easy to weather.  Now it seems like any of the paints used on steam era or modern cars is way too dark.

Robert

There are a couple of ways to do the fade, depending on how far you want to take it. For a car that's been in service just a couple of years, a light coat of matte clear (Dullcote etc.) is enough to take the shine away. Cutting down the reflectance makes the color look less saturated. For more fade, add a drop of SP Lettering Light Gray or a similar color to every 10-15 drops of clear matte.

If you don't want to use paint, chalk pastels like Pan Pastels are great. Use a color slightly lighter than the original color of the car. Lightly brush the car and then work it in with the end of a soft round brush.

Michael Gross explains this technique in his January 2017 article at http://mrhpub.com/2017-01-jan/download/83.MRH17-01-Jan2017-P.pdf

He also shares great tips on highlighting using colored pencils.

If you can access them, this is a wonderful easy method for fades. I have used it with several colors to match the rolling stock.

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/24481?page=1

Hi Robert,

The Fade on this Atlas Boxcar was done in two very different stages , and this method could easily be used for any thing you want to fade including steam Locos, choosing the correct colors to fade with will be the only tricky bit, some experimenting , trial and error will usually find the fade color you need.

fade 1 , The primary fade was done using oil paints, luckily I took a few progress pics of the oil paint stage

This first pic is the new Atlas boxcar with the factory finish, the brown is matt finish and the white lettering has a gloss finish, this combo is perfect for oil paint fades as the fade color that will end up on the lettering will easily be removed with a toothpick, and the slow drying time of the oil paint gives you ample time to work the fade on and remove the fade from the lettering, heralds etc. the colors I used to fade the brown was a pale  flesh / beige color, you can see the colors at the bottom of the photo

apply the oil paint sparingly and spread it all over the side of the car

I apply the oil paint with a "wet" brush,   then spread it around and work it until I have a more uniform fade using a larger  "dry"  brush

Once the car has the fade color evenly spread all over the side, I then continue with a dry brush removing and spreading the fade color around using a dry brush, wiping it clean often on a lint free cloth

Below is the finished primary fade

Unfortunately I didn't take any more progress photos to show, the next stages but I will explain as best I can

I let the oil paint fade dry for five plus days, then sealed it with Dulcoate, the next step was to mask up and airbrush the patches.

Now comes the secondary fades

for this I used Gary Christensen's Transition method using acrylic paints , there is many different fade colors used in this stage, I used very pale tan for some of the areas, and also some terracotta colors in other areas, then for the streaks I used combos of dark and light grey, tans, black and light browns, then more light fades over whole panels and a slightly darker grime fade over the doors, drying each layer with a hairdryer

the transition method uses many layers of thinned out acrylic paint, the first step of this method is to get the correct hue of color, next is to thin it out on your pallet to the correct consistency, next is to load your brush with just the right amount, less is best to start with, usually this is done by picking up the paint with the brush the wipe the majority off on blotting paper or cloth, next step is the application, in which practice guide you

The acrylic paints I used are the Italeri brand,

This method can be a bit tedious but the results can be very realistic and as it was all done with a brush there is no uniformity to it

I hope this helps

happy weathering

Terence Boardman

The weeds, ballast and dirt look perfect!

I loved them all, especially the ones of the boxcars and the spare wheel sets coated in rust. They could pass for a 1:1 scale subject.

Another great section, as it's the one I usually look at first.

You can never have too much detail or too many trees on a layout.

Thanks, Terrence.  I've tried to a do a similar fade with acrylics but I think the fact that they dry so quickly results in a streaked appearance as opposed to the almost airbrushed fade you have achieved with the oils.  Also acrylics seem to dry darker whereas your fade with oils appears lighter upon drying.

I can't believe how dark the car started before the fade and how the lettering still looks crisp after the fade.

I think I need to buy some oil paints.

Robert

"as opposed to the almost airbrushed fade you have achieved with the oils."

 and if you do have an airbrush you can get a fade in 10 minutes instead of waiting for oil paint to dry for a week :>) .....DaveB