Weathering Single Sheathed Rolling Stock

[SAH]

I've always had a hard time getting the weathering right for single sheathed rolling stock, to my eye anyway.  I took a different approach this time by adding dark streaks with a Prismacolor 90% cool gray pencil and then, on this car color, lightly rubbing on a Burnt Ochre pencil.  For the B end view I picked random boards to highlight with the gray.  For the A end view I lightly dragged the gray pencil over all the boards, varying the pressure as I went.  Then followed up with the Burnt Ochre.  The pencil treatment came after the wash and airbrush steps but before the final chalk blend.

Which side do you folks like better?  Are there alternative techniques you might suggest?  Thanks for your thoughts.

Steve

[bbussey]

They both look good.  But I like the second photo better because the weathering is slightly more subtle.

[Missaberoad]

I like both techniques. Both are subtle, and mixing the two will provide variation within the fleet.

The older the car the more drastic the variation between boards will be. You could selectively hi light boards with wood grain or have some newly replaced boards. Studying prototype photos will provide lots of food for thought...

Very inspiring!

[wazzou]

I think one of the most believable techniques is to have variation in metal surfaces verses wood surfaces.
In my minds eye, it draws the attention to the single sheathed siding, or the canvas.
If the car had steel ends, roof, door and door tracks, those parts would age differently than the same color painted wood.

[SAH]

I too like the A end view for the same reasons Bryan B noted.  For the B end I tried to duplicate the effect shown in a photo of a late Mather AC&Y lease car, highlighting some boards but leaving others untouched.  It looked "splotchy", for lack of a better description.  Obviously all the boards are weathered to one degree or another but the wash and chalk treatment was not bringing that home.  Touching all the boards with the gray pencil and varying the color left behind was an improvement to my eye.  I used the burnt ochre selectively on some boards but not others, thinking the gray would stand out better on those not colored again.  It seemed to work somewhat.

I tend not to turn weathering into an art form.  Not enough time or interest.  But I do study prototype photos and try to to figure a technique I can do quickly.  A well weathered single sheathed box car holds a lot of inspiration for the artist.

Upon NP Bryan's comment I went back to look at the aforementioned AC&Y car.  The paint stuck to the metal better than the wood.  I guess that should not come as a surprise.  The metal ends are very dirty and the steel frame parts catch the dirt.  The steel door seems lighter than the body.  Flat surfaces that are washed by rain I guess.  My frame parts did not catch the dirt well.  Another opportunity for the next go around.

After thinking about it I mixed up the order of the weathering process.  It was light gray wash, black wash, pencils, black wash again, airbrush and chalk.  A heavier black wash might have helped.

The AC&Y was a big Mather lessor.  Sure would like to see a model in N because those U and Z channels would be tough to duplicate as a scratch project.

Thanks for your comments guys.