Best Of Fading fast...

[GaryHinshaw]

Thats neat that you used decals, I have never considered doing that one mine.

Hmm, I thought in HO these items were already painted...  If not I would guess the absence stands out even more.  Give this a try! 

[James Costello]

James:

Bragdon powders can be ordered direct from Bragdon Enterprises.  I found at least one reference on the web to a fellow (bloke?) in Australia who ordered them direct, so they will ship abroad.  They offer a number of sets and individual colors.  The ones I use most often are Weathered Brown, Dust Bowl Brown, Dark Rust, and Soot.

The active ingredient in the cheap windshield washer fluid is (poisonous) methyl alcohol.   If this is not available to you, you can make a home brew from isopropyl alcohol (though I vaguely recall hearing that isopropyl is also not available in Au?).  The main trait of these solvents is good flow properties, so it's worth some effort to come up with something equivalent.
Best,
Gary

Bringing back an old, but great topic of Gary's (hopefully he has some more photos to show us  )....

I've now got my hands on some Bragdon powders - they do export to Oz.

I've been struggling to pick up an equivalent WW fluid, though on the weekend I picked up a version that (a) listed the ingredients and (b) contained Diethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether (112-34-5) and Isopropopyl Alcohol (67-63-0) that I am hoping will do the same job as Methyl Alcohol (which seems nearly impossible to find here). It does seem that this version is more popular now - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windshield_washer_fluid but I don't know if it will have the same flow properties that we are looking for.... Has anyone tried an ethanol version of WW in this application as a thinner?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycol_ethers
I've tested a small sample of it on a painted model and it doesn't seem to have effected the paint like IPA does

Gary, with your grime washes, are you spraying them or using a brush?

[GaryHinshaw]

Hi James.  I have not tried that form of fluid but as long as it doesn't attack or cloud the paint, you should be good to go.   You also need to make sure that the surface you're applying the wash to is dead flat (i.e. matte), otherwise you'll still have some puddling.  (This was emphasized in Rich Yourstone's original weathering article in NSR.  I claim no credit for this wash recipe.)

By way of clarification, when I spray the initial fade coat with the flat finish + zinc white (and sometimes yellow or orange) it is fine to thin with either water or WW fluid.  Either form of thinned fade sprays fine (but use lots of light coats, not a few heavy ones).  When I apply the grime wash in the next step I use a brush with generally top-down vertical strokes.  The exception to this is a heavier wash of under-carriage grime on something like a hopper or tanker, which I spray on.

HTH,
gfh

P.S. I do have a few more examples in the works.  

[James Costello]

Thanks Gary - will be giving it a go today.

[jbaakko]

Thats neat that you used decals, I have never considered doing that one mine.

Hmm, I thought in HO these items were already painted...  If not I would guess the absence stands out even more.  Give this a try! 

Only when you buy the expensive containers, if you buy the cheap ones (under $3 each) they're pretty plain.

[GaryHinshaw]

Here's another BN test which prompted me to try a variant of the fade recipe.  This time I wanted to go for a relatively worn woodchip gon that shows some of the yellowing that is so typical of old BN cars, such as:

http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=52976

First I tweaked the fade spray by cutting back on the Microscale Flat and upping the Polly Scale dust (which gives a good flat finish itself) and then added roughly equal dallops of zinc white and transparent oxide yellow.  I sprayed several light coats as usual, then gave the model a wash of light grime (thinned raw umber) and applied some Bragdon powder to the underside of the horizontal ribs.  I then applied another wash, this time ~1 part raw umber, ~2 parts zinc white, and ~3 parts transparent yellow.  (This is the first time I have tried the transparent colors in a wash.)  After applying some basic rusting, here is the result, with a stock model in the background:



[Trucks, couplers and brakewheel still to come...]  The yellowing is not quite as blatant as the prototype, but it is closer than the earlier BN boxcar was.

Cheers,
Gary

[James Costello]

Another WINNER 

[ednadolski]

Looks great Gary!       Might just want to add a bit more powder/umber between the rungs of the end ladder.  The colors over the large BN logo are really well done.

Ed

[tom mann]

really nice!

[DKS]

really nice!

Agreed!

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks.  Point well taken about the ladders Ed.  In general, I think the ends need a bit more finish work.

So, I was looking at this car some more today under various lighting conditions and I'm rather amazed how different it looks depending on the light.  For example, the powder work under the ribs hardly shows up in the photo (strongish head-on lighting) but it really stands out in dimmer and/or shallow-angle lighting (and shallow-angle viewing).  In general, the car looks overdone in dim light.  Does anyone else notice this effect in their work?  (Maybe a good topic for a new thread: when weathering, what lighting conditions do you work under and design your work to?)

-Gary

[ednadolski]

what lighting conditions do you work under and design your work to?

Ideal viewing conditions for my work:

[Ian MacMillan]

Ok so whats the formula at now Gary?! I'm missing some parts here.

[GaryHinshaw]

Ah, good question Ian.  This thread has been rambling some since I continue to experiment.  Here's an executive summary:

* Spray application.  I make a batch in a 1 oz Floquil-type jar as follows: fill the jar ~20-30% with Microscale Flat or other water-based flat finish, add about 10% Polly Scale Dust, then add a dollop of Zinc White (a "dollop" is about an 1/8 of a teaspoon) and about the same amount of Transparent Oxide Yellow.  Thin with water or washer fluid to make about 3/4 of a jar.  Be sure to mix the tube paint in thoroughly.  The result should have the consistency of skim milk and the color of butter.

To apply, use several very light coats - you should barely be able to see the spray from the airbrush.  I typically give 5-10 swipes per car side, repeat on the other sides, and then repeat the whole process until I have the results I want.  With light coats I don't need to wait for them to dry.  If possible, it's handy to have a witness sample of the color you're starting with so you can see how the fade is progressing.

* Wash application.  With the airbrush, the fade is pretty uniform.  With the last woodchip car, I wanted to see if I could get some additional, less uniform, fading, so I tried making a wash using:  ~1 part raw umber, 2 parts zinc white and 3 parts transparent yellow, thinned with washer fluid to the consistency of dirty dishwater.  This was applied like any grime wash.  Since I only have one example of this wash technique, I don't really know how useful it will end up being, but I like it so far.

The proportions in these things are pretty lax. For example, if I'm fading a blue car, I'll use transparent orange instead of yellow to neutralize the blue.  With the BN car I was going for some yellowing in particular, so I used more yellow than white in the wash, but I think some yellow is always good to include. With the washes, I think you can start with any grime recipe you like then add some transparent colors as "filler".

The main thing is to be patient and build up the effect in light passes (both the airbrush and wash applications).  This will give you control and give the finish a nice depth.

Ok, this may not be the crisp summary you were hoping for, but I hope it helps.

Cheers,
Gary

P.S. Ed, you're way too modest.

[James Costello]

The proportions in these things are pretty lax. For example, if I'm fading a blue car, I'll use transparent orange instead of yellow to neutralize the blue.  With the BN car I was going for some yellowing in particular, so I used more yellow than white in the wash, but I think some yellow is always good to include. With the washes, I think you can start with any grime recipe you like then add some transparent colors as "filler".

Gary, what's your reasoning with it being better to include the yellow?

I got my hands on some American WW fluid yesterday and tried a mix of your brew while I had the airbrush out for the SD70Ms (first day in over a week where it hasn't rained here!). Whilst it's possible I've used too much of a white/yellow dollop of paint, it has resulted in some of the white text appearing creamier.... I left out the dust now that I re-read your recipe, but I got the butter colored skim milk mix look.

If I'm shooting for the following Espee woodchip gons, would you still add the yellow?
http://shastaroute.railfan.net/Photos/Woodchip/SP_354401_a.jpg
http://shastaroute.railfan.net/Photos/Woodchip/SP_354920.jpg
http://shastaroute.railfan.net/Woodchip.html

I'm thinking I might skip the yellow and include the dust next time.
I can see where it would be beneficial when the yellow is part of the final look, but I think I'd rather avoid creamy text????

Thoughts? I'll see if I can grab some photos tomorrow to illustrate these results.

James.

PS - can't believe I found WW fluid imported from the US..... not complaining though, it seemed to work well. Rainx brand - it contained methanol, so I grabbed it to try.