Weathered well car

[jbaakko]

Well cars are "easy"!  Simple dusting with chalks!





Here's my inspiration car.
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=39114

[rswinnerton]

Lookin good Josh!
Russ

[GaryHinshaw]

Looks good.  I'm a sucker for weathered well cars, and I wish we had that prototype offered in N!

Based on your proto photo, I would be tempted to scrub the outer face of the top sill and the fatter vertical members (with the 20/40 labels) a bit cleaner, maybe with a Q-tip dipped in water or alcohol.  It sounds weird, but I think it could be effective; for some reason these surfaces tend to accumulate less.  Don't forget the couplers too. 

-gfh

[jbaakko]

Sergent couplers will be coming, along with some cut levers and Hi-Tech air lines.  I'm going to go lighter on the 2nd car.

[jbaakko]

Adding reflective tape.  I used some yellow reflective iron on tape from JoAnn Fabrics!  After slicing to 1/32" the iron on transfer tape backing came off easy, allowing me to use Testors clear parts cement & window maker to glue the tape sections on.  The reflection really does work, though its hard to photograph at such small scale.  The tape does have one downside, the same as using actual reflective tape, in that its over scale for thickness, but I think I can live with it.  It's easier to remove the adhesive backing on this product!  I think its a tad lighter yellow the the prototype tape, but I'm not worried, since it reflects!  If you notice it looks fairly white, that's the reflection action, its actually yellow, comparable in color to CNW Zito yellow.  Now to find white tape, as JoAnn's only had yellow, pink & green.

[jbaakko]

Here's a new car I just finished up.  This is a Walthers car (the ones with the unsightly black weight...).

[ednadolski]

Josh, which kinds of chalks/powders did you use?   Do they 'disappear' much when applying a sealer coat?

I like the way you've done the graffiti tho to my eye it stands out as a bit bold.  If you add a light coat of grime with an airbrush, that would probably help tie it all together.   (With that, you may also want to add some strips of masking tape in strategic locations, to create a paint-out look, esp. on parts of the top sill.)

The grime on these cars can get pretty heavy, esp. around the wheel wells, but of course it all depends upon the effect that you want:

[GaryHinshaw]

Ah - it looks like Ed found the proto-photo for your car Josh.    I tend to agree with him that the graffiti stands out a bit too much, maybe because of the thickness of the characters.  If I were you, I would go over the whole unit again with another round of chalk or powder (maybe preceded by a fade coat like you did on the Evergreen can).  When I did one of these in N, I literally ground some Bragdon powders into the sides with as much gusto as I could, and even then I don't think it was too much (at least to my eye, and compared to the photo I was working from).  Here is a sample shot:



One thing I did when applying it was to wipe off the upper side sill and the thicker vertical members with a damp Q-tip because those elements seem to stay cleaner than the rest (like in the photos Ed posted).

Keep posting!  It's good to follow your progress.
-gfh

[ednadolski]

Gary, is that an Alan Curtis car?   Those rust effects work really well.

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks Ed. It's the Walthers 5-unit Thrall set with the Gold Medal detail kit (and a few extra details).

[tom mann]

Oddly enough, you can get this car in z scale:

[jbaakko]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!  I'm getting the same general consensus that the graffiti is too bold.  I think the dull cote caused the sharpie to bleed, next time I use it I'll try to glosscote the model after the graffiti work.

I've gone over the graffiti with more chalks, though I do plan to darken the side panels a little more.  I was going for a car thats not quite as dark as a majority of them out there...

I'll try to get the work done later this week, have a booked schedule with some models (human, female type).