What To Use For A Wash

[BCR751]

I've been trying different things to darken the paint on locos and rolling stock.  I've tried black acrylic paint mixed with water and some detergent but the results were terrible.  I've also tried using chalk but I can't seem to get the same effect over the entire car body.  I would like to try a black India ink/alcohol mixture but I'm not sure of the effect the alcohol would have on the various paint jobs and I'm not sure of the mixture quantities.

What have you used to achieve this overall darkened/aged look?  I'm open to suggestions.

Doug

[Santa Fe Guy]

Doug I use oil paints mixed with odorless thinners. Vandyke Brown is a good one to start with. Just make it a very light wash and make sure you use a nice 1/2inch wide flat brush. Start at the top and pull the wash down. Lightly does it at first. Let it dry and see how it looks.
Rod.

[tom mann]

There are countless ways to do this.  Post a photo of the type of prototype you're after and we can recommend a medium that will best capture the look.

[sizemore]

I haven't done it in awhile but on flat paints I used to take a spray bottle with water based india ink (straight), then with another spray bottle of water, hit it as it needed and adjusted splotches with a flat brush. Depending on the surface YMMV, practice on some parts bin shells first.

The S.

[jpwisc]

I use 1 part acrylic paint to 10 parts 70% isopropyl alcohol. The color depends on what I'm weathering.
To sunfade paint: L&N or undercoat grey
Exhaust: engine black
Road grime: earth or roof brown

I spray it in lots of very light coats at 38 psi and I use a hair dryer to accelerate drying.

[Blackout]

Doug I use oil paints mixed with odorless thinners. Vandyke Brown is a good one to start with. Just make it a very light wash and make sure you use a nice 1/2inch wide flat brush. Start at the top and pull the wash down. Lightly does it at first. Let it dry and see how it looks.
Rod.

You got to be gentle. Cause sometimes the thinner can react badly with decals/lettering. The potency of thinner may wipe you lettering away or damage the item's paint.