ESM car, step by step

[John]

Ummm, it says new 4/2010 but has a rebuilt date of 1987. Tom, do something about that!

What - we all know that this class of car wasn't owned by the ESM RR in 2010 ... this is clearly a foob .. 

[Bob Bufkin]

yeah, bit a great lookinf foob

[tom mann]

Bryan told me that this is a model of the actual railroad car that delivered the models to his house. ;D

You need two brushes and 3 different kinds of paint to do this step:  a comb brush about 1/3", a small flat brush about 1/4", Windsor and Newton Gallera Acrylic Yellow Ochre (YO), Liquitex Soft Body Acrylic Burnt Sienna (BS), and Windsor and Newton Designers Gouache Burnt Umber (BU).  I will also use Liquidtex Burnt Umber down the road.

Before you begin, choose to either seal the car with Dull Cote or not.  The fade coat is applied so thinly that you could actually scrub it off in this step.  Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.  It all depends on how aggressive I plan on getting.

Apply a mix of the YO and BS in a thin wash in the area where you want to work, and let this dry:



And use your comb brush:



Wet the surface, and with a thick BS/water mixture, pull the paint from the top straight down.  Let the brush work for you and try not to think about painting each individual effect.  If you must do this, just get the smallest brush you can find and just draw on what you want to see ;D  The look you want (in my opinion) is one that looks more natural than detailed.  I see plenty of weathering jobs on models that look awesome but have effects that are too meticulous to look entirely real.  Contrast this with how Bob Ross paints a "happy tree".  He uses the merits of a brush for the benefit of capturing the tree look, shape, and texture; and he does so quickly.


Let this dry and follow up with your small brush and BU.  Apply this in a targeted fashion, not throughout the surface as you did with the comb brush.


When I say "let this dry", I really mean "wait a few minutes so everything looks dry".  <Buy my book!> If you move too quickly, the results of the previous step are essentially wiped off.  Too slowly and blending and correction cannot occur.

When I say "Step" this does not translate into a single stroke.  Each step is many strokes, adding water to fix things that don't look right or playing with the paint/water mixture.  For reference:  I spent about 10-15 minutes on this area, including time for the photos.

[DKS]

If you scroll through this page at just the right speed, it looks like a video. <Buy the DVD!>

[GaryHinshaw]

Great tip about the comb brush Tom.  The car is looking good.

[John]

If you scroll through this page at just the right speed, it looks like a video. <Buy the DVD!>

And we sell it on Amazon  ;D

[ednadolski]

Tom, this is a great thread, thanks for doing this!   

Just a few brief questions:

 - do you have a link to any proto pics?
 - is this using the reverse osmosis water?   Are there any viable substitutes?

Thanks again!

Ed

[tom mann]

Well, there no photos of this exact car.

http://fincamontoya.net/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/IMG_1964.329141239_std.jpg

http://fincamontoya.net/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/IMG_1965.329143329_std.jpg

http://rr-fallenflags.org/bar/bar2573ajc.jpg

Distilled water, vodka, or WW fluid all are fine.

[tom mann]

We will cover ideas for the roof over the next few days.

BTW - the trick is to get a realistic surface rust patten without creating unrealistic, exaggerated texture.  There are some things to clean up on this example.

[tom mann]

BTW...there are great shots of weathered roofs, doors and ends in the Freight Cars Illustrated - Freight Car Appliances - Volume 9.  Available here:  http://www.fcix.info/fcix.htm.  The book has examples of different roofs (most are weathered).  You learn the weathering pattern that matches the prototype roof!

[tom mann]

Getting back to the roof.  If you have the Freight Cars Illustrated Appliance volume, turn to "part 6, roofs" and look at page 9 (left side), 35, 40.  Other photos are good too.  This is the effect that I want to emulate. 

First, dab on some Burnt Umber using the foam brush technique.  In my opinion, this is also the step where a lot of weathering train guys stop, since it can look pretty good (especially if multiple layers are dabbed on).  But through the macro lens, it looks like what it is: paint dabbed on.  Wait for it to dry to the touch (a few minutes).


Next, take a brush slightly damp with 70% alcohol and rub most of it off.  More or less, the high spots will disappear, leaving a nice subtle pattern and tricking the eye to thinking that the rust colored paint is below the blue paint.  Notice how in the first photo, the Burnt Umber looks like it is on top.  (If you disagree, please let me know).


Next, apply a wash of Burnt Sienna.


There are a few items to clean up that aren't noticeable in a normal viewing environment.  For starters, I can see brush strokes on the panel above the 'o'.

Again, notice that this effect relies on removing paint and letting the natural process guide the result instead of trying to force a specific result.

[GaryHinshaw]

Looks awesome Tom. My only complaint would have been the brush marks above the 'O' but you already noted that.  I see burnt sienna in the first two shots too (above the 'T').  Was that from a prior pass?

Cheers,
Gary

P.S. Nice car Bryan!  One of the best roofwalks I've seen in N.

[bbussey]

It is based on the Plano stainless steel roofwalk, redimensioned for the XIH and etched in .20mm brass.  I went with brass over stainless because it holds the paint better.  And it weathers nicely in the hands of the Jedi master.

This is looking great, and it's nice to see a step-by-step start-to-finish on a single model, to see how all those Mann masterpieces are created.

[ednadolski]

Looking good!   I notice in those latest pics the roof's blue appears to have become bleached.  Is that the fade coat, or is it the result of using the alcohol over Dullcote?   Does the bleaching disappear if you apply another coat of Dullcote?

At the risk of sounding like a real chump - were you serious about the vodka?

Ed

[wazzou]

At the risk of sounding like a real chump - were you serious about the vodka?

Ed

I think that may be a vailed jab at Ed K.