Weathering
Not really a tutorial but I thought I would share my experiences of weathering with you all- some may think I am talking out of my rear, others may find some of it useful, it’s a skill you never master just something you improve on as time goes by -so here goes,
Having spent several years making architectural models that were mint and pristine, I decided I wanted my models to show true signs of everyday life- the model boats I build feature, rust on the winches and the anchor chains, and other places of wear, but I really started to study ‘weathering’ when I started to build model railways.. something I have only been doing seriously for about 2 years….
BUILDING WEATHERING
I definitely did not want my layout to be mint and pristine which means I had to try and replicate the marks and weathering on my buildings, also working at N scale ( 1 to 160 ) also means that the weathering needed to be accurate and realistic but in a fairly small scale !
I have enclosed a couple of pictures of buildings, some are scratchbuilt, others are kits, but all are weathered to varying degrees
Weathering needs to be accurate, but subtle, and realistic, I use acrylic paints and lots of thin washes, I build up all weathering in lots of thin layers, just like real life,
Any building that uses corrugated sheet can and should be weathered, corrugated panels age differently and with careful masking you can easily pick out individual areas to represent the individual sheets of zink / corrugated steel . if your building is pre moulded if you mask of the edge of a small panel and carefully build up a wash of rusty brown, this when It dries will leave a line of subtle colour- also highlighting the edge of individual sheets of corrugated material,
Rust is more than one colour, build up rusts with several shades and don’t over do it !- less is more !
* A good way of creating rust is to use real rust, use salt water if possible place it in a jam jar and add some old nails or rusty metal , let the rust
‘ grow’ in the jar, when all the water evaporates you are left with a rust residue, this can be used as a wash, or it can be brushed on or wait until its totally dry and grind into a powder and apply with a soft brush…
With other buildings then areas of weathering is usually where there is water marks and damage or areas of decay,
Water damage is usually where water runs down walls meets roof lines or where down pipes and gutters are damaged, the corners of buildings can also show signs of extra weathering if they are in exposed positions….
The other job of weathering with thin washes and good quality brushes is the fact the paint will replicate the real life ‘runs and marks’ it will run into the details and it will also follow the natural line and replicate real life situations…. Also consider weathering on vertical surfaces, when it rains hard the grit and earth gets splashed up the walls of buildings, this over the years will take its toll, and is visible on some buildings….
To ‘dirty’ up;’ buildings, vehicles, or rolling stock have you considered materials such as corn flour or toner powder from the photocopier ?
A soft badger shaving brush is ideal to carefully apply these fine powders, they can be used on buildings too, a very light brush over can often soften the look and weather a model nicely,
When I fill the copier toner I often put a small amount of left over toner powder into a 35mm film can - its ideal for models, if your building is made in embossed brick plasticard then paint the main brick colour – then lightly brush with brush loaded with cornflour, the fine powder will pick up the ‘grooves’ that represent the mortar between the bricks- but gently does it !
Toner powder is ideal to pick up details on rolling stock – also great to soot up vents around diesel engines or on the apex of tunnel entrances to represent the years of steam train soot passing underneath….
The joy is also the toner powder and corn flour is ‘,at’ it takes the shine off the models too.
Be careful not to over do it though- if you have a canopy with a glass roof then you can weather it by a fine paint wash , or spray over with an extra hold hair spray and then very gently dust over with powder, this again just takes off the very new glossy look with clear acrylic or plasticard. Glass roves or canopies,
Rail Tank cars- tankers generally contain liquids or powders, usually liquids, if its oil, then very carefully applied varnish in areas around the filler can add realism , the shine left from one thin varnish wash can imply a small run or spill during the filling process, again think about real life the oil will run and will not stay in one place….reproduce this on your wagon….
Hopper wagons usually show residue of loads and dust, again powders such as cornflour can be good for this, or grind up artists coloured pastels to a powder and apply with a badger or soft brush to keep the dust in place use artists pastel fixative available in artshops in an aerosol ,
The other area on buildings is the roof slates, every slate is not the same colour, they weather at differing rates , flat rooves often have water marks or water/ puddles laying on them, this can be replicated, especially watermarks, water is not so easy and unless you are keen to try it then maybe its better avoided….
Anyway, have fun enjoy, I hope this helps some of you and as I say I am no expert, but I just keep trying to improve my models……
Not really a tutorial but I thought I would share my experiences of weathering with you all- some may think I am talking out of my rear, others may find some of it useful, it’s a skill you never master just something you improve on as time goes by -so here goes,
Having spent several years making architectural models that were mint and pristine, I decided I wanted my models to show true signs of everyday life- the model boats I build feature, rust on the winches and the anchor chains, and other places of wear, but I really started to study ‘weathering’ when I started to build model railways.. something I have only been doing seriously for about 2 years….
BUILDING WEATHERING
I definitely did not want my layout to be mint and pristine which means I had to try and replicate the marks and weathering on my buildings, also working at N scale ( 1 to 160 ) also means that the weathering needed to be accurate and realistic but in a fairly small scale !
I have enclosed a couple of pictures of buildings, some are scratchbuilt, others are kits, but all are weathered to varying degrees
Weathering needs to be accurate, but subtle, and realistic, I use acrylic paints and lots of thin washes, I build up all weathering in lots of thin layers, just like real life,
Any building that uses corrugated sheet can and should be weathered, corrugated panels age differently and with careful masking you can easily pick out individual areas to represent the individual sheets of zink / corrugated steel . if your building is pre moulded if you mask of the edge of a small panel and carefully build up a wash of rusty brown, this when It dries will leave a line of subtle colour- also highlighting the edge of individual sheets of corrugated material,
Rust is more than one colour, build up rusts with several shades and don’t over do it !- less is more !
* A good way of creating rust is to use real rust, use salt water if possible place it in a jam jar and add some old nails or rusty metal , let the rust
‘ grow’ in the jar, when all the water evaporates you are left with a rust residue, this can be used as a wash, or it can be brushed on or wait until its totally dry and grind into a powder and apply with a soft brush…
With other buildings then areas of weathering is usually where there is water marks and damage or areas of decay,
Water damage is usually where water runs down walls meets roof lines or where down pipes and gutters are damaged, the corners of buildings can also show signs of extra weathering if they are in exposed positions….
The other job of weathering with thin washes and good quality brushes is the fact the paint will replicate the real life ‘runs and marks’ it will run into the details and it will also follow the natural line and replicate real life situations…. Also consider weathering on vertical surfaces, when it rains hard the grit and earth gets splashed up the walls of buildings, this over the years will take its toll, and is visible on some buildings….
To ‘dirty’ up;’ buildings, vehicles, or rolling stock have you considered materials such as corn flour or toner powder from the photocopier ?
A soft badger shaving brush is ideal to carefully apply these fine powders, they can be used on buildings too, a very light brush over can often soften the look and weather a model nicely,
When I fill the copier toner I often put a small amount of left over toner powder into a 35mm film can - its ideal for models, if your building is made in embossed brick plasticard then paint the main brick colour – then lightly brush with brush loaded with cornflour, the fine powder will pick up the ‘grooves’ that represent the mortar between the bricks- but gently does it !
Toner powder is ideal to pick up details on rolling stock – also great to soot up vents around diesel engines or on the apex of tunnel entrances to represent the years of steam train soot passing underneath….
The joy is also the toner powder and corn flour is ‘,at’ it takes the shine off the models too.
Be careful not to over do it though- if you have a canopy with a glass roof then you can weather it by a fine paint wash , or spray over with an extra hold hair spray and then very gently dust over with powder, this again just takes off the very new glossy look with clear acrylic or plasticard. Glass roves or canopies,
Rail Tank cars- tankers generally contain liquids or powders, usually liquids, if its oil, then very carefully applied varnish in areas around the filler can add realism , the shine left from one thin varnish wash can imply a small run or spill during the filling process, again think about real life the oil will run and will not stay in one place….reproduce this on your wagon….
Hopper wagons usually show residue of loads and dust, again powders such as cornflour can be good for this, or grind up artists coloured pastels to a powder and apply with a badger or soft brush to keep the dust in place use artists pastel fixative available in artshops in an aerosol ,
The other area on buildings is the roof slates, every slate is not the same colour, they weather at differing rates , flat rooves often have water marks or water/ puddles laying on them, this can be replicated, especially watermarks, water is not so easy and unless you are keen to try it then maybe its better avoided….
Anyway, have fun enjoy, I hope this helps some of you and as I say I am no expert, but I just keep trying to improve my models……
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