Freerails > Model Railroad Forums > Weathering & Detailing > Weathering The Underside Of Railcars & Freight Cars ? |
Freerails > Model Railroad Forums > Weathering & Detailing > Weathering The Underside Of Railcars & Freight Cars ? |
| Saturday 15th March 2023, England. Registration of new members is closed. We'll open again soon. Check out the news at the top of the forum. |
| Moderated by: | ||
| Author | Post | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
SteveF Registered 
|
An interesting discussion has come up over on Large Scale Central, and I'm not sure what the answer is, not that I'm any sort of guru... Any way, to make a long story short, not that I ever really do that... There's this guy who has an elevated garden railroad and also counts rivets. Why he would want to count rivets in a garden railroad escapes me, but I digress. To make a long story short... wait, I already said that, didn't I  He wants to weather the underside of his rail cars, and asks if any of us has ever done this. Now, frankly, there are few of us who bother to weather our railcars in the first place. We just leave them out in the weather for a few days or weeks, and that usually takes care of it for us. Has anybody here ever bothered to weather the underside of your railcars? Do you consider your railcars incompletely weathered is they are not weathered underneath, on the side of the car that looks directly at the ties (sleepers)? How would you approach the subject? What colors would you use? What would be dark, what would be light? Would you use any dry brush techniques to bring out details? This truly is a serious question. Click here. |
|||||||||
|
W C Greene Registered 
|
Heck, I don't even put underbody detail on my cars. Can't see it even when rolling across a trestle. Oh well, some guys like nits and others like picking them. HOWEVER-a coating of dust/dirt with rust areas on brake cylinders and associated metal parts. Possible greasy stains on working brake parts, cylinder, clevises, things that need lubrication. Then more dust/dirt over that. And don't forget the wheels & axles, and there are oil stains and more dirt on the journals and any other moving parts on the trucks. If it looks too nasty to touch then it would probably be just right. How's that for an answer? Woodie |
|||||||||
|
Lost Creek RR Registered
|
I like to weather everything just as mother nature does, but then my stuff doesn't sit outside either. Buildings, Locos and cars all cop it. Nothing worse than seeing a shinny plastic loco or car that should have been earning its keep. Have a peek outside and see just how weathered buildings and the surroundings get over time and I guess some of us are trying in our own way to mimic what mother nature does. To each their own though. Rod. |
|||||||||
|
Ray Dunakin Registered
|
So far my rolling stock is all cheap plastic stuff that I've repainted and added body-mounted couplers, etc. Everything is "weathered" during the painting process. The undersides are basically stock, which means cheesy, molded details, etc. So the paint treatment is pretty simple too -- kind of a dark, blotchy, mud-dust-grime effect over everything. Whenever I get around to scratch-building my own rolling stock, I will likely build it with more accurate detail on the underside, and will then spend a bit more effort on paint/weathering of the underside. |
|||||||||
|
Mavryk Registered 
|
Interesting. never thought of weathering the underside of cars/engines, but I'm going to try it. If you live close to a yard, as I do, you can always check out a car or two first hand. I would imagine they'd build up kind of a brown/black grime over time. Especially the greased areas like Woodie mentioned. I'd go check out the underside of a few cars in my city now, but it's colder than a witch's, uh, it's cold here. Can't see myself crawling under a boxcar in the snow for free. |
|||||||||
|
Herb Kephart Registered 
|
Broomstick the word that eluded you? Probably still looking at Deadeyes Photobucket page--- Herb |
|||||||||
|
Mavryk Registered
|
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA |
|||||||||
|
Charley Registered 
|
Fellers.. Easy as pie..one pass..rattle can colour of your choice...one pass each side..take trucks off..boomboom..or fizz fizz..oh what a relief it is..should be grimy...red brown..rust...grease..dirt adhearing to grease..grime.. OR..perhaps the fellow would like to model crusting grease droppings..I always run a line up the cars ends where the wheels throw grime up and on ...spray..look fer yourself.. Whatever floats yer boat..but my boat is my bizness..so there..now we'll have underfloor grime counters.. |
|||||||||
|
Larry L Registered 
|
Weathering the under-side of rolling stock seems to be a personal question of preference and need. Many of the ‘great modelers’ of our time have said ‘if you don’t see it leave it’ …others have stated a model should be completed top, sides and bottom. I guess it’s comes down to one’s modeling psyche…what do you need to feel you meet your challenge.       The first two are dry brush and the large scale it air brushed acrylics. I choose not to ‘dirty-up’ the underside beyond the color variations in the wood. I think all this is really a matter of personal taste and need. Large scale rolling stock does offer the opportunity to develop a finely detailed, painted and weathered model, but at the same time the large size of the models magnifies shortcomings…Larry    A couple of the finished tank car. Last edited on 4 Feb 2013 12:16 pm by Larry L |
|||||||||
|
Kitbash0n30 Registered 
|
My stuff is weathered with an assumption that it has an almost zero probability of derailing belly up. |
|||||||||
|
Rod Hutchinson Registered 
|
Hi all, I think everything should be weathered. Just observe the world about you. Nothing is untouched by the elements. |
|||||||||