My first attempt at weathering...

Well yesterday and today I finally bit the bullet and tried my hand at weathering a piece of rolling stock.  I'd been putting this off for some time as I was unsure if I was going to be able to achieve the standard I wanted.

My idea is to be able to get one piece done in a hour or two (and down under an hour with practice), I also want a weathered look that is in line with the "good enough principle".

So with the catalyst of wanting a few pieces of rolling stock for layout photos showing completed stages I decided to start with a Atlas 50' Yellow "Railbox" Boxcar.

I've been reading just about every thread on MRH & the internet about weathering rolling stock, and decided for the first attempt to use my newly acquired Vallejo Model Washes.  First step was to remove all the couplers, and wheels. This was followed by several coats of Dullcote to flatten the plastic sheen, and give the boxcar some tooth for the washes and oils.

One the Dullcote had dried I started with the roof, first off was a good coat of grey model wash.  This was allowed to almost dry and then a coat of dark brown model wash, as this was drying I lightly wiped off some of the areas on the peaks of the roof panels with a cotton lint free cloth.

I then dried these series of washes with a hair dryer, then it was a coat of rust coloured wash, and finally a black wash to highlight the seam and details.  As this was drying I again using the cotton cloth to dab this time to give a mottled look to the dirt & grime.  Once this was nearly dried I again lightly wiper some of the wash off the higher panel sections.

This was the outcome of the roof:

Next was to move onto the sides & ends of the boxcar, I used a similar principle for the sides as what I had used on the roof.  I again firstly applied a coat of grey model wash to all the panels, once this was applied I used the cotton cloth to wipe most of the excess wash off, trying to leave a little in the panel seams and around the areas that would naturally collect dirt & grime.

Then once this had almost dry using a fine flat brush the same width of the panels, I soaked the brush in water and thinned out the remaining wash and blended any pools of wash so that they looked like downward streaks from rain.  Again when this was nearly dried I used the cloth again to form the streaks towards the bottom of the panels.

I then dried this whole step with a hair dryer making sure not to disturb any of the wash that was sitting in the door tracks or areas that need to be highlighted.  I then went and applied a second layer of wash but this time dark brown, again using the same method as the first to thin out and distribute the wash to the required areas and form the streak effects on the panels.

Lastly I went over the areas that needed highlighting and extra dirt & grime with a thinned wash of black.  Once this was dried the entire boxcar was coated in Dullcote.

This is how the panels/sides came out:

The trucks were painted with PS Grimy Black and then dusted with AIM Dark Rust & Black weathering powders.  The wheels were painted with PS Railroad Tie Brown & dusted with Dark Rust weathering powder.

Next stage will be to weather the finer details (rust, more grime, and highlights) with oil paints using dry brushing.

Overall very happy that I had a go, and with the results.  The photos actually don't show it to well, but it actually is a little darker in the flesh and is exactly the level that I wanted to achieve.

Stay tuned for more weathering soon...

Jas.