Sitting here with my buddy drinking morning coffee. He brought over the RF-16 I bought from him. Discussion came up on weathering, when he mentioned that years ago he seen an article about a Model Railroader that used rattle can paint and masking to weather cars and engines. I said I never read nor heard of this before. He claims its so.
Has anyone read this article or seen this being done?
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I have used them for weathering my Atlas truss bridges. I sprayed them with flat black first and then over shot them with sprays of rust colored paints and I liked the look. I used two different red, rust-colored paints. I sprayed from a distance and felt that less was more in that I could keep doing it until I was satisfied.
Engines or cars with paint styles and lettering would be a little more scary to try because if you screw up, you can't just paint over it like on the bridges.
Good luck and please share pics of what you decide.
Art
They are fine for some scenic work, like a quick spray of flat white on flat black roofing or roads at a distance of about 3 feet.
Large items yes...bridges, building, track, scenery maybe.... cars, engines ?? no way, not for me. Not enough control with rattle cans for weathering small details.
I would really hate to mess up a nice engine or car with 1 press of the nozzle.
Look at some of the weathering done by others in THIS THREAD ... then ask yourself how can you do that with a rattle can.
I am pretty sure Harry Heike uses stencils to weather. No doubt he uses an airbrush but with stencils it wouldn't really matter since the idea is to limit the overspray.
Pete
I've used a technique that has worked well, in that I place a sheet of cardboard alongside what I'm weathering, spray that, and the mist from the 'bounce' off the card does just as good a job as any airbrush could. Great for overall weathering, like the bottoms of freight cars...
Several cars in this shot were done that way:
I have weathered rolling stock with "rattle cans" and I think the result is somewhat grainy. I have bought some cars that are professionally weathered and they are immaculate. I have since bought new cars of the same make and manufacturer, and weathered them myself with rattle cans and the result is not the same...the droplets are larger and not as convincing. Simulating road dust seems best using an airbrush.
I don't weather my rolling stock but I try to do a little on buildings and bridges and use rattle cans to spray some dust. I guess it has worked for me but I think an air brush would be better for detailing. That would be just another experiment for me and I would have to do a lot of testing before I tried anything on a loco.
My experience is that unless you are weathering heavily, it is best to use an air-brush instead. Anyother thing, to get a light-enough coat to look realistic in most cases, I have to hold the can so far from the locomotive or car that the spray is nearly dry by the time it gets to it, and often rubs off
I paint most of my buildings ,cars and locos with a spray can. I've gotten quite good at it! While it will never be a airbrush, I'm not afraid to "dust" a little grime on anything. Cliff
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
