One important thing that's not mentioned in the video -- always look at prototype photos before you start weathering. The tan-coloured grime used in this video looks very accurate for the locomotives in question, but locomotives running in different parts of the country (or world) will likely pick up different coloured grime. UP locomotives seem to have a rather darker shade of dirt, for example. Also, when wiping grime washes off any piece of stock, make sure the final strokes are downwards, so that any streaks run the same way as the rain you're mimicking.
WOW....great video Josh...when I weathered my hi rail o scale locos...I always take off the side frame trucks...and weathered them by them selfs....thanks for the tip.....
Got to see the Interstate up close in New Albany, Indiana. And she was DIRTY. I’ve got an Intermountain version of that loco. Will definitely apply this to that piece, and many of my locos, including my new ScaleTrains ones.
Start with crappy cars your never going to use, thats what I do. I find the crappiest piece of rolling stock in my collection and try to make them look as good as possible.
Josh pretty much doesn't run a locomotive without weathering. I think they last about an hour on the layout to check out proper operations before they are off to be weathered. He's even taught dear old Dad to weather and if I can do it ~ anyone can do it. (I still normally let him do it ~ he's better at it than I am ... and quicker!) Tom
Normally, I distinguish between "lead" and "trailing" units. I don't mask the windows on trailing units, only the lights. Windows on any locomotives are usually dirty,especially the back ones, and mirrors are filthy! Windows are usually clean only if the unit has received a wash job.
I actually took the Pennsylvania Heritage unit from Birmingham to Chattanooga a week ago to have new number boards put on. They were so bad we duct tapped card board over them and wrote the numbers with magic marker. Lol
I think that you did a good job on this engine. A couple of mentions is not to overdo the weathering. I've seen some weathering that is so heavy, that it looks more like the engine sat in the yard all its life and was neglected and never washed. Second consideration is direction of travel. These engines go either forward or backward, that's the direction of airflow. Like a fan blade, dirt and dust forms on the preceding edge of the blade and not so much at the center and rest of the blade.
I too use the same system to clean my loco wheels, it's alsa a great way to get rid of unwanted aftershave. I find paper towel the best, and as the wheels are spinning, whilst moving loco back and forth, I slowly draw the towel side ways, this way I know the wheels can not have any grime on them. I also make sure the line they are going back on is clean beforehand, no use putting clean wheels on dirty track.
Thanks, great video! When you wipe the powders off, is that just a dry piece of paper towel you're using? Or should it be wetted with water or thinner? Edit: it looks like some times it's wet and others it's dry, just whatever works to remove the powder I assume?
Hey, great questions - yes the paper towel is damp. I will dip it in some regular water and then dab it off before applying to the locomotive so it's damp, but not dripping. Occasionally I will use a dry paper towel piece to wipe up extra water, but the dry towel usually just smears the powder rather than soak up / remove the weathering powder.
Hey boys, you need to post content again. I know your prob in med school now but it’s not healthy to stay focused on all that, unless this is the pharmacology semester. Throw us a bone! We ❤ ya!
Great video -- thanks for sharing your techniques! Question: After wiping off the excess weathering powder, did you add another coat of the matte spray?
hello josh ! first let me say we are very lucky to have you and your father giving us the great videos that you pass along to us. just watched your utah belt (pt 1) video of erics pike, raising questions in my retired mind !! first, as i received 10 pieces of cement tie ho scale track ( micro eng) as a gift and also see eric uses it on his main line ( 9:03/ 26:13) i would like your input on where to use it.... sidings where "heavier" trains may go ? or, do the real railroads use them prn ( aka "as needed") in place of traditional ties based on wooden tie availability or maybe cement ties are more weather resistant (regardless of creosote impregnation into the traditional tie) or less expensive ? also, as i have a medium sized layout ( bprr from buffalo, ny to pittsburgh pa) w/ double track mainline, could you please pass along your "recipe" for keeping track clean ? i am using 22-6 electrical contact cleaner/lube with a good wipe down along w/ brass cmx ( ? ) tank car and a trailing boxcar w/ fabric , replaceable cloth. i know this is a ton of stuff, but i can really use your advice here. blessings to you, josh !!
How would you compare the Krylon Matte spray to the flat coats made by Tamiya or Testors? I’m sure you get a lot more product for the buck with the Krylon!
Great weathering technique Josh! Big fan of your channel, but one thing in particular always hit my eye: Please consider this as a positive remark, not critisim: As the trains and surroundings are awesomly realistic, the suppot vehicules on the road are not. White maintenance or cement trucks straight out of the box with immaculate shiny bodywork and wheelarches, really? They all are screaming for the same care and attention that you give your locomotives and carts. It certainly will add a ton of realism to the whole experience. Hope you'll take this in considering, I’m certainly curious for the result. Best regards, Phil
One question: wouldn’t you want to airbrush the engine while it’s running in place or hold a brush with some umber colored paint up to the wheel, again while the engine is running in place? Otherwise; you end up with half the wheel dirty and the other half clean, which kinda takes away from the realistic/prototypical look.
I'm not convinced by the powder "wash" technique. The results are nice, but they're no better than you'd get with a standard oil pinwash. The big disadvantage of the powder technique it that it requires getting much more physical with the locomotive, so it's more likely to result in broken details. Also, if you are going to try this technique, try it on a freight car, first. I suspect that some combinations of powder and dullcoat products may be very difficult to remove, leading to a model that's just caked in black dirt.
I've done this to a ton of locomotives over the years in both HO and N scale. Super easy. You'll find that it really doesn't take much force to remove the powder, and the biggest risk is that you use too much water on the paper towel and remove more powder than you wanted to. Easy to fix that, of course.. For areas with delicate details you can use a Q-tip or microbrush.
@Josh Thanks for the tutorial. They look great. When you rub off the weathering powder, are you using a dry cloth or wet? If wet, are you using water or something else?
I might try this on one of my old athearn blue box locomotives but I'm terrified of ruining one of my Scaletrains or Intermountain locomotives as they are not that easy to get here in the UK and I'm sort of stuck with what turns up on eBay ☹️ mind you I would probably end up bankrupt if I lived in the US (sooo many trains) 🤣
Dont you have the NS 8102 Heritage unit? also is there a way to let scale train locomotives like the NS Heritage units run on the bachmann ez track? do i need the bachmann DCC Commander if you dont know much about bachmann its fine
