Model Railroad Weathering With Washes, Part 1

I show how I use enamel washes made for military models to weather a San Juan Car Company On3 tank car

[w.rustylane]

If handling a piece of rolling stock causes parts to fall off, then it's too detailed. A certain amount of detail is good but when they fall off it is NOT good. I always go by the 3 ft. rule. If it looks good at 3 feet then that's good enough. That's the problem with all the new "ready to roll' models--too much detail that falls off with handling. You can handle all my models without fear of parts falling off. Cheers from eastern TN

[boomerdiorama]

I admire your work. "O" (1/48) Scale is a beautiful medium to build and paint in. I used to be a big fan of the former narrow guage as well.


I get the pigment quality with enamel based paint but some of the new acrylics (like Vallejo) are fantastic quality (water) pigment for weathering, including "Isopropyl" based Tamiya flat paints. I just use Tamiya flat coat for a "tooth" base before using the former. The Tamiya flat turns "milky" white, but it is just talcum powder so it wipes away making for a great "toothy" base for water based weathering. Furthermore, The residual chalk left behind creates some remarkable effects combined with grime and rust washes especially for "O" scale models.

It`s always a good idea to try the acrylic method (which I declared anathema in my early modelling years), even though you wish to combine oil base as well. Cheers.

[gregoryamer]

Looks great. What washes are you using?