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The Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette had an excellent article co-authored by Keith Brown, John Parker, and John Busby in the July/August 1982 issue. This article detailed a method of applying various layers of paint on styrene models and randomly scratching through the different layers to simulate the look of painted wood that had been subjected to the elements and the ravages of time. The original article utilized various colors of standard Floquil paint, but I thought it might be timely to detail this method as adapted for acrylics which many of us have now started to use. I'm sure that others will find alternate (and perhaps better) ways to obtain similar results, but I thought that it might be helpful to share "what's worked for me". So what follows is a short treatise, describing the finishing of a pair of PBL's beautiful D&RGW 800-series drop bottom gondola kits.
Once the construction was finished, the cars were set aside for a day to allow the styrene cement and the ACC adhesive used in their construction to fully cure. They were then bathed in isopropyl alcohol to remove any residual mold release and/or body oils as it is very important that all surfaces be clean in order to get the best possible adhesion from acrylic paints. While solvent-based paints will tend to dissolve any oils, acrylics will not - so they must be removed. I use a soft bristle paintbrush to make sure the isopropyl alcohol gets over all the car, but without using too much force and risk breaking off the finer details. Once done, I take the air hose from my compressor and give the cars a little squirt of air in the nooks and crannies in order to force out any isopropyl alcohol that may tend to remain due to capillary action. Once again, set the cars aside for a day in order to allow them to dry and the isopropyl alcohol to fully evaporate.
Photo 1. Although these particular kits were cast in grey plastic, I elected to paint a base coat on of Polly Scale 'E/L Gray' for the Weathered Wood coat. Typically I spray Polly Scale acrylics at 30-35 psi, having thinned them 25-33% with Polly S Airbrush Thinner. Once painted, I took a couple of Q-tips and dipped them in lacquer thinner to clean off the wheel treads and the coupler faces. I repeat this cleaning process incidentally, after each step.
Photo 2. In order to ensure that the paint fully cures, I allow a full 24 hours between each coat. This may not be necessary, but heck, why take a chance now on a model that has this much time and effort put into it? This layered-painting sequence is a good project for a week's worth of evenings, as each step will only take you 30-45 minutes. In this photo, the car has now been sprayed with Polly Scale 'Railroad Tie Brown' to represent the Old Wood coat. The car on the right has been scratch-weathered with the fiberglass brush, as detailed below.
Photo 3. You will note that my ability to take out-of-focus pictures continues! Once the paint has been sprayed and has air dried for about half an hour, get out your fiberglass brush and start scratching. The key seems to be for the paint to be dry, but not fully cured; if you leave this overnight or until the next day, it is really tough to get through the paint! But half an hour seems to be just about the right amount of time. What you are trying to achieve here is to expose some of the underlying grey coat. By the way, you DID remember to clean off your wheel treads and couplers again, didn't you? Once done, set the car aside for another 24 hours to allow the paint to fully cure.
Photo 4. The Car has now been painted with Polly Scale 'Depot Buff'. Next time, I think I'll use a less yellowy color such as 'Mud' or 'Aged Concrete' that gives a more tan look for the New Wood coat. But that's probably a personal preference.
Photo 5. After scratching up the New Wood, you will have areas that are scratched through to the Weathered Wood and the Old Wood layers. Once again, set the model aside for a day to allow the paint to complete its curing.
Photo 6. This picture actually represents the car at the end of the next evening. First a very thin mist of Polly Scale 'Tarnished Black' was misted on. You aren't trying for total coverage with this coat; more just a subtle "toning". Once done, again pull out your fiberglass brush and go to work.
Photo 7. The color coat is on now. I blended Polly Scale 'D&RGW Frt.Car Red' and 'Rock Island Maroon' in equal amounts for this color, again thinning and spraying as noted in the previous step(s). Once you're finished putting the color on, don't throw out the paint that's left; instead pour it in a small storage jar and save it - you'll see why later. I still thought the inside of the car looked a bit too yellowy to my eye, so I misted on some more Polly Scale 'E/L Gray' on the interior surfaces (which should represent unpainted wood) and scratched them up again with the fiberglass brush.
Photo 8. The color-painted portions of the car have now been worked over with the fiberglass brush. Note the shiny wheel treads and the clean coupler face (I know...nag, nag, nag).
Photo 9. A view of the interior, which has been scratched up with the fiberglass brush. After the acrylic paint had cured for another day, I took a can of Testors Glosscote and did a very light spray on the sides and ends, where the car will receive decals. Then the car was set aside for a full day, until there is no longer any odor from the paint. This is critical, as your decals will not work properly if there are any uncured solvents still leaching out of the paint!
Photo 10. Decals have now been applied to the car, followed by numerous coats of Microsol decal setting solution in order to get the decals snuggled down in the boards. Once you have done three or four applications of Microsol, allowing each to dry between coats, take an X-acto knife with a new blade or a new single-edged razor blade and slice through any decals that span over two or more boards at the joints. Now one more application of Microsol, again letting it dry...this should be looking pretty good by now. You may need a couple more shots with the Microsol to get everything snuggled down, and you may also need to release any air bubbles with a judicious prick with the tip of your X-acto knife. Once everything looks like it has laid down nice and flat, I wash the decaled areas by painting on some clean tap water to remove any staining from the decal setting solution.
Photo 11. After leaving the car for another day, Polly Scale 'Flat Finish' has now been sprayed on. This closeup view shows how the decal edges completely disappear with the clear flat overspray. Now we are going to leave this alone for one more day before we do our final scratch-brushing. We really only want to distress where the decals are, and it is better to let the acrylic fully cure in order to better control this final sequence.
Photos 12, 13. Most people have their favorite methods to do the final weathering stages, so this is only "...how I did it" to achieve the finished models. First, the decaled areas were lightly scratch brushed in order to avoid the look of fresh lettering on wood that no longer had any paint on it. Then I loaded up the airbrush with some very thin (about 50%) Polly Scale 'Mud' and lightly sprayed the car from the sides and ends, but only on the lowest parts such as the trucks and underframe. The next color was Polly Scale 'Locomotive Black' - again, even more diluted - maybe 25% color? This was sprayed very lightly over the entire car, and then an extra pass along the upper areas of the sides and ends where soot would tend to collect.
The next step was some dry brushing. I didn't have any Polly Scale color that matched up with Floquil 'Rail Brown', so rather than go to the trouble of mixing some, I just used the standard Floquil paint. What we want to do is put some rust on the areas that would be subject to abrasion, and that are exposed to the weather. If you are really dedicated, you could try and dab every bolt head, but I elected to only do selected areas that would be immediately evident under normal viewing. The areas I dry brushed were: the bottom of the steps; certain grabirons; the brake staff below the ratchet and down to the brake chain; the chains for the drop bottom doors; the winding rod adjacent to the chains; the sides and top of the coupler draft gear and the couplers themselves.
Here comes the final touch. Remember the freight car red paint we saved earlier? Put it in your airbrush, but dilute it another 50%. Next put a wide strip of masking tape spanning the tops of the sides, in order to keep any red out of the interior. Now lightly mist this diluted freight car red over the entire car, in order to tie everything together. Notice how this further fades out the decals, and adds a few years to the aging? The key is to do this very, very lightly - you don't want to end up with pink lettering! The final step is a little dab of silver paint on the tip of the glad hands, and then a final cleaning of your wheel treads and coupler faces. Lastly, squirt some Labelle #13 Lubricating Powder in each coupler box, and rub some with your finger on each coupler face. That's it....DONE!! Time to put 'em on the layout...
Jim
July 2001
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