Posts Tagged ‘model train weathering’
Model Train Weathering
A locomotive brand new right out of the box will often not really seem like a real train. They just seem too spick and span. Even the most well kept real world train just doesn’t really look like a brand new toy locomotive for long. I know that often when I look at a beginner’s model train layout, I will often look at the trains rattling through what is meant to be a dusty southwestern town or an old stone quarry and think, those locomotives look awful clean for locomotives that are meant to be fully operational in an environment like this. So your locomotives should get tarnished and discolored just as real world trains do but they won’t by themselves. So you have to detail them yourself. Here’s how:
Start by putting together a model locomotive weathering toolbox:
You will be helped out by having a group of tools to apply your detailing. Paintbrushes, small sponges and a square of cloth are a good start. Those are the absolute fundamentals.
Step Two—Crafts Materials:
Ask yourself, “What look do I want for my locomotive?” Sometimes it’s easy achieving the effect you want. Other times you have to really work at it. The web often has materials like decals that can really help you. Sometimes you just have to experiment until you get the impression you want. You can find a host of articles on line on how to use these different materials for the goal that you want. Look for articles specifically on weathering in crafts magazines. In the end, you will just have to feel around for the effect you are looking for.
Find inspiration for your toy locomotive weathering in historical pictures:
A good thing to do is to watch out for pictures of actual trains from a period and place that has to do with the one that you have created. Photos from such sites will help you picture your locomotive “in your mind’s eye”. It helps to ask specific questions like what shade does navy blue become when exposed to Northwestern fog year and year? What effect does the hot air have on a paint coating of a locomotive that goes through desert conditions day after day? Etc.
The natural world gets weathered too:
We train lovers often get hyper-focused on our trains to the exclusion of the rest of our layout. But our locomotives are only as impressive as the worlds they travel through. The figures and objects in the world too should be appropriately weathered. The desert sun will fade the paint on buildings and cars just as much as locomotives. That sort of eye for detail is one of the things that so captures our imagination in model training.
Weathering takes a creative touch. For this reason it is a wonderful opportunity for drafting members of the family that may not have been into the mechanical/technical aspects of model training but that loves painting and other sorts of crafts. Someone with a real eye for colors and details can really bring such a design to life. If your daughter can distinguish between 15 types of pink for her lipstick, she can certainly choose and apply the right weathering to a freight car. If your son likes to make up cartoon characters to draw on his notebooks he can help highlight the figures in your fictional world. Draft them to help you. Aren’t these the sorts of memories you have from when you were young?
Here is more information on Model Railroad Track Plans. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.
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