My first project, more of a tip. Is a touch up paint for Krylon's Sea Glass Green spray paint I use on a number of Penn Central projects. One issue using the spray paint, was not having a touch up paint for those happy little accidents.
The dreaded handrail ding with missing paint and some touch up needed
for the platform and stairs. Apple Barrel Multi-Surface to the rescue!
Their Acapulco color seemed to be the best match to Krylon's Sea Glass Green.
Looking a little more pulled together. Not a perfect match, but close enough to work.
Another project that has been in the works, is the upgrading of my reefer fleet. I have several Accurail 40ft reefers that I have collected over the years. A fairly nice model for those non-rivet counters that want to add some reefers to their roster.
As John R. and I have discussed in the past, one of my quirks as a modeller is duplicate road numbers. My first step in the project was to remove the existing number and give it a new one.
Using both Solvaset and later 91% Rubbing Alcohol failed to safely remove the road number. I was lucky to have the Accurail number patches that matched the Santa Fe reefers. Lesson learned!
The renumbered and weathered Santa Fe Reefer. One thing I don't care for the Accurail number patches, is the raised bump they leave on the side of the car. I've found the weathering helps conceal the raised appearance of the new number and helps seal it on the paint.
The other side of the reefer. I use cheap acrylic paints from the craft store for my weathering. I used to use chalks and powders to weather with. But I found they do not put up with much handling. I hope to find a way to mix the chalk and acrylics and make a gritty paste with them. Maybe they will hold up better to handling the cars, that way.
For less than a dollar a bottle, these acrylic paints make great weathering washes. I dilute them with water before using them on the models. Sometimes I will use alcohol to help get the washes thinned out. However the alcohol will wipe out some paint and lettering, use with caution.
Before and after comparison between the original and the renumbered and weathered car.
One thing I learned from using the washes, is patience and letting things set up between coats. I spent several half hour sessions working on this and another car. I wanted to get it done in one evening, but couldn't get the coats of paint to cooperate. I hope this gives you some ideas and tips for weathering. Thanks for reading!
Nice use of the acrylics as a weathering wash. Finding approximations of PC paint colors is a hobby of its own! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Ralph!!! The acrylics seem to be the most agreeable method for weathering. John did a great job with his powder method on Hudson Coal. I agree with the PC color matching as a second hobby. Lots of close, but no cigar colors. My favorite so far is the Montana Gold Malachite. They make a light version of the color. It might work for a faded Conrail repaint.
DeleteNice job on the freight cars! I'm not a big fan of using the powders on rolling stock because I hate the way they feel if not sealed with a flat coat. But if I use a flat coat the powders disappear. Using them on a building that is seldom handled worked well. You and Ralph are right about matching PC green as being it's own hobby. Acapulco looks like a perfect match to the defacto rattle can PC green.
ReplyDeleteThank you John!!! Sounds like you and I have had the same frustrations with the weathering powders and rolling stock. They should work great on Hudson Coal. Like you pointed out, you seldom have to handle it.
ReplyDeleteThe whole PC Green is a on going project. I’ve been lost since they quit making Polly Scale paints. For me, their PC Green was right on the money. I would use my airbrush to spray it on, then had the bottle leftover for touch ups.
I really liked your rattle can weathering job on your hopper fleet. Simple, quick and effective. I might break out the airbrush and try some acrylic washes using the same technique.