Weathering locomotives

I am attempting to weather my locomotives, but I still need some help.

How would I get a locomotive to resemble this GP38-2?
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=71966

What weathering methods could I use to make a locomotive look like this Canadian National GP38-2?
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=33629

Who makes L shaped windscreens for SD45s?

I am trying to get a locomotive in this paint scheme* for a museum on the layout. http://pc.smellycat.com/pics/equip/pc721dr.jpg *
Beautiful isn't it.


Thank you for your advice
http://trainiaxindex.cjb.net

That last locomotive is a former DRGW F7 that was acquired by the Penn Central, and hastily re-lettered, so you can do the same with a stock DRGW F7, just add PC decals. Museum engines would usually be kept clean, so any weathering would only be to show slight age, not dirt.

-otto-

You can purchase a complete cab kit from Cannon & Co. with the "L" shaped engineer's window. The kits are easy to assemble and are very finely detailed.

The CN locomotive is going to be tough. There's plenty of masking to be done on this one. I'd suggest underpainting the entire model (except the cab - prime it with white) with a primer red. When each color area is ready to be painted, and I'd tackle white, black then white again in that order, apply rubber cement or white glue to the areas that will remain primer red or white, depending on the coat of paint you're applying. It's hard for me to explain properly, but you're just masking here and there. You remove the rubber cement or glue when you're done with that coat of paint. Like I said, it's going to be tough.

You'll want to feather the color fields into one another, so an airbrush with a fine point would be good for that. The paint has the appearance of being worn off the locomotive more so than peeling, so the feathered effect using thin coats of paint strikes me as a critical look to pull off.

You could also do this with oil paints, a medium not used too often in model railroading, but one that's easy to work with once you get the hang of it. The beauty of oil paints is the working time you get with them. You can blend and blend to your heart's content, something that might make a difference if you tried this with a brush. But it's worth pointing out that oil paints airbrush beautifully.

The CR locomotive is much easier. I'd weather that with a combination of chalks and oil paints applied with a brush and an overspray of brown grime with the airbrush. The underframe gets more attention with the airbrush and the body gets more attention with the brush. Anyway, that's what I used for this ex-CR locomotive pictured below.

Before getting the airbrush treatment:





And after:




Good luck with your locomotives. You picked some pretty fun looking projects to tackle.

Some nice looking models there, Mr. Harris...

-otto-

I have seen a fellow model rail take an eraser to a engine, to get the CN type paint fade/peal.

As for the DRGW in PC. Like was said, PC acquired these in a power crunch.
These units spent time on the Indianapolis to Louisville line. That picture looks like it was taken close to Jeffersonville (Indiana side of the Ohio from Louisville).

When I want to do streaks of rust, I used stranded electrical wire that I fan out, dip in rust paint and scrap over the area, and just take time to get it right.

I use paint and chalks and some powders. Also, masking tape for areas you want to look clean.

Otto Vondrak wrote:Some nice looking models there, Mr. Harris...

-otto-

Thanks, Otto. I really appreciate that.

thanks for the help.

keep asking keep learning

You could ask Ric Hamilton how he did his model of CN 4724:

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/ricandbeth/Models.htm

If you have any questions his description doesn't address, I'm certain he'd be happy to share more on his methods.

FWIW.. the images do not appear when using Firefox. To see them go to http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/ricandbeth/Models_files/

Otto Vondrak wrote:Museum engines would usually be kept clean, so any weathering would only be to show slight age, not dirt.

Unless one is modeling the museum backlot or storage where plenty of rust can often be found on units awating restoration...