AK Interactive Weathering Pencils - Locomotive Weathering Project

[@wilzdart]

John it is the center piece of my steel mill, it was great to see just how you did my loco... thanks

[@JCsRiptrack]

Thanks for the opportunity to do this for you Will!

[@JohnSTL68]

I’ve never heard anyone pronounce “decal” the way you do, but other than that oddity this was a great video! Well done!

[@JCsRiptrack]

Welcome to some odd Canadian pronunciations. :)

[@michaelbroshears3053]

Great! No .... Super job!!! I will watch this a bunch of times and jump in. Weathering doesn’t happen in one fell swoop and the process needs to be built up with all the steps. There is no magic one step brush that puts it all together. Thanks for the video.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Glad you enjoyed it, Michael. You're absolutely right, even if you're using just a single tool, as it is possible to do with weathering pencils, it is still built up in layers.

[@seanspennywisemiserrr]

What an incredible weathering job John. The loco looks great.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Thanks Sean!

[@tubeflorian]

John, your work is amazing, and I very much appreciate you sharing your skills with us. Please work hard to minimize the amount of high speed footage in your video. It detracts, and distracts from being able to attend to any of the actual work being done. I commend to you Jeff Reitan channel for ideas on how to do this, and deliver an exceptional learning experience for your students. More sticks, with subtitles and narrative goes a very, very long way in improving the information design of your video lessons. I just watched more of the video. Definitely revise how you film, photograph, annotate, and commentate your incredible work. In the absence of ongoing stills to examine the outcome of each step, this is a lot of eye candy...at an unresolvable distance.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Hi Ken, you're right. I wasn't happy with the pictures that I did take while I was weathering this. Black is hard to photograph and process, so many of the pictures that I took weren't useable, save for the end result.

[@ModelingSteelinHO]

Owww steel mill stuff ! Thank you JC.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Glad to offer it. This was fun to do, and the steel mill service was made for some specific weathering patterns to try to replicate. :)

[@19scamps92]

Fantastic work as always John! As always it was worth waiting for it!

[@JCsRiptrack]

Glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully you found it helpful!

[@Howie2025]

Wow, I love the general rust and fade on this locomotive. These weathering pencils are interesting. Might have to try these out.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Glad you like them! There are many different ways to weather things, and these pencils are just another tool in the chest.

[@tomoconnell4235]

Excellent well done tutorial.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Thanks, Tom. Glad you liked it.

[@TheMidlandDorchesterRailroad]

Nicely done John. That S4 turned out beautifully. I might have to give those weathering pencils a try.

[@JCsRiptrack]

They did work well, and they can be sharpened well enough to do some precision work.

[@TheMidlandDorchesterRailroad]

JC's Riptrack definitely going to pick some up. Thanks for posting!

[@williambryant5946]

That turned out awesome. I enjoy watching your weathering videos. Stay well. -Wil 👍

[@JCsRiptrack]

Thanks Wil! 👍

[@JoeG-firehousewhiskey]

Great job as always, thanks for the tips and tricks

[@MrBsHiawathalandRails]

Looks Great!

[@ralphrenzetti22]

Well, you really jumped into the weathering pencils! That good to see John, but we need to talk! I want to get you takeaways from the experience. Top tool in the ammo box or just a reserve tool? The end result looks great! Although, I’m surprised you didn’t separate the shell from the walkway.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Would love to talk, Ralph! Now that I'm (mostly) settled into my new place, I'm trying to get back up to speed. I would put these pencils fairly high in the toolbox. The advantage is that they dry quickly and can be re-constituted as needed, and oil-based paints or mineral spirit thinners don't affect them. We can talk more offline :)

[@Marienthal1956]

Interesting tutorial. Thank you. Now I follow your channel.

[@garypyke1576]

Excellent video on a hard to do color! Thank you for the expert advice and tips!

[@steve87thpsap]

Really nice work. Guess you must be settled into to island life in Vancouver?

[@JCsRiptrack]

Getting there. The main part of this video was filmed well before the move, and I have a few others that I did before I moved that I still have to share. :) I'm working on some other ones as well. :)

[@wjcorrinne4052]

The stand looks like what a cake decorater would use? Could it also be used for painting model pieces? I, also would be interested in knowing what you used to hold the engines body while you were doing the weathering?

[@JCsRiptrack]

Are you talking the painting handle, or the rotating stand? If it is the latter, that's a Tamiya Spray/Work stand. It comes with two spinnable units that can hold models nicely: amzn.to/3kEzOZB

[@williambryant5946]

The handle he was holding the model with at the beginning of the video that looked like a clamp is a product used in miniature figure painting. It's used to hold the mini figures to paint because they are so small there is not enough room to hold them and paint them at the same time. I'm not sure where to get one but maybe a search on amazon for miniatures painting tools or something similar to that. Oh and use the word miniatures specifically not miniature because you might get results for small tools instead of tools for painting miniature figures. LOL! Hope this helped. Sorry I couldn't be more specific on the name of the tool or where to get it. Stay well. -Wil 👍 He gave a link in a reply below to someone else asking about the handle. Brett Isaacs.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Hi Wil, that's a painting handle from Games Workshop/Citadel. They make them in a regular and XL size. What you see me using there is the regular size, but I think the XL version would be a better choice for doing some model train work. Here are the links for both on Amazon: regular size: amzn.to/2FXoicF XL Size: amzn.to/3mJRWmB

[@chrisnavarro9531]

John are you still doing " From Loop to Layout Series " ? Great video as always 👍

[@JCsRiptrack]

Yes I am! In fact, the next one I am hoping to get out by week's end if not sooner. It's already filmed, I'm just editing it. Yards on a small layouts!

[@chrisnavarro9531]

@@JCsRiptrack Great ! I dont have alot of room and this series is really hgelping me out ...

[@JCsRiptrack]

Glad to know Chris. Keep an eye out for it in the next day or two.

[@tomoconnell4235]

Watched again for the third time, sure helps the treadmill time go bye. When you do a weathering project and not necessarily for video but ur own or a customer do you create a game plan. I understand video needs a list of to do and hi-lites but how do you attack setting up for a weathering project. What’s first, second... I have a few weathered boxcars and a locomotive from Rob Arensenault and while I am not in his league I want my weathering to look decent next to his artistry. I am not afraid as I have been practicing but how do you set the game plan. Thank for sharing your work, 1st class all the way and your delivery just feels right to me.

[@JCsRiptrack]

The very first video I did for this channel outlined an 8-step process that I usually follow, although there's lots of room for variation within that. I've been thinking that it's time to revisit that original video and update it with some of the other pieces I've learned over the past two years. I usually do have a game plan for any of my projects, as some techniques are a multi-step process. For example, streaked rust chips are a 3 step process at minimum where you create the chips with acrylic paints first, and then use oils to create the streaking effect later in the process.

[@tomoconnell4235]

@@JCsRiptrack thank you John, I have watched that video and will have to again. A couple more structure projects to finish for me and December 2020 will be my 1st serious weathering month. Again thanks for sharing your processes

[@jhoodfysh]

Great video John, and being from western Canada (Victoria) myself, I too use the same pronunciation - its' just a Canadian thing, eh? ;-) A couple of questions: I was curious why you were not wearing gloves while painting and handling the model; and what liquid was being used to clean your airbrush between coats; and I think I also saw 91% isopropanol being used a reducer.

[@JCsRiptrack]

I normally clean my airbrush with 70% Isopropyl Alcohol, where I normally thin my paints with 91%. However, this changes depending on the medium I'm using. I tend not to wear gloves when working on my models, but that's more for my personal tactile needs. However, I do have nitrile gloves to use depending on what I'm doing. For example, on the rare occasions that I use pigments/powders, for example, it's especially important to avoid finger oils on my models. I'd do the same if I were using lacquer-based paints or anything that takes a longer time to dry and fingerprints could end up as an issue. For weathering pencils, gloves aren't as necessary, I find, but you certainly can't go wrong for wearing them :) Does that help?

[@jhoodfysh]

@@JCsRiptrack perfectly, thank you very much.

[@rhodesj1893]

JC, beautifully done sir, but I do have a question. Growing up around the steel mills in Michigan and having been a railfan even then, I noticed that some switches had the soot encrusted windows. In a couple of them the glass was nothing more then hand wiped portholes, and others had spider webbed side windows as well. (Most likely from kids throwing rocks) my question is for as "old and worn" as people tend to make switchers why are all the windows always pristine? I love your channel as well as some others but I've never seen anyone weather the windows. Be it on an engine or a building...

[@JCsRiptrack]

Great question. Most of the time the glass is so clean because we mask it off while we are doing everything else, and then we don't really do the windows as much. There are some ways to do broken/cracked glass that military modellers have done. That could be something to try. It'd be pretty painstaking, but it could be worth exploring. Sometimes, I've seen modellers put masking tape in the shape of the windshield wiper path, and then apply a flat clearcoat, and even some dust. This gives the illusion of dirty windows with operational wipers. That's something worth exploring too.

[@rhodesj1893]

@@JCsRiptrack John, the masking tape wiper path idea would be great for a snow train... so meny plans, not enough lives! Thank you sir, for the reply.

[@JCsRiptrack]

No problem. :) Now you have me thinking about busted glass options...

[@rhodesj1893]

@@JCsRiptrack for what its worth... i really think you should. You have a lot of viewers that may not have even though about it before. With that being said, one idea I had was tinting CA glue with a transparent yellow okra and drawing some fractures on the in side of a window with the tip of a toothpick. See if that simulates aged broken safety glass. That or green for a fresh break. Anyway I was hoping you could poke a hole in that idea (pun intended 😜) would love to see what you come up with.

[@brettisaacs3639]

whats the black handled devide you were holding the model with? looks like the ball head of my camera setup.

[@JCsRiptrack]

It's a model painting handle from Games Workshop/Citadel. They make two different sizes, this was the smaller one: amzn.to/2FXoicF I plan on getting this larger one as well: amzn.to/3mJRWmB

[@richardjayroe8922]

My new HO scale layout is in planning two to three years early. It will start as a switching layout with brass track so no track has to be replaced. Any suggestions for a switcher that would have bean used sometime between 1930-1950?

[@WhiteWulfe]

Out of sheer curiosity, instead of the Abteilung 502 tubes, would Ammo's Oilbrushers offer a similar level of extras? Figured I'd ask since I've been contemplating the pencils as well as oilbrushers, and it's a little easier to keep the Oilbrushers tidy yet still on the assembly desk!

[@JCsRiptrack]

I also have the Ammo by Mig Oilbrushers, and they are also very versatile. My next weathering video features them in action, but I'm still about 2 weeks away from that one being released. I show how I use them on a steam locomotive. They do work very well.

[@WhiteWulfe]

@@JCsRiptrack I'm definitely glad to hear such, and I look forward to the video when it comes out! For now, I'm mainly looking at the use of the pencils and oilbrushers for various things (with Corvus Belli's Infinity, demons and dragons from Reaper Miniatures, and a variety of 1:48 scale aircraft being the initial focus), but eventually I plan on getting a shelf layout sorted out. Still undecided about scale, although a few friends are doing their best to coax me towards N scale, and Rapido's GMD-1 as well as Atlas' MP15DC are definitely strong reasons for me to do such. Something about growing up around such locomotives, and seeing some of them on a daily basis either at Walker Yard here in Edmonton, or over at AltaSteel (also in Edmonton, although apparently they regularly have SW1200's and SW1500's) I think what seems to catch my eye the most with the pencils (as well as oilbrushers) is there's a lot less fuss and mess involved with getting started with them.

[@ngauging]

JC I saw you using sweet wrapper paper to protect your windows on this loco which IMO is very labour intensive and time consuming. I saw it come off a few time when you were using tape. This stuff wont budge until you use a sharp knife to peel it off. I use this on my locos windows kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqK1qIewapd3d6c might be of some use to you as it can also be used in several other ways too do chipping too. Hope this helps! Dave B (DB)