Model Railroad Weathering: Fast, Easy, Inexpensive!

[@bnsfwarbonnet]

What do you use to make the washes?

[@JosephLeal]

I used alcohol/India ink/acrylic paint and water. Experiment on a cheap model to find what works for you. My goal here is fast and effective.

[@JosephLeal]

And thank you for watching and commenting!

[@bnsfwarbonnet]

Apartment Model Railroader Thanks, that golden west boxcar turned out really nice.

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks!

[@LTBROYT6A]

Great weathering techniques !!! This is the first time I have seen anyone weather the inside of a Boxcar, I recently tried weathering a car, I used different techniques on each side and they bother turned out pretty good. I did weather the floor, now I will go back and do the rest of the interior. Thanks for the video !!!

[@alcopower5710]

Turned out great. Thanks for sharing

[@rogermccraney8119]

I’m envious!👍🏻

[@edporter8009]

Glad I found this. Thank you for the great detail!

[@therealandrewstrains]

A great video. Especially loved the way you did the piping underneath the car. So easy and yet very realistic. Goods one!

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks for the comments Andrew!

[@Marienthal1956]

Excellent job ! Thank you for this demo video 🙂

[@coastmansscenicproducts4591]

I am just so impressed with how he is doing this with only the craft acrylics. I've made videos and I know how difficult it is to make a decent instructional vid. These are excellent and I really hope there are more to come. -R

[@JosephLeal]

Thank you for the compliments!

[@w.rustylane5650]

Wow! Your car looks fantastic. I didn't know that you could detail the underside of the frame. Great ideas. I'm gonna do that on the next freight car that I weather. Also, for trucks, wheels, freight car bodies and locos to add rust I use REAL rust. I take a roll of fine steel wool and put it into a quart jar and fill it up with white vinegar and set it on a window sill so the sun can shine on it. After a month or two, I pour the liquid out into a stainless photo tray from my darkroom (10X14). After it is completely dry I use a single edged razor blade scraper and scrape the rust out of the tray. It usually comes out as a fine powder. I then store it in a snuff container. Depending on how long you leave the steel wool in the vinegar my batches come out with different colors of rust, i.e., some are orange and others are a deeper colored red. When I get ready to use it I put several scoops of my rust into a plastic communion cup (neat little cups for mixing paints) and add some alcohol, Elemer's white glue and a dab of water soluble glycerin. Then I just brush it on. If I want an area where the rust has eaten through the metal (plastic) I use my X-acto knife and make some gouges in the sides of a car and fill it up with my rust. To seal the rust I usually topcoat it with a flat acrylic clear coat. It looks very realistic 'cause it is REAL rust! Happy Railroading! W Rusty Lane in eastern Tennessee (Witherington Place Railroad)

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks for the comment!

[@carlschnier4089]

A spay clear flat acrylic will keep the chalk dust from rubbing off if preferred

[@JosephLeal]

Yes! You can also use it as a base coat before you get started. Thanks for the comment!

[@chorlton4]

great video ! informative and practical, and it looks so easy too, many thanks

[@JosephLeal]

Absolutely. Thank you!

[@curraheewolf]

I also have a Golden West Service boxcar that is patched out with SP markings. I put masking tape on ALL of the patched out areas on the boxcar. (It was hard, but I did it.) Then my friend weathered it for me and it came out perfect. It gave the appearance of just coming out of the shop with an applied patch job. Love those patch jobs! Happy railroading!!!!!!!

[@JosephLeal]

Right on Thanks!

[@njRRtrainer]

Nice job, made it look easy... Thanks for the tips and great video!!!

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks for watching njRR!

[@RonsTrainsNThings]

I really like your weathering videos. Thanks for sharing.

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks Ron!

[@southernrailfanning5516]

amazing!

[@whiteknightcat]

I've found steel music wire (0.025 inch) to be a better option for the brake connecting rods, as they remain straight. Brass wire can be used for brake piping as that has more complex bends.

[@JosephLeal]

Sounds like a great idea!

[@normanrowe2831]

Nice! Thanks.

[@ruatrainman2]

Hi Joe, another great video buddy. That car came out awesome. I think this is my new favorite channel. Take care , Dave .

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks Dave, much appreciated!

[@alanbrandon82]

Nice work

[@JosephLeal]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@richardcolemanjr3749]

Fantastic techniques and a time saver. How about a chemical tank car video.

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks Richard! I do have an Atlas tank car, and it needs some weathering. I'll put something together. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@Mercatoyd]

again..as I said before in another video..what a feel for realism.. Tom

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks Tom, much appreciated!

[@bhuddaloyd]

very well done.

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks CSX3026!

[@gloriasabin3624]

Have you done any passenger cars

[@JosephLeal]

Unfortunately I haven't! Thanks for the question!

[@starpawsy]

You can also find wheel weights by the side of the road. Be careful you dont get hit by a vehcile when you pick them up, though. SAFETY FIRST.

[@charlesstevenson5141]

Great video. However I wouldn't recommend using excessive weight like that, especially if you run on club layouts as the weight will cause the axle ends to eat through the side frames of the trucks and fail. That's why I stopped adding excessive weight and stick to NMRA weight standards.

[@coastmansscenicproducts4591]

Weight the crap outta that thing and eat the trucks like the real roads do!

[@GC-wj6ni]

The Acrylic paint you use,is it modelling paint or normal ,artists acrylic paint?

[@JosephLeal]

The cheap stuff from Wal-Mart haha

[@GC-wj6ni]

Apartment Model Railroader Lol,well,we don’t have Wal-Mart this side of the pond but pretty much the same thing yeah lol

[@GC-wj6ni]

We have a a shop called The Range which is pretty much the same thing and has a similar style logo.The reason I was asking is I’ve got some artist acrylics (cheaper ones) in tubes,could they be used?

[@JosephLeal]

When I started I sampled the paint first on the underside of a junk railcar. I also experimented with different dilutions

[@ricardojuricic9027]

It looks great BUT in oder to habe boxcars look real I feel that first would have to place on the ends of the boxcar the decals corresponding to the code and car number. Then yes go ahead with the weathering. Looks great!!

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks for the comments Ricardo!

[@beeble2003]

The ends of the cars already have the reporting mark and number decals. Look at 5:15, for example. It's small but, if you look at photos of the real thing (e.g., on RR Picture Archive), it looks reasonably accurate.

[@sudriansignalman9387]

I have to replace the frame on my custom layouts no. 1 she rolled off the top of the grade and almost took her sister no. 2 with her, destroyed her tender as well, my layout is a mix of a proper shortline and a heritage railway, but the grade is horrible to wreck on, took no. 8 out of service for two months and horrible damaged the first 3 cars she fell off going up hill, but no. 1 was at the top when she wrecked and went down the whole mountain and landed on a tressle

[@railfans-psi]

In this video, what type of paint do you use for Weathering ?? Acrylic paint or oil paint or other types of paint ??

[@JosephLeal]

All paint used is acrylic paint, diluted with water. Thanks!

[@chrishartz2397]

Why would anyone age the underside? You can’t see it and nobody else can?

[@robertchaparro5058]

I see two problems with the weights: 1. Too much. 2. By stacking the weights you raise the car's center of gravity, which can cause operational problems.

[@JosephLeal]

Thanks for the comments Robert! To each, his own. You can always adjust to suit your operational needs. Happy holidays!

[@illusionclassicrock6742]

Don’t cut off the Kadee coupler “hoses“ if you plan on using their feature to uncouple your cars. 😉

[@TOPWOP999]

Did he get anonymous to narrate lol