Weathering Freight Cars with Pan Pastels - Getting a Signature Look

[@JCsRiptrack]

So what techniques scare you a bit?

[@Howie2025]

Wow, that's about all I can say. That's some advanced weathering techniques there but a beautiful final result. I'll have to work up to something like that. Thx for sharing how you did it.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Thanks David. This one was also a bit of an experiment to see how the PanPastels worked. I did test them ahead of time, but seeing how they work on the model. was a lot of fun.

[@johnarthur6302]

Looks great, And very much like the prototype. Nicely done!

[@JCsRiptrack]

Thanks John.

[@TheSwitchList]

Came out really nice John - really looking forward to what you do with my commission! -Rick

[@JCsRiptrack]

Looking forward to it Rick! :)

[@barryjanzen]

You are so good at this weathering process that you make me intimated to even try 😭 Amazing skills Sir

[@JCsRiptrack]

Appreciating the kudos, although I don’t intend to be intimidating! Did you check out the “Where do I start?” Video? The main thing is to try something small, and then work up to projects like this. Admittedly this project did intimidate me, but the main thing was to keep at it.

[@ralphrenzetti22]

Barry, JC is right, it all comes down to practice, practice, practice. The more you practice the better you get, the better you get, the more confidence you build to tackle bigger and better projects!

[@JoeG-firehousewhiskey]

damn man, I am always impressed with your work. Amazing job!

[@JCsRiptrack]

Thanks Joe. The red really provided a fun challenge, and an opportunity to try some new stuff.

[@normanrowe2831]

Very nice work. Thanks.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Thanks Norman. :)

[@Vman7757]

Wow good work. I can wait to see what I can get you to do for me,

[@JCsRiptrack]

Looking forward to it!

[@Vman7757]

@@JCsRiptrack I need to finish two N scale SD7s. And then get back to you on what I would like to have done.

[@JCsRiptrack]

@@Vman7757 No problem, just email me and we can go from there. :)

[@Sabohead]

Did you spray anything on car before you used pan pastels? Also I cant find your video on testing the Pan pastels on your channel. The car turned out nice. Thanks for your time.

[@JCsRiptrack]

I don't have a specific video on Pan Pastels beyond this one yet. I've recently moved, so I am only now just setting my hobby table back up. Pan Pastels need a rough/texture surface in a way similar to AK Interactive's Weathering Pencils. It needs the microscopic roughness of a flat coat for the Pan Pastels to stick to anything. So before you use the Pan Pastels, give the model the flattest clearcoat you can apply without "frosting" the model. That will give you a good surface to work with. After you're done with the Pan Pastels layer, you can then seal them in with whatever clearcoat you like to protect them from any additional work that you'd be doing.

[@Sabohead]

@@JCsRiptrack Thank you for help. Just curious, will hairspray work before using the Pan?

[@JCsRiptrack]

I'd be careful with hairspray. It's water-soluble, and is often used for some realistic chipping effects when using paint because of that property. It may help with application, but it could make the pan pastels flake off if you don't make sure it's sealed up.

[@Sabohead]

@@JCsRiptrack Thank you so much for your help. Guess I will see if I can find some dull coat at Michaels tomorrow? I really appreciate your time and help.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Dullcote will work. Hopefully you can find it in their models section. :)

[@FKHTrump2024]

What is future clear coat and where do you buy it from?

[@JCsRiptrack]

In North America, it's undergone a name change. It's now known as "Pledge Revive-It!" and is clear acrylic. I recently bought a new bottle and it is the same stuff. If you live outside of Canada or the US, it has different names and I'd have to consult my resources to help you out.

[@FKHTrump2024]

@@JCsRiptrack found it but it say floor gloss I want flat not gloss also do you airbrush it straight out of the bottle? Or delute it with something?

[@JCsRiptrack]

That’s the right stuff, it’s quite glossy, which has its own purposes especially for working with oils. To create a satin or matte coat with it, you will need “Tamiya X21 Flat Base” to mix with it. A 10 parts Future/Revive-It to 1 part Tamiya Flat Base will give you a nice Satin coat. 5 parts to 1 part is a pretty flat coat, and 3 to 1 gives a dead flat coat. Anything less will frost up the model. Does that help? It’s a good way to give yourself the ability to customize your clear coat, and won’t interfere with oils, it’s a good choice.

[@manueljdaskalos]

I like the video, but the background music is unsettling… It sounds like some one lifted the background harmonies from the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter,” mixed it with a Muzak beat, and looped it - over and over.

[@leventearos5766]

For me N scale black tank cars are the real challenge; straight streak lines are hard to maintain with the brush on such a small diameter, fading is complicated due to the small plastic pieces which really like to break

[@JCsRiptrack]

All those little fiddly bit are one of the unwritten realities of my weathering process. I've had pieces break off, and have had to re-attach them. With streaks, getting the vertical stroke right is often hard as our natural hand movements tend to brush in an arc.

[@leventearos5766]

@@JCsRiptrack Yes, absolutely, and in the meantime it is hard to apply the same pressure, keep the same angle on such a small diameter. Here's how these ones turned out though: facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157216756004508&set=pcb.1955477424557960&type=3&theater&ifg=1

[@JCsRiptrack]

Nicely done. I like how you did the scratches and scrapes on those cars. :)

[@williambryant5946]

I have trouble with any shades of green and yellow and bright red.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Hopefully, this one starts to tackle red. The next locomotive project is another way to do red, along with a bit of yellow. Green is a real challenge because human vision perceives more shades of green than any other colour, appparently.

[@mikestupplebeen9257]

Conrail blue.

[@JCsRiptrack]

I hear that. I weathered a Conrail GP15-1 to a leased unit in the first two videos in this playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLxNYoknHPrDo7jYdSYKab-yI1-Wa8bdlE It was a real exercise in weathering Conrail blue.

[@Salty_reviews]

I have the hardest time weathering oxide red box cars.

[@JCsRiptrack]

Sounds like a plan for a new video! Were these the steel ones or older style wood boxcars? I’d be happy to do a video on that!

[@Salty_reviews]

@@JCsRiptrack The steel cars, I especially have a hard time showing rust on them as the colors nearly blend into the base coat.

[@JCsRiptrack]

That's an inherent issue with those cars. Oddly enough, I think that's by design. My short answer is to suggest fading the cars first, then do the chipping and rust colours. They'll stand out better on faded paint. However, it's still worth seeking out an iron-oxide coloured boxcar and showing how I'd weather it. Fortunately, CN seems to have a few of them. :)

[@Salty_reviews]

@@JCsRiptrack I'll be on the lookout for your video, thanks for the vids and tips!

[@judegranger5751]

Red is difficult

[@JCsRiptrack]

It is. It can go so many different ways, so it's really dependent upon the prototype. Even within a given group of cars or locomotives in the same fleet can fade and weather differently depending upon the kind of paint used. I've seen CP locomotives go dark, lighten to a peach colour, or anything in between.