Weathering a boxcar - 1
T
here is a lot of interest in weathering freight cars these
days. A new article comes out at least once a month. I
have been caught up in the weathering craze and tried
many of the techniques. I also developed a few of my own. I
don’t pretend to be the first to use this technique, but want to
share my approach to use a plain artist’s pencil to weather a
forty-foot box car.
1: The prototype I followed as a guide.
My subject is a Northern Pacific 1937 AAR 40' Boxcar. You can see
the model at
The prototype picture I worked from is of NP 45358 (1).
Begin by washing the car with some light soap and water, let-
ting it dry thoroughly. After the car is dry, spray it with a matte
finish like Dullcote or Krylon Matte Medium. Next paint the
grayed out areas on the roof with PollyScale SP Light Gray.
This represents areas where the paint has peeled off. After
the gray is dry, paint a deep rust color in areas near the gray. I
used PollyScale Box Car red, or any acrylic model paint of that
approximate color will do.
Mix a 1 oz. bottle of “dust” which is about 20-30 drops of
white, 1-2 drops of black and 1-2 drops of brown. I use cheap
acrylic paints from WalMart for this. Thin this with 1/3 water
and 2/3, 70% isopropyl alcohol. This makes a very dilute mix-
ture. Spray this on the roof, putting a bit more in the center. I
How to weather a box car
using an artist’s pencil
– by Roger Ball
Model Photos by the author
Colored pencils give finer control than
brushing or spraying paint ...
1
MRH-Aug 2013
