satin finish. Then I began the basic weathering process, lightly
weathering the sides and ends with a variety of colors using a
No. 8 flat synthetic artist’s brush. My goal was to simulate a car
in service for about five years (I model September, 1950) that
has not been repainted. I used Floquil Box Car Red, Mineral Red,
and Special Oxide Red to provide subtle contrasts to the model
without obscuring the decals too much. I purposefully painted
over the decals in a few spots to simulate fading.
After this initial weathering I spray the underframe and lower
sides and ends with Dust to provide a dust coating over the ini-
tial weathering. Then I streak the sides again to obscure some of
the dust coat, and keep going over certain areas until I think the
effect looks right. I paint the trucks with the dust mixture and
then highlight them with Special Oxide Red, then weathered the
journal box covers with Black.
Next, I use Model Masters Russian Earth Brown to bring out the
details. I use a highlighting technique made popular by master
model maker Francois Verlinden. I dip the flat brush slightly into
the paint, wipe off about 98% of it, then lightly stroke the car
from top to bottom. With light, even strokes, the rivets, corners,
and other stand-out details will pick up the color but not the flat
surfaces, providing a “highlight.”
Generally I use lighter colors to highlight dark-colored models
and darker colors to highlight light-colored models. Highlighting
makes the details really stand out without discoloring the rest of
the model. I often overdid the highlighting, so I simply went back
over the area with flat black paint and highlighted it again. I high-
light the entire car, including the interior, trucks, couplers, and all
the underframe components.
Seaboard B8 & B9 - 11
MRH-Jun 2014
