Ed N, what colors

[tom mann]

did you use here for the trucks?

[ednadolski]

Hoo boy that's an oldie!   Best I can recall, there is a base color of a dark grey or grimy black, then overcoats of burnt umber and a bit of burnt sienna.  There are also some light and dark earth powders, and the highlights of the lighter gray for the spatter.  Probably also some washes of ivory black to fill in the recesses, esp on the springs.  Similar treatment for the wheels/axles and couplers.

Ed

[tom mann]

I use tan a lot for the spatter, but like the grey.

[ednadolski]

Now I have to go find that car (buried in a box somewhere since the move)  and see what it looks like to my eye today.   Can't say I care for the #58 couplers, altho the size is good the springs look wonky.

BTW, Tom, the fade was done like in your weathering book.... thanks! 

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

The last time I tried to apply streaks like that to a tank car, I ended up with a noticeable seam along the top because I would start at the top and work down one side then the other, and the wash was drying too quickly between sides.  It looked terrible.  Did you use oils for the streaks?

[ednadolski]

Yes, water-mixable oils.   They don't take too long to dry, if you put them on in thin layers.  I will put the model aside for a couple of days, and then it is ready for a clear coat (flat).

Acrylics dry way too fast for me esp. here in the Denver area.  Ditto for gouache, tho that can be mixed with the water-mix oils and speed up the drying time a bit.

One thing with streaks is, the must be straight or they will look very odd.  With the water-mix oils, I don't have to get that first stroke perfectly straight, I just need to get something down and then I can go back and 'refine' it until it looks about right.  I can even 'erase' the whole thing and try again (within reason - eventually the underlying car color will start to stain if done repeatedly) (ask me how I know about that...  ).  The streak can be made to have a 'hard' edge, or it can be softened by feathering over it with a clean dry brush.

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

Great - thx.  I used some water-mix oils for rust streaks on the ARMN reefers I did several months ago and really liked working with them.  (The results weren't stellar, but that was not the fault of the media.)  It will probably become my standard whenever I get back to weathering my fleet.  --gfh