EPISODE #1 – THE YARD QUEEN

BACKGROUND
We’ve all seen highly weathered locomotives, whether up close and personal in our travels or in pictures in magazines, books, and websites. Locos tend to get worked hard and maintenance is more important than keeping the paint current. This is especially true for the yard queens – locos no longer in use and basically abandoned until it’s time to scrap them.

I made a trip in the summer of 2015 to central Europe, and I have collected some of the trains I either rode on or saw as we travelled the rails. I decided a yard queen might be a nice addition to my collection.

THE INSPIRATION
I’m a big fan of Mig Jimenez and the Weathering Magazine – what an awesome resource for any modeler, including the model railroader. The techniques explained the magazine can really make a huge difference in having either a so-so model or a “wow” version! There is almost always a model railroad article (or railroad applicable article) in each magazine. Issue #17, Washes, Filters and Oils specifically includes a great article on weathering an Italian Railways yard queen.




THE VICTIM
I picked up the MTB ST43 diesel locomotive specifically for this project. Fairly simple design and the prototype definitely became weathered and worn!



THE TOOLS
With magazine and locomotive in hand, I decided which effects I wanted to apply and placed my order for the appropriate item. Here is picture of the items I used. You'll see thinner, effects (chipping, streaking), washes (vehicle and panel line), and more. I'll explain my choices in the article as I progress through them.



CAVEAT
I really think weathering is a personal choice – we may not only choose different effects to weather but we may also use different techniques to achieve the same goals. Don’t use my project as a step by step guide for yours – decide what works best for you and do it!

Remember, if you pay attention to the process you can almost always remove an unwanted effect. Clear coats can be used to create “save” points where you can “restore” if something goes awry. Most effects can be minimized if not completely removed with judicious use of sponges, brushes, and thinners. In fact, you’ll see this often mentioned in the magazine.

NEXT TIME
In EPISODE 2, I will prep the model, decide on a plan of action, and get started.

EPISODE #3 - PREP THE LOCO

BUT FIRST...

I want to revisit the pics - I found what I think will be the main reference pic. The ST43 is in the pre 2008 paint (more on that in a second), and I like the combination of fading, streaking, rust, and oil stains. There are some really oily grimy stains on the sides with flow down to the under carriage. The roof shows pretty significantly darker gray with the expected rust on the ends. I think the PKP logo and numbers are raised on the sides where my loco has this as plain printing. I'm mulling over how to recreate this or simply adding character to the printed logo. More to follow as we progress.



To contrast this loco with a newer one, I pulled the pic from the Hataka set for this era. Although this loco is weathered, the paint colors are much brighter and newer than what i hope to achieve with fading and streaking.



I've removed the body shell from the chassis and marked which end is which. Not sure I can tell the difference but at least it should go back together properly! I'm leaving the details on the body shell, and I'm presently masking the clear parts after I give the whole thing a good rinse to give a nice clean surface to start with.

PICS TO BE UPDATED SHORTLY

Next time, we start with a clear overspray as a weathering base then jump into some washes...