Now it's time to attack the most expensive parts of our hobby, the locos....   But stay calm, Kevin also introduces non-destructive methods....   Start by looking at the difference between a weathered and a non-weathered loco..  A dirty black one in the foreground, and a grey one with shiny valve gear behind it....  Which looks closest to the prototype ???

Introduction to this chapter

Our next installment in our "Weathering school for dummies" is locomotives. Now I know some are a bit intimidated to 'ruin' there locs, but I will first discuss how to do easy 'removable' weathering, so that if you don't like the results they can be removed to start over or to bring the model back to it's original condition. Although I'll be talking about steam locos here the techniques will work on any locomotive.

When should I make locos dirty ?

First let's understand how these machines weather. Steam locs are filled with grease and oil, coal, water and also brave the elements. Again remember what  you are modeling, if it's era1, then the crews took great pride in keeping it clean, if era 4  - the last days of steam, then they where not cleaned at all, a express loc would be washed on a regular basis, where a freight loc not so. But I digress, let's first discuss 'removable' weathering. 

Non-destructive weathering materials

Two materials come to mind - watercolors and pastel chalks, both are available from an art supply store. 

Using watercolors

You might remember these from school (the real one ;-) . They are easy to apply and will wash off as they are not permeate on metal or plastic. Colors should include black, white, brown, green, blue , blue or red to simulate fading paint on E or diesel locs .An inexpensive starter set will have these  colors. Mix say black with water, add a drop of detergent (dishwashing type, why? this will break the surface so the color will flow on to the model) now with a soft brush apply to the boiler. This will kill the shine and give color variations. Use the white for lime stains (anywhere water could leak out) and the brown for rust stains. You can use the green. The beauty is that if you don't like the effect you simply wash it off and let dry, to start over or forget the whole thing! ;-) 

Using pastel chalks

It's another medium which if you don't like can be brushed or washed off. For a very light effect rub a brush the sticks, then stroke on to the model. They come in a wide variety of colors, I have two sets: earth tones and greys (blacks, greys to whites). You'll also find that you'll use these chalks for all types of weathering so they are great to have.

Ok - I can do it, but where ?
 
You might be thinking that's all fine and dandy, but where the heck Kev do I apply what color?? Let's take a tip from our modeling brother, the military modeler. Military modelers never start a project without trying to get at least one photo of the prototype, to check to see what it looked like. This is always good advise and fortunately for us we have hundred of books and magazines with countless photos of our locs. It isn't that important that you find your exact prototype, but to at least get a feel of what it did (or does) look like so that you can duplicate the weathering.

Let's look at a steam loc. First, just the fact that it's a steam loc (coal, oil, grease, water, weather) it didn't take long for it to show dirt, grime, etc. Notice the boiler, what's that white streak? That's lime in the water that is staining the boiler, because there is a small leak. The red/brown? The water has began to rust the metal. The dull black on the drivers and valve gear?. Dust from the road, grease from the constant lubrication of the rods, etc? The lighter shade of green on that e-loc? Fading paint. By studying the photo's and understanding why you are apply a color you'll have an excellent chance of making your models more realistic.

For the more courageous...

Now for those who dare (are you out there?) here are other techniques to make your weathering permeate. The easiest way to make a model more realistic is to dull the shine of the factory paint. First mask any clear windows and the headlight lenses. For the lenses, I use 'magic masker', you may remember this from our weathering track section. Apply this to the lenses and let dry(15 minutes), for the windows if you don't want to remove them is to cut a small piece of masking tape to fit over the windows. Use a tooth pick to burnish it down around the edges of the window. Now carefully cut it out with a sharp hobby knife. Get some Testors (or Revell's, etc) Dull-cote (matte finish), place the spray can in some warm water for a few minutes (this will warm the varnish so that it will spray finer and smooth). If you don't have a spray booth, go outside and spray a several light coats to the model (if doing this to an e-loc, either remove or mask the pantographs). Keep spraying until the shine is gone. When dry, remove the masking tape and 'magic masker'. You'll see this simple step will make the model look more like real life!   

Let's go all the way... 
 
Now for the real daring, lets go all out and really weather our locs to make them look like the hard working machines that they are.
 
Step 1
 
Is to disassemble the model. For steam locs this means taking a look at the leaflet that comes with the unit. The boiler is a screw or two, the tender can be gentle pried off. For e/diesel locs just the body, and maybe to remove any glass, if not use the masking tape method above and don't forget the headlights!!. Next pry out the windows from the cab, a sharp hobby knife, will do the trick, set aside for now.
 
Step 2
 
Adding coal to the tender... What does this have to do with weathering?? Well if we are going to spend time and energy to weather the model, we should get rid of that fake coal in the tender! First drill several mall holes in the fake coal. Next add some model coal (Woodland Scenics, Noch, Faller), on some locs I pile it high, on some not so, if some spills on the sides, that's ok, the prototype did!! Place on paper towels. Now with an eyedropper apply rubbing alcohol (drug store item) over the coal. Then with an eyedropper apply either white glue mixed 1 to 1 with water, or matte mixed 3
to 1 with water soak it good and then let it dry overnight. Why the holes? This let's the excess glue run inside the tender body. Why the rubbing alcohol? To break the surface tension of the glue so it will flow all over the coal to hold it securely in place.
 
Step 3

Painting, I airbrush the boiler and tender with Floquil/Polly Scale Engine black as this appropriates the original color only in a matte finish. Other firms make a black that will match. A word of caution: If you don't have a external mix dual-action airbrush, then you may paint over the markings on the loc as you can't control the flow/volume with an external mix single-action. But not is lost! Depending on the medium your using (solvent based/water based), you have some time to have a brush damp with thinner to gently remove the paint from over the markings. Let this dry for at least 24 hours before proceeding, just for safety's sake ;-))
 
Step 4

Drives, valve gear, bogies. Now this is the dirtiest part of any loc! Mud, dust, grease, grime all accumulate here. There is a easy way to simulate this: washes. A wash is a very thinned paint that will flow into all the nooks and crannies and will dry a little lighter than applied, so you can be happy with one coat or build it up to show some real dirt (my favorite)! I have used two types of washes, the first is a black wash using India ink (art store) and rubbing alcohol. Two strengths A) light, mix one pint alcohol with one teaspoon India ink B) heavy mix two teaspoons into a pint of alcohol. With a brush flow this wash all over the bogies, drivers and valve gear. I lay the loc on it's side in a cradle for this do one side at a time, let it dry and evaluate. Again, one coat of the light might do it or a few of the heavy, it's up to you! The second wash is made with paint, I use solvent based paint as it flows better, but water base is ok if you add detergent so it will flow. You can determine the intensity of the wash 50/50,10 parts thinner to 1 part paint experiment with what you like, write it down so you can duplicate it for your next loc.
 
Step 5
 
Weathering, using the mediums like different colored washes, the pastel chalks add the rust, stains, etc to the loc. A way I apply rust to the cylinders of steam locs is using a product called "Rust All", it is alcohol based product what comes in a nice red/brown color. Apply, let it dry, easy! If it too 'red' apply a little black wash to tone it down. You can also dry brush some oily black to the rods and valve gear to that greasy look.;-))
 
Step 6
 
Touch up and reassembly. Give the loc a good inspection, touch up where needed or add more Remove the 'magic masker' and any masking tape. Replace the tender, now before I re-glue the windows I take a hobby saw and cut them in half as the driver and fireman usually had these slid open so they could see the track ahead. That done I re-glue them in place. Now replace the boiler, looking good?? Give it a test run, now put that beast out on the road to earn her keep!