A First Attempt at Weathering

[CNR5103]

Saying that I was reluctant to weather my cars is an understatement.  I was simply horrified at the idea to take a new car out of its box and make a mess of it with paints or chalks, not to mention a car made from a resin kit and painstakingly painted and lettered.  I had read magazine articles but couldn't decide to go ahead.  And I must admit that I didn't always like the the results I saw. 

After reading advice from Doctorwayne many times and seeing his nice weathered cars, I finally decided to go ahead.  I grabbed a car I had planned to modify and used an airbrush to follow Doctorwayne's advice.  For this first attempt, I did three different things :

• a light coat of  Red Brown acrylic paint all over the car so the lettering was not so obvious;
  
• a light coat of Earth color acrylic paint on the bottom of the car and trucks to simulate dust;
  
• a light coat of Black acrylic paint on the roof and top of ends to simulate soot.
  

All of those paints were well diluted with water.

Here are some photos.

Before 

   

After

   

Left : Weathered car.                  Right : a similar car unweathered.

   

Top : Weathered car.                  Bottom : a similar car unweathered.

   

It was easier than I thought and I am pleased with those results.  I should have been more generous on the coat of dust on the bottom of the car and trucks though.  I don't like heavy weathering and I tried to stay on the light side, maybe too light.  I will have to practice a lot more before taking one of the kits I have built myself.  There are also other techniques described by Doctorwayne which I should try.

It's just the beginning of a new journey.