Working with Acrylics - Oils

My finished NFR clinic car along with a model done by Jim Sloan.

At the Spring NFR-NMRA convention in Kitchener I sat in on a 2 hour clinic which was a hands on weathering a boxcar...or commonly known as making a rust bucket. The clinic was given by Ralph Renzetti who dug into his stash of cars for us to work on. Following his presentation which he e-mailed to us so we could refresh ourselves when at home, we began with a wash he had mixed up. By the point we all had applied the wash and sponged some off we were out of time.

The car sat on my workbench all summer till I could get back at it this fall. Since the cars already had a coat of dul-coat applied before we started the clinic I decided to give the black areas, roof and ends a coat of alcohol and india ink which gave it a gray grimy look in areas. This was followed with some Acrylic gouache, burnt sienna and burnt umber. I am really happy at my first attempt at modeling a rust bucket...the photos tell the rest of the story...George Dutka

At the NFR clinic we applied a wash over the entire car one area at a time.

Working one side at a time we then sponged off some of the wash using a makeup sponge and windshield washer anti-freeze. The other side was next and last was the roof and ends.

This fall I applied a coat of alcohol and india ink over the black area before I applied some rust spots. I think this process really looks good. I also upgraded the car with a Kadee brake wheel, operating levers  and wire grabs. These I just dabbed with black paint. In this photo the roof is done but the sides need a bit of weathering.

The finished model which also got a coating of PanPastels before entering the WRD fleet.